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Kopytka – Polish Potato Dumplings

March 2, 2018 by Lois Britton 28 Comments

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According to PotatoPro.com, “The Polish King John III Sobieski is credited with having introduced potatoes – known initially as amerykany (from “America”) – to his countrymen in the mid-1600s, after a visit to Vienna.

Thus began a love affair that was to make Poland one of the 20th century’s giants of potato production.” The area of Poland we lived in was known for potatoes.

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They even have their own word for potatoes, pyra, which is also a nickname for people from Poznan. So it’s no surprise that we have Kopytka – Polish Potato Dumplings in addition to Kluski Śląskie.

Kopytka - Polish Potato Dumplings

Kopytka literally means hooves; the little diamond shapes are supposed to resenble cloven hooves. The recipe is basically the same as Italian gnocchi. The difference is in the shape and the toppings.

potato dumplings topped with buttered bread crumbs on a polish pottery plate

As for the toppings, you can go with Polonaise (the French term meaning in the Polish style, which is topped with buttered breadcrumbs), gravy, pan drippings, or fry the dumplings and serve them with gulasz. You might even top them with sugar.

kopytka

The potatoes we’re mashing for Kopytka need to be on the dry side. So don’t use leftover mashed potatoes that you’ve prepared with milk and butter. Start off with plain potato that’s been cooked in the skin, or jacket as the Brits would say, or in its uniform as they say in Poland.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Kopytka – Polish Potato Dumplings

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 6 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 40 min
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
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Description

Tender little potato dumplings


Ingredients

1 pound potatoes

1/ 2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 cups flour


Instructions

With the skins on, boil potatoes until tender, cool and then peel

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil

Mash the potatoes thoroughly or process with a potato ricer

Stir in the egg and salt

Add enough flour to create a smooth dough, stirring just enough to incorporate the flour, overworking will make for tough dumpings

Take a small amount of the dough and roll on a floured surface to form a rope about 3/4 inch in diamter

Slice the rope on the diagional about 1/2 inch apart

Boil in salted water about 4 minutes without over crowding the pan, you’ll do multiple batches

Remove from the water with a slotted spoon

Serve topped with buttered bread crumbs, pan drippings, gravy or sugar


Notes

You can place kopytka on a cookie sheet before cooking and freeze, then place the frozen kopytka in a plastic bag to cook later, the dumpling equilavent of a brown and serve roll.

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Lois Britton

An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com,  she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.

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Filed Under: Polish, Polish Mains & Sides, Side dish, Vegetables

Previous Post: « Pieczone Marchewki – Roasted Carrots
Next Post: Naleśniki z Serem – Polish Crepes with Cheese »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bernadette Kuklisin

    May 13, 2018 at 8:38 pm

    My Dad yous to great the poto and do all most like poto pancakes and boil water with salt

    Reply
    • James C Nowatchik

      March 2, 2021 at 2:51 pm

      mine did as well and suit in bacon fat and served with sour cream on the side.

      Reply
    • Patricia A Opferman

      December 31, 2021 at 12:20 pm

      My mother grated raw potato’s flur egg baking powder salt mix like dumpling dough and drop in boiling water drain and serve with sauerkraut broth and some sauerkraut like a soup . she made the broth from pork spareribs and the sauerkraut. Very delicious. We had this every New Years Day.

      Reply
      • polishhousewife

        January 7, 2022 at 5:55 pm

        sounds good!

        Reply
  2. Valerie

    November 27, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    In my family this was known as (going to spell this phonetically) c-nid-leh, and as I grew older and had my own recipes that I’d brought from home, it was a favorite. When trying to describe it to the less adventurous Scots on my husband’s side of the family, I’d also say that it was very like an Italian gnocchi.

    We used the fine side of a cheese grater–the side that makes a fine, sluice-y mash out of whatever vegetable you chose, and there was no egg, but the preparation was the same, and it was always served fried in butter with onions. Really tasty. My mouth began to water just thinking of it! I’ve long wondered where our family name for this dish came from–it was the same on both my dad’s and mom’s side despite them being from very different parts of Poland; Warsaw, Krakow on my dad’s side, and Gdansk on mom’s. My grandma would make it for me as a special Vigilia treat, truly a Christmas dish that brings back happy childhood memories.

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      November 27, 2018 at 7:14 pm

      Oh, Valerie, thanks for taking the time to share this memory with all of us. I can almost them the onions browning! 🙂

      Reply
    • Sue Queen

      September 23, 2021 at 4:09 am

      So Valerie, did I understand that correctly, just boil a vegetable. grate it, and just add flour? Then fry in butter with onions? I love vegetables, and I love dumplings.

      Reply
    • Brian Mackiewicz

      October 25, 2022 at 10:46 pm

      Czernidlek=blackberry

      Reply
  3. Sylvia

    January 3, 2019 at 1:04 pm

    My Pennsylvania Polish recipe is quit different

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      January 3, 2019 at 7:54 pm

      Hi Sylvia, sometimes I think there are as many recipes as there are kitchens! 🙂

      Reply
  4. carol pavlov

    January 3, 2019 at 1:15 pm

    Boiling the pot of salted water is first instruction … right?
    Can you use the same recipe for pierogi’s and plum dumplings?

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      January 3, 2019 at 7:53 pm

      Hi Carol, yes you’d boil water first. 🙂

      As for using this recipe for pierogi, I haven’t tried it. I think the dough would be a little soft for pierogi.

      The ingredients are very similar to My recipe for plum dumplings (I’m sure there are many variations out there, like most dishes), but kopytka has a lot more flour than my potato dough for plum dumplings. I think you could use it, but it would be on the firm side.

      Here’s a link to recipes on my site that involve pierogi dough. https://polishhousewife.com/?s=pierogi+dough

      Happy cooking!

      Reply
    • Josie

      December 14, 2021 at 2:06 pm

      Carol, no you would not use this recipe for pierogi, that is a pasta dough that you would cut out circles or squares and add a filling. There are many different sites that feature Polish dishes you should check them out they have recipes for pierogi.

      Reply
  5. Ursula

    January 3, 2019 at 1:29 pm

    My mother used to add some cheese to the dough. And they were always served with butter and sugar , delicious

    Reply
  6. kriss

    January 20, 2019 at 8:30 pm

    hello! I’m chef I would like to say they are closer to gnocchi then dumplings but both of them are proper way I think so it’s just additional name for same similar product. love It!

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      January 21, 2019 at 7:25 am

      Hi Kriss,

      I’ve seen other Poles making this comment in other locations lately, that pierogi are dumplings and kopytka are not. While I am an avid home cook, not a chef, I respectfully suggest that the English word dumpling’s most common meaning is a dough that is boiled or steamed, so to my mind, kopytka, Kluski Śląskie, and pierogi all qualify as dumplings. I do agree that gnocchi and kopytka are identical, but I think Italian gnocchi are usually finished differently. I love them too, on that we agree! 🙂 Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.

      Reply
  7. Leon Duminiak

    October 14, 2019 at 2:57 pm

    Very good recipe. One of the best that I have tried. The name kopytka does not mean hooves, it means little hooves. In most of Poland, kopytka is the name given to tiny, bite-sized pierogi. It can be confusing but what counts is that all of them are delicious!

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      October 14, 2019 at 5:17 pm

      Thanks, Leon!

      Reply
  8. SHIRLEY LESNOSKI

    September 24, 2021 at 11:40 am

    Than you I learned something today . I always thought pierogies were Polish dumplings . What do you call them ?

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      September 25, 2021 at 8:30 am

      They are both Polish dumplings, Shirley. There are so many varieties. You’ll find many of them here: https://polishhousewife.com/?s=dumplings

      Reply
  9. Lindsay B

    October 22, 2021 at 8:02 pm

    Made this for dinner for me and my husband, and we almost ate the whole batch! So delicious! Our 1 year old son wanted to try one as I was taking them out of the pot. We gave him one that had cooled and he loved it! Definitely making this again, but I am probably going to have to double the recipe next time because it’s so good!

    Reply
    • polishhousewife

      October 25, 2021 at 8:43 am

      I’m delighted to hear it, Lindsay! ❤️

      Reply
  10. Lori

    March 15, 2022 at 5:57 am

    Love this recipe! I make it often.

    Reply
  11. Riya Sen

    August 22, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    These are so good! I love potato dumplings and these are even better!

    Reply
  12. Tomasz

    March 19, 2023 at 8:01 pm

    Don’t forget, when Kopytka are a couple of days old you can cut them into small round pieces and pan fry them.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Mountain Pony Farm Update: Winter Solstice 2018 – Mountain Pony Farm at Eyrehame says:
    December 29, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    […] Polish potato dumplings (kopytka) […]

    Reply
  2. Pumpkin and Potato Kopytka - Polish Housewife says:
    September 21, 2020 at 5:30 am

    […] resulting taste and texture were amazing! We give these high marks, right up there with my usual kopytka. I know this is something I’ll make many […]

    Reply
  3. Polish Pork with Sauerkraut - so delicous! - Polish Housewife says:
    October 22, 2020 at 5:09 am

    […] were with baked potatoes. You could have a potato dumpling as your side. Maybe kopytka or Silesian dumplings? A delicious bread to mop up the last bit of Polish Pork with Sauerkraut off […]

    Reply

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