Polish Split Pea Soup Grochowka Recipe That Tastes Like Poland! (2024)

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Polish Split Pea Soup Grochowka Recipe That Tastes Like Poland! (1)

Grochowka (groh-hoov-kah) is one of the most famous soups in Poland. After eating a bowl, you will be full for a few hours. Traditional Polish split pea soup recipe will lead you to cook a large pot of grochowka.

It’s believed that it’s impossible to cook a small portion of this soup. That’s why it’s often called grochówka wojskowa (military split pea soup). It was originally cooked for the entire army. It’s clear that the soldiers need a solid portion of food to have enough energy for the day.

Tips For Cooking Polish Grochowka

See also my cabbage with split peas recipe.

Use Split Peas Or Beans.

Although Polish grochówka is traditionally cooked with split peas, you can replace them with beans. The taste will be pretty much the same.

You can also add some split peas and some beans, in mixed proportions.

Make Your Split Peas Overcooked.

The split peas should collapse when cooking, it will make the soup thicker.

Smoked Meat Is What Make Grochowka Taste So Good.

The taste of smoked bacon and bones combined with split peas is what makes grochowka so tasty.

Grochówka Is A Winter Soup.

It’s traditionally cooked in Poland on cold, rainy/ snowy days.

Polish Split Pea Soup Is Often Served On Picnics And Festivals.

Every country picnic or harvest festival will have a huge pot full of yummy grochowka. It’s usually served with fresh bread.

Polish Split Pea Soup Grochowka Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb of peas or beans
1 pork knuckle
9 oz of smoked pork bones
7 oz of smoked bacon
1 lb of potatoes
1 big onion
1 parsley root
2 carrots
3 tsps of salt
1 tbsp of dried marjoram
1 tbsps of Maggi ordried lovage
5 allspice berries
5 bay leaves
1.5 gals of water

Instructions

Cover the beans/peas with water and soak overnight (for at least 12 hours).
Drain the beans/peas and cover them with 1.5 gals of fresh water.
Add the pork knuckle, smoked bones, allspice berries, bay leaves, and salt. Cook slowly until beans/peas are soft.
In the meantime, peel and dice the potatoes. Add them to the soup after an hour of cooking.
Peel and dice the onion. Dice the bacon and fry it with onion on the pan. Add it to the soup.
Peel and dice the parsley root and carrots. Add to the soup and cook until soft.
Add lovage/ Maggi and marjoram. Cook until the meat falls off the bones. The beans/ peas should be overcooked.

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3 Responses

According to this recipe, you use 3 tablespoons of salt. This seems to be so much salt that I can’t help wondering if this was written by mistake. Also, you say to use lovage or maggi. Are you referring to the German dark brown liquid known as Maggi seasoning–the stuff with a red and yellow label on the bottle? I was born in America, but my father’s parents were from Poland.
Reply
1. Hi Keith,
  Yes, that’s what I am refering to 🙂
  It’s 3 tsps of salt.
  Reply
Thanks for answering. I read that Maggi seasoning is widely used in Germany. Apparently, people in Poland also enjoy it. I bought it and I like to put it in chicken noodle soup. Chicken noodle soup is delicious without it but it’s even better with it.
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