AI-generated image
Cepelinai
Meat-filled potato dumplings
Cepelinai: Lithuanian airship-shaped potato dumplings with meat filling
Cepelinai, named after the Zeppelin airships they resemble, are Lithuania's national dish: big oval dumplings of grated raw and boiled potato wrapped around seasoned minced pork, simmered until glossy and served with a sauce of sour cream and fried bacon bits and onion. This dish contains pork. Families in Kaunas and Vilnius make them on weekends and holidays; curd cheese or mushroom fillings are common vegetarian versions. A common mistake is skipping the potato starch; it is what holds the dumplings together. Chef's tip: squeeze the grated potato very dry and stir back the starch that settles from the liquid. Minced pork must reach 71 °C.
- Total time
- 100 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the filling
- 14 oz pork mince
- 1 oniongrated
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp dried marjoram
For the sauce
- 5 ½ oz smoked bacondiced
- 1 onionchopped
- 1 cup sour cream
For cooking
- 16 ¾ cups water
- 1 tbsp salt
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Mix 14 oz pork mince, 1 onion, ¾ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper and ½ tsp dried marjoram.
Step 2: Squeeze 3 ⅓ lb potatoes very dry in a cloth over a bowl. Let the liquid settle for 10 minutes, pour off the water and keep the starch. Common mistake: discarding the starch; they fall apart.
10 minStep 4: Divide into 12. Flatten each in a wet palm, put a spoon of filling in the middle and shape into a sealed oval.
Step 5: Bring 16 ¾ cups water and 1 tbsp salt to a simmer and cook the cepelinai for 25–30 minutes, stirring gently, until they float and the filling reaches 160°F.
30 minStep 6: Fry 5 ½ oz smoked bacon for 8 minutes, add 1 onion and fry until golden. Stir in 1 cup sour cream and warm through. Serve over the dumplings.
12 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 620 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 70 g
- Fat
- 28 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cepelinai take?
- About 100 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of potatoes?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Greek
Pfälzer SaumagenStuffed pig's stomach
Saumagen is the pride of the Palatinate, served at wine-village festivals and family dinners from the Haardt hills to Ludwigshafen. A cleaned pig's stomach is stuffed with diced pork shoulder, pork sausage meat, potato and carrot seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg, poached slowly, then sliced thick and fried until crusty. The stomach works only as a casing and is ordered from a butcher; if you can't get one, bake the same filling in a covered terrine in a water bath. Serve with sauerkraut and mashed potato. Chef's tip: fill the stomach only three-quarters full, or it bursts as the potatoes swell.
German
Chha goshtLamb in buttermilk gravy
Up in the hill villages of Himachal Pradesh, where flocks are walked to summer pastures, lamb is often cooked in chhaachh, the thin buttermilk left after churning butter. Thickened with a spoonful of gram flour, it makes a pale, gently sour gravy that is milder and lighter than the red curries of the plains, and it is a favourite at dhams, the festive meals of the Kangra and Chamba valleys. Serve it with steamed rice or makki ki roti. Chef's tip: whisk the gram flour into the buttermilk until there are no lumps before it goes near the pot; once it hits the heat, any lumps stay lumps.
Indian