Potato Halusky (Bryndzové halušky)

This homemade Slovakian potato halusky is made with fresh potatoes and flour and transformed into a delicious dumpling served with crispy bacon, tangy cheese, and chives. It’s deliciously simple and hearty!

You know those meals that get passed down from generation to generation? This is one of those meals.

Hearty, homey, and delicious. My husband’s grandmother made this meal a lot when he was a child.

For almost four years, I have listened to him talk about the deliciousness of these little potato dumplings.

Finally, on Saturday night, we decided to try the recipes. It was a lot of fun cooking with Art, and the meal was delicious. The dumplings are not overly flavorful, but they create something wonderful when mixed with the bacon, cheese, and chives.

They are a bit chewy, but it plays well with the crunchy texture of the bacon. They are reminiscent of gnocchi but made with raw rather than cooked potato.

The cheese adds a nice balance and extra creaminess to the meal. Plus, who doesn’t love cheese?

Oh, and a fun fact: Bryndzové Halušky is the national dish of Slovakia!

Ingredients for Slovakian potato dumplings

You only need three simple ingredients to make the classic Slovakian potato dumping!

• Russet potatoes – I like to use Russet potatoes for this dish as they grate well and give off enough moisture to bring together the dough.
• All-purpose flour – This is what helps pull the dough together.
• Kosher salt – This is added to the water to flavor the dumplings as they boil.

Ingredients for Bryndzové Halušky

Bryndzové Halušky is a dish that takes your cooked halusky dumplings and turns them into a meal! Here is what you need:

• Cooked halušky – You’ll need fresh halusky to throw this all together!
• Bryndza cheese – This is a pungent and flavorful Slovakian sheeps milk cheese.
• Cooked bacon – The thicker, the better! I chopped thick-sliced bacon, but if you have lardons, that will work well here.
• Chives – In a pinch, green onions could work well here, but I love the subtle flavor of chives.

How to make potato halusky

It takes a bit for everything to come together, but making halusky is so easy!

1. Grate your raw potatoes well in a food processor or by hand on a box grater. This tip is essential because you need the potatoes to be small enough to release moisture (to make the dough) and not too big that your dumpling will feel chunky and the dough won’t be able to form.
2. We grated our potatoes in a food processor and then used a chopper to make the potato pieces fine and broken up. An even easier way might be to grate and then use the blades of a food processor to help break up the potatoes.
3. After you’ve grated your potatoes, add the flour and start stirring to make a sticky yet manageable dough. I like to think of the mixture as having a shaggy texture.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat.
5. Add 1 cup of dough to a small cutting board, and using a butter knife, slide 1-1/2 inch chunks of the dough into the boiling water.
6. Let the dumplings cook until they rise to the top, and then continue cooking for a few minutes longer or until they are soft and the potato inside is no longer crunchy. Making your dumplings smaller will take less time, but my husband’s family traditionally makes them on the larger side.
7. When your dumplings rise to the top, use a slotted spoon to get them out of the water.
8. If you’re turning this dish into dumplings with cheese, bacon, and chives, add them to a large bowl and toss them with cheese while warm.
9. Continue cooking in batches until all the dough has been boiled. If the water level gets too low, add more water and bring it to a boil.
10. NOTE: Some traditional recipes call for a large egg, but my husband’s family does not use eggs in their halusky recipe.

What is Potato Halusky?

Potato halušky is also called Slovak potato dumplings, grated potato dumplings, or boiled potato dumplings.

The version we made today is traditionally called Bryndzové Halušky, or Slovak potato dumplings with sheeps milk cheese.

It is a traditional Slovakian dish that consists of small dumplings made with grated potatoes and flour, which are then boiled and typically served with a sheep cheese called Bryndza.

Basic recipes will serve potato halusky with cheese, salt, and pepper, but my husband’s family likes theirs served with bacon and sometimes onion and garlic.

This is a comforting dish that is popular throughout Slovakia and neighboring countries. It is often served as a main course but can also be used as a side dish.

Difference between halušky and haluski

The name of this dish can be confusing for some because both spellings are correct for our Slovakian dumping, BUT haluski can also refer to a Polish dish consisting of sauteed cabbage, onion, and egg noodles.

For this recipe, when we say halušky, halusky, or haluski, we are referring to the uncooked potato dumpling that we then mix with ingredients – in our case, cheese, bacon, and chives.

What is Bryndza cheese?

Bryndza cheese is a traditional sheep’s milk cheese commonly used in Central and Eastern European cuisine, particularly in Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary.

The cheese has a crumbly texture and a pungent flavor that some describe as tangy or sour.

Sadly, unless you have access to an Eastern European grocery store in the United States, it will not be easy to find Bryndza cheese.

My husband’s family uses cottage cheese instead of sheep’s milk cheese. You can also use farmer’s cheese if you have access to that.

Replacements for Bryndza cheese

Understandably, not everywhere in the world or the United States will have access to an Eastern European grocery store. So that means finding Bryndza cheese is going to be hard! However, here are a few substitutions that will work well!

• Cottage cheese – Cottage cheese is milder than bryndza cheese but still an excellent substitute for this dish. My husband’s grandmother used it, as it was much easier to find than anything traditional. I like to use full-fat, small-curd cottage cheese. My favorite brand is Good Culture.
• Farmers cheese – Farmers cheese is cottage cheese with the moisture drained. It’s a bit tangier and drier than cottage cheese but will work fine here if you want a mild cheese addition.
• Feta cheese – This is a close taste to Bryndza with the same amount of tang you would find in Bryndza. Look for a full sheep’s milk feta to get the closest to the flavor.
• Feta cheese blended with sour cream – By blending feta and sour cream, you get the full texture and flavor of Bryndza but in an easier-to-find fashion than trying to find an Easter European grocery store. You only need to blend 1/2 cup feta with two tablespoons of sour cream to get the right texture. You can add two tablespoons more sour cream if you want it creamier.
• Brânză de burduf -If you look closely at my ingredients shot, you’ll see this is the cheese I used. While bryndza cheese is Slovakian, Brânză de burden is Romanian. This cheese can be used interchangeably and is easier to find at my local markets.

Other ways to serve halusky

If you’re not a cheese fan, several other popular ways exist to serve these Slovakian dumplings.

When I was in Bratislava, one of the best ways I had these dumplings was sauteed with sauerkraut and smoked sausage and topped with sour cream. It had the perfect texture of tanginess and smokiness and worked great with the soft dumplings.

Another tasty option is sauteed onions and sausage. This option seemed very popular at the Christmas market in and around Slovakia!

You can also garnish the top with parsley instead of chives if you like that better.

More potato recipes

• Homemade Scalloped Potatoes
• Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes
• Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
• Air Fryer Smashed Potatoes