Polish Tripe Soup Recipe

By
Barbara Rolek
Barbara Rolek
Barbara Rolek is a former chef who became a cooking school instructor and award-winning food writer.
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Updated on 08/31/21
Polish tripe soup recipe flaki zupa

The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 6 hrs
Total: 6 hrs 30 mins
Servings: 6 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
402 Calories
24g Fat
8g Carbs
39g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 402
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24g 30%
Saturated Fat 10g 49%
Cholesterol 313mg 104%
Sodium 1940mg 84%
Total Carbohydrate 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 2g 5%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 39g
Vitamin C 3mg 16%
Calcium 161mg 12%
Iron 4mg 20%
Potassium 449mg 10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Slavic, Balkan, and many other agrarian cultures are famous for their nose-to-tail eating and that includes tripe, the stomach of a cow, pig, sheep or another animal, often turned into soup, rumored to be a sure-fire hangover remedy.

In Polish, tripe soup is known as flaki zupa (FLAH-kee) or just flaczki (FLAHTCH-kee), which also literally means "guts." Typically, Polish tripe soup is made with beef tripe and is considered one of the national soups of Poland, especially since it is touted to have been eaten by King Władysław II Jagiełło. 

While recipes vary by region, in addition to beef tripe, vegetables, beef broth, and marjoram are included and sometimes tomatoes or tomato paste, and other spices are added. Some versions feature a clear broth, while others are creamed. This recipe is made in the Warsaw style (flaki po Warzawsku).

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds beef honeycomb tripe

  • 3 pinches salt

  • 1 pound meaty beef soup bones, or veal bones

  • 1 tablespoon salt, or more as necessary

  • 4 carrots, peeled and sliced

  •  1 celery root, cleaned and chopped, or 3 stalks celery, sliced

  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

  • 3 cups beef broth, or chicken broth

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger, optional

  • 1/4 teaspoon mace, optional

  • 1/4 teaspoon marjoram

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for Polish tripe soup
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt 

  2. Rinse tripe under cold water.

    Rinse tripe
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  3. Drain and place on a cutting board. Sprinkle with salt and rub into tripe to clean the crevices.

    Tripe on cutting board
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  4. Rinse again to remove salt.

    Rinse
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  5. Place tripe and soup bones with enough water to cover in a large saucepan or stockpot. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt for each cup of water added. 

    Place in pot
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  6. Cover, bring to a boil, and reduce heat.

    Cover pot
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  7. Simmer partially covered 3 to 5 hours, or until tripe is tender.

    Pot
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  8. Drain tripe and bones.

    Drain tripe
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt 

  9. Pick meat off bones, reserve, and discard bones.

    Pick meat off bones
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  10. When tripe is cool enough to handle, cut into very thin strips.

    Slice tripe
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  11. Place tripe, meat from bones, carrots, celery root, parsley, and broth in a clean pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are tender.

    Vegetables in pot
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  12. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, optional ginger and mace, marjoram, and pepper, to taste.

    Add spices
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

  13. Bring back to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

  14. Serve hot with rye bread.

    Serve hot
    The Spruce / Victoria Heydt

Recipe Variation

  • For a creamed soup, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour to make a roux. Cook and stir until golden. Add 1 cup half-and-half and bring to a simmer. Temper the half-and-half with a few ladles of hot soup. Transfer tempered half-and-half to the soup and whisk until soup has thickened slightly. 

Eastern European Tripe Soup

Tripe soups in other Eastern European and Central European countries are known as:

  • Bosnia: škembić

  • Bulgaria: shkembe-chorba (шкембе чорба)

  • Croatia: tripice

  • Czechia: drštková polévka or just drštkovka

  • Hungary: pacalleves or just pacal

  • Romania: ciorbă de burtă

  • Serbia: škembići (Шкембић)

  • Slovakia: držková polievka

But the use of tripe doesn't end with soup. There are stews made with tripe and many other Central and Eastern European dishes are stuffed with tripe.