Paloc Style Soup
Our favorite Hungarian soup prepared in a figure-friendly way
There are countless recipes for Paloc Style Soup online. As a chef, I’m still amazed at how many unnecessary ingredients people add that are not part of the original recipe at all. Of course, I know cooking is an art, and everyone prepares dishes according to their own taste, but in my opinion, Paloc Style Soup is delicious precisely because the original ingredients are not overcomplicated.
The base of Paloc Style Soup is a flavorful stew. According to tradition, it was originally made with mutton from a castrated ram, but since that’s difficult to find nowadays, any meat suitable for stew works well (pork shoulder or pork leg are recommended). Once the stew is ready, all you need to add are yellow wax beans and potatoes. Nothing else! No carrots, no celery. No other vegetables, because the yellow wax beans should be the dominant flavor. The taste of the beans and the rich stew gravy should blend together with the slightly tangy flavor of sour cream. And the finishing touch is dill.
The recipe is really this simple. And what makes it diet-friendly? I leave the flour out of the sour cream thickening. From a flavor perspective, flour is completely unnecessary. I think older recipes used flour to make the soup a bit heartier and more filling, although I’m not entirely sure – I’ll look into it. But that doesn’t change the main point: if you want to make Paloc Style Soup in a lighter, healthier way, you can safely skip the flour. It will be just as delicious. Give it a try!
Are you curious where Palóc soup got its name from?
There are several legends about the origin of Paloc Style Soup. One thing is certain: it was not named after the Paloc people. It was most likely named after Kálmán Mikszáth, who was known as “the greatest Paloc.” In 1892, János Gundel served this soup for the writer’s birthday because Mikszáth had asked him to surprise him with a soup he had never tasted before – one “that contains all the flavors of Hungarian cuisine.”
What kind of bean is this?
In Hungary, the “green beans” traditionally used in this soup are actually yellow wax beans, which have a milder flavor and softer texture than regular green beans.
If you have fresh beans
Clean them and cut them into pieces about 2 cm long, then cook them in salted water (you can cook them together with the potatoes). The cooking water can be added directly to the soup.
Paloc Style Soup
Ingredients
- 500 g pork leg (or mutton)
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon sweet red paprika powder (Hungarian)
- salt
- ground black pepper
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tomato
- ½ Hungarian sweet yellow pepper (or banana pepper / Cubanelle pepper)
- ½ hot green pepper
- 360 g yellow wax beans (jarred/canned is fine)
- 3 potatoes
- 1 bunch fresh dill
- 200 ml sour cream (12% fat)
Instructions
- Peel and finely chop the onion. Cut the peppers and tomato into larger cubes. Peel the garlic. Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes, and place them in a bowl covered with cold water. If using jarred green beans, drain the liquid into a bowl and set both the liquid and the beans aside.
- Wash the meat, pat it dry, and cut it into 1 cm cubes.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot and sauté the onion until golden brown. Remove the pot from the heat and sprinkle in the paprika. Stir well, then add 150 ml of water. Add the peppers and tomato. Bring to a boil, then add the prepared meat. Season with salt and pepper and stir.
- Cover partially with a lid and simmer over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Once the bottom of the pot starts sizzling, add enough water to cover the meat halfway. Continue cooking the meat slowly, repeatedly reducing the liquid until the fat remains, then adding a little more water, until the meat becomes tender. At the very end, season with crushed garlic.
- Once the meat is tender, pour in as much water as you would like for the soup. Add the diced potatoes, bay leaves, and the reserved green bean liquid. Season with salt. When the potatoes are halfway cooked, add the green beans as well.
- When everything is tender, mix the sour cream in a small bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of the hot soup broth to it to temper it. Stir thoroughly, then pour it into the boiling soup and cook for at least 5 more minutes.
- Finally, add the finely chopped dill.
Calories and macros
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