Today, I’m bringing you a recipe for Silesian potato dumplings, known in Poland as Kluski Śląskie – a traditional potato recipe, part of the traditional Sunday dinner in the south of Poland. It’s a staple in many homes to this day! Almost everyone loves potatoes, one of the most versatile vegetables, used all around the world. We all know chips, roast potatoes and mashed potatoes, but did you know that you can also serve your potatoes as dumplings? This recipe is similar to Italian gnocchi, but Silesian potato dumplings are used as a starchy side to meat dishes, rather than served in sauce. They’re naturally gluten-free, which is a great alternative for those with gluten intolerance. They’re incredibly quick and easy to make. It’s a great way to reuse any leftover potatoes!

A quick note about potato starch

Potato starch – also known as potato flour – is quite popular in Eastern Europe. Apart from the potato dumplings, potato starch is used as a thickening agent in sauces. In other countries, cornstarch is more commonly used as a thickener. Both starches do well there! However, to make potato dumplings, you need potato starch. Don’t try swapping it for cornstarch! You can find potato starch in Eastern European shops, or online.

Ingredients for gluten-free potato dumplings

Important note: Usually, I recommend using the scales to measure ingredients for recipes. Weighing food is the most accurate way of describing recipes! However, this traditional recipe is usually eyeballed with a foolproof method which I’ll explain below. It’s super easy to scale the recipe up or down, depending on your needs.

Here are the ingredients I used:

• 2 medium baking potatoes, raw, peeled (they weighed 345g)
• ~68g potato starch
• salt

The above proportions made 10 potato dumplings.

How to make Silesian potato dumplings

Make sure the potatoes are peeled and any black spots are removed. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters if they’re large.

Fill a large pot with cold water. Place the potatoes in the pot. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cook the potatoes for around 30 minutes, until soft.

Once cooked, drain the potatoes and place them in a bowl. Mash the potatoes when still hot. Make sure to mash them well, into a smooth puree. You don’t want any visible chunks there!

Add a little bit of salt to the potatoes and mix with your hands. Leave the potatoes to slightly cool down – 5 or 10 minutes should do.

Gently press the potatoes so that they fill the bowl evenly and the top is a flat surface. Draw a cross on the potatoes, dividing them into 4 equal parts.

Scoop out one fourth of the potatoes and temporarily place them in a different container. Fill the gap with potato starch, until level with the potatoes.

Transfer the removed one fourth of the potatoes back into the bowl. Knead the dough with your hands until smooth.

Form balls out of the potato dough, around the size of a golf ball. Gently press the potato dumplings to flatten them. Then, make a dip in each dumpling with your thumb. Don’t skip this step! Traditional Silesian potato dumplings always have that small dent. That’s where gravy will go!

Fill a large pot with water. Add half a teaspoon of salt into the water. Place the pot on the hob and bring the water to boil.

Once the water is boiling, slowly put the potato dumplings in the water, one by one. Don’t overfill the pot. If you’re making a large batch of dumplings, cook them in a few groups.

The dumplings will originally sink to the bottom of the pot. After a minute or two, they should float back to the surface. Cook the potato dumplings for 3 minutes from the moment they float to the surface.

Take the cooked potato dumplings out of the water and serve them hot with your choice of protein and sides. Enjoy!

What to serve with Polish gnocchi

These potato dumplings are part of a traditional Sunday meal in the region I’m from – Silesia. They would usually be served with a beef roulade and boiled red cabbage. When I was a child, we also often had them with roast chicken.

This time, I had my potato dumplings with chicken and a Polish cucumber side dish – mizeria. In general, they will go well with any protein and a side salad! Gravy is also a must-have for a lot of people. After all, the dumplings have a space specifically designed to hold gravy.

What’s more, you can easily turn leftover potato dumplings into a different dish. You can slice them and fry on a pan with with a bit of oil and salt until golden-brown. It’s a great savoury snack! Not particularly healthy, but delicious for sure.

How to store potato dumplings

If you have any leftovers, you can freeze these Polish potato dumplings. First, let the cooked dumplings completely cool down, ideally leaving them in room temperature for a couple of hours. Then, freeze the dumplings – make sure they initially don’t touch each other, or they will stick together. It’s best to freeze them on a flat sheet.

Once frozen, you can move the dumplings from a sheet to a bag or plastic container – they won’t stick to each other. Place the container back in the freezer.

Cooking potato dumplings from frozen

To cook the Silesian potato dumplings from frozen, start by bringing water in a large pot to boil. Put the frozen dumplings in the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. They will be as good as freshly made!

Nutritional value of Polish potato dumplings

For the proportions of potatoes and starch that I used, the whole recipe had 504 kcal, 0 grams of fat, 115 grams of carbs and 12 grams of protein.

I made 10 potato dumplings. Each of them had 50 kcal, 0 grams of fat, 11.5 grams of carbs and 1 gram of protein.

These potato dumplings aren’t a complete meal, but they make a delicious starchy side when paired with some protein and a salad!

Also see:

• Food
• Savoury