Hungarian Fried Bread – Langos Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the original Hungarian lángos? ›

Lángos – or Hungarian fried bread – is a popular Hungarian street food. Lángos comes from láng meaning “flame” because the original version – credit to the Ottomans – was bread baked by an open fire. What is Lángos made of? Lángos is deep-fried dough – similar to a yeasty bun or pizza dough.

Topped with soured cream, cheese, ham hock and spring onions, these crispy fried flatbreads are a street-food classic in Hungary. Best of all? You don't have to worry about the faff of making dough from scratch as our recipe uses ready-made authentic dough balls.

Lángos is fried in oil and usually served with toppings. For Hungarians, the most popular topping is cheese and sour cream. And an extra garlic sauce on the dough before adding the topping.

The dough is basically the same as pizza dough, but it is not baked but fried in oil. Adding sour cream, yoghurt or mashed potatoes to the dough is optional but highly encouraged, in the latter case it is called potato lángos (in Hungarian krumplis lángos).

Hungary's national dish

Gulyás, known to English speakers as goulash, is a spicy meat stew containing lots of paprika pepper. Originally, it was eaten by the country's cattle herders and stockmen.

In Hungary, a typical breakfast may consist of fresh bread, cold sausage type minced meat products (such as kolbász or szalámi), some vegetables or jam. Lunch is the main meal of the day, usually consisting of three courses: soup is followed by a main dish and a dessert.

The fried flatbread is traditionally eaten with savoury toppings: garlic, sour cream, grated cheese, bacon, sausage, etc. but it can be eaten as a sweet treat as well (like Yorkshire pudding). Langos is a perfect match for beers and soft drinks on this all-you-can-drink Beer cruise.

What is greasy bread in Hungarian? ›

The szalonna (or "greasy" or "dirty") bread is often served with brandy or beer; in many families, "Opening Day" has become a rite of passage for families of American-Hungarian descent, where traditional family stories and customs are shared as a part of the meal.

I learned how to make Lángos while in Sweden, from a Swedish/Greek man who learned it from his Swedish/Greek father...after some research I found out it is a Hungarian food - But who cares where it is from since it will make your breath bad, it is unhealthy, not-vegan but so delicious.

The variants you can choose from are limited to plain, garlic, sour cream, cheese and sour cream, and cabbage, like in the good old days.

“Hungarians eat lángos mostly at weekend markets, or in the summer at swimming pools. When I was a child, my mother always brought me fresh lángos from the market on Saturdays. I loved it. She'd bring plain ones, and we'd put the sour cream and cheese toppings on at home,” Tamas reminisces.

Pogácsa is a popular Hungarian snack consisting of a small, bite-sized pastry that can be either sweet or savory. Preferably, it should be eaten while still hot. Although there are differences in size and flavor, all pogácsa pastries are commonly prepared in a round shape.

#1 - Pogácsa: Dating back to medieval Hungary, these soft sconelike snacks are among the most traditional and widespread across the country. They come in different sizes and varieties: topped with melted cheese, studded with pork cracklings (töpörtyűs), filled with cottage cheese (túrós), for example.

The name of the dish comes from the word "láng", meaning "flame", since it was originally baked near the flames of a brick oven, unlike today, when it is regularly deep-fried in oil. Some believe that lángos was created under Turkish influence, while others believe it comes from the ancient Romans.

The Best Hungarian Cheeses

The most popular cheese is a mild semi-hard cheese called Trappista, which was named after the Trappist monks from southern France. This cheese has a long history since the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy when Trappist monks brought the secret recipe to Banja Luka (today Bosnia and Herzegovina).