Haluski (Buttery Cabbage and Noodles) Recipe (2024)

As a teen in the 1970’s at an event in the Catskills there was a dish on the menu called “kraut varnishkes”, aka Cabbage and Noodles. As an adult I cook it often, especially as a side with fish. I use olive oil instead of butter and add some ground fennel (many cabbage recipes use fennel or caraway seeds). In the fall, I make a slightly different version with red cabbage, red onion, fennel bulb and toss in a handful of dried cranberries. I deglaze with a little unsweetened apple juice.

My nana taught me how to make this the traditional Hungarian way. I would never use a dutch oven as the sides are too high and would keep in the steam. I use a very large stainless steel fry pan with about 1 inch sides and just add my cabbage in batches. Browning is not only welcome but necessary. Browning is where the rich flavor comes from in this dish. I go for a rich caramel color. Start with half the butter and add as needed for sticking. Fry noodles at high heat in mix for a chewy crisp.

This dish is a forgotten childhood memory. I’m a woman of color and my mother called it by its correct name that I thought she made up. It was a joy to make it again after so many years. I added nutmeg and shredded leftover pork roast just as she did.

So many personal notes here. It’s heartwarming to read them.

Over 30 years ago, my husband’s Czech aunt served this and it was delicious, so I asked for the recipe. She rattled it off and said, “At the end, if it doesn’t taste good, I just throw in another stick of butter.” We still laugh about that, saying it’s the key to Eastern European cooking!

I’ve added crisp pancetta and finish with a dollop of sour cream. Basically all the fixings of a giant perogie explosion

This is similar to a German dish my Mom would make. She would saute diced bacon (about 1/2 lb) and then remove the bacon and saute the onions and cabbage in that. Oil or butter added as needed. Just before serving, she would add in the reserved bacon bits. Delicious! To make a one pot meal, I have added sliced kielbasa near the end. A great winter comfort food!

Very tasty. I made the mistake of not using the whole head of cabbage. It cooks way down; go ahead and thinly slice the whole thing. I used some random lasagne noodles, broken up, when I realized I had no egg noodles in the pantry. Oops. I finished with a grating of nutmeg to serve with Chicken Paprikash, elsewhere on this site. Hard to stop eating the magic combo. I can see adding some scrambled egg and fennel bulb to turn this into a comforting main dish.

It's also served with farmers cheese instead of cabbage. The real traditional way to make it, is with homemade dumplings - Slovaks call that haluski too. A quick way to make these dumplings is with 1 cup flour, 1 egg and add enough water to make it the consistency of thick pancake batter. Boil a pot of water in the meantime. Place batter on a flat dish and using a fork, push thin ribbons off into the boiling water. Done when they rise to the top. Should be a bit chewy. Add more flour if needed.

We like to add caraway seeds to this.

This was a common lenten staple for our family. In addition to getting browned bits of cabbage throughout, my Mom often added a Tbsp or so of sugar to heighten the flavor. Leaving the finished dish over very low heat for 30 min or so (stirring occasionally) to meld the flavors is a must.

I learned to make this from my cousin's Hungarian grandma, but I always cook the onion and cabbage on a low heat for at least an hour so that it caramelizes. This was my go-to dish to take to potlucks when I was young and broke.

Easy to make and surprisingly yummy - I do tend to add some miso paste to the butter for some extra umami yumminess

Pure comfort. Growing up in my half-Polish household my Dad would crisp up some bacon in the pot and then add the onions and cabbage and sauté that, adding back the crumbled bacon at the very end. I add a little brown sugar and Sherry vinegar to the onions and cabbage when I make mine now, always with the bacon unless my Vegan Father in Law is joining us, then it’s easy to use oil and a pasta without egg. Great recipe.

This recipe is very different form the Haluskis I have had in Slovakia and also the Czech Republic. Haluski is typically made with small potato dumplings similar to gnocchi that simmered in a sheep cheese sauce and crumbled bacon. I will try making the above recipe and I appreciate that the author acknowledges that Haluski can vary a lot throughout Eastern Europe.

Way too many noodles,

Love all the loving memories and suggestions left here to follow. This was an easy weeknight meal but the leftovers, heated in a cast iron skillet, were my favorite. Good, but even better reheated. Even added sautéed mushrooms to the leftovers and that was delicious, too.

Agree 100% about caramelizing the onions and cabbage. Stir in a little heavy cream or cottage cheese mixed with a dab of whole grain and/or Dijon mustard at the end and serve with pork roast. OMG so good!

So good. My Polish-American grandmother called this 'lazy pierogi'. A bowl of nostalgia.

The version we'd serve would also include diced potatoes, precooked, and when everything was still hot stir in full fat cottage cheese. The cottage cheese would melt a bit, small curd completely but large curd would still have some curd remaining. The last tablespoon of butter might not be necessary

This recipe really was a treat. Simple ingredients and simple instructions. The time it takes to slowly cook the cabbage is fully worth it. A very comforting meal for a winter evening

The first time I made this I cooked 4 strips of bacon with the onions and it was heavenly. The second time I used some bacon grease instead of butter to cook the onions and cabbage, and it was still very tasty. Would be interested to add some mushrooms, think that would be fantastic.

Basically, a perfect comfort food. The only change I would make next time is to let the cabbage brown and crisp up longer before stewing it to deliciousness. I think that would add a better presentation and a little more flavor. A really good and easy recipe.

FWIW, I had plenty of browning in my Dutch oven (a Staub cocotte with a glass lid).Delicious as written, and a perfect launch point for further exploration. So comforting, so simple, a great winter dish for a weeknight. I even had time to make some basic egg pasta (100g flour:1egg) and cut it into thick noodles.Strong recommendation!

added fennel seeds as per suggestions in comments and it really made this pop. will definitely be adding to winter rotation!

Used some bacon and less butter, plus added some marjoram as the cabbage cooked. Also splashed some apple cider vinegar towards the end, I like it a little sour. Came out amazing.

In my husband’s Polish household, this was called Lazy Man Pierogi. My mother in law shredded the cabbage and onion very fine, sautéed it in ( lots) of butter, added about 1/2 cup of sauerkraut, and a handful of reconstituted dried mushrooms. The sauerkraut gave it a tang, the mushrooms an earthiness, and the buttery noodles a velvet texture. There never was a written recipe, just cooked from the heart. Married 51 years, we still have this every year for Christmas.

I followed the recipe as written, except subbing some olive oil for a bit of the butter. A delicious, perfectly comforting cold weather dinner.

To make this a main dish, I topped it with an egg at the end. Very economical dinner for 3 of us.

My mom made a similar recipe using kluski noodles instead of egg noodles along with the cabbage and Jimmy Dean regular sausage. If you cook the sausage first you can cook the cabbage in the sausage drippings. I never thought of adding butter. Will have to try that. It is a wonderful and easy one pot meal still made by extended family. And I agree that browning of both the cabbage and the noodles is essential. And lots of pepper. We just called it kluski.