Flaki Soup Recipe: An Easy Polish Soup Recipe

Tripe is one of those ingredients many people are unsure how to use, yet it is a traditional ingredient in many cuisines, including Polish food. Flaki soup is a traditional Polish soup made from beef tripe. It is often served with potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables and seasoned with spices such as bay leaves and black pepper.

The Polish soup has a rich and hearty flavour, and is often enjoyed as a comfort food during the colder months. Flaki soup is easy to make, budget-friendly, and possibly different from anything you have tried making with tripe. Here is our easy flaki soup recipe.

Useful Information

Ingredients for Flaki Soup Recipe

• 1 lb / 500 g of beef tripe
• 1 lb / 500 g of beef ribs or oxtail on the bone
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 small onion, finely sliced
• 1 parsnip, peeled and sliced
• 6 allspice berries
• 6 whole peppercorns
• ¼ of celeriac peeled and cut into cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp of salted butter
• 2 tbsp of flour
• 1 tsp of ground ginger
• 2 tsp of smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp of ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp of dried marjoram
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional- dried red chilli flakes

How to Make the Flaki Soup Recipe

1. Prepare the tripe by washing it under water to rinse off any impurities, then boiling it in a pan of water for ten minutes.
2. Drain the tripe and rinse for a second time under cold water, then repeat the process another three times. If the tripe still has a strong smell, you may need to repeat the process for a fourth time.
3. While the tripe is boiling, prepare your vegetables and garlic.
4. Put a frying pan over medium heat on the hob and dry fry the onions for a couple of minutes until they begin to char.
5. When the tripe is ready, slice the tripe and put it in a large pot with the beef ribs/ oxtail bones and cover them with 1.5 litres of water.
6. Add the onions, parsnip, celeriac, onion, allspice berries, peppercorns, bay leaves, and garlic to the pan, and season with salt and pepper.
7. Bring the pan to a boil, then turn to low heat and simmer the flaki soup for 20 minutes.
8. Remove the soft vegetables from the pan and set aside, then cover the pot and continue to simmer for another two hours.
9. Test the tripe to see if it is cooked. If not, continue to cook the soup for another 30 minutes.
10. Remove the beef bones from the pan and remove the meat, then return the meat to the soup.
11. Make a roux in a small saucepan by melting the butter over low heat and stirring in the flour.
12. Add the roux mixture to the soup to thicken it, along with the cooked vegetables, ginger, marjoram, paprika, and nutmeg. If you want to add dried red chilli flakes, add them at the same time.
13. Cook the soup for another ten minutes to combine the flavours and ensure all the ingredients are hot.
14. Taste the soup, and season with extra salt and freshly ground pepper if necessary.

Additional Tips

• Serve the soup with crusty bread or Polish dumplings.
  You can cool the soup and keep it in the refrigerator overnight to eat it the next day if you wish.
  You might like to try some of our other Polish soup recipes, including rosol, krupnik, kapusniak, borscht, grochowka, and barszcz bialy.
• If you are on a gluten-free or dairy-free diet, you can make the flaki soup recipe without using a roux.

Have you tried our recipe for flaki soup? Let us know what you think in the comments below.