Cepelinai

June 15, 2025

On the left – Samogitian cepelinai, on the right – cepelinai with mushrooms

Thank you to Rasa Jurkšienė and Algimantas Malūkas for their contributions. Best wishes!

Cepelinai with Meat

1. 5 kg potatoes
2. 1 kg minced pork
3. Onion
4. Marjoram
5. Ground black pepper
6. Salt

Potato Mixture

Peel and grate the potatoes. From the separated grated mass, add 1 teaspoon of salt and a splash of boiling water. Add marjoram (to taste, about half a tablespoon). Mix everything together well.

Note: 20% of the potatoes can be boiled separately, then well mashed. However, this is not necessary.

Peeled and grated potatoes

Potato grating device

Potato mixture and potato juice

Potato mixture, potato starch, marjoram, salt

Note: If you boiled the potatoes separately and mashed them, they also need to be added to the same bowl together with the grated mixture, starch, marjoram, and salt.

Mixing everything together

Filling

Fry the onions, add minced meat, marjoram, black pepper, and salt (I added a few pinches, but you may need more). Fry everything a bit together. Pour in a splash of boiling water and mix it all well.

Finishing

Form the cepelinai.

Add one teaspoon of salt per pot.

Boil for 30 minutes from the time the last cepelinas is added.

Result

Samogitian Cepelinai

1. 5 kg potatoes
2. 1 kg cold-smoked bacon
3. Onion
4. Marjoram
5. Pepper
6. Salt

Filling

Cut off any unnecessary parts from the cold-smoked bacon and chop into pieces. Chop the onion. You can fry the onion for a stronger flavor. Mix the chopped bacon and onion together. Add marjoram, salt, and pepper. The amount of salt depends on how salty the bacon is—taste it to make sure it's not too salty.

Samogitian cepelinai filling

Samogitian cepelinai

Cepelinai with Mushrooms

1. 5 kg potatoes
2. 60–80 g dried mushrooms
3. Onion
4. A piece of cold-smoked bacon (about 100–200 g)

Filling

Soak the mushrooms for a couple of hours. Boil the mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Pour the mushroom broth into a glass and set aside. Then cut off any unnecessary parts from the bacon, dice it, and chop the onion. Fry the onion, then add the mushrooms and bacon pieces. Add salt, pepper, and marjoram. If the flavor is lacking, pour in some mushroom broth. Keep tasting as you cook.

Mushroom filling

Forming a cepelinas with mushroom filling