Bigos, also known as ‘Hunter’s Stew,’ is a traditional Polish dish consisting of sauerkraut, fresh cabbage and a smoked Polish sausage known as “kiełbasa” and, occasionally, some other forms of meat. You can find this beloved dish at various Polish events and always made slightly different (depending on who made it) but still enjoyed by the general public.

Our bigos recipe is greatly influenced by that of Samantha’s (our founder’s) aunt who lived in Poland from her mid-teens and into adulthood. It is also influenced by recipes she’s read and those told to her by Polish friends.

We can attest that, although the recipe is different, this vegan bigos smells and tastes like the traditional (non-vegan) bigos and is both nutritious and delicious!

We hope you enjoy our recipe and, if you are Polish, please share the differences between this recipe and yours in the comments section under this post or on our Instagram page.

Bon Appétit!

---

This post contains affiliate links. This means that we will earn a commission for whatever is bought using a link in this post (at no cost to you). We will not link any ingredients that we do not consider to be affordable or a good value for money.

Ingredients

1 Cabbage, rinsed and cut into small strips

1/2 Onion, chopped

1 Leek, chopped (optional/substitute with more onions)

1/2 Jar of Sauerkraut/Kapusta Kwaszona (in water/brine, not vinegar), drained

1 Pack of Tofurky Kiełbasa 

Dried Mushrooms (you can thinly slice and dry 3-4 salted fresh mushrooms in your oven)

Vegan “bacon” strips (optional/store-bought or alternate recipe below)

Tofu, cubed

1/2-1tsp Tomato Purée

Alternate for vegan bacon strips

1 Courgette, thinly sliced lengthwise

1tbsp Soy Sauce

1tbsp Date/Maple Syrup

1/4tbsp Liquid Smoke

1tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Black Pepper

Smoked Paprika

 

Method

• In a pot, cook the cabbage in 500ml of boiling water or vegetable stock until it softens (about 15-20mins)
• Meanwhile, fry the onions and leek in a pan until soft.
• Stir the sauerkraut, onions, and leek into the pot holding the cabbage as it cooks.
• If you’re making the alternate courgette “bacon” strips, combine all the ingredients in a bowl ensuring that the courgette slices are evenly coated and then place each strip into an oven set at 190 degrees until cooked and slightly crisped.
• Stir the dried mushrooms into the contents of the pot with a little more water to ensure burning/sticking is prevented from the liquid reducing too much.
• Place the Tofurky kiełbasa in the oven and cook according to package instructions.
• Slice the kiełbasa in sizes and shapes of your choice and slice the vegan “bacon” strips or courgette strips the same way then stir them into the contents of the pot until evenly distributed.
• If you made the courgette strips, toss the cubes of tofu in whatever marinade is left in the bowl and then place them in the oven to firm up or until golden brown.
• Stir the tomato purée into the bigos followed by the tofu.
• Cook the bigos for an hour longer on medium-low heat and with the pot partially covered. Stir the contents of the pot every 20mins to prevent burning and ensure flavours are evenly distributed. Add a little more water if needed and if you prefer you bigos to have more of a liquid around it.

Serve.

 

---

If you try the recipe, upload a picture of it to Instagram with the hashtag #lickyourplatesrecipe so we can have a look at and like it.