The best food in Kraków: 10 dishes to try on your next trip

With sweet treats, savoury dishes and first-class street food, there's something for every palate in Kraków.

Explore the best food in Kraków below, with 10 dishes to choose from, you’ll be spoilt for choice.

A thick helping of vanilla cream is sandwiched between two layers of rough, flaky pastry and dusted with sweet powdered sugar. 

This classic dessert was a childhood favourite of Pope John Paul II – and when the people of Poland found out, they renamed it ‘Papal cream cake’ in his honour. 

Pope John Paul II even admitted that as a boy, he ate 18 in a competition and even then he still lost. So, undoubtedly, kremówka really is loved by the locals!

If you’re in search of some of the best food in Kraków, look no further than an obwarzanek krakowski. With a similar appearance to bagels, this dish shouldn’t be sliced but eaten as they are. Typically these baked goods are sprinkled with salt, sesame seeds or herbs and spices – or topped with tangy cheese and onion. 

If you’re after both tradition and taste, this bread is certainly for you. In fact, in 2010, the European Commission added this dish to its Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) list. 

This means that only bakers in Kraków or Wieliczka can sell baked goods called ‘obwarzanek krakowski’. So, be assured that you’ll be getting the real deal in Kraków.

Eating out in Kraków is one of the best ways to get to know the city, and if you’re after a real flavour of Kraków, kiełbasa krakowska certainly won’t disappoint.

While the Polish have many types of sausage, this thick and smoky version is so local it’s named after the city itself.

Lean pork is seasoned with delicious coriander, garlic, pepper and a sprinkling of allspice, all of which is wrapped up in a reddish-brown crisp casing.

Kiełbasa krakowska is a great filling for open-top sandwiches (known as kanapki by the locals) or tossed into a green salad.

Pierogi is one of the most popular dishes across various cities of Poland including Poznań and Kraków.

Encased in a delicious yet simplistic dough, pierogi can be stuffed with a variety of fillings. 

Ranging from sweet to savoury versions, these versatile dumplings manage to combine flavour, comfort and tradition.

Cheese and potatoes are a prevalent ingredient in various Polish recipes, and for good reason. These accessible ingredients offer versatile flavour and texture, making them perfect for pierogi ruskie. This type of pierogi is stuffed with mashed potato, cheese and onion, often served with sour cream on the side. 

Standing strongly as some of the best food in Kraków, you’ll be able to find these delicious dumplings at food trucks and restaurants around the city.

Typically, a zapiekanka is an oven-toasted baguette served with a topping of white mushrooms and melted cheese, finished with a healthy zig-zag of ketchup.

Other toppings on a zapiekanka may include ingredients such as ham, onions, pickles and kielbasa.

Not sure what toppings you’re after? Nowadays in Kraków, you’ll find all different types of topping combinations at a variety of stalls.

Kaczka po krakowsku is a dish that serves tender duck slices that are browned in butter until just a blush of pink remains in the middle. 

To accompany the delicate meat, the dish is paired with a thick, velvety sauce that combines sour cream and mushrooms. 

Accompanied by a mound of barley or rice, it’s an effortlessly simple but delicious comfort food dish.

Also affectionately known as 'the grandmother of burgers’, this old-fashioned favourite is making a street-food-style comeback. 

While meat and bread were once served side by side, it’s now common for a crusty bun to be loaded with tender, juicy pork and soaked until dripping in delicious onion gravy. Our mouths are watering just thinking about this one.

Originating in the Masovia region, placki ziemniaczane, or Polish potato pancakes, are one of the moreish, savoury dishes of Poland. 

This dish involves shallow frying grated golden potato patties with other ingredients, like meat, vegetables and seasonings. 

Even though the dish doesn’t originate from Kraków, it’s still popular amongst locals, so you’ll be able to get your potato patty fix in no time.

If you’ve got a sweet tooth and you’re looking for some of the best Polish food in Kraków, pączki are the dessert for you. This sweet doughnut is typically filled with jam, lemon curd, custard or cream. 

To top it off, the doughnut is then coated in sugar or icing, making it perfect for anyone who loves a sweet treat. 

This doughnut dough is deliciously sugary and is a great way to fuel your adventures around Kraków. 

If you want to try out the traditional fillings in Kraków, look out for doughnuts either filled with plum jam or rose hip jam. Both equally delicious and traditional as the other.

If you’re not sure what to eat in Kraków, bigos is a good place to start. This hearty hunter’s stew typically consists of cabbage, sauerkraut, meat and mushroom. Being a popular dish across the entirety of Poland, and sometimes even deemed as Poland’s national dish, you’ll be able to find this in a variety of eateries in Kraków.

To make this stew as flavoursome as possible, the dish is normally cooked low and slow, to soak every single last drop of flavour out of each component of the dish. 

If you have the chance to save the stew and reheat it the next day, be assured that the flavours will only get more intense.