Lángos

Name: Lángos
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 8 pieces
Cuisine: Hungarian
Ingredients: 500 g Wheat flour, plain or bread flour; 150 ml Water, lukewarm; 150 ml Milk, lukewarm; 7 g Yeast, instant dried; 1 tsp Sugar; 1.5 tsp Salt; 1 l Neutral oil, for frying, plus 1 tbsp in the dough; 4 clove Garlic, crushed into 4 tbsp water with a pinch of salt; 300 g Sour cream; 200 g Melting cheese, Trappista if you can find it, otherwise a mild semi-hard cheese, grated

Hungarian deep-fried flatbread, blistered and puffed, rubbed with garlic and piled with sour cream and grated cheese.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.

Start cooking

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 20 min
Rest: 1 hr
Total: 1 hr 45 min
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: No chilli
Cost: Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

About

Lángos is a disc of yeast dough stretched by hand and deep-fried until puffed, blistered and brown at the edges, then rubbed with garlic, spread with sour cream and showered with grated cheese. The dough here is plain: flour, water, milk, yeast, salt and a spoon of oil, risen once, divided into eight and stretched to the size of a side plate, thinner in the middle than at the rim. It fries in a minute a side. Eat it at once with your hands and accept that they will smell of garlic for the afternoon.

What you'll need

10 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 10 ready

8 servings

Dough
Ingredients
Topping

Ingredients

Servings

Dough

Wheat flour, plain or bread flour500 g
Water, lukewarm150 ml
Milk, lukewarm150 ml
Yeast, instant dried7 g
Sugar4.9 ml
Salt7.4 ml

Ingredients

Neutral oil, for frying, plus 1 tbsp in the dough1 l

Topping

Garlic, crushed into 4 tbsp water with a pinch of salt4 clove
Sour cream300 g
Melting cheese, Trappista if you can find it, otherwise a mild semi-hard cheese, grated200 g

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Mix flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add water, milk and a tablespoon of oil and knead 8 minutes into a soft, slightly tacky dough. Cover and rise 1 hour until doubled.
70 min
Step 2
Divide into 8 balls on an oiled surface, cover and rest 15 minutes. Heat 5 cm of oil in a wide heavy pot to 180°C.
15 min180°C
Step 3
Stretch each ball with oiled hands to a 20 cm round, thin in the middle and thicker at the rim, like a pizza base. Lower into the oil away from you.
2 min
Watch: Oiled hands, not floured. Flour burns in the oil and turns it bitter.
Step 4
Fry 60 to 90 seconds a side until puffed and deep golden with darker blisters. Lift out with a spider and drain on paper. Repeat.
15 min
Step 5
While hot, brush each with garlic water, spread with sour cream and heap on grated cheese. Fold and eat.
2 min
Tip: Garlic first, while the bread is too hot to touch. It soaks in.

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 525 kcal
Protein: 13.8 g
Carbs: 52.6 g
Fat: 28.5 g
Saturated fat: 9.7 g
Fibre: 2 g
Sugar: 3.3 g
Sodium: 606 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Wheat
Milk

Vegetarian

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.

Substitutions

Sour cream and cheese → Just the garlic water and salt
The old way, and the cheapest. Still good.

Tips

Mashed potato worked into the dough, about 150 g, makes a softer, longer-keeping lángos. Common at Balaton.
The oil must be hot. Cool oil gives a greasy, flat lángos that soaks rather than puffs.

History & culture

Lake Balaton beach food, market hall food, fairground and bus station food. Eaten standing, folded, dripping. Toppings have multiplied to ham, sausage and ketchup, which is frowned on, but garlic, sour cream and cheese remains the correct order. At the Saturday market it is breakfast for people who were out late.

Originally a flat piece of bread dough baked at the mouth of the oven on bread day, the name coming from láng, flame. Frying in oil became standard in the 20th century, especially after the war when it was the cheapest hot stall food in the country. The sour cream and cheese topping was fixed by the 1960s.

Traditional

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Lángos take?

1 hr 45 min all in — 25 min prep, 20 min cook, 1 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 8 pieces. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Medium.

How spicy is it?

No chilli.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian.

8 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Mixing bowl, Dutch oven, Spider or strainer, Tongs.

How much salt do I put in?

The recipe lists Salt at 1½ tsp.

How much sugar?

1 tsp of Sugar.

What can I use instead?

Sour cream and cheese → Just the garlic water and salt. The old way, and the cheapest. Still good.

What should I watch for?

Oiled hands, not floured. Flour burns in the oil and turns it bitter.

Any tips from this recipe?

Mashed potato worked into the dough, about 150 g, makes a softer, longer-keeping lángos. Common at Balaton. The oil must be hot. Cool oil gives a greasy, flat lángos that soaks rather than puffs.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.