Svíčková

Name: Svíčková
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 915 min
Yield: 6 plates
Cuisine: Czech
Ingredients: 1 kg Beef, topside or rump, one piece; 100 g Bacon, cut into thick matchsticks for larding, or rashers to wrap; 2 large Carrot, chunks; 1 medium Parsnips, or parsley root, chunks; 2 stick Celery, or 150 g celeriac, chunks; 1 large Onion, quartered; 40 g Butter; 1 tbsp Neutral oil; 2 piece Bay leaf; 5 piece Allspice berries; 1 tsp Peppercorns; 1 tsp Thyme; 1 piece Lemon, zest and juice for the sauce, plus slices to serve; 2 tbsp Vinegar; 1 tbsp Sugar; 1 tsp Mustard; 400 ml Beef stock; 350 ml Cream, 250 ml for the sauce, 100 ml whipped to serve; 1 tbsp Wheat flour; 2 tsp Salt; 100 g Cranberry, cranberry compote or sauce, to serve; 500 g Wheat flour, plain or coarse 'hrubá' flour; 250 ml Milk, lukewarm; 7 g Yeast, instant dried; 1 piece Egg; 2 piece Bread rolls, stale, cut in 1 cm cubes; 1 tsp Salt

Svíčková na smetaně

Czech Sunday beef: roasted on root vegetables that become a smooth cream sauce, with bread dumplings, cranberries and whipped cream.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Svíčková na smetaně.

Start cooking

Prep: 45 min
Cook: 2 hr 30 min
Rest: 12 hr
Total: 15 hr 15 min
Difficulty: A bit of work
Spice: No chilli
Cost: Treat yourself$28+ USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

About

Svíčková is beef roasted on a bed of carrot, celeriac, parsley root and onion with bay, allspice and peppercorns, after which the vegetables are blended with cream into a smooth, faintly sweet-sour sauce. It comes with sliced bread dumplings, a spoon of cranberry compote, a slice of lemon and a blob of whipped cream, and yes, all of that on the same plate. The name means tenderloin, but almost everyone uses a cheaper roasting cut, and so does this version: topside, larded with bacon, marinated overnight with the vegetables, braised, then the sauce blended and the dumplings boiled while the meat rests. It is a long afternoon. It is worth it.

What you'll need

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

0 of 27 ready

6 servings

Beef and sauce
To serve
Bread dumplings

Ingredients

Servings

Beef and sauce

Beef, topside or rump, one piece1 kg
Bacon, cut into thick matchsticks for larding, or rashers to wrap100 g
Carrot, chunks2 large
Parsnips, or parsley root, chunks1 medium
Celery, or 150 g celeriac, chunks2 stick
Onion, quartered1 large
Butter40 g
Neutral oil15 ml
Bay leaf2
Allspice berries5
Peppercorns4.9 ml
Thyme4.9 ml
Lemon, zest and juice for the sauce, plus slices to serve1
Vinegar30 ml
Sugar15 ml
Mustard4.9 ml
Beef stock400 ml
Cream, 250 ml for the sauce, 100 ml whipped to serve350 ml
Wheat flour15 ml
Salt9.9 ml

To serve

Cranberry, cranberry compote or sauce, to serve100 g

Bread dumplings

Wheat flour, plain or coarse 'hrubá' flour500 g
Milk, lukewarm250 ml
Yeast, instant dried7 g
Egg1
Bread rolls, stale, cut in 1 cm cubes2
Salt4.9 ml

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

Steps

Step 1
The night before, poke the beef all over with a thin knife and push in the bacon sticks, or wrap it in the rashers. Put it in a bowl with the carrot, parsnip, celery, onion, bay, allspice, peppercorns, thyme, lemon zest and vinegar. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
20 min
Step 2
Heat the oven to 160°C. Lift the beef out, dry and salt it, and brown it all over in the oil and butter in a Dutch oven. Add the vegetables and spices from the marinade and fry 5 minutes, then pour in the stock, cover and braise 2 to 2.5 hours until tender.
150 min160°C
Step 3
Meanwhile make the dumpling dough: mix flour, yeast, salt, milk and egg into a soft dough, knead 5 minutes, fold in the bread cubes, cover and rise 45 minutes. Shape into two logs 7 cm thick and rise 15 minutes more.
70 min
Tip: Dust your hands, not the dough. Too much extra flour makes a heavy dumpling.
Step 4
Boil the dumpling logs in a wide pot of salted water, lid on, 20 minutes, turning once halfway. Lift out, prick a few times with a fork to let the steam go, and slice 1.5 cm thick with a thread or a sharp knife.
25 min
Step 5
Take the beef out to rest. Discard the bay leaves and pick out the allspice if you can find it. Blend the vegetables and liquid smooth, return to the pot with the cream, mustard, sugar, lemon juice and a slurry of the flour in a little water. Simmer 10 minutes and season until it tastes sweet, sour and savoury in that order.
15 min
Watch: A whole allspice berry in the blender tastes like a clove factory. Fish them out.
Step 6
Whip the remaining cream. Slice the beef thin, lay two slices on each plate, pour over sauce, add three dumpling slices, a spoon of cranberries, a slice of lemon and a spoon of whipped cream on top.
10 min

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 1201 kcal
Protein: 64.2 g
Carbs: 95.2 g
Fat: 60.1 g
Saturated fat: 29.4 g
Fibre: 5.6 g
Sugar: 11.6 g
Sodium: 1449 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.

Milk
Wheat
Eggs

Nut-free

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

Homemade bread dumplings → Thick slices of a plain white baguette, steamed 5 minutes
An emergency measure that Czech students know well.

Tips

The sauce should be smooth as velvet and the colour of milky coffee. Pass it through a sieve after blending if your blender is not up to it.
Day two svíčková is better, and leftover dumpling slices fry well in butter with egg.
Hrubá mouka, the coarse Czech flour, gives a lighter dumpling. Semolina mixed half and half with plain flour gets close.

History & culture

The Czech Sunday lunch, the wedding dish and the plate Czechs abroad describe when they are homesick. Pubs serve it every day; family versions are compared, ranked and defended. The cranberries and cream are not optional in most eyes. Whether the lemon slice is to be eaten or merely looked at remains unsettled.

A Bohemian development of the root-vegetable cream sauces of Austro-Hungarian cooking. An early form appears in Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová's 1826 cookbook. The tenderloin of the name was for the well-off; the rest of the country used whatever beef it could afford and kept the name anyway.

Traditional — Topside stands in for tenderloin, as it does in most Czech homes. Parsnip stands in for parsley root and celery for celeriac where you cannot get them; the sauce is a little sweeter for it.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

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

How long does Svíčková take?

15 hr 15 min all in — 45 min prep, 2 hr 30 min cook, 12 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 6 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

A bit of work.

How spicy is it?

No chilli.

What allergens should I watch?

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

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Nut-free.

10 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Treat yourself — about $28+ USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Dutch oven, Oven, Blender, Stockpot, Mixing bowl, Chef's knife.

How much salt do I put in?

The recipe lists Salt at 2 tsp.

How much vinegar?

2 tbsp of Vinegar.

How much sugar?

1 tbsp of Sugar.

What can I use instead?

Homemade bread dumplings → Thick slices of a plain white baguette, steamed 5 minutes. An emergency measure that Czech students know well.

What should I watch for?

A whole allspice berry in the blender tastes like a clove factory. Fish them out.

Any tips from this recipe?

The sauce should be smooth as velvet and the colour of milky coffee. Pass it through a sieve after blending if your blender is not up to it. Day two svíčková is better, and leftover dumpling slices fry well in butter with egg. Hrubá mouka, the coarse Czech flour, gives a lighter dumpling. Semolina mixed half and half with plain flour gets close.

Can I prepare this ahead?

Day two svíčková is better, and leftover dumpling slices fry well in butter with egg. The night before, poke the beef all over with a thin knife and push in the bacon sticks, or wrap it in the rashers. Put it in a bowl with the carrot, parsnip, celery, onion, bay, allspice, peppercorns, thyme, lemon zest and vinegar. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Can I use an air fryer?

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