Štrukli

History

Štrukli is a specialty of the Zagorje region in northern Croatia, made from dough stretched by hand until paper-thin (a technique closely related to Austrian strudel), then rolled around creamy fresh cheese before being baked or poached in boiling water.

The dish exists in both savory versions (served as a starter or side) and sweet versions (as dessert, sometimes topped with fruit), making štrukli one of the rare Croatian dishes able to cover an entire meal; its dough-stretching technique, so thin it becomes nearly transparent, earned štrukli a place on Croatia’s list of intangible cultural heritage.

Ingredients — serves 4

• 300 g flour
• 1 egg
• 500 g fresh cheese (quark or drained cottage cheese)
• 2 eggs (for the filling)
• 200 ml sour cream
• Melted butter
• Salt

Štrukli, step by step

1. Make a pliable dough with the flour, egg, warm water and salt, then let it rest 30 minutes under a cloth.
2. Stretch the dough by hand over a large floured cloth until nearly transparent.
3. Mix the fresh cheese with the eggs, a little cream and salt for the filling.
4. Spread the filling over the stretched dough, then roll it up into a long log using the cloth.
5. Cut the log into pieces and arrange them in a buttered dish, then top with sour cream.
6. Bake in a hot oven until the top is golden, about 30 minutes.

Cooking method

Technique: hand-stretching the dough to near-transparency, a technique directly related to Viennese strudel.
Traditional equipment: a large floured cloth for stretching and rolling the dough, a traditional Zagorje oven.
Signs it’s ready: the dough should be thin enough to read text through it, without tearing when rolled.

Nutrition, per serving

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided by four servings.

A note on the technique: stretching the dough to near-transparency by hand, the skill that earned štrukli its intangible cultural heritage listing, doesn’t change its nutritional content — but it does change how much filling the dough can hold without tearing, which is part of why the dish reads as lighter in texture than its fat and calorie content might suggest.

Economic context

Flour, fresh cheese and eggs are inexpensive, everyday staples in northern Croatia’s Zagorje region, where štrukli is a working dish rather than a delicacy — its cost lies almost entirely in the hand-stretching time, not the ingredients.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Croatia generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

Who this dish suits

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