Mămăligă cu Brânză și Smântână — Polenta with Cheese and Sour Cream

Romanian Non Fasting Published April 21, 2026

Non-Fasting Recipe: This dish contains meat, dairy, or eggs and is intended for feast days and non-fasting periods.

The simplest Romanian peasant supper and also one of the most beloved — thick golden cornmeal polenta
topped with crumbled bryndza (sheep's milk cheese), a spoonful of smântână (thick sour cream), and an
optional fried egg. The trinity of mămăligă, cheese, and sour cream is the foundation of Romanian
rural cuisine.

FASTING LEVEL: Non-Fasting (cheese, sour cream, optional egg)

SERVINGS: 4
TIME: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
- 300 g coarse polenta (mălai) or medium-grind cornmeal
- 1.2 litres water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 30 g butter
- 300 g brânză de burduf or telemea (Romanian sheep's cheese) — or substitute feta
- 250 g thick smântână (Romanian sour cream) — or full-fat sour cream with a splash of cream whisked in
- 4 large eggs (optional but traditional)
- Butter for frying eggs

METHOD:
1. Bring water to a rolling boil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add salt.
2. Whisk polenta into the boiling water in a thin stream to prevent lumps. Reduce heat to low.
3. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 20-25 minutes. The mămăligă should be very thick — when the spoon pulls through, it should leave a trail. It will pull away from the sides of the pot.
4. Off heat, stir in butter.
5. If using eggs: fry in butter, sunny-side up, yolks soft.
6. To serve: invert the pot onto a wooden board (traditional) or spoon generous mounds into bowls. Top each portion with a generous crumble of cheese and a dollop of sour cream. If using, slide a fried egg on top.
7. Eat while hot — mămăligă cools fast.

NOTES:
- The cheese must be Romanian sheep's cheese or feta. A mild cheese will disappear into the polenta.
- Traditional serving: mămăligă is inverted from the pot onto a round wooden board at the centre of the table. Each diner takes a slice. Modern bowl service is more practical.
- This dish is pure poverty food that has become beloved — it was the daily food of Romanian shepherds and peasants for centuries. The ingredients are what they had; the pleasure is universal.
- Leftover mămăligă slices can be pan-fried in butter until crisp for a glorious breakfast the next morning.

NUTRITION (per serving with egg, approximate):
Calories: 520 | Protein: 22 g | Carbohydrates: 48 g | Fat: 28 g | Fibre: 3 g