Name: Polish Wild Mushroom Sauce (Sos Grzybowy)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 0.71 ounces dried wild mushrooms (any); 1 cup cold water; 1½ cups vegetable stock; 3 tablespoons all-purpose/plain flour (plus 2 tbsp cold water); 2 tablespoons sour cream; 2 tablespoons half-and-half/single cream; 2 teaspoons butter; 1 garlic clove (minced); Sea salt and pepper to taste

Jump to Recipe

Polish mushroom sauce is made using dried wild mushrooms, stock, flour and a small amount of cream as well as sour cream. It has a rich and delicious mushroom flavour, creamy consistency and not too many calories. Versatile and simple to make.

Close-up view of wild mushroom sauce in pot with spoon.

Traditional Polish mushroom sauce ('sos grzybowy' in Polish, pron. 'gzhy-BOH-vy') is made by cooking wild mushrooms in a creamy sauce for a rich, versatile side dish. Thanks to the combination of cream and sour cream it has a delicious, slightly tangy flavour and less fat than most wild mushroom sauce recipes.

Wild/forest mushrooms ('grzyby' in Polish) are a popular ingredient in East European cooking and an essential part of traditional Polish Christmas Eve meal (which includes mushroom soup and uszka mushroom dumplings). They are also often used to add depth of flavour to everyday dishes, such as barley soup or sauerkraut stew.

This creamy Polish-style mushroom sauce makes a delicious accompaniment to a variety of dishes including pasta, meat and poultry (see my recommendations at the bottom of the post).

How to prepare the mushrooms

Preparing dried forest mushrooms for Polish mushroom sauce is easy. Simply rinse then soak the mushrooms for 30 minutes to rehydrate them before cooking. Make sure you get rid of any grit, bits of grass etc. by gently rubbing the mushrooms with your fingertips (see Instructions for detail). Soaking the mushrooms in water softens them and reduces cooking time.

The mushroom water is full of flavour, which is used as the basis for the sauce so it is important not to discard it.

Polish mushroom sauce ingredients and substitutions

Wild mushrooms: You can use a selection of dried wild mushrooms or just porcini mushrooms.
Garlic: I used one clove for a hint of garlic, but you can use more for a more intense garlicky flavour.
Water: Used for soaking as well as cooking the mushrooms - it is important that you do not get rid of it after straining the mushrooms!
Vegetable stock.
Butter: Frying cooked wild mushrooms in a little butter enhances their flavour.
Flour: Used to thicken the sauce.
Sour cream: Add creaminess and a hint of acidity to the sauce (see also my sour cream sauce recipe).
Cream: Adds creaminess and a little sweetness. Use half-and-half/single cream or heavy cream if preferred.
Salt and pepper: add to taste. Use either white or black pepper.

Step-by-step recipe instructions

1. Rinse mushrooms: Place the mushrooms in a bowl, add a little water then rub the mushrooms with your fingertips to remove any grit. Change the water and repeat this process.

2. Soak mushrooms: Place the mushrooms in a saucepan, add 1 cup of fresh cold water and set aside to soak for 30 minutes.

3. Cook mushrooms: Cover and bring to the boil (using the water the mushrooms soaked in) then lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender and fully cooked. Remove from the heat and strain thoroughly reserving the water.

TIP: Some types of mushrooms may require longer cooking times.

4. Fry mushrooms: Finely chop the mushrooms. Melt the butter, add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat stirring often. Towards the end of cooking add the garlic. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Finely chopped wild mushrooms in pan with black spatula.

5. Make sauce: In a saucepan combine the stock and mushroom water and bring to the boil. Meanwhile whisk together the flour, cold water, cream and sour cream until perfectly smooth. Add 3 tablespoons of the hot stock mixture whisking in after every addition. Then pour the mixture into the saucepan whisking in until thoroughly incorporated.

6. Add mushrooms: Add the mushrooms and continue cooking the sauce until it starts bubbling then lower the heat and cook for 2 minutes or so whisking often. Remove from the heat, season to taste and serve.

Creamy sauce with finely chopped wild mushrooms in pan with whisk.

Serving suggestions

Polish-style wild mushroom sauce is extremely versatile and can be used in many different ways. Examples include:

Over pasta: Enjoy with linguine, tagliatelle or pappardelle pasta. Add some of the pasta water to loosen the consistency, if required.
With meat: such as pork chops, pan-fried chicken or turkey.
With cabbage rolls: perfect to pour over Polish stuffed cabbage, turkey as well as sauerkraut cabbage rolls.
With meatballs: or Polish kotlety.
With potato dishes: such as potato dumplings, Polish potato pancakes or potato zucchini fritters.

How to adjust the consistency

You can adjust the consistency of traditional Polish grzybowy sauce depending on how you'd like to serve it. To loosen the consistency you can either add a little water or stock once the sauce is cooked or use less flour.

You can also thicken the sauce once it's cooked. Simply dissolve another tablespoon of flour in 1-2 tablespoons of cold water, then add to the sauce as it's cooking as in Step 5 above (not forgetting to temper the mixture with a small amount of the hot sauce).

Optional add-ins

Pinch of dried thyme or rosemary
Freshly chopped parsley (2 tablespoons), added towards the end of cooking or for serving

Top tips

Clean the dried mushrooms thoroughly before soaking and cooking.
You can prepare the mushrooms in advance, cover and refrigerate overnight and make the sauce the following day.
Make sure the flour mixture is perfectly smooth before adding into the sauce.
Best served hot.
Storing: Once cooled this creamy Polish mushroom sauce can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 4 days. It will thicken as it cools so you may need to add a splash of water (and adjust the seasoning) to loosen the consistency when reheating it.
Freezing: Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

More Polish mushroom recipes to try next

See also these other traditional Polish dishes as well as more easy, delicious side recipes!

Recipe

Keep in touch!

If you make this traditional Polish mushroom sauce recipe I'd love to know how it turned out and how you served it. Let me know in the comments below, thanks:)

Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for regular recipe updates! Or you could subscribe to this blog and receive all my latest recipes right into your mailbox!

Polish Wild Mushroom Sauce (Sos Grzybowy)