A Taste of Croatia – Must-Try Croatian Food Products

A Culinary Journey to Croatia

If Croatia food is still a mystery to you, then you’re in for a treat. Because of our unique geography, Croatians have adopted recipes from various culinary traditions.

All our favorite meals are an eclectic mix of central European, Mediterranean, and Oriental food influences. This bounty of flavors sings in unison on every plate, served at home or in a restaurant.

Let’s break down some unique flavors and ingredients region by region.

Croatia Food on the Continent

Croatian food on the continent is hearty, filling, and full of deep, earthy aromas.

You will recognize an Austro-Hungarian flair in and around Zagreb and in Eastern Croatia. Roast meat with homemade pasta or potatoes, ancient grains such as buckwheat and barley, and plenty of mushrooms. Desserts are semi-sweet but what they lack in sugar content they make up in dairy richness.

In this part of Croatia, you will get acquainted with cottage cheese and sour cream, our cooking and baking staples. The healthiest oil here is cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil, whose dark green verges on black. This is why the locals call it ‘the black gold’: črno zlato.

Croatia Food on the Coast

Croatia food along the coast is heavily influenced by Italian cuisine. It’s the best place to be if you love the Mediterranean diet.

Meals are light, fresh seafood is abundant, and vegetables are incredibly aromatic. The health factor rises further when the locals apply a unique cooking technique called ‘na lešo’. This means boiling and seasoning with olive oil.

You might think that boiled food is bland. But when you try our blitva na lešo, seasoned with fragrant olive oil, garlic, and parsley, you’ll think your taste buds have arrived in heaven. Your body will feel young and full of bounce.

Desserts on the coast burst with energy and goodness. Most are made with local almonds, dried figs, heaps of citrus flavor, and seductive wild herbs.

Now, let’s add some Oriental elements to all this richness. Think ajvar, sarma, or ćevapi - the dishes that we adopted and adapted from the Ottoman times - and you get the fantastic spread of Croatia food.

Here are some of the best Croatian food products that illustrate our cuisine.

Our Croatia Food Box

Before I introduce you to my favorite pantry staples, I want to tell you the story of our Croatian Food Boxes.

My husband Nik and I are passionate about homemade organic food. We always buy our fruit and veggies from small-scale farmers who keep their production as authentic as possible.

Unfortunately, it’s getting increasingly difficult to find such products in supermarkets. They can’t compete with the prices of mass-produced food, so they get very little visibility.

We wanted to show our support and appreciation to these honest farmers. So, we designed Croatian Food Boxes with nine unique Croatian food products.

Everything you’ll find inside is produced by small, family-run farmsteads from all across Croatia. These farmers grow their food organically and use recipes that celebrate our traditional food. We selected the top seven to give you the taste of the entire Croatia: from Dalmatia and the islands, Zagreb, and Zagorje to other continental areas.

Croatian food products inside our boxes may be slightly more expensive. But they are healthier, and the taste and flavor are so supreme that you feel you are eating your Mama's food.

Most of all, by making the boxes available in our shop, we support slow food that uses traditional techniques without cutting corners.

Check out our Croatian Food Boxes!

Savory Spreads and Condiments

Here is the list of Croatian food products in our boxes. I always keep them in my pantry because I love to cook with them and share them with guests.

Ajvar - The Smoky Magic of Roasted Peppers

Ajvar is a red pepper and eggplant relish that almost everyone in Croatia is crazy about. It’s made with roasted or grilled vegetables, ground and cooked into a thick spread.

The ajvar recipe came from Turkey, but we love it so much that we forget its origin. We call it ours. In fact, we use it in so many different ways that there is always a jar open in the fridge.

Here are some ideas on how to eat ajvar. Spread it on a slice of thick rustic bread and enjoy it as a light dinner. Spruce up your burger or a sandwich with a dollop of ajvar. Finally, serve it as a relish with grilled meat. Hello summer barbecue! A little trick: you can deepen the flavor of any stew by adding a spoonful of ajvar to the pot.

If you aren’t ready to make your ajvar (find the recipe here), enjoy the one from our box. Domaći Ajvar Ljuti is the award-winning ajvar made at the farmstead of Mirjana Zorko. She grows vegetables in the fields next to the Lonjsko Polje nature park, where nature is lush and unspoiled.

I love this ajvar because it’s extra creamy with a great smokey kick. This is how I make my own at home - a genuine artisanal product.

Salted Anchovies - A Salty Hit for Seafood Lovers

Salted anchovies are one of the star ingredients in Croatia food. The tradition of preserving fish in oil has deep roots along the coast. Each anchovy was fileted by hand, dressed with salt, and packed in jars with oil. This was the way to make the abundance last all year round.

Salted fish is a proper bomb of a flavor. Whatever anchovies recipe you are considering, you only need a small amount of this sea goodness.

Use them on a pizza or in the filling of a more traditional Croatian flatbread, such as Viška pogača. Arrange them on cocktail pick with olives and cheese to make a great starter. Or lay a few filets on a slice of bread for a tasty dinner.

This jar of salted anchovies is made by Adria Fishing Collective from Tribunj, near Šibenik. They support local fishermen and nurture traditional techniques of preserving seafood. Their anchovies are hand-filleted and jarred.

Dried Oregano - The Essence of the Mediterranean

Wild aromatic herbs are an essential part of Mediterranean cuisine. And one of the reasons why this diet ranks the healthiest in the world.

Wild herbs don’t just improve the taste; they have medicinal benefits. This is especially true for the plants that grow in their natural environment, unassisted by us.

Did you know when Mediterranean herbs struggle to grow, they develop more essence in their leaves? Such is this wild oregano that grows from the rocky, almost unfriendly soil on the sun-kissed Hvar island. Its effort to survive with little water makes it taste like drops from heaven.

Infuse your pizza with the soul of Dalmatia. Or add it in tomato-based sauces and salsas. Hearty meat stews with a hint of this oregano will make you stand out as a chef.

This little box of dried oregano is produced by Fjori Fora from Hvar. They specialize in Mediterranean spices, keeping all their herbs naturally organic.

Herbed Almonds - A Crunchy and Flavorful Snack

Almond trees grow best in the Mediterranean climate. In Dalmatia, almost every house has an almond tree in the yard. If you traveled there in early spring, the sight of almond blossoms would take your breath away.

Most Croatian desserts from the coast feature almonds because a single tree gives enough fruit to enjoy throughout the year. The most lavish Dalmatian cakes feature almonds, such as Rapska torta or Imotska torta, both made for special occasions.

Dalmatians also eat almonds as a snack to stay healthy. Sugared almonds are a local delicacy. But these herbed almonds are something else. They are roasted in olive oil and spiced with rosemary, thyme, and salt so you can daydream of the Croatian coast whenever you feel nostalgic.

Eat them as a snack or welcome your guests with a platter of cheese, figs, and these herbed almonds. Why not chop them up and sprinkle your salads?

This bag is produced by Gešenk, whose mission is to create healthy and original Croatian snacks. Their name means a present in the local dialect. It’s a hint about using their products: get them as gifts so you don’t visit friends empty-handed.

Sweet and Savory Spreads

Bread is a central ingredient in Croatia food. We eat it with almost every meal, even when pasta or potatoes are part of the main course. But we mostly enjoy slices of bread with various spreads for breakfast and dinner. Here are my top choices.

Plum Marmalade - A Croatian Breakfast Staple

Of all the fruit jams and marmalade, the thick and dense one made from plums is our daily go-to choice.

You can spread plum marmalade on a buttered slice of bread. But if you want to go the Croatian way, use this glorious marmalade on your pancakes. Never run out of it because this is also the staple in Croatian baking.

Imagine those fluffy doughnuts oozing with plum marmalade as you bite into them. If you’re making plum dumplings when the fruit is out of season, stuff the dumplings with plum marmalade. Whenever a cake or a biscuit calls for a fruit preserve, let this plum marmalade be your best friend.

The best thing about it is that it’s never too sweet. Plums have a high ratio of pectin, so it takes little sugar to cook them down into a thick texture that keeps well in the jar.

Did you know that you can pair plum marmalade with cheese and biscuits?

Pekmez od šljiva, made by the Veselić farmstead, follows the traditional recipe. They cook plums for a long time until the marmalade turns deep purple and gloriously thick. Their fruit is organically grown, and only a tiny amount of sugar is used in the process.

Pumpkinseed Oil - Nutty Goodness with a Health Halo

Pumpkinseed oil is among the most prized ingredients in continental Croatia. Those who grew up with it are hooked on its deep, nutty flavor, but everyone should consume it for its incredible medicinal benefits.

Studies have shown that pumpkin seed oil improves heart health by reducing cholesterol and high blood pressure. It also helps maintain a healthy bladder and urinary tract.

Croatian pumpkinseed oil is cold pressed and always used as seasoning. We never cook with it. The best way to introduce it to your diet is to season your salads with it or add it to a soft cheese spread. Think Croatian cottage cheese with a few drops of this ‘black gold’ and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.

As a special treat, you can drizzle some pumpkinseed oil over a vanilla ice cream. This one is a true winner.

This award-winning bottle comes from Varaždin, where pumpkins are ecologically grown. The Petrović farmstead has won several gold medals for its exquisite cold-pressed oil.

Spicy Accents

Compared to Thai or Indian cuisines, Croatia food is not too spicy. When we say something is hot, expect a mild spiciness, just enough to make your face flush a bit.

Horseradish Relish - Adding a Kick to Traditional Dishes

Aside from the spicy ajvar, this horseradish relish belongs to this category, too. It’s aromatic, slightly tangy, and has a peppery kick that clears away your sinuses. Whenever you feel clogged up, expect a sudden relief after a spoonful of hren (horseradish).

We eat horseradish in the winter to keep warm and in the spring to wake up from the slumber. The best way to eat hren is to grate it, season it with salt and a touch of vinegar, and, optionally, stir in some sour cream. Use this relish to spice up your meat dishes.

For example, meat cooked in a soup is often served with a dollop of horseradish relish. Let this be your warm starter. In Slavonia, it’s common to add a spoonful of hren to sarma. The moment I tried this combo, I was hooked. Try it!

In Croatia, horseradish relish also comes in jars. This one is made by Smid, a farmstead specializing in organic superfoods. Their relish combines horseradish, apples, ginger, and other warm spices. Delicious.

Elevate Your Cooking with Croatian Flavors

There are two reasons why I am in love with the Croatian food products I listed above. First, they reflect the tastes and flavors of the entire country. You can enjoy the bold, earthy, and spicy continental aromas. Then, lighten them up with fragrant and seductive notes of the Adriatic.

Also, each product follows a traditional recipe that is homemade by a small local farmer.

The second reason has to do with cooking. All the items are so potent, like a perfume with signature Croatian notes kept in a small jar. You only need a pinch to take your food to the next level.

Cooking with Croatian Food Products

Here are some recipes where you can use Croatian food products from our boxes:

Croatian pancakes: spread them with plum marmalade.

Croatian pogacha bread and ajvar. Enjoy slices of our rustic bread with this thick and creamy homemade ajvar.

Spice up your gulas with a sprinkle of wild oregano.

Add a few anchovy filets to the classic Croatian potato salad.

Cook our traditional clear beef soup with hand-cut noodles (rezanci). Serve the meat with the horseradish relish.

Browse more Croatian recipes.

Where to Find Croatian Food Products

Homemade Croatian food products are the best. If you were lucky to have your Mama or Baka make them from scratch, you know what I am talking about.

You will find all these items in Croatian supermarkets but the quality may disappoint you. All mass-produced food lacks that authentic intensity. Plus, it’s usually laden with preservatives and all kinds of E-numbers.

Artisanal homemade food is challenging to find, even for Croatian locals. These products are made on family-run farmsteads that we call OPG. Food is grown organically, and much of the work is done by hand. There are no cutting corners when creating these authentic recipes. This is why such Croatian food products cost more.

Where do you find it? Well, not in supermarkets. Look for them in specialty gourmet shops in big cities, such as Zagreb and Split. You will often find a good selection in gift and souvenir shops.

We cherry-picked the best of the best for our food box. So why not give it a try?