Bigos (Polish hunter's stew)

Name: Bigos (Polish hunter's stew)
Prep time: 17 min
Cook time: 31 min
Total time: 48 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: 1 sliced White Cabbage; 250ml Beef Stock; 100g Mushrooms; 2 tablespoons Lard; 400g German Sausages; 250g Bacon; 2 chopped Onion; 750g Beef; 200g Prunes; 1 Bay Leaf; 2 Cloves; 12 Peppercorns; 4 Juniper Berries; 4 Allspice Berries; 90 ml Red Wine; 2 tablespoons Tomato Puree

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Beef recipe with Polish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 46 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 48 min total

1 sliced White Cabbage
250ml Beef Stock
100g Mushrooms
2 tablespoons Lard
400g German Sausages
250g Bacon
2 chopped Onion
750g Beef
200g Prunes
1 Bay Leaf
2 Cloves
12 Peppercorns
4 Juniper Berries
4 Allspice Berries
90 ml Red Wine
2 tablespoons Tomato Puree

Step-by-step instructions

Put the cabbage in a heavy casserole dish, add the stock and cook over a low heat for about 50 mins, until tender.
Cut the soaked mushrooms into strips and save the soaking water. Heat the lard and fry the sausages and bacon, then scoop out, leaving the fat in the pan. Fry the onion in the same pan for 5-8 mins until lightly browned.
Add the mushrooms and their liquid along with all the cooked meat, onions and prunes, then cover and cook for 20 mins. Add the spices, red wine and tomato purée and bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 1 hr. Season well and leave to cool. Will keep covered and chilled for up to two days. Bigos improves in flavour over a couple of days. Leave to cool first. Reheat until piping hot before serving.

Why this works on a weeknight

Bigos (Polish hunter's stew) lands at about 48 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Quick Soups & Stews collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Bigos (Polish hunter's stew) actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥣 Quick Soups & Stews Beef Polish