Lángos Are The Hungarian Street Food You Didn’t Know You Needed!
Craving something deep-fried? Lángos – also known as Hungarian fried bread – is definitely a snack you should try!
Made from deep-frying a yeasty dough, this Hungarian delight is then covered in a creamy garlic sauce and smothered in shredded cheese!
Lángos are the perfect warm and hearty snack that goes well when it’s cold out or when enjoying the big game!
Having Hungarian heritage, we really like to make this Lángos recipe.
We’re always looking forward to eating it when we are in Hungary, but there’s just something about a homemade hearty snack that can’t be beat.
And while Lángos might be Hungarian, similar fried breads are also enjoyed in Austria, the Czech Republic, and a number of other countries like Greece ad Turkey.
Recipe Tips
To make this langos recipe, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind before you begin:
- Make sure that your yeast hasn’t expired yet as this might prevent the dough from rising at all.
- We’re using instant dry yeast for this recipe, but you can also use active dry yeast. In that case, simply dissolve the yeast in the warm milk first and let it sit for around 10-15 minutes until you see the yeast starting to foam lightly.
- Use warm milk and water since you’re working with yeast. At the same time, you don’t want the milk or water to be hot (this might kill the yeast) – just lightly warm.
- Your dough doesn’t have to be perfectly round – Langos from the food trucks aren’t perfectly shaped, either!
- We suggest frying one side in the oil and then frying the other. This is how the Langos gets that curved shape that is more brown on the perimeter and lighter (but still cooked) in the center on one side. However, we also tried Langos where we flipped it more frequently and it also cooked evenly.
- Make sure to use an oil that has a relatively high smoke point. Two examples would be avocado oil and canola oil.
How to Make Lángos – Step by Step Instructions
If you want to make this Hungarian langos recipe, you can find the recipe card with exact measurements at the bottom of this post.
For those wanting to follow the recipe steps with process photos, you can find the recipe step by step photos in this section.
This way, you can have a look to see if what you are creating is similar to how we made our Hungarian fried dough.
First, add the flour, salt, and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Give everything a stir with a spoon.
Now add the dry instant yeast and the warm (not hot!) milk.
Mix everything together with the spiral dough hooks of your electric mixer while slowly adding in the warm (not hot!) water.
Keep mixing until the dough forms a ball and doesn’t stick to the side of the bowl anymore.
If the dough is very wet, add a little bit more flour. If it is too dry and crumbly, add a little bit more water.
Shape the dough into an even ball using your hands. Then place it back into the bowl and cover the bowl with a dishtowel or lid.
Place the covered bowl in a warm spot without a draft in your home and let the dough rise for approximately 60 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the toppings. For that, add the sour cream to a small bowl. Peel approximately 2 large garlic cloves or 3 smaller ones.
Crush them into the sour cream using a garlic press and mix them in with a spoon. If you don’t have a garlic press, you can also crush them with a fork.
Also, grate the cheese and place it in a small bowl as well. Cover the bowls with a lid or cling film and place them into the fridge until you need them later.
Once the 60 minutes are up and the dough has significantly increased in size, sprinkle a little bit of flour onto your countertop.
Briefly knead the dough, then rip or cut it into 6 pieces of equal size. Form these pieces into flat, round disks using your hands.
The outsides can be slightly thicker than the middle part – but that’s not a requirement. If it’s difficult to form the dough, cover your hands in a little bit of oil.
As mentioned, the pieces of dough don’t have to be perfectly round.
Heat approximately 2 cups of oil in a wide pot. Test if the oil is hot enough by placing a wooden spoon into the pot.
If there are small bubbles forming around the spoon, you know that the oil is hot enough.
Place one or more pieces of dough (depending on the size of your pot) into the hot oil and fry them on medium-low heat for around 3-4 minutes until golden brown.
Then flip them over and fry the other side for the same amount of time.
You’ll notice that the dough will expand quite a bit in the hot oil so don’t add too many Lángos at once to the pot – you want to give them enough space to fry freely in the oil.
Once the Lángos is fried golden brown on both sides and fully cooked, remove it from the oil using a straining spoon.
Place it onto a large plate lined with paper towels so that the excess oil can get soaked up. Repeat these steps until you have fried all the pieces of dough.
Spread the warm langos with the garlic sour cream, then sprinkle grated cheese on top. Enjoy!
Storage Tips
Lángos tastes definitely best served hot out of the oil.
If you have some leftovers that have cooled down, you can eat them cold but we’d recommend warming them up in the microwave for a few seconds (just keep in mind that it won’t be as crispy as when fresh).
In case you have an air fryer, you can also reheat it in the air fryer.
To store Lángos overnight, keep them in a sealed freezer bag or in a sealed container. They will be a little moist and definitely not as crispy as when they are fresh but you can still heat them to enjoy the next day.
FAQ
Lángos – or Hungarian fried bread – is a popular Hungarian street food. Lángos comes from láng meaning “flame” because the original version – credit to the Ottomans – was bread baked by an open fire.
Lángos is deep-fried dough – similar to a yeasty bun or pizza dough.
Lángos is commonly served hot and topped with a creamy garlic sauce and shredded cheese.
To make Lángos, simply create some yeast dough, let it rise, and then form it into disks and fry it in oil. For the complete recipe steps, you can check out the Lángos recipe card below.
Related Recipes
For more authentic Hungarian recipe, check out these classic dishes:
- Hungarian Stuffed Peppers – Delicious meat and rice stuffed peppers in a tomato sauce
- Chicken Paprikash – An authentic version of “paprika chicken” from a family recipe
- Hungarian Beef Stew – Marhapörkölt that goes great with egg noodles (Nokedli)
Lángos (Hungarian Fried Bread)
Ingredients
The Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
- 1/4 cup milk, warm
- 1/2 cup water, warm
For Frying
- 2 cups oil, approximately
The Topping
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- grated cheese
Instructions
- Add the flour, salt, and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Give everything a stir with a spoon.
- Now add the dry instant yeast and the warm (not hot!) milk.
- Mix everything together with the spiral dough hooks of your electric mixer while slowly adding in the warm (not hot!) water.
- Keep mixing until the dough forms a ball and doesn’t stick to the side of the bowl anymore. If the dough is very wet, add a little bit more flour. If it is too dry and crumbly, add a little bit more water.
- Shape the dough into an even ball using your hands. Then place it back into the bowl and cover the bowl with a dishtowel or lid. Place the covered bowl in a warm spot without a draft in your home and let the dough rise for approximately 60 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the toppings. For that, add the sour cream to a small bowl. Peel approximately 2 large garlic cloves or 3 smaller ones. Crush them into the sour cream using a garlic press and mix them in with a spoon. If you don’t have a garlic press, you can also crush them with a fork. Also, grate the cheese and place it in a small bowl as well. Cover the bowls with a lid or cling film and place them into the fridge until you need them later.
- Once the 60 minutes are up and the dough has significantly increased in size, sprinkle a little bit of flour onto your countertop. Briefly knead the dough, then rip or cut it into 6 pieces of equal size. Form these pieces into flat, round disks using your hands. The outsides can be slightly thicker than the middle part – but that’s not a requirement. If it’s difficult to form the dough, cover your hands in a little bit of oil.
- Heat approximately 2 cups of oil in a wide pot. Test if the oil is hot enough by placing a wooden spoon into the pot. If there are small bubbles forming around the spoon, you know that the oil is hot enough.
- Place some of the pieces of dough into the hot oil and fry them on medium-low heat for around 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Then flip them over and fry the other side for the same amount of time. You’ll notice that the dough will expand quite a bit in the hot oil so don’t add too many Lángos at once to the pot – you want to give them enough space to fry freely in the oil.
- Once the Lángos is fried golden brown on both sides and fully cooked, remove it from the oil using a straining spoon. Place it onto a large plate lined with paper towels so that the excess oil can get soaked up. Repeat these steps until you have fried all the pieces of dough.
- Spread the warm Lángos with the sour cream, then sprinkle grated cheese on top and enjoy!
Notes
- Be sure that your milk is warm and not hot or else the heat might kill the yeast and your dough may not rise in the bowl before baking
- The raw dough disks don’t have to be shaped perfectly. Just be careful not to rip the dough in the middle where it generally gets the thinnest.
- Make sure that the oil is not too hot when frying the bread. You don’t want the outside to get too brown too quickly while the inside is still uncooked.
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
Thank you for this! My husband is Hungarian and is going with his best friend in May. I’d like to send them off with Lángos!
Can the dough be made ahead of time and frozen?
I haven’t tried it, but you should be able to. Just make sure to let the dough rise first, then you could freeze it as one big ball, but I would recommend dividing the dough into 6 smaller pieces, shaping them into balls, and then freezing them. That way they will thaw more quickly. Also, make sure the dough is completely thawed before using it later.
I bought this dough frozen in balls from lidl
Mine were a bit doughy. Was my dough too moist, didn’t rise it enough.
Hi Andrew, it’s hard to say without knowing exactly what your dough looked like. It’s possible that your dough hasn’t risen enough (sometimes it can take more than an hour for it to rise). Another possibility is that the round pieces of dough you formed were a little too thick and didn’t fry properly, or that the oil for frying was too hot (the outside of the langos became crispy before the inside was fully cooked). Maybe this will help you with your troubleshooting! /Lisa
Haven’t tried it, but would prefer to either bake or air fry it – any tips?
I haven’t made Langos in the air fryer yet but it should work. I would spray them with some oil spray (or use a brush to brush some on, maybe around 1/2 – 1 teaspoon per langos) and then air fry them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. It should take maybe between 5-7 minutes but keep an eye on them since I’m just guessing here! Also make sure to not overlap the langos in the air fryer so that they can cook and brown evenly – you’ll probably have to cook them in batches. I hope that helps, let me know if you try it! /Lisa
No
This recipe is 5 Star!!
Delicious! Nagyon jo!