Oven-Baked Potato Babka with Minced Meat
Made from simple ingredients, for the whole family, and perfect for dinner! Potato babka is a traditional Belarusian dish. It is made on the same principle as potato pancakes, only in a larger portion and baked in the oven. The most aromatic version is made in a country oven, but it also turns out very tasty in a regular oven.
Updated : 05 May, 2026
Easy
About 45 min.
Ingredients
1 kilograms
Potato
450 grams
Ground meat
2
Onion
2
Garlic
1
Eggs
1 tablespoon
Wheat flour
20 grams
Butter
2 tablespoon
Vegetable oil
to taste
Salt
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
How do you make oven-baked potato babka with minced meat? Prepare all the ingredients. This recipe uses pork mince, but you can replace it with chicken or beef mince. Use a large egg. I used a ceramic baking dish measuring 20 × 15.5 cm, about 8 × 6 inches.
Step 2
First prepare the meat filling. How do you make the filling? Peel 1 onion and the garlic. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat it. Sauté the diced onion for 4 minutes over low heat. Then add the minced garlic and sauté everything together for 1 more minute so the garlic releases its aroma. Do not brown the vegetables too much.
Step 3
Add the mince to the pan with the softened vegetables and, breaking up any lumps, cook the meat until it loses its red color. Salt the meat filling while frying. When the filling is ready, remove the pan from the heat and set it aside until it is time to assemble the potato babka.
Step 4
Now start preparing the potato base. Wash the potatoes, peel them, peel the onion as well, and rinse it. Please note that the recipe gives the weight of the potatoes after peeling.
Step 5
Cut the potatoes and onion into several pieces so they fit through a meat grinder. Using a fine grinding plate, pass the vegetables through the grinder. If you do not have a grinder, grate the vegetables on the finest grater instead. In that case, it is better to grate the onion first, because it will keep the potatoes from darkening. Stir the potato mixture from time to time so the onion juice mixes evenly with the grated potatoes.
Step 6
Transfer the resulting mixture to a sieve and, pressing it with a spoon, squeeze out some of the juice. This will remove some of the excess starch from the dish. But do not overdo it, otherwise the potato babka may turn out too dry. Return the potato mixture to the bowl.
Step 7
Add the egg to the potato mixture, along with the flour and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly until you get a smooth mass.
Step 8
Prepare the baking dish. Using a pastry brush, thoroughly grease the bottom and sides of the dish with vegetable oil. You can use any baking vessel: a roasting pan, cast-iron pot, ceramic dish, baking tray, or even small pots. Put half of the potato mixture into the greased dish and smooth it out a little. Spread the meat filling as the next layer, distributing it evenly as well. Add the remaining potato mixture as the final layer. Smooth it out again carefully, without mixing the layers.
Step 9
Place thin slices of butter over the top of the potatoes. Put the dish with the potato babka into an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F) and bake for about 50-60 minutes. The time and temperature are approximate, so adjust to your oven. By this time, the mixture should set and turn golden.
Step 10
Remove the potato babka from the oven, cut it into portions, and serve it hot with sour cream.
Author note
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