A light, glossy stew of bell peppers, tomatoes and onions cooked slowly in oil until jammy and sweet. A summer staple in eastern Croatia, it is served warm or cold as a side, a sauce, or a simple supper with eggs.
Sataraš is popular across eastern Croatia, especially the Baranja and Slavonia regions along the Hungarian border, and is also eaten in Bosnia and Serbia. Its name is thought to come from a word for a chopping cleaver (cognate with Turkish satır), a nod to the way all the vegetables are diced small. Peppers and tomatoes themselves reached the region via the Ottomans before spreading north into Hungary, making the dish a close relative of Hungarian lecsó and reflecting the shared Pannonian, Central European and Balkan roots of the region's cooking.
Sweet, soft peppers melt into a tangy tomato base that has cooked down to a silky, almost jam-like richness. Slow-sweated onions add a mellow backbone. Bright yet comforting, it tastes of high summer in a pan.
Gentle stewing drives off water and concentrates the natural sugars in peppers and tomatoes, deepening sweetness and colour. Cooking the onions low and slow develops mellow flavour without harsh sharpness.
Variations
with eggs stirred in, simmered with rice as a quick đuveč, spicier with hot paprika, with smoked sausage added
On the Palate
Where Sataraš Croatian sits in the Croatian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 110 min
Slice onions and saute them slowly in oil until soft and golden.
Watch outCook the onions low and slow to soft and golden — no color rush; that mellow base sets the whole dish's sweetness.
- 28 min
Add sliced bell peppers and cook until they begin to collapse.
- 33 min
Stir in chopped tomatoes and a pinch of sugar and salt.
- 42 min
Lower the heat and let everything stew gently, stirring now and then.
- 512 min
Cook until the vegetables are very soft and the liquid has reduced to a jammy sauce.
Watch outKeep stewing until the peppers slump and the liquid cooks down to a jammy, glossy sauce — watery here means it never concentrated.
- 62 min
Season with salt, pepper and a little paprika.
- 75 min
For a heartier dish, crack in eggs and let them set in the stew.
Watch outSlide the eggs into hollows in the stew and pull off the heat while the yolks still jiggle — carryover heat firms them; overcooked, they go chalky.
- 83 min
Serve warm or at room temperature with bread.
