Easter Delicacies in Ljubljana

Many of Ljubljana’s restaurants, bakeries, cafés, and patisseries have added special Easter dishes and packages to their offerings in the lead-up to the big holiday. These treats can enrich your Easter table and make your at-home celebration even tastier and more festive.

A dark table with the whole potica cake dessert and a potica cake sliced on a platter.

Easter is just around the corner, and in Slovenia, an essential part of the celebration is the traditional Easter breakfast. This includes bread, dyed hard-boiled eggs (known as ‘pirhi’), horseradish, ham, and ‘potica’ (a traditional rolled pastry). On Easter Sunday, marking the end of the 40-day Lent period, families gather around a richly set table, with each dish carrying a symbolic meaning according to Christian tradition. The Easter feast is one of the best-preserved culinary customs in Slovenia.

However, influenced by global trends, specialties from other countries are increasingly finding their way into Easter baskets and onto the table.

Easter ham

The Ljubljana branch of the renowned Prekmurje-based ham producer Kodila, Kodila Gourmet & Bistro can be found under the arcades at the central Ljubljana market and in Hall A of the BTC shopping centre. They offer a variety of Easter meat packages and will even bake a ham in dough for you upon request. The latter can also be ordered at Lana’s Corner on Nazorjeva Street or as part of an Easter package from Kulinarični študio Ljubljana on Poljanska Street or Gostilna Mihovec from Pirniče.

Potica – The Queen of the Slovenian Easter Table

If you're short on time or confidence to bake your own “potica” you can place orders with many of Ljubljana’s expert bakers. As in previous years, Hotel Slon will have a stand on Čopova Street before Easter, featuring their famous walnut ‘potica’. You can also order various flavours and sizes of ‘potica’ from:

- Zvezda Ljubljana: walnut, almond, hazelnut, pistachio, poppy seed, chocolate, tarragon, and vegan walnut filling

- LePotica: 400 grams and 1 kg poticas in walnut, hazelnut, poppy seed, tarragon, chocolate, and hazelnut with chocolate flavours. For those wanting to learn something new this Easter, the Le Potica team has prepared a special potica and beer pairing guide in collaboration with Pelicon Brewery from Ajdovščina.

- Hiša Jerin: tarragon and walnut poticas in various sizes, including an almost 3 kg giant potica for larger families

- TaBar: limited edition walnut, poppy seed and tarragon potica available to order

- Cojzla: pre-made gluten-free potica mix with sourdough starter for home baking

- Gostilna Mihovec: walnut and tarragon

Colomba – The Traditional Cake of Our Western Neighbors

You could say that for Italians, ‘Colomba di Pasqua’ is what ‘potica’ is for Slovenians. This cake, similar to the Christmas ‘panettone’, is shaped like a dove for Easter. Anyone looking to add a touch of international flair to this year’s celebrations can order juicy, fluffy, and soft colomba from:

- Fetiché Patisserie

- Raw Pasta

- Loison Panettone