- Season
- Available all year round; it is a shelf-stable milled product, not a seasonal crop.
- Price
- Low
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 365 kcal
- 11.7 g protein
- 1.6 g fat
- 73.8 g carbs
Coarse Wheat Semolina
Pantry staples
Coarse Wheat Semolina
Krupice pšeničná hrubá is coarse wheat semolina from Czech flour mills. It is made from ordinary food wheat, not durum, and is sold in 0.5–1 kg bags next to hladká, polohrubá and hrubá mouka for semolina dumplings, soup noky and semolina porridge.
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Keep it closed in a cool, dry, well-ventilated cupboard, away from strong-smelling foods, because it picks up odours. Producers specify relative humidity no higher than 75 %. Once opened, move it into an airtight jar or tin to keep out moisture and pantry moths. Use it by the best-before date on the pack, usually several months.
- In the fridge
Not needed and generally not recommended. Moving it in and out of the fridge can cause condensation and clumping.
- In the freezer
Optional. Freezing an opened pack at −18 °C for at least 3–4 days, ideally a week, is a common household way to deal with suspected pantry-moth eggs. Let it come back to room temperature in a closed container before opening, so no moisture condenses on it.
How to choose
Look for 'Pšeničná krupice hrubá' or 'Krupice pšeničná hrubá' on the bag. Czech mills such as Český Mlynář, Ramill, Kojetínská mouka and Pekárkova mouka sell it, along with supermarket own brands. Choose by grain size for the recipe. Hrubá krupice suits dumplings, noky, soup dumplings and porridge you cook on the hob. Jemná krupice, especially 'dětská krupička', is much finer and stirs into milk almost instantly. Use that one for quick children's porridge or when a recipe asks for it. Do not buy 'semolina' or 'semola di grano duro' from the Italian shelf and expect the same results. Durum semolina is harder, more yellow and absorbs liquid differently. Check the best-before date. Packs should be dry and free-flowing, with no clumps, webbing or musty smell.
What to swap in
Best swap
Jemná pšeničná krupice (fine wheat semolina). It is the same soft-wheat product ground finer. It works well in porridge and noky, but it thickens faster, so use slightly less or add more liquid.
In a pinch
Hrubá or polohrubá pšeničná mouka for dumplings, which gives a softer, denser texture. For porridge, fine durum semolina or rice semolina (rýžová krupice) can stand in. Rice semolina is gluten-free but behaves differently.
Preparation
Coarse semolina always needs cooking. Like flour, it is a raw cereal product and should not be eaten uncooked. For krupicová kaše, sprinkle it slowly into hot milk while whisking, so it does not form lumps. Then simmer gently, stirring, until it thickens. Coarse semolina needs a few minutes longer than fine dětská krupička. Serve it with butter, sugar, cocoa or grated gingerbread. For soup noky or knedlíčky, beat butter or egg with salt, mix in semolina to a soft paste and let it rest 10–20 minutes so the grains swell. Shape small portions with a teaspoon and simmer them in broth until they float and are cooked through. They roughly double in size. For larger krupicové knedlíky, coarse semolina is mixed with milk, egg and diced stale bread rolls, shaped into rolls and boiled.
Don't toss it
Use up stale rohlíky or housky in krupicové knedlíky: cube the bread and bind it with semolina, egg and milk. Turn leftover krupicová kaše into a baked krupicový nákyp with egg and fruit. Or chill it in a dish, slice it and fry it in butter.
In the kitchen
Cooking
Simmering in milk (krupicová kaše), poaching in broth (krupicové noky and knedlíčky), boiling (krupicové knedlíky), baking (krupicový nákyp, puddings and bakes), and as a binder in potato dough, halušky dough and pancakes. Recipes also use it to thicken soups.
Goes well with
- Milk
- Butter
- Egg
- Beef Broth
- Chicken Broth
- Sugar
- Cocoa
- Cinnamon
- Gingerbread
- Nutmeg
- Parsley
- Chives
- Stale Bread Rolls
- Fruit Compote
What it is
Krupice pšeničná hrubá is coarse wheat semolina from Czech flour mills. It is made from ordinary food wheat, not durum, and is sold in 0.5–1 kg bags next to hladká, polohrubá and hrubá mouka for semolina dumplings, soup noky and semolina porridge. Czech food law (vyhláška 18/2020 Sb.) defines krupice as a milled cereal product made in the first stage of grinding, as coarser grains with the husk removed. It comes in two grades, hrubá (coarse) and jemná (fine). For coarse wheat semolina the rules set a granulation of at least 96 % passing an 853 µm sieve and no more than 15 % passing a 446 µm sieve. That means most grains are roughly 0.45–0.85 mm. Ash content may be at most 0.50 % of dry matter and moisture at most 15 %. Nothing else is added: the product is simply milled wheat. It is not Italian semola or durum semolina. Czech mills make krupice mainly from soft (common) wheat, so it is pale cream to light yellowish rather than amber, and it is meant for dumplings and porridge, not pasta.
How it tastes
Mild, clean and gently wheaty with a faint natural sweetness. Raw, it feels gritty and sandy. When cooked in milk it turns smooth and creamy but keeps a fine grain. In dumplings and noky it takes up broth, butter and egg, so it tastes of whatever it is cooked with.
Common questions
Is Czech hrubá krupice the same as Italian semolina?
What is the difference between hrubá krupice and dětská krupička?
Can I make krupicová kaše with coarse semolina?
Is wheat semolina gluten-free?
Can I eat raw semolina?
How should I store krupice?
Deep dive
2 min read
Varieties
Hrubá krupice (coarse semolina)
– this item. It is the coarsest grade, mostly 0.45–0.85 mm, and is used for dumplings, noky and porridge cooked on the hob.
Jemná krupice and dětská krupička (fine semolina)
– the same soft-wheat product ground much finer. It stirs into hot milk and thickens almost straight away, which makes it the usual choice for children's porridge.
Pšeničná mouka hrubá (coarse wheat flour)
– a related but different milling grade. It is finer than krupice and is the standard flour for bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky).
Durum semolina (semola di grano duro)
– a different product. It is milled from durum wheat (Triticum durum), is amber-yellow and high in protein, and is used mainly for pasta and couscous. It is not a like-for-like swap for Czech krupice.
Other krupice
– Czech shops also sell kukuřičná krupice (maize semolina, polenta type) and rýžová krupice (rice semolina). They are made from other grains and are not wheat products.
History
Semolina dishes have long been part of everyday Czech cooking, and of the wider Central European kitchen they share with Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Semolina soup dumplings, sweet semolina porridge and semolina knedlíky are standard recipes in Czech home cookbooks. Today the product is defined by Czech food law and by the milling trade's guild standards (cechovní normy).
Science
Krupice comes from the first stages of milling. The cleaned grain is cracked and the coarse endosperm particles are sifted out before they are ground down to flour. Because the particles are large, water gets into them more slowly than into flour. That is why coarse semolina needs simmering, and why dumpling pastes are left to rest: the starch granules take up liquid and swell. When heated, the starch gelatinises and thickens milk into porridge. The wheat proteins, including gluten, together with egg, help noky and dumplings hold together in boiling broth. Soft wheat has a softer, more floury endosperm than durum, so Czech krupice is paler and less glassy than durum semolina.
Sourcing and ethics
Most coarse semolina sold in Czechia is milled by domestic mills, such as those in Týnec nad Labem and Kojetín, from food wheat that meets Czech standards. Under EU rules, wheat must be declared as an allergen (it contains gluten). Small mill shops and regional producers sell it directly. Some offer bulk and larger packs, which can cut packaging waste.