The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Ukrainian Foods. If you manage to be in an Ukrainian restaurant or you are visiting Ukraine, I recommend the following:
1. Banush
Decades ago, banush was a dish associated with poverty, but now this staple is served in the best restaurants in the Carpathian Mountains. It is made from corn grits, fried pork fat and cheese, and is traditionally cooked over a fire to get it nice and hot. Mushrooms are also often added to the porridge, to make the taste even richer.
2. Deruny
Potato pancakes are also known as Deruny in Ukraine. This popular dish is believed to have been invented in neighbouring Belarus and local Ukrainians love to eat them. Prepared from finely shredded raw potatoes mixed with eggs and flour, they are delicious pancakes considered the top choice of Ukrainian breakfasts. Deruny is also eaten with tea. It is now available all over the world under different names.
3. Chicken Kiev
Chicken Kiev is the dish that has made Ukraine famous. The simple combination of fresh chicken fillet with a piece of butter is considered exquisite all over the world. To make sure that the butter does not run during frying, you will need a lot of practice and real professionalism. It is always the first dish ordered by gourmets visiting the Ukrainian capital.
4. Syrniki
Fans of sweet breakfast flavours will fall in love with syrniki. Made from cottage cheese, flour, eggs and sugar, the dish is nutritious and airy. After being gently fried in a pan, syrniki is topped with jam and sour cream. It literally melts in your mouth and will quickly become your favourite dish. Despite the simplicity of the ingredients, making syrniki is a very demanding process.
5. Okroshka
Famous and often cooked, Okroshka is a soup that is prepared in summer. A saviour from the sticky weather, this soup is extremely delicious and refreshing. Ingredients such as sausages, cucumbers, greens, carrots and radishes are cut into larger pieces to give this soup a perfect texture.
6. Vareniki
Also called pierogi, it is a dumpling dish coated in dough with different kinds of fillings, including potatoes, ground meat, liver, fried onions, cabbage, and even fruits such as cherry and strawberry. However, potato filling is the most common. Varenikies or perogies can have varied tastes, depending on the filling. But if it is filled with fruit, it is served with sour cream and butter or sugar. Ukrainians prefer sweet varenyky, but sour cherry filling is still common.
7. Golubtsi
This is a relatively unusual dish in the sense that it is prepared with cabbage leaves rolled and stuffed, but beetroot, lettuce, spinach or grape leaves are also used. Fillings can also vary widely, ranging from meat, vegetables, rice, grains or combinations thereof. Traditionally served with sour cream, this is a very tasty and spicy dish where the roll is served in gravy.
8. Nalisniki
Nalysnyky is one of the popular Ukrainian foods that has been part of the country’s food culture since ancient times. Also known as Ukrainian pancakes, it is a staple dish of Ukrainians, made with ingredients such as eggs, milk, butter, cream, cheese. The dish is tender, and fills your nose with the aroma of cheese and butter when you start chewing it hot.
9. Borscht
Borsch, also called Borscht or Borshch, is made from various vegetables such as beetroot, carrots, potatoes, cabbage and beans. However, a non-vegetarian version is also in vogue. Either way, the dish is governed by the bright red colouring of the beetroot. The dish has a typical mixed vegetable taste. In the non-vegetarian version, the aroma of meat is added to its taste.
10. Holodets
This strange dish surprises tourists. But, for Ukrainians, it is the central dish served at all celebrations. Holodets is made of meat broth, frozen to a gelatinous state, with pieces of meat inside. One of the main components for this type of jelly is pork leg. To be more specific, the lower part, the part that ends with hooves.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional European Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.