Brian Nagele
Take a culinary tour across the center of Russia as we reveal the country’s Best Traditional Russian Food, a culinary mosaic. Every dish in Russian cuisine, from the well-known borscht, a colorful beet soup that dances on the tongue, to the filling pelmeni, small pockets of ecstasy loaded with savory delights, is a tribute to the rich heritage and wide range of flavors that make Russian food unique. Savor the smokey appeal of perfectly grilled shashlik or indulge in the buttery layers of a well baked piroshki. This article invites you to experience the essence of tradition one mouthful at a time by providing your passport to the heartwarming and filling realm of Russian culinary marvels.
Beef Stroganoff is a famous dish from Russia filled with creamy, delicious ingredients like sirloin beef, mushrooms, and onion. I enjoy the dish with a nice helping of mashed potatoes. You can also serve the beef recipe with pasta or rice.
Put a smile on your children’s faces Saturday morning by making these delicious Russian crepes. Blinis are relatively easy to make but take plenty of time to cook up. The recipe includes eggs, milk, flour, salt, and sugar. The food originated more than 100 years ago when a Russian festival called Crepe Week began.
Buckwheat grains or kasha is a wonderful recipe to add to your breakfast or dinner. Usually, Russian families eat a bowl of kasha with milk for breakfast. To make kasha, you need two cups of water, a dash of salt, and one cup of buckwheat.
Okroshka is a perfect cold soup to enjoy on a summer day. Your kids might not like it, but it’s great for a dinner party with friends. The fresh herbs bring out the flavor of the soup. The basic ingredients include cucumbers, radishes, potatoes, eggs, and dill or chives.
The summertime is even better when you enjoy a nice, cold glass of Kvass. The tasty drink is made out of rye bread, sugar, yeast, water, and raisins. The sweet flavors are amazing, and you can add different fruits like apples or raspberries to the drink. It might sound unusual, but give it a try!
Pelmeni is a dish of specialized dumplings made with juicy balls of meat. The dish is perfect to serve for dinner parties with friends and relatives. You might see the dish served on New Year’s Eve in Russia. Pelmeni typically contain spiced ground beef or pork.
Much like Americans love barbecue in the summer, people in eastern Europe adore the Shashlik. The dish is also known as shishkabobs and is often grilled outdoors. Generally, lamb is used along with onions, salt, pepper, paprika, and olive oil. Serve it with a tasty green salad.
Borscht is a popular beet-based soup served in daycares and schools all over Russia. Children, teenagers, and adults all love the red soup. I like the sweet flavor and heartiness of Borscht. The main ingredients include beets, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, yellow onions, and stewed beef.
The Pirozhki is a wonderful appetizer to serve at a dinner party in Eastern Europe. The baked good is a comfort food perfect on those cold, winter days. Pirozhki are baked buns that can be stuffed with various fillings, but this Russian recipe uses cabbage.
The Shchi is another warm and comfy soup to enjoy on a cold, winter day in Russia. The main ingredients include chicken or beef, garlic, carrots, onions, potatoes, cabbage, and sour cream. It can take about one hour and a half to make the soup. The Shchi soup has been a popular staple since Turkey introduced cabbage to Russia in the 9th century.
The Ukha is a flavorful, sour fish soup from Russia that’s been around since the 12th century. You can find the soup in restaurants or people’s homes. The typical ingredients include salmon, onion, fish stock, potatoes, carrots, and a cod filet. Enjoy the soup in the winter or early spring to warm up.
Solyanka is a red soup from Russia that originated in the 15th century. The hearty, creamy soup includes ingredients like sausages, chicken, olives, pickles, carrots, and cabbage. You can serve the tasty Solyanka with sour cream, dill, and rye bread.
The Ikra recipe here is often known as a poor man’s caviar since it uses eggplants as its main ingredient. This vegetable dish first came from Ukraine. Along with eggplants, the recipe includes bell peppers, carrots, garlic, tomato sauce, and onions.
The Syrniki dish is another sweet, delicious breakfast to enjoy on a Saturday morning. They are essentially a Russian cheesey pancake, and you likely already have all the ingredients at home. It’s easy to make Syrniki, especially if you use an air fryer. Everyone will love these treats!
While the United States has a popular Jello Salad, Russia’s equivalent might be the Kholodets. This is a meat jello dish that includes ham hocks, chicken necks and feet, water, garlic, salt, a bay leaf, and black peppercorns. The recipe is a common one served in Russia on Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve.
For Easter, you can pick a few popular Russian foods. The Pashka, for instance, is a common dessert made for Easter in Russia. The main ingredients in this dish include dried fruits such as dried figs, dried currants, ricotta, lemon and orange rinds, sugar, and dried pear. It does take a while to make the recipe due to eight hours of refrigeration. Regardless, your kids will love the fruity taste.
