With the traditions of the Russian people, their culture and cuisine, it takes an adventurous foodie to explore the delicious traditional Russian dishes the country has to offer.
It has a mixture of lean and fast foods with rarer and scrumptious preparations of meat. This is due to the fasts held once or more during seven months of the year by Orthodox Christians.
Generally, traditional Russian recipes rely on frequent use of flour, cereals, vegetables, berries and fish, as they were plentifully present in the lives of Russian people.
It was further enriched with recipes borrowed from the neighboring countries, expanding to include teas, halva, dumplings and shish kebabs.
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1) Borscht
It is a beetroot soup, filled with meat and various vegetables, including carrots, cabbage, potatoes and onions. It can be served either hot or cold with a dollop of Smetana (sour cream).
2) Okroshka
It is a cold soup, with a mix of raw vegetables, eggs, boiled potatoes and cooked meat such as beef, ham, veal or sausages with Kvass.
3) Shchi
This is a cabbage soup made with either fresh or fermented cabbage, usually containing, carrot, potatoes, onions or some meat occasionally. If the cabbage is replaced with sauerkraut, it is called sour shchi. It is one of the Russian dishes, staples since 9th century.
4) Ukha
This is a fish soup with a clear broth, prepared with different kinds of fishes including northern pike, Wels catfish, ruffe and bream.
5) Solyanka
It is a thick hearty soup cooked with various kinds of meat including bacon, ham, sausage and beef along with vegetables. Usually garnished with chopped pickles and a lemon slice, it is also prepared with fish and pickled cucumbers to give it its signature sour taste.
6) Piroshky
These little baked or fried puff pastries are packed with cabbage, potatoes, meat or cheese and popular in schools or factories.
7) Pelmeni
Pelmeni is known as the national dish of Russia. They’re pastry dumplings filled with mincemeat and pasta – like thin dough. They’re either served as is, or laden in butter and topped with sour cream, or in a soup broth.
8) Varenniki
They are similar to pelmeni but stuffed with mashed potatoes, cheese, meat, cabbage, hard- boiled eggs or different fruits.
9) Shashlik
These are Russian kebabs, consisting of cubed meat and vegetables and grilled on skewers.
10) Beef Stroganoff
Juicy strips of beef in a creamy sauce of mushrooms and tomatoes, usually served with pasta noodles, rice or potatoes, the dish is inspired by French cuisine.
11) Blini
They are very thin round Russian pancakes, usually served with caviar or mushrooms, sour cream and salmon, or condensed milk and berries.
12) Syrniki
It is another type of breakfast pancakes made from cottage cheese, eggs and flour. It is generally served with jam, fresh berries, honey or sour cream.
13) Pirog
It is a baked pie with either a sweet or sour filling, consisting of usually mushrooms, fish, meat or fruits.
14) Chicken Kiev
It is a delicacy prepared of chicken breast rolled around butter and stuffed with mushrooms, shredded cheese, egg yolk and herbs and then breaded and baked.
15) Holodets
It is meat jelly prepared with aspic and pieces of meat along with some veggies and spices.
16) Morozhenoe
It is a Russian ice cream, found in many restaurant menus, and commonly offered with a variety of toppings to choose from- nuts, chocolate or fruits.
17) Pryaniki
These are Russian spiced cookies, usually filled with honey, jam or caramel. They are also known as Russian Gingerbread.
18) Sbiten
It is a traditional winter hot beverage, much loved by Russians. It can either be very spicy and/ or very sweet.
19) Kvass
Kvass is a fermented beverage made from black or regular rye dough or bread. Although it isn’t considered an alcoholic drink, it has small alcohol content. It is carbonated and also known as Russian Coca- Cola.
20) Mors
It is a traditional Russian drink made with sweetened berry juice and water. Traditional Mors is usually made from cranberries but you can find them in other variants like raspberry, cowberry, blackcurrant and other seasonal berries.