The 20 most famous dishes of Ukraine
Ukrainian cooking is the food of "Europe's breadbasket" — wheat, beetroot, potatoes, cabbage and mushrooms — led by UNESCO-listed borscht and filled varenyky.
1Ukrainian Borscht
A rich red beetroot soup with beef, cabbage, potatoes and beans, served with sour cream and garlic buns…
2Varenyky
Ukrainian half-moon dumplings filled with potato, cheese or cherries, served with butter and fried onion or…
3Holubtsi
Cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and meat, cooked in tomato and sour cream sauce.
4Chicken Kyiv
Chicken breast rolled around herb butter, breaded and fried, releasing a gush of butter when cut.
5Deruny
Crisp grated-potato pancakes served with sour cream — a Ukrainian favourite.
6Pampushky
Soft little buns brushed with garlic, oil and dill sauce — borscht's companion.
7Banosh
Cornmeal porridge cooked in sour cream from the Carpathians, served with sheep's cheese and mushrooms.
8Kulish
The Cossacks' soupy porridge of millet, potatoes and onion, once cooked over campfires.
9Nalysnyky
Thin crêpes filled with soft cheese or meat, baked in sour cream.
10Kapusniak
A sauerkraut soup with potatoes, carrots and millet — sour and warming.
11Uzvar
A traditional drink of smoked dried fruit — apples, pears and prunes — with honey, served on Christmas Eve.
12Kutia
Boiled wheat with poppy seeds, honey, walnuts and raisins — the first dish of the Christmas Eve supper.
13Verguny
Thin strips of dough knotted, fried and dusted with sugar — very crisp.
14Kyiv Cake
Two crisp hazelnut meringue layers with buttercream and chocolate — a symbol of Kyiv since 1956.
15Zrazy
Potato or meat patties stuffed with mushrooms or egg and onion, fried until golden.
16Kruchenyky
Thin beef rolls stuffed with mushrooms and onion or prunes, braised in sour cream.
17Halushky
Small soft wheat dumplings served with butter and fried onion or sour cream — the food of Poltava.
18Green Borscht
A spring soup of tangy green sorrel, potatoes and boiled egg, served with sour cream.
19Hrechanyky
Patties of cooked buckwheat and minced meat, fried and served with gravy.
20Ukrainian Paska
Tall sweet Easter bread with white glaze, blessed in church on Easter morning.