Food of Russia
Russian food is warming and generous, made for long winters: soups, dumplings, pies, pickles, porridge and tea from the samovar. Cabbage, beets, potatoes, buckwheat, mushrooms and sour cream are everyday staples, with fish from rivers and seas. Tables begin with zakuski, small cold appetizers, before soup, a main course and sweets.
- Main dishes (10)
- Breakfast (4)
- Street food (4)
- Soups (6)
- Salads (4)
- Breads (2)
- Desserts and sweets (5)
- Drinks (5)
- Fruits and produce (6)
Staples
- potatoes
- cabbage
- beets
- buckwheat
- rye bread
- beef
- mushrooms
- sour cream
Signature flavors
- dill
- parsley
- garlic
- bay
- horseradish
- mustard
- black pepper
Main dishes
Small meat dumplings boiled and served with butter and sour cream.
Key ingredients: dough, pork, beef, onionFull guide →
Sauteed beef strips in a creamy mushroom and mustard sauce.
Key ingredients: beef, mushrooms, sour cream, mustardFull guide →
Cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice in tomato sauce.
Key ingredients: cabbage, ground meat, rice, tomatoPan-fried minced meat patties, juicy and tender.
Key ingredients: beef, pork, onion, bread, milk
Breaded chicken breast rolled around garlic butter.
Key ingredients: chicken, butter, garlic, breadcrumbs
Little baked or fried buns with potato, cabbage, meat or egg fillings.
Key ingredients: dough, potato, cabbage, meat
Large fish or cabbage pie with rice and eggs.
Key ingredients: dough, salmon, rice, eggs, dill
Buckwheat porridge with butter and onions.
Key ingredients: buckwheat, butter, onionPot roast of beef or pork with potatoes in a clay pot.
Key ingredients: beef, potatoes, carrots, onion
Skewered marinated meat grilled over coals.
Key ingredients: lamb or pork, onion, vinegarBreakfast
Thin Russian pancakes with sour cream, jam or smoked fish.
Key ingredients: flour, milk, eggsFull guide →
Fried farmer's cheese pancakes with sour cream.
Key ingredients: farmer's cheese, egg, flourFull guide →Warm porridge from semolina, buckwheat or oats.
Key ingredients: grains, milk, butter
Fluffy little yeast pancakes with jam.
Key ingredients: flour, kefir, eggsStreet food
Hand-held filled pastries sold at kiosks.
Key ingredients: dough, potato, cabbage, meatWrapped chicken with vegetables and garlic sauce.
Key ingredients: chicken, flatbread, cabbage
Deep-fried half-moon meat pies with a crisp crust.
Key ingredients: dough, ground meat, onionHard ring-shaped dry bread eaten with tea.
Key ingredients: flour, sugarSoups
Beet soup with cabbage and sour cream.
Key ingredients: beets, cabbage, potatoes, beefFull guide →
Traditional cabbage soup.
Key ingredients: cabbage, potatoes, carrots, meatFull guide →
Thick, tangy soup with pickles, olives and meats.
Key ingredients: pickles, olives, sausage, tomato
Clear fish soup with potatoes and dill.
Key ingredients: fish, potatoes, dill, bay
Cold summer soup with kvass or kefir, vegetables and herbs.
Key ingredients: kefir, cucumber, radish, eggs, dill
Barley soup with pickled cucumbers.
Key ingredients: pearl barley, pickles, potatoesSalads
Creamy diced potato, egg, pickle and meat salad.
Key ingredients: potatoes, eggs, pickles, peas, mayonnaiseFull guide →
Beet, potato and sauerkraut salad with oil.
Key ingredients: beets, potatoes, sauerkraut, oil
Layered salad of herring, potato, beet and mayonnaise.
Key ingredients: herring, beets, potatoes, carrots
Layered fish and egg salad.
Key ingredients: canned fish, eggs, cheese, mayonnaiseBreads
Dark sourdough rye loaf eaten with every meal.
Key ingredients: rye flour, water, salt
Padlock-shaped white bread roll.
Key ingredients: flour, milk, yeastDesserts and sweets
Layered honey cake with sour cream frosting.
Key ingredients: honey, flour, sour creamFull guide →
Many-layered puff pastry with custard.
Key ingredients: puff pastry, custard
Delicate soufflé cake with chocolate glaze.
Key ingredients: egg whites, milk, chocolateSweet cheese fritters with jam.
Key ingredients: farmer's cheese, jamFull guide →
Spiced honey gingerbread cookies.
Key ingredients: flour, honey, spicesDrinks
Strong tea brewed in a samovar and diluted with hot water, with lemon and jam.
Key ingredients: black tea, lemon, jam
Gently fermented bread drink, mildly tangy and low in sugar.
Key ingredients: rye bread, water, yeast
Cranberry or lingonberry fruit drink.
Key ingredients: berries, water, sugar
Thick sweet fruit drink or dessert.
Key ingredients: berries, starch, sugar
Tangy fermented dairy drink.
Key ingredients: milk, kefir grainsFruits and produce
Used in mors, jams and pies.
Key ingredients: drinks, jams
Tart red berries served with meat and in drinks.
Key ingredients: sauces, drinks
Antonovka apples are used for baking and preserves.
Key ingredients: baked, jam, compote
Bright orange berries high in vitamin C.
Key ingredients: tea, jam, juice
Used in jams and tea.
Key ingredients: jam, tea, pies
Golden northern berries, enjoyed as jam or with cream.
Key ingredients: jam, dessertsDish guides from Russia
More cuisines of Eastern Europe
Descriptions written by Intercontinental Chef. Dishes are listed as commonly eaten today; many are shared across neighbouring countries.
- Pelmeni Russian: Eugene Kim @ Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Moscow (8351271825): jimmyweee, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Töltött káposzta, 2: Christo, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Chicken Kiev - Ukrainian East Village restaurant: Jason Lam, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Piroshki: Evilmonkey0013 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Koulibiak au saumon: Arnaud 25, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Гречневая каша: Laitr Keiows, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Shashlik: Игоревич, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- 50 блінкоў на талерцы 240 мм: Maksim L., CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Syrniki6: Tatyana Morozyuk, color processing by Off-shell, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- ОладкиУкраїнські: Kozubenko, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Ayran+Çibörek: Eaeeae, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Borscht served: liz west from Boxborough, MA, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Schi: Шнапс, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Soljanka food 05: Pannet, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Uha 013: Kagor, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Готовая окрошка: Pannet, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Рассольник по-ленинградски: Шнапс, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Салат Оливье 03: Pannet, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Vinegret cleaned: Loyna (original image) ; processed by Off-shell, CC BY-SA 2.5 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Selidi pod shuboi: User:Zserghei, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Mimoza salat e-citizen: Moonsun1981, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Market Bread, Riga, Latvia: Ken Eckert, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Lob NARkult 09: Лобачев Владимир, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Honey cake Medovik: insatiablemunch @ Flickr ; cropped by Off-shell, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Mille-feuille français 1: Zantastik, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Chocolate-covered marshmallow in Poland: Syced, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Prjaniki: A.Savin, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Mint bread kvas: Mr.Icon (Mricon), CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Mors (ru. Морс - прохладительный негазированный напиток): Schekinov Alexey Victorovich, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Red Currant Kissel: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Kefir in a glass: Quijote at Russian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Cranberry bog: Photo by Keith Weller, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Vaccinium vitis-idaea 20060824 003: Jonas Bergsten, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- 95apple: Agricultural Research Service (Research agent of United States Department of Agriculture), Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Hippophae rhamnoides-01 (xndr): No machine-readable author provided. Svdmolen assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Ribes nigrum a1: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Rubus chamaemorus, from Tromsø, August 2020: Moravice, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
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