What to eat in Ukraine

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• What else should the list cover? Desserts and pastriesNon-alcoholic drinksLocal alcohol

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1. Try authentic Ukrainian borscht with pampushky

   A thick, deeply colored beet-and-cabbage soup slowly simmered with beans, potatoes, and tender meat. Traditional spots serve it steaming hot with a generous scoop of tangy sour cream and warm yeast rolls slicked with crushed garlic and dill.

   Regions vary wildly: in Poltava it often features duck and smoked prunes, while western regions brew a meatless broth with dried porcini mushrooms.

2. Try Ukrainian salo with garlic and mustard

   Cured pork fatback prepared with salt, garlic, and black pepper. The prized variety is called 'general's salo', showcasing thin stripes of lean meat; it is sliced paper-thin and eaten atop crusty dark rye bread with hot Ukrainian mustard.

   The freshest salo is sourced at morning food markets, where vendors shave off a paper-thin sample directly from their knife blade for you to taste.

3. Try handmade varenyky with potatoes and cracklings

   Crescent-shaped boiled dumplings stuffed with fluffy mashed potatoes, braised sauerkraut, or stewed wild mushrooms. They arrive glistening with melted butter, golden fried onions, and crunchy pork cracklings alongside cool sour cream.

   In central regions like Poltava, dumplings are made with fermented milk dough and steamed rather than boiled, yielding a pillowy, fluffy texture.

4. Try classic chicken Kyiv

   A tenderized chicken breast wrapped tightly around a cold herb butter core, coated in fine breadcrumbs and deep-fried to a crisp golden shell. Cutting into it should release a fragrant geyser of hot melted butter onto the plate.

   Traditional high-end renditions preserve the chicken wing bone at one end, wrapped in a paper frill for elegant handling.

5. Try Carpathian banosh

   A velvety cornmeal porridge slowly simmered in rich unpasteurized sour cream or sweet cream. It is traditionally finished with generous toppings of crumbly, salty sheep's milk bryndza cheese and sizzling pork cracklings.

   Authentic Hutsul banosh is cooked over an open campfire in a cast-iron kettle and stirred clockwise exclusively with a wooden spoon.

6. Try crispy deruny with sour cream

   Grated potato pancakes bound with a hint of onion, pan-fried in hot lard or sunflower oil until deeply crisp on the edges. In rustic taverns, they are often layered in clay pots with braised wild mushrooms, pork, and sour cream.

   Locals insist on grating potatoes on the finest teeth of a box grater, preserving maximum moisture so the interior stays tender while the crust turns crisp.

7. Try holubtsi braised in sour cream sauce

   Tender cabbage leaves wrapped neatly around seasoned minced pork or beef mixed with rice or buckwheat. The parcels are slowly braised in heavy cast iron with a velvety tomato, fried carrot, and sour cream gravy.

   In Western Ukraine, cooks prepare miniature, finger-sized cabbage rolls using sour pickled leaves stuffed with corn grits and smoked bacon.

8. Try Odesa-style forshmak

   A signature Jewish-Odesa cold spread made from lightly salted herring finely chopped by hand with tart green apples, onion, milk-soaked bread, and creamy butter. It is served with toasted slices of dark rye bread.

   Odesa home cooks vehemently avoid food processors; the ingredients must be chopped with a heavy knife to retain distinct, tiny flecks of herring.

9. Try Odesa roasted eggplant dip

   A beloved summer appetizer made from whole eggplants charred over charcoal until smoky. The tender pulp is hand-minced with a wooden blade, then folded with ripe summer tomatoes, garlic, and unrefined sunflower oil.

   Using a metal knife is frowned upon locally because it oxidizes the eggplant flesh; wooden or ceramic knives ensure the freshest flavor.

10. Try crispy fried Black Sea sprat

    The definitive seaside finger food of Odesa: fresh Black Sea sprats dredged in seasoned cornmeal and flash-fried in boiling oil until golden-crisp. Served in paper cones with lemon wedges, they are crunched whole like potato chips.

    The crispest sprat is served at small casual shacks right off coastal piers and around the fish pavilions of Odesa's historic markets.

11. Try traditional syrnyky with sour cream

    Plump, pan-seared patties crafted from dry, high-fat farmer's curd cheese with minimal flour and sugar. Crisp on the outside and creamy inside, they form the cornerstone of Ukrainian breakfasts alongside sour cream and honey.

    The dish relies entirely on well-drained, mild curd cheese; excess whey ruins the structural integrity, turning the patties heavy.

12. Try Transcarpathian bohrach

    A fiery, paprika-tinted meat soup-stew deeply rooted in Hungarian-Transcarpathian border culture. Simmered outdoors in a hanging kettle, it blends beef, pork, smoked lard, root vegetables, and hand-pinched pasta bits.

    Campfire pitmasters traditionally plunge a glowing ember from the wood fire into the cauldron right before serving to infuse deep campfire smoke.

13. Try traditional blood sausage with buckwheat

    A rustic blood sausage encased in natural casings, stuffed with fresh pork blood, toasted buckwheat groats, minced pork fat, and sweet caramelized onions. It is oven-baked until crisp, dark, and glossy.

    Locals prefer it reheated on a sizzling cast-iron skillet with pork lard, paired with barrel-pickled cucumbers and horseradish.

14. Try Lviv-style baked cheesecake Desserts and pastries

    A dense, rich baked curd cake made from pureed dry farmer's cheese, butter, eggs, and lemon zest studded with plump raisins. After cooling, it is encased entirely in a thick shell of glossy dark chocolate ganache.

    This treat is never served warm; it requires at least 8 to 12 hours in the refrigerator to allow the texture to set into a silky, sliceable crumb.

15. Try iconic Kyiv cake Desserts and pastries

    The iconic confection of Ukraine's capital: two airy, crunchy meringue disks loaded with roasted hazelnuts, sandwiched together with rich French buttercream flavored with cocoa and a touch of brandy.

    Authentic versions rely on gently aged egg whites, creating that unmistakable crackly meringue texture that doesn't soften under rich buttercream.

16. Try sweet sour cherry varenyky Desserts and pastries

    Delicate boiled pastry pockets packed with whole, pitted tart red cherries and sugar. Biting into them releases a burst of hot, ruby-red sweet-tart juice, requiring careful, whole-bite eating.

    They are customarily tossed in warm melted butter, dusted with powdered sugar, and served with a bowl of chilled thick sour cream.

17. Try crisp verhuny pastry twists Desserts and pastries

    Traditional ribbon-shaped pastry dough enriched with sour cream and a splash of grain spirits, twisted through a center slit. Flash-fried in lard or oil until crisp and blistered, they are showered with powdered sugar.

    The spirits in the dough evaporate instantly during frying, preventing the pastry from soaking up oil and ensuring an airy, shattering crispness.

18. Try smoked dried-fruit uzvar Non-alcoholic drinks

    A classic non-alcoholic beverage brewed from sundried apples, prunes, and hardwood-smoked wild pears. Instead of active boiling, the fruits are steeped in hot water to extract a smoky, honeyed essence.

    While essential for winter holiday feasts, chilled uzvar is enjoyed year-round across Ukrainian dining rooms as a refreshing, thirst-quenching cooler.

19. Try naturally fermented bread kvass Non-alcoholic drinks

    A mildly effervescent fermented beverage made from sourdough culture, dark rye bread crusts, and malt. It pours with a foamy head, tasting subtly tart, bready, and sweet with natural probiotics.

    Skip the pasteurized, overly sweetened commercial plastic bottles; seek out unfiltered, live craft kvass poured fresh in restaurants.

20. Try traditional Lviv-style coffee Non-alcoholic drinks

    A foundational part of Lviv's historic heritage: finely ground dark beans brewed slowly in brass pots over hot sand. Specialty cafes often pair it with dark chocolate or caramelize the top with a blowtorch at your table.

    Rooted in Austro-Hungarian history, Lviv's coffee rituals are unhurried, meant to accompany long afternoons in tucked-away courtyard cafes.

21. Try khrenovukha horseradish tincture Local alcohol

    A spirited botanical infusion crafted from grain spirits, freshly grated horseradish root, raw honey, lemon juice, and black pepper. It delivers a sharp, sinus-clearing warmth balanced by sweet, soothing undertones.

    Served ice-cold in small shot glasses, khrenovukha is the ultimate pairing for fatty appetizers, salo, and rich bowls of hot borscht.

22. Try Ukrainian fermented medovukha Local alcohol

    An ancient fermented mead produced by naturally fermenting bee honey, mountain herbs, and berries without added neutral spirits. It offers a smooth, floral profile with a mild, wine-like potency.

    Look for craft batches at local farmers' markets or apiaries, where varieties range from dry herbal to rich, spiced boiled meads.

23. Try berry nalyvka and spiced spotykach Local alcohol

    Sweet, fragrant fruit liqueurs steeped with seasonal sour cherries (vyshnivka), blackcurrants, or raspberries. A distinct regional variant is spotykach, where berries and warming spices are gently heated before aging into a rich digestif.

    Dedicated tasting rooms in Lviv and Kyiv pour house-macerated infusions straight from wooden casks into cut-crystal stemware.