Ukrainian Cuisine — 2024 Guide (2024)

The food in Ukraine is one of our favoriteaspects of visiting this fascinating country. Ukrainian cuisine is heavilyinfluenced by the rich dark soil, known locally as chernozem, from where theingredients are grown.

Ukraine is often referred to as the “breadbasket of Europe” and the local cuisine emphasizes the importance of wheat and grain to the Ukrainian people and its often tumultuous history with it. The majority of cuisine in Ukraine descends from medieval peasant dishes based on plentiful grain resources such as rye as well as staple vegetables such as potato, cabbages, mushrooms, and beetroot. Local Ukrainian cuisine incorporates traditional Slavic techniques as well as other European techniques, this is a result of years of foreign jurisdiction and influence.

And it can be found far and wide, from Cambodia even to topical islands in the Philippines.

Breakfast

When it comes to breakfast, you’ll find thatUkrainian people eat quite light and save their appetite for lunch and dinner.Breakfast in Ukraine is similar to a continental European breakfast. Ukrainianpeople eat a lot of cereals for breakfast. For example, in cities, a commonbreakfast will include boiled buckwheat, rice, or oats. In Western Ukraine,corn porridge is also quite popular and is commonly eaten with white cheese.Bread with salo (pork fat) is a common addition for any meal. The drinks caninclude tea, Turkish coffee, or kompot (which is a very sweet fruit drink). Butof course, dishes vary from person to person and family to family.

Lunch

For traditional food when you’re on the movein Ukraine, there are a variety of local fast food places serving great localfare for affordable prices. Ukrainian-style cafeterias have become very popularover the past few years. Some of the big brand names are Puzata Khata,Zdorovenki Bully, and others. These places are influenced by a Sovietcafeteria-style (but don’t worry, the food has improved massively since then!).

This is how it works: you take a tray and movedown a line of food that is manned by serving staff. You ask for servings offood that includes salads, soups, side dishes, meat, vegetables, bread, and arange of desserts. Prices are very reasonable and the food is generally good.Most importantly, it’s easy to navigate without advanced Russian or Ukrainianas a simple polite point to what you want will be understood.

We recommend these places for lunch and notdinner as by the end of the day the food isn’t always in the best of shape.Lunchtime is always fresh and hot. It may be busy, but don’t be afraid to askif you can sit at a seat with some Ukrainians if there’s an empty space. It’show it works here.

Dinner

When it comes to dinner you won’t forgetanytime soon, we recommend the infamous Hospital Bar in Kyiv. Palata 6, as it’slocally known, is renowned for its eccentric co*cktails which range from wearinga helmet on fire to being tied to a gurney whilst a scantily clad nurse feedsyou vodka. The food is also awesome here and it’s very cheap and affordable.But book a table, as it can get extremely busy on weekends.

Alcoholin Ukraine

Like many Eastern European countries, Ukraineis home to a variety of different alcoholic drinks with many of them datingback hundreds of years. The following are our top three favorite alcoholicdrinks to try when in Ukraine:

Horilka – The Ukrainian beverage is seen as the purest alcoholic drinks in theworld. Made with a mixture of herbs, berries, and roots in strong alcohol, thisdrink has certain rules for drinking! it is best to drink horilka chilled afterhaving it in the fridge for 2-3 hours. However, if Horilka is too cold, you canget drunk very fast due to the water freezing on the walls of the bottle whichmeans you’ll be drinking what is practically pure alcohol.

Spotykach– This sweet Ukrainian drink dates back to the 1800sand made with berries, spices, and vodka and infused for around two weeks .Spotykach is unique in the sense that it is still created using the largelyuntampered with manufacturing methods of the heating of ingredients. There arefour types of Spotykach you can try: berry, lemon, mint, and rowanberry.

Varenukha– Like Spotykach, Varenukha is also made using vodkaand spices. It’s origins lie in the 1500s of Central Ukraine. To makeVarenukha, dried fruit is placed in clayware, and vodka is subsequently pouredall over it. After this, a range of spices is added such as hot pepper,cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and honey. After this, the Varenukha is placed in anoven and cooked for 10-12 hours before it’s ready.

Top 5foods to try in Ukraine

ChickenKyiv – arguably one of the most famous dishes inUkrainian cuisine and is enjoyed by many people outside of Ukraine.Traditionally, the chicken bone is retained, but the boneless version isincreasingly more popular. To make a Chicken Kyiv, a chicken fillet is flattenedand wrapped around cold garlic butter. Then, the chicken is first coated with amix of grated cheese, parsley, dill, mushrooms, and pepper, dipped in beatenegg yolk, and fried.

Varenyky-These traditional Ukrainian dumplings are similar tothe “pierogi,” which can be found in Poland. Varenyky are traditionally madewith savory fillings such as meat, potatoes, mushrooms, and cabbage. Sweetvarenyky also exist and are filled with jam or cottage cheese topped off withsour cream and sugar.

Deruni – these are traditional Ukrainian potato pancakes. They’re tasty,filling, and easy to make. Ukrainian Deruny is generally served with sourcream. They can be eaten anytime but they taste best on cold winter nights!

Kasha/porridge – In Russian and Ukrainian language alike, the word “kasha” can meanany porridge, but is usually used to describe buckwheat porridge. The flavorsof this age-old dish are versatile – it can be sweet when served as a main dishor savory as a side dish served with meat or fish. Kasha was the staple food ofRed Army soldiers during the Second World War.

Salo – Whilst it sounds unusual, Salo is a staple dish of Ukraine and has since made its way to other post-Soviet states. It is made of salted pork fat, which is sometimes complemented with spices. The skin is retained as standard, however, a lot of Ukrainians prefer to eat their Salo without the skin. Salo is traditionally served with Garlic rye bread, borscht, and washed down with a glass of horilka.

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