Rissian Food: A Guide to Traditional Russian Dishes

"Rissian" is a common misspelling of "Russian", and on this site we use it in that sense: this is a guide to the real cuisine of Russia. Russian cooking grew out of a cold northern climate with short summers, so it relies on grains, root vegetables, cabbage, mushrooms, freshwater fish, dairy and a long tradition of pickling and fermenting to get through the winter. It has also absorbed influences from its neighbours — Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Baltic and, among the 18th- and 19th-century aristocracy, France.

Below you'll find the dishes you are most likely to meet, what they are made of and how they are eaten, followed by the ingredients, techniques and customs behind them. Each dish is given in Cyrillic with a transliteration and the stressed syllable in capitals.

Classic Russian Dishes to Know

Soups

Soup (суп) is a daily staple in Russia, traditionally eaten at the midday meal as a first course.

• Borscht — борщ (borshch): a soup of beetroot, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and onion, often cooked in a meat broth and finished with a spoonful of sour cream and fresh dill. Its deep red colour comes from the beets. Borscht is shared by several Eastern European cuisines and is especially associated with Ukraine, where it is considered a national dish; in 2022 UNESCO inscribed the culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking on its list of intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Russian versions are also very widespread.
• Shchi — щи (shchee): cabbage soup, one of the oldest Russian dishes. It is made with fresh cabbage or with sauerkraut (sour shchi), plus potatoes, carrots and often meat. A famous Russian saying goes Щи да каша — пища наша (Shchi da KA-sha — PEE-shcha NA-sha): "Shchi and kasha are our food."
• Solyanka — солянка (sal-YAN-ka): a thick, sour-and-salty soup with several kinds of meat or fish, pickled cucumbers, olives, capers and lemon. Popular as a hearty restaurant starter.
• Ukha — уха (oo-KHA): a clear fish soup, traditionally made from freshwater fish such as pike, perch or salmon with onion, potato and bay leaf.
• Okroshka — окрошка (a-KROSH-ka): a cold summer soup of chopped cucumber, radish, boiled potato, egg, green onion, dill and ham or boiled meat, topped up with kvass (a fermented bread drink) or, in another popular version, kefir.

Dumplings, pancakes and pies

• Pelmeni — пельмени (pel-MYE-nee): small dumplings of thin unleavened dough filled with minced meat (often a mix of beef and pork, with onion). Associated with Siberia and the Urals, where they were traditionally made in large batches and frozen outdoors in winter. Served boiled with butter, sour cream or vinegar.
• Vareniki — вареники (va-RYE-nee-kee): larger half-moon dumplings, of Ukrainian origin but common in Russia, filled with potato, tvorog (farmer's cheese), cabbage or sour cherries.
• Blini — блины (blee-NY): thin pancakes, larger and thinner than American pancakes, made from wheat or buckwheat batter. Eaten with sour cream, jam, honey, tvorog or, on special occasions, red or black caviar. Blini are the symbol of Maslenitsa, the week-long festival before Lent. Small, thicker yeasted pancakes are called oladyi (оладьи, a-LA-dyi).
• Pirozhki — пирожки (pee-rozh-KEE): small hand pies or buns, baked or fried, filled with cabbage, potato, meat, egg and green onion, rice, mushrooms or fruit. A classic snack and street food.
• Pirog and kulebyaka — пирог (pee-ROG), кулебяка (koo-lye-BYA-ka): a pirog is a large pie; kulebyaka is an elaborate enclosed pie with several layers of filling, such as salmon or sturgeon, rice, eggs, mushrooms and herbs.

Main dishes

• Beef stroganoff — бефстроганов (bef-STRO-ga-nof): strips of beef in a sour-cream sauce, often with onions and mushrooms. Named after the aristocratic Stroganov family, the dish appears in Russian cookbooks from the 19th century and went on to become an international classic. In Russia it is often served with mashed potatoes or buckwheat.
• Golubtsy — голубцы (ga-loop-TSY): cabbage leaves stuffed with minced meat and rice, braised in a tomato or sour-cream sauce.
• Kotlety — котлеты (kat-LYE-ty): pan-fried patties of minced meat, onion and bread soaked in milk — everyday home cooking, usually served with mashed potato or buckwheat. Pozharsky cutlets are a refined version made with minced chicken.
• Shashlik — шашлык (shash-LYK): skewered, marinated meat grilled over coals. Originally from the Caucasus and Central Asia, it is now a beloved Russian summer tradition at the dacha (country cottage).
• Kholodets — холодец (kha-la-DYETS): meat in savoury jelly (aspic), made by long simmering of pork or beef with bones. A traditional holiday dish, served cold with horseradish or mustard.

Salads and zakuski (appetisers)

• Olivier salad — салат оливье (sa-LAT a-lee-VYE): diced boiled potatoes, carrots, eggs, pickles, peas and ham or boiled chicken or sausage, bound with mayonnaise. It is named after Lucien Olivier, a chef of Belgian-French origin who ran the Hermitage restaurant in Moscow in the 1860s, although today's everyday version is much simpler than his original. It is the essential New Year's Eve salad. Abroad it is often called "Russian salad".
• Herring under a fur coat — селёдка под шубой (sye-LYOD-ka pad SHOO-boy): salted herring layered with boiled potato, carrot, onion, beetroot and mayonnaise, giving a striking purple top.
• Vinegret — винегрет (vee-nye-GRYET): a salad of diced boiled beetroot, potato and carrot with pickled cucumber and sauerkraut, dressed with sunflower oil.
• Pickles and preserves: brined cucumbers (solyonye ogurtsy), sauerkraut (kvashenaya kapusta), pickled or salted mushrooms and tomatoes are all served as zakuski — small appetisers traditionally eaten with vodka.
• Caviar — икра (ee-KRA): red salmon roe is a festive favourite on buttered bread or blini; black sturgeon caviar is a rare luxury.

Grains, sides and breakfast

• Kasha — каша (KA-sha): porridge or cooked grain. Buckwheat (гречка, GRYECH-ka) is the most characteristic, eaten as a savoury side with butter, onions or mushrooms, or with milk for breakfast. Semolina, millet, oat and rice kasha are also common.
• Syrniki — сырники (SYR-nee-kee): small fried pancakes made from tvorog (fresh farmer's cheese), egg and a little flour, served with sour cream, jam or condensed milk. A favourite breakfast.
• Rye bread — чёрный хлеб (CHOR-ny khlyep): dark, dense sourdough rye bread; Borodinsky bread is flavoured with coriander seed and a little molasses or malt. Read more in our article on Russian bread-making.

Desserts and sweets

• Medovik — медовик (mye-da-VEEK): honey cake made of many thin honey-flavoured layers with a sour-cream or custard filling.
• Pryaniki — пряники (PRYA-nee-kee): spiced honey cakes or gingerbread; the city of Tula is famous for its large, stamped, filled Tula pryanik.
• Ptichye moloko — птичье молоко (PTEE-chye ma-la-KO): "bird's milk", a soft soufflé or marshmallow-like confection covered in chocolate, made as sweets and as a cake.
• Kulich and paskha — кулич (koo-LEECH), пасха (PAS-kha): the Easter pair: a tall, sweet yeasted bread and a rich, pyramid-shaped dessert of tvorog, butter and cream.
• Sushki and baranki — сушки, баранки: ring-shaped dried bread rolls, perfect with tea.

Key Ingredients in Russian Cooking

Grains and flour

Rye was historically the main bread grain of central and northern Russia because it tolerates cold, poor soils; wheat became more common later, especially from the southern steppes. Buckwheat, millet, oats and barley all appear as kasha. Flour is the basis of an enormous family of pancakes, dumplings and pies.

Vegetables

The core vegetables are those that grow and store well in a cold climate: cabbage, beetroot, potatoes (widespread from the 19th century), carrots, onions, turnips, radishes and cucumbers. Garlic, dill, parsley and green onion are the most common flavourings. Summer and autumn bring an abundance of berries — cranberries, lingonberries, bilberries, sea buckthorn — and mushrooms, which are gathered in the forest by many families as a seasonal tradition.

Dairy

Dairy is central to Russian cooking. Smetana (сметана, smye-TA-na), a thick sour cream, is added to soups, dumplings, pancakes and sauces. Tvorog (творог, TVO-rok or tva-ROK — both stresses are used) is a fresh curd cheese for syrniki, fillings and desserts. Fermented milk drinks such as kefir and ryazhenka (baked fermented milk) are everyday staples — more on these in our guide to Rissian drinks.

Meat and fish

Pork, beef, chicken and, in some regions, lamb are the main meats. Freshwater and sea fish are important: herring (usually salted), salmon, cod, pike, carp and, historically, sturgeon. The Orthodox fasting calendar, which rules out meat and dairy on many days of the year for observant believers, encouraged a rich repertoire of fish, mushroom and vegetable dishes.

Traditional Techniques

The Russian stove (pech)

For centuries, peasant homes were built around the Russian stove (русская печь, ROOS-ka-ya pyech), a large masonry oven that heated the house and was used for cooking and baking. After the fire died down, the stove held a steady, gentle heat for hours. This explains why so many traditional dishes are slow-cooked or baked in covered clay pots: shchi, kasha, stewed meats and ryazhenka all suit long, low heat.

Fermenting, pickling and preserving

Long winters made preservation essential. Cabbage is shredded and salted to ferment into sauerkraut; cucumbers, tomatoes and mushrooms are brined with garlic, dill and blackcurrant or horseradish leaves; berries are made into jam (varenye). Late summer is still pickling season in many Russian households, and home-made jars are a matter of pride.

Balancing sour, fresh and rich

Russian food tends to balance richness with sourness: sour cream on soup, pickles alongside fatty meats, sauerkraut with pork, horseradish with aspic. Fresh dill and green onion brighten many dishes. Spices are used lightly — black pepper, bay leaf and allspice are the most common.

Food Customs and the Russian Table

Meals of the day

A typical day starts with breakfast (zavtrak) of kasha, syrniki, eggs or open sandwiches with tea. The main meal, obed, traditionally at midday, is structured in courses: a salad or zakuski, a soup (the "first course"), a main dish of meat or fish with a side (the "second course"), then tea with something sweet. Uzhin, supper, is usually lighter.

Hospitality and zakuski

Russian hospitality is famously generous. When guests come, the table is covered with zakuski: salads, pickles, cold cuts, herring, caviar, pies and bread, before a hot dish is even served. The traditional welcome of bread and salt (khleb-sol) is still offered on ceremonial occasions, for example to newlyweds; see our article on Russian wedding traditions.

Holidays and seasonal foods

• New Year: the biggest home celebration, with Olivier salad, herring under a fur coat, kholodets, tangerines and champagne.
• Maslenitsa: pancake week before Lent, when blini are eaten every day. Learn more in Russian spring festivals.
• Easter: kulich, paskha and dyed eggs, blessed in church and shared with family.
• Summer: okroshka, shashlik at the dacha, fresh berries and home-grown cucumbers and tomatoes.

Tea

Tea is the everyday drink of Russia, served strong from a concentrate topped up with hot water, historically from a samovar, with lemon, sugar, jam or honey. Our Russian tea article explains the customs.

Soviet and Modern Russian Food

The Soviet period (1922–1991) standardised much of Russian eating. Public canteens (stolovaya) served the same set dishes across the country, and the official cookbook The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food, first published in 1939, shaped home cooking for generations. Shortages meant that dishes were built from what was reliably available, such as potatoes, cabbage, canned fish, mayonnaise and "doctor's sausage", which is why many beloved festive salads use these ingredients.

The Soviet Union also brought dishes from its republics onto Russian tables: plov (rice pilaf) from Central Asia, khachapuri (cheese bread) and shashlik from Georgia and the Caucasus, and chebureki (fried meat turnovers) of Crimean Tatar origin. These remain extremely popular in Russia today.

Today, Russian restaurants range from classic canteens and pelmeni shops to modern chefs reinterpreting traditional ingredients such as fermented vegetables, foraged mushrooms, berries and heritage grains.

Regional Flavours Across Russia

Russia spans eleven time zones, so "Russian food" varies a great deal from region to region. A few broad patterns:

Central Russia and Moscow

The heartland of the classic repertoire described above: shchi, kasha, rye bread, pirozhki, pickles, mushrooms and dairy. Moscow's 19th-century restaurants, such as the Hermitage, also produced the more refined dishes that became national classics, including Olivier salad.

The Russian North

Along the White Sea coast and in the Arkhangelsk region, fish (cod, herring, salmon, navaga) and forest foods dominate. Shangi (шаньги), open-faced round pies topped with mashed potato or sour cream, and kalitki (калитки), small rye tarts from Karelia filled with potato or millet, are typical. Cloudberries, lingonberries and cranberries are gathered in large quantities.

The Urals and Siberia

Siberia is the classic home of pelmeni, which were made in huge batches and frozen outdoors for the winter. Stroganina (строганина), thin shavings of frozen raw fish such as whitefish or nelma eaten with salt and pepper, comes from the peoples of the Far North and Siberia. Siberian pine nuts ("cedar nuts"), wild berries and game are also typical.

The Volga region and Tatarstan

Russia is home to many peoples, and their cuisines are part of everyday Russian eating. From Tatar cooking come echpochmak (triangular pastries filled with meat, onion and potato) and chak-chak (fried dough pieces bound with honey), both widely loved. The Volga river has long supplied fish, including, historically, sturgeon.

Southern Russia and the Caucasus

The warmer south, including the Kuban and Don regions, has more vegetables and fruit: tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, watermelons and grapes. Neighbouring Caucasian cuisines contribute grilled meats, fresh herbs such as coriander (cilantro), walnut sauces and flatbreads.

The Far East

On the Pacific coast, around Vladivostok, seafood such as crab, scallops, sea urchin and salmon roe is central. The region also has Korean-influenced dishes; spicy marinated carrot salad, known as "Korean carrots" (морковь по-корейски), is sold in supermarkets all over Russia.

Fasting, Religion and Russian Food

The Russian Orthodox Church observes several fasting periods, above all Great Lent before Easter, during which strict observers avoid meat, dairy and eggs, and on some days fish. Although many Russians today do not fast strictly, the tradition shaped the cuisine: there is a large repertoire of "lenten" (postnye) dishes based on mushrooms, grains, vegetables, sunflower oil and fish. It also explains the joyful feasting that follows, such as rich Easter kulich and paskha, and the pancake week of Maslenitsa that comes just before Lent.

Table Manners: Eating as a Guest in a Russian Home

• Bring something: flowers (an odd number — even numbers are for funerals), a cake or chocolates, or a bottle for the table.
• Take off your shoes at the door; hosts will often offer slippers (tapochki).
• Expect abundance: the host will likely offer more food several times. Leaving a little on your plate signals you are full.
• Toasts matter: at celebratory meals, drinks are taken together after a toast, and it is polite to eat something after each drink.
• Tea at the end: the meal usually closes with tea and something sweet, and conversation can go on for hours.

A Short Russian Food Glossary

• хлеб (khlyep) — bread
• суп (soop) — soup
• мясо (MYA-sa) — meat
• рыба (RY-ba) — fish
• картошка (kar-TOSH-ka) — potatoes
• капуста (ka-POO-sta) — cabbage
• грибы (gree-BY) — mushrooms
• сметана (smye-TA-na) — sour cream
• варенье (va-RYE-nye) — fruit preserves / jam
• закуски (za-KOOS-kee) — appetisers, starters
• Приятного аппетита! (pree-YAT-na-va a-pye-TEE-ta) — "Enjoy your meal!"

For more everyday Russian words and phrases, see our English to Rissian (Russian) guide.

Common Misconceptions About Russian Food

• "It's all potatoes and vodka." Potatoes are important, but the cuisine is built at least as much on grains, cabbage, beets, mushrooms, fish, dairy and pickles.
• "Russian dressing is Russian." It isn't — it's an American condiment. See Rissian dressing.
• "The White Russian is a Russian drink." Also no: the cocktail comes from Western bar culture. See White Rissian.
• "Russian food is bland." It is not heavily spiced, but sour, fermented, smoky and herbal flavours give it plenty of character.

Easy Russian Dishes to Try at Home

If you want to start cooking Russian food, these are forgiving and need no special ingredients:

1. Syrniki: mix 500 g tvorog or dry ricotta/farmer's cheese with 1 egg, 2–3 tablespoons flour and a little sugar; shape into small patties, dust with flour and fry gently in butter until golden.
2. Buckwheat kasha: rinse 1 cup buckwheat, toast it briefly in a dry pan, add 2 cups water and a pinch of salt, cover and simmer for about 15–20 minutes until the water is absorbed. Finish with butter and fried onions or mushrooms.
3. Blini: whisk 2 eggs, 500 ml milk, a pinch of salt and sugar, then about 200 g flour and 2 tablespoons oil into a thin batter; fry very thin pancakes in a hot, lightly oiled pan.
4. Vinegret: dice boiled beets, potatoes and carrots, add chopped pickles, sauerkraut and onion, and dress with sunflower oil and salt.

Rissian Food FAQ