Cuisine · Russia

Russian cooking

Slow soups, dumplings, pickles, the cooking that gets you through winter. Two-day borscht and Olivier salad, both better the next day.

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🇷🇺RussiaMedium

Flour and Confectionery Products

Russian Cottage Cheese Blini

Thin Russian crepes with a sweet cottage cheese filling — blended smooth so it stays creamy instead of grainy, bound with one egg so it holds its shape, then fried in butter until the outside is golden and slightly crisp. The kind of breakfast people ask for by name. Serve with sour cream or jam, and do not skip the second fry.

55 min390 kcal5 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick

🇷🇺RussiaMedium

Flour and Confectionery Products

Russian Meat Blini

Thin Russian crepes filled with pan-fried beef and pork mince, caramelized onion, and a little butter — then folded into envelopes and fried again until the outside is crisp. The double fry is non-negotiable. It is what separates a good blinchik from a great one. Serve with cold sour cream and nobody leaves the table early.

60 min420 kcal6 serves

💪High protein

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Salads

Russian Vinegret Salad

Boiled beets, potatoes, and carrots diced small and tossed with briny dill pickles, sauerkraut, green onions, and a simple sunflower oil dressing. This salad has been on Russian holiday tables for over a century. It is earthy, tangy, and satisfying cold — the kind of thing that gets better by the day and tastes best made a day ahead.

75 min195 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Soups

Sauerkraut Shchi

The soul of Russian cuisine — a rich, dark soup made from braised sauerkraut and beef on the bone, slow-cooked for hours. Gets better overnight, develops incredible depth of flavor. The only soup that improves with freezing.

240 min350 kcal8 serves

🌾Gluten-free💪High protein

🇷🇺RussiaMedium

Beverages

Sbiten (Russian Honey Spiced Drink)

Honey dissolved in hot water, simmered low and slow with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and bay leaf until the kitchen smells like a medieval apothecary. Sbiten is one of the oldest Russian drinks — street vendors poured it from copper samovars centuries before tea ever reached Moscow. The flavor lands somewhere between spiced honey tea and mulled wine, minus the wine — warming, aromatic, and surprisingly complex for something built on pantry staples.

30 min145 kcal4 serves

🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

🇷🇺RussiaMedium

Meat Dishes

Shashlik

A post-Soviet summer classic of fatty pork neck cut into cubes, marinated overnight with plenty of onion, lemon, and mineral water, then grilled on skewers over charcoal. The onion tenderises the meat while the coals give it a smoky char; it is served off the skewer with flatbread, pickled onion, and a spicy sauce.

40 min480 kcal6 serves

🌾Gluten-free💪High protein🌶️Spicy

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Soups

Solyanka

What makes a soup solyanka is the combination nothing else has: three or four cured meats in one pot, brined pickles with a splash of their brine, olives, capers, and a slice of lemon dropped in at the table. The result is sour, salty and smoky at once, thick enough that the spoon meets resistance. It began as a tavern soup built from whatever cured meat was on hand, which is still the honest way to make it — a lone leftover sausage end belongs in this pot. Sour cream and dill go on top, never into the pot.

170 min380 kcal4 serves

🌾Gluten-free💪High protein

🇷🇺RussiaMedium

Fish and Seafood Dishes

Sturgeon in Cream Sauce

Sturgeon in cream sauce is an exquisite dish that combines tender sturgeon meat with a rich and creamy sauce. The cream sauce gives the sturgeon a special softness, emphasizing its natural flavors.

38 min425 kcal4 serves

🥑Keto⚡Quick💪High protein

🇷🇺RussiaEasy

Breakfast and Brunch

Syrniki (Cottage Cheese Pancakes)

Crispy outside, soft and cheesy inside. Syrniki are small fried curd pancakes made from cottage cheese, eggs, and a little flour — nothing more. They've been a weekend breakfast staple across Russia and Ukraine for generations. Serve with sour cream and jam, or just a spoonful of honey.

25 min310 kcal2 serves

🌿Vegetarian💪High protein⚡Quick

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Meat Dishes

Tefteli (Russian Meatballs with Rice)

Tefteli are Russian meatballs mixed with rice and braised in a creamy tomato gravy. The rice worked right into the mince pokes out and keeps them soft — which earns them the nickname 'porcupine' or 'hedgehog' meatballs. A light crust from browning holds the shape, the inside stays tender, and the gravy soaks into a side of mashed potatoes or buckwheat.

70 min420 kcal4 serves

💪High protein🌾Gluten-free

Tvorozhnaya Zapekanka (Russian Cottage Cheese Bake)

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Sweet Dishes

Tvorozhnaya Zapekanka (Russian Cottage Cheese Bake)

Tvorozhnaya zapekanka is the soft, lightly sweet cottage-cheese bake that Russians remember from childhood kitchens and kindergartens. Sieved tvorog is mixed with eggs, sugar, and semolina, studded with raisins, and baked until set with a golden top. It slices like a cross between a cheesecake and a soufflé and is just as good cold as warm, with sour cream or condensed milk.

80 min240 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian💪High protein

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Soups

Ukha

The quintessential Russian fish soup — a clear, golden broth made from salmon bones and fillet with vegetables. The secret touch is a splash of vodka at the end, which enhances the fish aroma and makes the broth crystal clear.

70 min250 kcal6 serves

🌾Gluten-free

Nearby flavors

Four kitchens with overlapping ingredients and similar rhythms to Russian cooking.

Ukrainian9 recipes Belarusian4 recipes Georgian14 recipes Kazakh1 recipes