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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Tefteli (Russian Meatballs with Rice) with ground beef, ground pork and white rice — Russia recipe

🇷🇺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) with tvorog, semolina and raisins — Russia recipe

🇷🇺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

Ukha with salmon, potato and carrot — Russia recipe

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Soups

Ukha

Ukha is Russia's clear fish soup, classically simmered from whole river fish such as pike-perch, perch, or pike into a light, delicate stock. This version uses salmon or trout instead, which gives a richer broth and is far easier to find than a mixed river catch. By tradition, cooks finish it with a splash of vodka, believed to round out the fish aroma — though the broth's real clarity comes from a slow simmer and careful skimming, not the vodka.

70 min250 kcal6 serves

🌾Gluten-free

Vatrushka (Russian Sweet Cheese Buns) with flour, tvorog and dry yeast — Russia recipe

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Flour and Confectionery Products

Vatrushka (Russian Sweet Cheese Buns)

Vatrushka is an open Russian yeast bun with a well of sweet tvorog (farmer's cheese) in the middle. The soft, rich dough is proofed twice, shaped into balls, and pressed to hold a generous spoonful of vanilla-scented filling. Baked until golden, they're best fresh and slightly warm — a classic of Russian and Ukrainian home baking.

150 min250 kcal10 serves

🌿Vegetarian

Zefir (Russian Apple Marshmallow) with apples, agar and egg white — Russia recipe

🇷🇺RussiaMedium

Sweet Dishes

Zefir (Russian Apple Marshmallow)

Zefir is a light Russian confection — thick apple purée whipped with egg white and set with an agar-sugar syrup into airy, meringue-like rosettes. A descendant of pastila, it sets at room temperature rather than in the fridge, giving a delicate crust outside and a soft, springy centre. Naturally fat-free and gluten-free, it's dusted with powdered sugar and served in sandwiched pairs.

60 min140 kcal8 serves

🌾Gluten-free🌿Vegetarian

Zharkoe (Russian Beef and Potato Stew) with beef chuck, potato and sour cream — Russia recipe

🇷🇺RussiaAdvanced

Meat Dishes

Zharkoe (Russian Beef and Potato Stew)

Zharkoe is a Russian stew of braised beef and potatoes in a thick gravy. The meat is browned first, then slowly simmered with onion and carrot until tender, and the potatoes go in only near the end. A spoonful of sour cream and fresh dill soften the gravy — hearty home cooking, best of all from a clay pot.

125 min700 kcal4 serves

💪High protein🌾Gluten-free

Nearby flavors

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

Ukrainian9 recipes Belarusian4 recipes Georgian15 recipes Kazakh1 recipes