Russian cuisine is rich in unusual culinary discoveries that sometimes shock foreigners. But it is also familiar and comforting, and perfectly suited for both holidays and everyday meals. We've gathered 15 of the most delicious recipes for Russian national dishes!
1. Lenten Shchi (Cabbage Soup)
Did you know that there are about 60 types of Russian cabbage soup? We've taken a classic recipe to which you can add any meat.
You will need: 400 g cabbage, 4 potatoes, 1 onion, 2 carrots, 3 tomatoes, 2 cloves garlic, 2.5 L water, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, spices.
Preparation: Finely chop the onion, grate the carrots, shred the cabbage, and dice the peeled tomatoes. Sauté the onion with carrots, add the tomatoes, and simmer for 7 minutes over low heat.
Add the cabbage to boiling water and cook for 7 minutes. Then add the potato sticks, and after another 15 minutes, add crushed garlic and the sautéed vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer the shchi covered for another 10 minutes.
2. Zharkoye (Roast)
Classic zharkoye is cooked in earthenware pots and stewed for several hours in an oven.
You will need: 400 g pork, 6 potatoes, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 zucchini, 2 tbsp sour cream, 3 tbsp vegetable oil, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 100 ml water, spices, dried mushrooms, herbs.
Preparation: Separately chop and fry the meat, potatoes, and other vegetables. Layer everything into pots, sprinkle with spices, and pour over a sauce made from tomato paste and sour cream. Add a little water, dried mushrooms, and herbs. Bake for 1.5 hours at 160 degrees Celsius.
3. Blini with Red Caviar
Russian blini can be served with anything: from sour cream to red caviar. We'll share the recipe for the latter!
You will need: 1.5 cups flour, 500 ml milk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp sugar, pinch of salt, 1 jar red caviar.
Preparation: Mix milk with eggs, salt, and sugar, add sifted flour, and stir. Fry the blini and roll them up with red caviar into rolls or envelopes.
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4. Solyanka (Thick, Sour Soup)
Soup with pickled cucumbers is one of those dishes that often puzzles people in other countries. And completely unnecessarily so!
You will need: 2.5 L water, 600 g pork or beef, 300 g smoked ribs, 200 g ham, 200 g sausage, 2 onions, 4 pickled cucumbers, 2 tbsp tomato sauce, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 tbsp butter, 2 bay leaves, 3 peppercorns, spices.
Preparation: Cover the meat and ribs with water and bring to a boil, add 1 onion and cook for 2 hours. 15 minutes before the end, add peppercorns, bay leaf, and other spices. Separately strain the broth and shred the meat into strips. Cut the sausage and ham into similar strips.
Also cut the cucumbers into strips and lightly sauté them in a pan. Add them to the broth, sauté the onion with tomato sauce and add it there too. Return all the meat to the pot and simmer for another 15 minutes. Optionally, you can add olives and a little pickle brine.
5. Pelmeni (Dumplings)
Ural pelmeni became a legend over 600 years ago.
You will need: 200 g flour, 1 egg, 5 tbsp ice water, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 1 onion, 300 g minced meat, 1 tbsp parsley, 1 clove garlic, spices.
Preparation: Mix the minced meat with grated onion and garlic, chopped parsley, and spices. Whisk the eggs with water, add flour and oil to them. Blend the dough until it forms sticky crumbs, knead by hand, and leave for half an hour under cling film.
Roll it out on a table, cut thin circles, and form pelmeni with the minced meat. They can be steamed or boiled in water, fried, baked, or stored in the freezer.
6. Rybny Rasstegai (Fish Pie)
Rasstegai are "unbuttoned," meaning open, pies made from lean yeast dough.
You will need: 2.5 cups flour, 2 tsp dry yeast, 1.5 cups milk, 4 tbsp butter, pinch of salt, 1 egg, 300 g pike, 300 g salmon, spices.
Preparation: Add dry yeast, sugar, and salt to sifted flour, pour in warm milk, and stir. Add beaten egg and half of the melted butter, cover with cling film, and place in a warm spot for 2 hours. Cut the fish fillet into thin pieces and fry with spices.
Roll out the dough and cut into 10 cm circles. Place a piece of fish on each, pinch the edges, leave for 15 minutes, brush with egg, and bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Any other filling can be used following the same principle.
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7. Svekolnik (Cold Beet Soup)
Cold beet soup is indispensable when you crave something fresh.
You will need: 1 beet, 4 potatoes, 2 cucumbers, 4 eggs, 250 g balyk (cured meat), 1.5 L kefir, 1.5 L mineral water.
Preparation: Boil potatoes, beets, and eggs, dice them finely, cut the balyk into strips, and grate the cucumbers. Put everything into a pot, pour in kefir, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and then add mineral water. Garnish the svekolnik with herbs before serving.
8. Buzhenina (Roasted Pork)
This hearty meat dish is mentioned in sources from the 16th century.
You will need: 1 kg pork, 3 cloves garlic, 0.5 cup bay leaves, 2 tsp raisins, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 50 ml vegetable oil, 400 ml water.
Preparation: Rinse and pat dry the meat, make incisions, and stuff with garlic cloves and raisins. Rub the pork with salt and pepper and leave for an hour. Lightly fry it on all sides in vegetable oil for a couple of minutes, place it in a baking dish on a bed of bay leaves, pour in hot water, and bake for 1.5 hours at 180 degrees Celsius under foil.
9. Kholodets (Aspic)
Or studen – whichever you prefer. We've chosen a recipe using pork hocks – they are very rich.
You will need: 2 pork hocks, 700 g beef, salt and pepper, 1 onion, garlic, bay leaf.
Preparation: Cover the hocks and meat with water, bring to a boil, add all spices, onion, and garlic, and cook for about 2-3 hours. Separate the meat from the bones and chop it, arrange in molds, optionally add vegetables, and pour in the strained broth. Refrigerate the aspic until set.
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10. Pozharsky Cutlets
The legend of their origin is linked to Emperor Nicholas I's visit to Darya Pozharskaya's tavern.
You will need: 800 g chicken fillet, 400 g onion, 350 g bread, 1 cup cream, 200 g butter, salt, pepper, vegetable oil.
Preparation: Cut 150 g of butter into small cubes and place in the freezer with bread crusts, and soak the bread pulp in cream. Mince the chicken until it forms ground meat and add the onion lightly fried in 25 g of butter. Add the bread (without crusts), spices, and mix.
Add the frozen butter to the minced meat and quickly mix so it doesn't melt. Grate the bread crusts, form cutlets, and roll them in the breading. Fry them in a mixture of butter and vegetable oil.
11. Kurnik (Chicken Pie)
This is a tall, closed pie with a chicken filling. It was most often baked for weddings.
You will need: 4 cups flour, 250 g margarine, 100 g butter, 1 cup water, 1 tsp sugar, 5 potatoes, 500 g chicken fillet, 2 onions, 1 egg yolk, 1 tbsp dry yeast, spices.
Preparation: Dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar, and cut the flour into crumbs with cold margarine. Pour the liquid into the dry mixture, knead the dough, and refrigerate for half an hour under cling film. Finely chop and boil potatoes, fry chopped chicken in butter with onion.
Separate a smaller portion of the dough and roll it into a base. Layer potatoes, then chicken, and on top – pieces of butter and spices. Cover the pie with the remaining dough, make a hole in the middle, brush with egg yolk, and leave for 20 minutes. Bake for 25 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.
12. Zucchini Caviar
The recipe is relatively young – just over a hundred years old, but it has long been associated with Russian cuisine.
You will need: 1.5 kg zucchini, 140 g tomato paste, 2 onions, 100 ml vegetable oil, 1 tbsp 5% vinegar, 1 tsp sugar and salt, pinch of pepper.
Preparation: Slice the zucchini into rounds and bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Finely chop the onion, sauté it in vegetable oil, add tomato paste and spices. Blend the zucchini and add to the same pan, simmer for 20 minutes. Season the caviar with vinegar and chill.
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13. Baked Sturgeon
Not an everyday dish, but a very exquisite Russian one!
You will need: 1 sturgeon, 3 tomatoes, 1 green apple, 1 lemon, 1 bunch of herbs, 1 orange, 1 bunch of lettuce, 50 g mayonnaise, 1 pepper, 100 g vegetable oil, 1 leek, spices, vinegar.
Preparation: Soak the fish in water with vinegar for several hours, pat dry, salt, pepper, and brush with oil. Wrap it in foil and bake for 40-50 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Then place it on lettuce leaves and garnish with fresh or baked vegetables and fruits to taste.
14. Beef Stroganoff
The signature dish of the Stroganov dynasty, which became known worldwide.
You will need: 1 kg beef, 1 onion, 50 g butter, 1/3 cup tomato paste, 1 cup sour cream, 1/3 cup flour, 1 tsp mustard, 2 tbsp cognac, spices.
Preparation: Cut the meat into strips, mix with a couple of tablespoons of flour and spices, and leave for 15 minutes. Fry it in butter, set aside, and in the same pan, sauté the chopped onion with cognac and 1 tsp flour. Add tomato paste, and after 2 minutes, sour cream. Bring the sauce to a boil, add mustard, spices, and the remaining flour. Return the meat and simmer for about half an hour, covered, over low heat.
15. Okroshka (Cold Summer Soup)
How can we forget the classic Russian summer soup! Pour kvass, kefir, or sparkling mineral water over it.
You will need: 500 g potatoes, 300 g boiled sausage, 3 eggs, 200 g radishes, 300 g cucumbers, 1 pepper, herbs and spices.
Preparation: Boil potatoes, cut them into uniform cubes along with the sausage, egg, pepper, and cucumbers. Finely slice the radishes into thin rounds, mix the ingredients, season, and add chopped herbs.