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Apr 12, 2022 · Pork is most common, but other meats such as beef, veal, and lamb are also eaten. Since the country shares a border with the Baltic Sea, fish has become a common ingredient in Lithuanian cuisine. Salmons, cod, perches, and other types of fresh fish are very popular.
- What Is Traditional Lithuanian Food?
- Starters / Sides
- Soups / Stews
- Pastries / Breads
- Mains
- Desserts / Drinks
- Lithuanian Food Tours
- Final Thoughts on Lithuanian Food
Lithuania is a country in the Baltic regionof Europe. Like its neighbors, Lithuanian food consists of agricultural products and dishes that are perfectly suited to its cold and moist northern climate. Different types of meat, dairy products, and root vegetables like potatoes, beets, and turnips are staple ingredients in Lithuanian cuisine. Produce ...
1. Koldūnai
Dumplings exist in almost all if not every culture and Lithuania is no exception. Koldūnai are Lithuanian dumplings filled with various ingredients like minced meat (usually beef, mutton, or pork), curd cheese, mushrooms, herbs, and spices. To prepare, the dumpling filling is wrapped in thin wheat flour dough and sealed in a half circle shape before being boiled in salted water. When ready, they’re served with different garnishes like sour cream, butter, bacon, and spirgučiai, which is an oft...
2. Bulviniai Blynai
Bulviniai blynai are Lithuanian fried potato pancakes. A beloved comfort food in Lithuania, they’re popular in the cuisines of many European countries where they go by different names like draniki (Belarus), zemiakové placky (Slovakia), deruny (Ukraine), bramborák (Czechia), and latkes (Jewish). Recipes vary but traditional bulviniai blynai are made with grated potatoes, diced onions, and eggs seasoned with salt, pepper, and sometimes lemon juice. Formed into patties, they’re shallow-fried ti...
3. Kugelis
Like bulviniai blynai, kugelis (or bulvių plokštainis) is a popular potato-based comfort food in Lithuania. It refers to a type of potato pudding or casserole made with oven-baked potatoes, onions, bacon, eggs, milk, and seasonings. Kugelis can be served as a main course or side dish and is commonly eaten with sour cream, applesauce, lingonberry jam, or spirgučiai. It’s typically made for dinner but it’s often enjoyed for breakfast as well. In Lithuania, it’s common practice to consume for br...
6. Šaltibarščiai
Šaltibarščiai has to be one of the most photogenic Lithuanian foods. Known for its bright pink color, it’s a traditional Lithuanian soup made with pickled or cooked shredded beets blended with kefir or soured milk. It’s served chilled with finely chopped vegetables like beetroot, cucumber, radish, and green onion, along with halves of a hard-boiled egg and a good amount of dill. Šaltibarščiai is a popular summertime soup in Lithuania. It’s a type of cold borscht soup that can be enjoyed as an...
7. Bigusas
Bigusas is the Lithuanian version of bigos, a Polish stew made from different types of chopped meat, sauerkraut, and shredded fresh cabbage. Meaning “hunter’s stew” in English, bigos is originally a Polish dish that’s become a part of Belarusian (bihas or bihus) and Lithuanian cuisines as well. Bigusas is made with various types of meat like pork, beef, veal, and poultry. They’re chopped into bite-sized chunks and stewed with a mixture of sauerkraut and shredded fresh white cabbage. Recipes v...
8. Kibinai
Kibinai (or kybyn) are traditional Lithuanian pastries made with ground meat, onions, sour cream, herbs, and seasonings. Associated mostly with the city of Trakai and its ethnic Karaite minority, kibinai are baked pastries similar to Cornish pasties or empanadas. Kibinai are traditionally made with mutton or lamb but they can be made with other types of ground meat as well like beef or pork. The filling is stuffed in a kefir- or sour cream-enriched dough that’s pinch-sealed into crescent-shap...
9. Baronkos
Baronkos refers to the Lithuanian version of bublik, a traditional Eastern European bread roll. Shaped like a bagel, it’s made with yeast-leavened wheat dough that’s briefly poached in water before baking. Bubliks like baronkos are common in the cuisines of many Eastern European countries. They exist in many forms and go by different names like baranka (Russia), obarinok (Ukraine), abaranak (Belarus), and obwarzanek (Poland). Like other forms of bublik, baronkos can be savory or more sweet. T...
10. Juoda Ruginė Duona
Rye bread is one of the most important foods in Lithuanian cuisine and culture. It’s an essential part of the Lithuanian diet and something that most Lithuanians can’t go a day without. Juoda ruginė duona literally means “black rye bread” and refers to a family of traditional Lithuanian breads made with fermented dough. Recipes vary but it’s typically made with whole or ground rye flour, all purpose flour, a starter, malt, salt, sugar, honey, and water. Rye bread is such an important part of...
12. Cepelinai
Cepelinai(or didžkukuliai) are among the most important dishes in this Lithuanian food guide. It refers to a Lithuanian national dish consisting of dumplings made from a mixture of raw and cooked potato dough filled with ground meat (usually pork), curd cheese, or mushrooms. A plate of cepelinai is a heavy meal so it’s usually served as an entree with bacon or spirgučiai and a generous helping of sour cream. They’re typically made in the fall during potato harvest season or to celebrate speci...
13. Zrazy
Zrazy refers to a type of meat roulade popular in the cuisines of Lithuania, Poland, and Belarus. They’re made with thin slices of seasoned beef stuffed with a variety of ingredients like vegetables, potatoes, mushrooms, and eggs. Zrazy is typically made with beef but it can be made with other types of meat as well like veal, pork, chicken, or turkey. To make, the beef is rolled over the filling and secured with thread or toothpicks. They’re then fried briefly before being stewed in a stock w...
14. Balandeliai
Balandeliai refers to Lithuanian stuffed cabbage rolls. They’re essentially the Lithuanian version of sarma, a cabbage roll dish that’s commonly eaten in Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, Croatia, and many other countries in the Balkans, the South Caucasus, the Levant, and Central Asia. Balandeliai is made with ground meat, usually pork, mixed with rice and onions. The filling is then rolled into boiled and softened cabbage leaves before being lightly coated in flour and quickly fried. The rolls are...
16. Šakotis
This tree-like cake has to be one of the world’s most unique-looking. Šakotis (or raguolis) refers to a traditional Lithuanian spit cake that’s also popular in Poland(sękacz) and Belarus (bankukha). It’s made from a thick batter consisting of butter, eggs, flour, sugar, and cream cooked on a rotating spit over an open fire or in a special oven. The word šakotis means “branched tree” or “tree with many branches” in reference to its distinctive conical tree-like shape. It’s one of the most impo...
17. Skruzdėlynas
Skruzdėlynas literally means “anthill” and refers to a traditional Lithuanian dessert made with deep-fried pieces of dough held together with honey syrup. It’s a delicious dessert that’s often prepared in many Lithuanian households. To make skruzdėlynas, a dough made from eggs, flour, and salt is rolled out thinly and then cut into small rectangular or triangular pieces. They’re quickly fried in oil and dipped in honey syrup before being stacked into a mound and sprinkled with poppy seeds. As...
18. Kūčiukai
In most cultures, some foods are synonymous with certain holidays. Turkey and stuffing are synonymous with American Thanksgivings while puto bumbong is often enjoyed as a Christmas dessert in the Philippines. In Lithuania, no Christmas table can ever be complete without kūčiukai. Kūčiukai (or šližikai, prėskutė) are small, slightly sweet Lithuanian Christmas biscuits made from leavened dough and poppy seeds. Also known as Christmas cakes, they’re usually the main treat served on Kūčios, the t...
Finding all these dishes on your own is easy, but if you’d like to get a better understanding of Lithuanian food, then you may want to go on a food tour. Simply put, no one knows Lithuanian food more than a local, so what better way to experience traditional Lithuanian cuisine than by going on a guided food tour? Not only can a local take you to th...
Like many of its Baltic neighbors, traditional Lithuanian food is simple and hearty. It’s comforting food that’s meant to fill you up and get you through the winter. Dishes like cepelinai and šaltibarščiai may not be as well-known internationally but to many Lithuanians, they’re the best-tasting dishes in the world. The fact that rye bread is viewe...
People also ask
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Mar 15, 2024 · 3. Šaltibarščiai. Cold Beetroot Soup. Šaltibarščiai is a cold beetroot soup, and a very popular summer dish in Lithuania. This traditional Lithuanian cold soup is made of buttermilk, beetroot, cucumbers, green onions, and dill. Usually, a hard-boiled egg is added as well.
- Basil (Ocimum basilicum): This member of the mint family has glossy, deep green, pointed leaves and a sweet-and-savory flavor with hints of anise, mint, and pepper.
- Mint (Mentha): This perennial plant has a subtly sweet flavor and releases a distinct cooling sensation due to the menthol in the herb. Used for a variety of culinary and medicinal purposes, mint has tender, bright green leaves that are commonly used in beverages like mint tea and mint juleps, as well as dishes like Vietnamese pho and Thai stir-frys.
- Parsley (Petroselinum crispum): A member of the Apiaceae family of plants, parsley is a leafy, herbaceous herb with a bright, slightly bitter taste that emphasizes other flavors.
- Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum): Also known as coriander, cilantro is a tart, citrusy herb with delicate, bright green leaves most commonly used fresh and added at the end of cooking.
Apr 16, 2024 · Mayonnaise. OR. Garlic. Cheese. Kepta duona is a simple Lithuanian snack consisting of sliced rye bread that is shortly fried until crispy. The bread is usually sliced into thin strips before it is pan-fried in oil, and it is usually rubbed with garlic ( duona su česnaku ), while modern varieties often come topped with cheese ( duona su sūriu ...
Apr 22, 2016 · Witchcraft, holy trees and Lithuania’s last pagans. The new book, titled Relics of Baltic Mythology and Religion in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Baltų religijos ir mitlogijos reliktai Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje), contains no stories about the pre-Christian times of Lithuania, like the ones found in classic works of nineteenth ...
The Spices & Culinary Herbs Market in Lithuania is projected to grow by 1.91% (2024-2029) resulting in a market volume of US$1.33m in 2029. ... The main drivers are GDP per capita, consumer ...
