10 Best Georgian Foods To Try
Enjoy Some Local Specialties to Complete Your Trip to Georgia
There are many reasons to visit Georgia, but trying the best Georgian foods should be top of any list. The Georgian table is prized for its natural ingredients and traditional processes perfected over generations. Each region offers its own variations and specialties, with unmissable culinary experiences coinciding with seasonal harvests.
From a hearty cheese-filled bread called khachapuri to Georgian dumplings, the dishes are characterized by bold use of fresh and dried herbs and lots of walnuts. Whether indulging in a festive feast called a supra, enjoying a casual meal with friends, or visiting restaurants or local markets, Georgian food celebrates hospitality, tradition, and unforgettable flavors.
1. Khachapuri
Georgian cheese bread and the national dish
Categoría: Gastronomía en
Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian cheese bread with countless regional varieties, each using unique flavors and combinations of delicious cheeses and pastries. Some of the best include imeruli khachapuri, a simple round dough filled with fresh, handmade, raw cheese, and achma, which resembles a cheesy, pastry lasagna. Others incorporate beetroot leaves or step up the heartiness with kidney beans.
Do not leave Georgia without trying Adjarian khachapuri, an open, boat-shaped khachapuri filled with cheese, a runny egg, and butter. You tear off the ends and use them to mix the cheese and egg into a dipping mixture and scoop it up. It’s heavenly. Wherever you are in Georgia, khachapuri is a must-try.
2. Tolma
Cabbage or vine leaves stuffed with succulent fillings
Categoría: Gastronomía en
Tolmas are delicious morsels of stuffed cabbage or vine leaves beloved across the Caucasus, Turkey, and the Middle East. The Georgian variety is known for its bold flavors, often enhanced with Georgia’s unique blend of dried herbs called khmeli suneli, and fresh cilantro, parsley, and basil.
This versatile dish comes in many regional variations with succulent fillings, typically meat, rice, vegetables, and herbs, sometimes even dried fruit. They can be served chilled or warm, often accompanied by matsoni, a fragrant yogurt sauce. The unifying element is the filling: the word “tolma” means “stuffed.”
3. Badrijani nigvzit
Eggplant rolls with crushed walnut filling, garnished with pomegranate
Categoría: Gastronomía en
A popular appetizer or side dish in Georgia, you’ll find badrijani nigvzit in many Georgian restaurants. This mouth-watering dish is fully vegan, made with a paste of crushed walnuts and spices that is rolled up in sheets of thinly sliced, fried eggplant.
The walnut filling incorporates garlic, coriander, and white wine vinegar, and regional variations may include marigold, paprika, or even spicy cayenne pepper. Badrijani nigvzit is typically garnished with pomegranate seeds. They can be served immediately after cooking or cooled. Either way, they are delicious.
4. Churchkhela
Traditional Georgian sweet made from grape and candy-coated nuts
Categoría: Gastronomía en
There’s nothing like the taste or look of fresh churchkhela, a Georgian candy made with nuts and grape brittle. Packed with calories and nutrition, these “Georgian Snickers” were originally made to sustain soldiers during wartime, but now dangle from market stalls across the country.
Churchkhela are made with skinned walnuts or hazelnuts strung together by hand with a needle and thread, dipped into a pot of concentrated grape juice roux heated over an open fire. The churchkhela are then left to harden, and after a few days, you can eat them after carefully pulling out the string. You’ll find regional varieties made with dried apricots, dates, figs, and different nuts, but all using natural ingredients and a time-honored process.
5. Gozinaki
Traditional roasted nut and honey confectionery
Categoría: Gastronomía en
If you smell the heady aroma of roasting nuts and boiling honey wafting from Georgian kitchens around New Year’s, it is likely emanating from the cooking of gozinaki. Like many Georgian dishes, gozinaki are deeply rooted in tradition, symbolizing prosperity for the year ahead, happiness, and the warmth of family gatherings.
Gozinaki are honey nut bars, traditionally made with only 3 ingredients: honey, sugar, and walnuts, but variations include hazelnuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, and dried fruit. According to Georgian family traditions, the person who makes the best gozinaki should make it, but only if that year was a happy and prosperous one.
6. Pkhali
Colorful vegetable pâté with walnuts, garlic, and spices
Categoría: Gastronomía en
To make pkhali, a Georgian pâté or side dish served cold, mountains of herbs are pounded together with finely chopped vegetables and a dressing of crushed walnuts, vinegar, and garlic. The green kind is made with spinach while the crimson is made with beetroot, but pkhali can also incorporate eggplant, carrots, squash, sorrel, or any vegetable on hand. They are perfect for using up any vegetables past their prime to transform them into something delicious.
Originally, pkhali were considered subpar sustenance to eat in times of hardship, or during Lent. But Georgian culinary creativity got the better of this dish and now exquisite versions of it are served up in all manner of restaurants throughout the country.
7. Khinkali
Delicious Georgian soupy dumplings
Categoría: Gastronomía en
Georgia’s delicious dumplings, khinkali, were first made in the mountain regions but are now beloved throughout Georgia and a must-try while visiting the country. Locals describe them with a passion and visitors are invariably seduced by Georgia’s juicy version of dumplings.
Khinkali are made with twisted pieces of handmade dough filled with juicy succulent meats, fish, vegetables, or cheeses and seasoned with fresh herbs. There is a special way to eat them with your hands. Grab the tip or tail, named the kudi, like a handle, take a small bite, and drink the khinkali juice. Then savor the rest, except the tip: leave that on the plate.
8. Kharcho
Spicy beef stew with rice and walnuts
Categoría: Gastronomía en
Kharcho is a rich Georgian beef and walnut stew from the Black Sea area of Mingrelia that comes in many varieties across former Soviet countries. Georgia’s piquant version features the country’s signature ingredient of ground walnuts alongside cherry plum purée, which gives the dish its distinctive tanginess, plus the traditional Georgian spice mix khmeli suneli, coriander, and other spices depending on the region.
It’s all combined in a delicious, fragrant sauce and sprinkled with fresh coriander, and served with warm Georgian bread. Kharcho comes in many different forms including brothy and thickened varieties depending on the region, but it is one of the most mouth-watering dishes to try anywhere in Georgia.
9. Shkmeruli
Garlic chicken with creamy sauce
Categoría: Gastronomía en
Georgia’s creamy, earthy, and unforgettable version of garlic chicken, shkmeruli, is said to hail from the tiny Rachan village of Shkmeri in Georgia’s northern highlands. Now shkmeruli is incredibly popular throughout the country and beyond.
Shkmeruli is a one-pot dish that’s surprisingly simple considering its depth. It’s traditionally cooked and served in an earthenware pot called a ketsi, in which the chicken is seasoned and fried, then slowly simmered in a milk and garlic sauce. Some varieties add khmeli suneli, the spice mix that defines many Georgian dishes, giving it a robust, distinctively Georgian flavor. The result is a satisfying and succulent dish packed with flavor.
10. Medoki
Georgian layered honey cake
Categoría: Gastronomía en
Medok is Georgia’s decadent adaptation of Russia’s traditional layered honey cake, medovik, introduced into Georgian cuisine during the Soviet era. Georgia’s rendition substitutes the Russian dessert’s sour cream with milk cream for a sweeter result and often garnishes the cake with walnuts or fruit.
Medok is made with 6-to-8 layers of soft, thin sponge cake infused with honey, with a rich milk cream between each layer, and burnt honey to give it its golden color. It takes a long time to make medok so it is made for special occasions, but you’ll find it in bakeries and cafes throughout Georgia.
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