Must-Try Georgian Foods

When in Georgia, there is no doubt that you’ve got to try all the fantastic food the country offers. Because of Georgia’s unique historical position, it has been a mixing ground of cultures and cuisines. You’ll find unique food here that you won’t find anywhere else–and other foods that are perhaps twists on those you might have had elsewhere. Either way, we’ve put a list together of some of our must-try Georgian foods when you visit!

Pkhali

Pkhali is an umbrella term for a variety of vegetable pâtés or spreads often served with bread and cheese. It’s made by boiling and pureeing vegetables and adding herbs, spices, and walnuts for additional flavor. On a Tbilisi food tour we tried 5 kinds of pkhali: eggplant, carrot, beetroot, spinach, and cheese.

Shotis Puri

Shotis puri is a traditional Georgian bread that’s shaped like a canoe and made in a clay oven called a tone, similar to a tandoor. The bread gets its curved canoe shame because the dough is stuck to and cooked on the side of the circular oven. It’s nothing crazy, but it’s good fresh bread. You can find it at many bakeries and a lot of special bakeries that are literally hole-in-the-walls like the one pictured!

Jonjoli

Jonjoli are pickled flowers or sprouts made from the staphylea or bladdernut plant. It doesn’t look super appetizing, but is actually pretty tasty and apparently loaded with vitamins. It’s often served as an appetizer with other pickled veggies or as a side dish. 

Dambalkhacho

Dambalkhacho is a kind of cheese that originated in Georgia’s mountain region and has become somewhat of a delicacy. It’s made from a buttermilk cottage cheese that remains after churning butter. Then, salt is added and the cheese is dried over an open flame. And finally, the cheese is placed in a clay pot for 2-3 months, where it develops a special kind of mold. The resulting cheese is semi-soft with a strong flavor. It may not sound appetizing, but the one we had at a nice restaurant was absolutely delicious!

Lobio

Lobio is a thick kidney bean stew flavored with various herbs and spices, like onions, garlic, cilantro, coriander, fenugreek, vinegar, marigold, and chilies. This is one of those dishes that varies from place to place. You may find some recipes that use pomegranate juice or tkemali (sour plum sauce). Or, like many Georgian dishes, they also like to add walnuts. The consistency is somewhere between soup and refried beans. And it’s often served in a clay pot with a side of cornbread or pickled vegetables.  

Mchadi

Mchadi is a thick baked or fried cornbread made from cornmeal, salt, and water. If fried, it’s usually prepared in sunflower oil, and is traditionally served with lobio or cheese.  

Lobiani 

Lobiani is a bean filled flat bread. It’s usually made with kidney beans and spices. And sometimes people add a little smoked pork or bacon fat for added flavor. It’s sort of like a fluffier, buttery quesadilla that tastes like a bean burrito.   

Khachapuri

Khachapuri is a catch-all term for cheese-filled breads, of which there are several. One of the most basic is imeruli khachapuri, which is a flat circular bread filled with imeruli cheese. Megruli khachapuri is similar to imeruli khachapuri, but uses sulguni cheese and adds additional melted cheese on top. And probably the most iconic is adjaruli khachapuri, canoe shaped bread filled with sulguni cheese, butter, and a raw egg. You can also find khachapuri with veggies, meat, or beans, but it isn’t true khachapuri unless it has cheese. 

Khinkali

Khinkali are Georgian dumplings that look like a giant version of Chinese soup dumplings. They were originally made with sheep and were a hearty warm meal for shepherds up in the mountains. Today, it’s usually made with a mixture of beef and pork. But locals don’t usually eat the whole thing. The proper way is to hold the knot, bite a small hole in in the bottom, drink the juices, then devour the rest except for the knot. Then at the end, you count up your knots to see who has eaten the most! You can also find vegetarian versions of khinkali made with mushrooms, cheese, or potato. 

Kharcho 

Kharcho is a meat soup or stew. When prepared as a soup, it’s traditionally made with beef, rice, cherry plum purée, and spices. But you can find it with other types of meat, as well. And recipes really vary by region and individual cooks. You may try kharcho at one restaurant and then try a completely different one at another. Another type of kharcho is megrelian kharcho, which is a bit heartier, more like a stew. This type of kharcho uses similar spices, but is thickened with tomato paste and ground walnuts. You can also find vegetarian versions of kharcho made with roasted cauliflower.  

Mtsvadi

Mtsvadi are grilled meat skewers generally cooked over an open flame. It was originally made with lamb and not much seasoning other than salt. But today you can find it with pork, beef, or chicken. Though, pork seems to be the most popular. It’s often cooked in pomegranate juice, onions, and seasonings for additional flavor, or served with tkemali, a Georgian plum sauce (see below). 

Shkmeruli

Shkmeruli is a chicken dish with a decadent garlic sauce poured over the top. It’s a pretty easy dish to make, but is absolutely delicious. The sauce is essentially just milk, butter, and lots of garlic, which for garlic lovers like us is fantastic. It’s very rich and creamy and was one of my favorite dishes we had in Georgia. And you should definitely get this with some homemade bread to soak up all the delicious sauce! 

Tutmaji 

Tutmaji is a traditional noodle and yogurt soup. The thick chewy noodles are made from flour and water and fried in butter and onions, then boiled in water until the noodles float, and finally topped with a yogurt sauce. The one we tried also had garlic, which added a nice flavor. It’s also supposed to be a great hangover cure!  

Adjika 

Adjika is a spicy Georgian-Abkhazian paste made from red peppers, garlic, herbs, and additional spices. Some recipes also include tomato, but this is less traditional. While traditionally a paste you may also see it as a dip or a rub/dry seasoning. It’s often used as a spread on bread or to flavor a number of Georgian dishes.  

Tkemali 

Tkemali is a sour plum sauce made from red or green cherry plums and is often flavored with additional herbs and spices, like garlic, cilantro, cumin, coriander, dill, and chili pepper. Georgians absolutely love Tkemali, similar to Americans’ love of ketchup. They put it on everything, including meat, potatoes, salad, and bread.  

Churchkhela 

Churchkhela is a traditional Georgian candy that looks like a candle and is made from grape must, nuts (usually walnuts), and flour. Since it’s basically just nuts and sugar, churchkhela also used to be used in the military since it provided protein and energy and wouldn’t spoil. At tourist shops you’ll see churchkhela in bright colors, like pink or green. But since churchkhela gets its color from grape must, traditional churchkhela should be off-white or red like grape juice or wine. If you see pink or green ones it means it has dyes or other additives to make it that color. You’ll recognize them as candies that actually look like a bunch of candles hanging from strings at most stops. Go for the traditional stuff when possible. Below, you can see the churchkhela we tried all cut up and ready to consume!

Tolma

Tolma is a stuffed vegetable filled with meat and rice mixture. While tolma might refer to vegetables like tomatoes or peppers, most of the time we saw it on a menu, it was with vine leaves. The stuffing is general ground meat with all kinds of spices and herbs mixed with rice. Usually it’s served with sour cream on the side. In our experience, while this sounds similar to the stuffed grape leaves you might get in Greece, the spices and filling are usually different enough that it’s worth trying both.