Traditional Lithuanian Food

Cepelinai

Let’s start with Lithuanian classics – zeppelins (cepelinai). You might be confused at first. Zeppelins are airships, aren’t they? Well, yes, they are. But Lithuanians also call their most famous traditional Lithuanian dish zeppelin just because it looks like one, just much smaller. The official name is didžkukuliai, but even locals do not bother to use this word as cepelinas is much easier to pronounce. So what exactly is this traditional  Lithuanian dish?

Fried Bread Sticks

In Lithuanian, this amazing dish is called Kepta Duona, and it’s the one thing you need to try. Even if you don’t eat anything else, don’t leave the country without trying the breadsticks. Lithuanian bread is already special by itself and much darker than what most people are used to. Now imagine that dark rye bread cut into strips and fried. It’s absolutely delicious! What made it even better was that the portion we ordered had cheese sauce sprinkled over the top.

Fried Breadsticks are a typical snack to eat in a bar, together with beer. But if you’re lucky, you can also find them in restaurants as a starter.

Cold Beetroot Soup

Leave your impressions at home when you taste šaltibarščiai for the first time. Despite its vivid pink color, this iconic chilled Lithuanian soup is as refreshing as it is bright.

Similar to borscht in Poland, šaltibarščiai gets its pink color from beets. The soup’s other ingredients include cucumber, dill, green onions, hard boiled eggs and kefir (a fermented milk product made with kefir grains).

Lithuanians typically top šaltibarščiai with sour cream and fresh dill and eat the chilled soup with potatoes on the side. The combination of a bowl of chilled soup and crispy potatoes is a winner.