Your Georgian Vegetarian Food Guide: 41 Must-Eats

We had been on the road for six months travelling through countries that don’t really know how to do vegetarian food before we hit Georgia. Georgia knows. We ate all the Georgian vegetarian food, and it was such a welcome change to have tasty options – not just salad and chips!

Many Georgians are Orthodox, and it is not uncommon to see people making the sign of the cross whenever they see a church, cathedral etc. (and Georgia has a LOT of these, so you’ll come across this all the time!). For devout Orthodox Christians, there are days of the week when they ‘fast’, essentially meaning they eat vegan/vegetarian. So when you head out to restaurants, you will often find a fasting menu or dishes that are marked as ‘fasting’. And therefore there is a lot of traditional Georgian vegetarian food. Music to our ears!

After now having spent nine months over the past three years eating our way around the country, we put together a guide of all the best vegetarian dishes you should search for on your Georgian trip. And honestly, the phenomenal food is absolutely enough reason by itself to book that ticket to Georgia.

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Your Georgian Vegetarian Food Checklist

Hot Dishes

1. Khinkali

A classic. If you search for Georgian food, you will undoubtedly come across pictures of these huge soupy boiled dumplings. The classic version is full of meat, but there are vegetarian versions too: herby mushrooms, cheese, and potato. You can also find some fried variations so that the dumplings have a crisp outside. Herby mushroom khinkali are beautiful.

And there is strict eating etiquette for khinkali: do not cut them up with a knife and fork. You’ll lose all the juice and any respect from the local Georgians!

Pick up the khinkali by the thick nob on the end and flip it upside down. Nibble a small hole in the dough and suck all the brothy juice out before eating the rest of khinkali.

If you have a clean plate by the end of your meal, you’ll have expert khinkali eater status.

2. Lobio

This a big bowl of goodness that just so happens to also be naturally vegan. The classic bean stew full of spices and fresh herbs is served in a traditional clay pot alongside mchadi (cornbread) and pickles. Or what we love to do is to order some shoti or even a khachpuri to dip into these rich and thick beans. The ultimate Georgian vegetarian food!

3. Ajapsandali

A spiced vegetable stew, that is naturally vegan. It is often served warm, but some restaurants will serve it cold: both are really tasty. Just double check how it will be served before you order. Aubergine, peppers, onions, garlic. Order yourself some shoti to dip into it, (or even better, a khachapuri!). THE absolute ultimate ajapsandali is served at Lushnu Qor in Mestia – this was by far the tastiest we have tried in Georgia.

4. Tarragon Oyster Mushrooms on Ketsi

These are special. Charred and chewy oyster mushrooms in general are one of my favourite things to eat, but cooked in garlic, chilli and tarragon, they’re the ultimate. Back in the olden days of us eating meat, my favourite thing from a British Chinese takeaway was always the salt and pepper ribs. And I swear to you that these taste exactly the same (just without the actual meat!) For the best ones, head to Ortachala restaurant in Tbilisi.

5. Mushrooms on Ketsi

Ketsi is a traditional clay dish which the mushrooms are cooked and served in. Plain mushrooms with a slight char and a little salt is so simple and delicious. Or try the mushrooms with sulguni (a local cheese that is often used in khachapuri).

6. Mushroom Ojakhuri

Mushrooms, potatoes, onions, garlic, fresh herbs and chilli all cooked on ketsi (clay pan). Super simple, but really tasty. An absolute classic that you will find on every menu.

7. Mushroom Chashashuli

A spicy mushroom stew with a tomato and adjika gravy. Chashashuli is usually made with meat, so if you find a mushroom version, jump on it. It’s warming and comforting and also healthier than the normal carbs-and-cheese-heavy Georgian meals.

8. Mushroom Cream Soup

Like mentioned further up the page, you’ll find mushrooms everywhere in Georgia, so putting them into soups just makes sense. Really earthy and umami.

9. Chizhi Pizhi

Georgian tomato scrambled egg. All neighbouring countries have their own take on this. The Georgian version is beautiful and hearty and makes a great breakfast when served with warm shoti or khachapuri, (but my favourite is Armenia‘s version loligov dzvadzekh)

10. Borano

Borano is an Adjarian speciality. There are two versions: one is a rich cheesy baked omelette, while the other is a pot of gooey, stretchy fondu-style cheese. Both are beautiful!

11. Sinori

Another Adjarian speciality, the most common variation of this is savoury and cheesy. Lavash (thin flatbreads) are rolled and placed in a pan before being covered in butter and cheese and baked. We tried a sweet version that had cinnamon, walnuts and raisins instead of the cheese. It feels like a lighter bread and butter pudding. Find it in Batumi.

12. Pachki/Chkhetvra

Bread is broken up into pieces in a dish, with cheese melted on top. It kind of felt like a savoury non-soggy bread and butter pudding.

13. Elarji

Great comfort food, elarji is a hot cornmeal mixed with sulguni cheese until it melts throughout. It’s a great accompaniment with strong flavoured dishes. I see it as an alternative to mashed potato.

14. Elarji Balls

So the same as above with the stodgy cornmeal mixed with cheese, rolled into balls and deep fried so that the outside is crisp.

15. Ghomi

A plain cornmeal side dish served with stew type dishes. By itself, its pretty bland, but it’s a great flavour vehicle when it’s eaten with other dishes. I would totally recommend you go for elarji instead of ghomi though – cheese just makes everything great!

16. Tashmijabi

Super cheesy mashed potato. Need I say more?

17. Mexican Potatoes

Yeah, I know. Weird, right? Most menus will have ‘Mexican potatoes’ listed, but they’re not really that Mexican. Essentially spiced potatoes wedges, they go well with almost everything.

18. Potato Ojakhuri

Ojakhuri means ‘family style’ in Georgian, so this dish can come out a variety of ways but it always has big chunks of potato with onions, herbs, and sometimes garlic.

Cold Dishes

19. Gebzhalia

Sulguni cheese is rolled into thin sheets before having a mint, chilli, garlic paste spread thinly across them. They are then rolled into pinwheel type shapes and drenched in a cottage cheese or matsoni sauce. Yep, this is a heavy dairy dish! And you’ll find the very best at Story in Kutaisi.

20. Georgian Cheeses

Sulguni and Imeruli are salty and meltable (is that a word?) cheeses that are used in khachapuri as well as many other dishes. Both are delicious eaten just as is with a hunk of shoti. But my absolute favourite Georgian cheese has to be the pungent Dambalkhacho. It’s a strong, punchy blue cheese that you can try in Cafe Daphna‘s famous fried khinkali in Tbilisi.

21. Pkhali

This vegan dish is a mixture of minced vegetables, herbs, garlic and ground walnuts. It is then shaped into small balls, and can be eaten by itself or spread on some shoti as a paste. The most common variations we came across are beetroot, spinach, and carrot, but you can also find wood mushrooms or pumpkin.

22. Georgian Salad with Walnuts

Many countries have a classic salad consisting of tomatoes, cucumber, and onion, but the Georgian salad is pretty special. It is topped with a walnut dressing which is rich and garlicky and fresh.

23. Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Kakhetian Sunflower Oil

Kakhetian sunflower oil is confusingly tasty. The first time we tried it and asked the waiter what was in the dressing because it was delicious. His answer: sunflower oil. And for whatever reason the sunflower seeds that grow in the Kakheti region in the very east of Georgia are special.

24. Aubergine and Walnut Rolls

Another vegan classic, strips of aubergine are cooked and cooled before a walnut paste is added to the centre and then rolled up into a pinwheel. It doesn’t sound the most appetising, and also isn’t always the prettiest, but it sure is tasty.

25. Beetroot in Tkemali

Sliced beetroot is mixed with a sour plum dressing. It’s refreshing with a little acidity.

Breads

26. Khachapuri

I don’t think words can actually express my love for khachapuri. Salty, stretchy cheese baked in fluffy, chewy bread. Georgian vegetarian food doesn’t get much better than this: the ultimate comfort food. There are many different variations of this dish throughout the country, and so we made it our mission to try as many of these as we possibly could.

27. Lobiani

We lived off this stuff. Beautiful baked bread stuffed with spiced beans. This is basically a meal in itself that you can get from bakeries and restaurants alike. The two tastiest variations that we tried were from a bakery in Zugdidi on Ferdinandi Street and Magnolia restaurant in Kutaisi. The bakery in Zugdidi serves the lobiani in long rolls covered in adjika spice. And Magnolia restaurant serves the lobiani in Adjarian style, which is a large bread boat filled with the spiced bean stew. It is also served with plenty of different pickles.

28. Shoti

Fresh Georgian bread is a thing of beauty. Baked quickly on the inside of a tone (a tandoor-style oven), the bread has a crisp bottom with a soft and chewy top. There are bakeries all over the country, and a trip down to grab yourself some fresh, hot shoti is a must on a visit to Georgia.

29. Mchadi

A very dense corn bread that is often served with lobio. It’s not my favourite, but it’s vegan!

30. Chvishtari

A cheese-stuffed version of mchadi is much better in my opinion. I mean, cheese makes everything tastier.

Condiments

31. Jonjoli

Pickled bladdernut flowers might not sound all that appetising, but I love them and so do Georgians! Slightly salty, slightly acidic, and a little crunchy, these are a perfect accompaniment with a lobio.

32. Adjika

A chilli, pepper, garlic, herb and spice coarse paste. It is added to dishes to jazz them up, or you could just dip bread in it (not sure if this is the actual Georgian thing to do, but it tastes great!).

33. Tkemali

A sour plum sauce that is often served with fried potatoes. Essentially the equivalent of ketchup in Georgia (but it is far superior!).

34. Bazhe

A classic creamy walnut and garlic sauce that goes with everything! You’ll find a lot of Georgian classics have this already incorporated, but you can always order extra for dipping.

Sweets

35. Gozinaki

This is a sweet traditionally made for New Year/Orthodox Christmas celebrations. Roasted nuts are added to caramelised honey before letting it cool until beautifully crunchy and sticky.

36. Churchkela

Churchkela is also known as Georgian snickers. It tastes nothing like snickers, but it has a high calorie content like it. Traditionally, walnuts are threaded on to a string before being dunked in a vat of a syrupy grape juice and flour concoction. The grape juice coats the nuts and creates a chewy but not too sweet coating. Perfect snack for hiking!

37. Pelamushi

Pelamushi is a dessert made of boiled grape juice mixed with cornflour to thicken. It is often served with gozinaki for some extra crunch.

38. Tklapi

Also known as fruit leather, this is a fruit puree dried into sheets.

39. Ponchiki

A deep fried doughnut filled with a luscious vanilla cream and dusted with icing sugar. Pair this with a coffee for the perfect late afternoon treat.

40. Persimmons

In autumn/winter, these soft, flavourful fruit are just perfect. Make sure you have them when they are really soft though, otherwise they have an unpleasant astringent quality. You will see the bright orange fruit hanging in the trees long after all the leaves have dropped.

41. Kindzmarauli Red Wine Ice Cream

Yep, you read that right: wine ice cream. And it’s tastes better than you might think. It’s subtle and is without any of the acidity of the wine, just a fruity wine flavour. You can find vendors around Abanotubani area near the sulphur baths in Tbilisi.

The Best Foodie Cities in Georgia

You’ve got an idea of the vegetarian dishes you want to try now, but where do you find them? Our favourite foodie spots in Georgia for vegetarians are Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Gori, and Mestia. Try them out and let us know and we’d love it if you would let us know if we’ve missed anything off our list!

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