Food From Georgia and Georgian Cuisine

From cheesy khachapuri to hearty stews and unique local wines, Georgia has plenty to offer foodies. Restaurateur Giorgi Mindiashvili shares the things he loves the most about his homeland.

After you've read our guide below, check out our guides to Turkey and Finland, then discover our Turkish recipes.

Georgian food: 10 things we love

Khachapuri

We have endless varieties of khachapuri, each from a different region. From boat-shaped adjaruli, filled with mixture of imeruli and sulguni cheese, and topped with butter and egg yolk, to round imeruli stuffed with fresh curd cheese, and chakhragina, my personal favourite, filled with chard and salty cheese.

Khinkali

No Georgian table is complete without khinkali, our famous dumplings. The story goes that they travelled from the east centuries ago, carried by nomadic tribes crossing the Caucasus. Today they’re made in every region, each with its own touch – some with beef and pork, some with lamb, mushrooms or cheese curds. To eat one properly, pick it up by the twisted stalk (we call it the belly button), turn it upside down, take a bite, slurp the hot broth, then eat the rest. It’s a meal and a ritual in one.

Spices

Tbilisi’s position on the old Silk Road means centuries of spice passed through our kitchens. From Persian saffron to Syrian coriander and Indian flatbreads, everything found a way into Georgian cooking. The backbone of our flavour is khmeli suneli, a golden-green spice blend of blue fenugreek, marigold and coriander. It seasons our stews – kharcho and satsivi – and ties the country’s east and west together in one shared taste.

Georgian wine

Georgia is where wine was born. Archaeologists have found evidence of winemaking dating back to 8,000 BC. We still use qvevri – large clay vessels buried underground – to ferment and age the wine, allowing it to breathe naturally. It’s not a trend here, it’s ancestry. The soils, often chalky and mineral-rich, give our wines a saline edge. In the east, the region of Kakheti produces structured, powerful wines from grapes like saperavi, rkatsiteli, khikhvi and krakhuna. In the west, Imereti and Samegrelo give lighter, more aromatic expressions – tsitska, tsolikouri, ojaleshi, otskhanuri sapere. We distil the left-over grape must into fiery chacha (our grappa) and we make churchkhela, candle-shaped sweets of walnuts dipped in thickened grape juice.

Wine and cheese served for a friendly party in a bar or a restaurant.

Walnuts – the sacred ingredient

Almost every Georgian household has a walnut tree in its garden. We use walnuts in everything: as the base for sauces and spreads, for thickening stews and in countless versions of pkhali – finely ground walnuts mixed with spinach, aubergine or the wild mountain herb ekala. It’s one ingredient that defines the Georgian palate: earthy, nutty, nourishing and beautifully versatile.

A small stack of walnuts on a white painted wooden surface.

If you really want to understand Georgia, start with a supra. These traditional feasts used to take place outdoors. There would be catfish in coriander-vinegar sauce, crispy suckling pig, whole chicken, tomato and cucumber salads, bundles of herbs, spring onions and radishes, bowls of pkhali – vibrant walnut and vegetable spreads – and still-warm shoti bread fresh from the clay oven. Every supra has a tamada, the toastmaster, who leads the table in toasts – to love, to peace, to the future – often accompanied by polyphonic singing. These days supras are mostly for celebrations and holidays but their spirit lives on in sharing-style dining in Georgian households and restaurants.

Festive feasting

Before Orthodox Christmas (7 January) many Georgians observe a 40-day plant-based fast. When the fast breaks it’s not just a meal, it’s renewal. Families gather, bringing dishes from their own homes: satsivi (chicken in walnut-garlic sauce), Rachan ham, aubergine pkhali, crispy roast pork and gozinaki, walnut and honey sweets. Candles glow in the window, a special cloth covers the table and the house fills with warmth.

Rachan ham

In the Racha mountains, people make a cured ham called lori. The pig is slaughtered in October, the hams hung, smoked and left to dry for months in the cold air. In winter, thin slices are added to lobio – a claypot stew of red beans, walnuts and spices – then sealed under a layer of cornbread and slow cooked over fire. The flavour is smoky, nutty and deep, like Georgia’s answer to cassoulet.

Shkmeruli

Named after the highland village of Shkmeri, this dish is the essence of Georgian comfort food. A spatchcock chicken is pan-fried until crisp, then cooked with garlic in its own juices. In the city people began to whisk the pan juices with a little cream, creating a silky emulsion not unlike a Basque pil pil. Traditionally it’s cooked in cast iron with a heavy stone on top for the perfect crust. Once served it’s drenched in its own hot garlicky sauce – simple, humble, extraordinary.

Hearty stews

Comforting stews slow cooking for hours over a stove are a staple in Georgian households. These include kharcho (beef, tomatoes, herbs and ghomi, our version of grits), workers’ favourite ostri (spicy beef with chilli and deep umami), chicken chahhokhbili braised with tomatoes, herbs and fiery ajika paste, and bright spring chakapuli with lamb, tarragon and sour plums. Perhaps the most beloved of all is satsivi, made of cold chicken bathed in thick walnut sauce, finished with saffron oil.

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