Bulgarian Food: 13 Traditional Dishes to Try

Bulgarian Food

Bulgarian cooking shares much with its Balkan neighbours and with Turkish and Greek cuisine. A meal often starts with a salad, the grill and slow-cooked stews follow, and yoghurt and white brined cheese turn up in almost everything.

Обновено октомври 2026 · Фактите са проверени 13 октомври 2026

The basics

Salads to start: shopska salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onion and grated white cheese, or the yoghurt-and-cucumber snezhanka.
Yoghurt (kiselo mlyako): Bulgarians traditionally eat more yoghurt than the rest of Europe, and the bacterium Lactobacillus bulgaricus takes its name from the country. It is the base of the cold soup tarator.
Cheese: sirene, a white brined cheese similar to feta, and kashkaval, a hard yellow cheese.
The grill (skara): kebapche, kyufte and shishche, often served together as a mixed grill, meshana skara.
Stews: main courses are very often stews of vegetables or meat, such as gyuvech, cooked in a clay pot; see kavarma and vinen kebap.
Pastry: banitsa, layers of filo with eggs and white cheese, is the most popular pastry in Bulgaria.

Източник: Wikipedia: Bulgarian cuisine¹

Food for the feasts

Holidays have their own dishes. Christmas Eve brings meatless stuffed peppers and sarmi, cabbage dishes appear at New Year, Nikulden on 6 декември is the day for fish, usually carp, and St George’s Day on 6 май for roast lamb. Bulgaria is also known for its wines, such as Mavrud, Melnik and Dimyat, and for rakia.¹

Често задавани въпроси

What is Shopska salad in Bulgaria?

Shopska salad is made with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onion, topped with grated white cheese. In 1956, Balkantourist named its version Shopska salad.

What is Snezhanka salad in Bulgaria?

Snezhanka is a cool Bulgarian salad made with strained yoghurt and cucumber. It was developed as a Balkantourist product in the late 1970s.

What foods are eaten on Bulgarian holidays?

Bulgarian holiday foods include meatless stuffed peppers and sarmi on Christmas Eve, cabbage dishes at New Year, carp for Nikulden on 6 December and roast lamb for St George’s Day on 6 May.

Ястията

Banitsa

A layered Bulgarian pie, traditionally filled with cheese, eggs and yoghurt.
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Shopska salad

A Bulgarian salad of fresh vegetables topped with sirene cheese.

1956 Balkantourist named its version Shopska salad
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Snezhanka salad

A cool Bulgarian salad made with strained yoghurt and cucumber.

Late 1970s Developed as a Balkantourist product
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Tarator

A refreshing Bulgarian summer soup made with yoghurt and cucumber.
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Sirene po shopski

Bulgarian cheese baked with vegetables in a clay pot.
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Kebapche

Grilled minced meat shaped into a seasoned, casing-free roll.
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Kyufte

Bulgarian meatballs made with minced meat, onion and seasoning.
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Shish kebap

Marinated pork or chicken grilled on a skewer with peppers and onions.
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Kavarma

A slow-cooked Bulgarian stew of pork and vegetables.
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Vinen kebap

A Bulgarian stew of meat simmered slowly in wine and spices.
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Moussaka

A layered potato and minced-meat dish, baked with a milk-and-egg topping.
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Sarmi

Bulgarian rolls of cabbage or vine leaves with savoury fillings.
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Drob sarma

A warm baked dish of lamb offal, rice and herbs.
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