Ukrainian food words: what we eat all day, and what to say at the table

Breakfast, lunch and dinner in Ukrainian

Three meals, three nouns, three verbs. The verbs are worth learning together with the nouns, because Ukrainians rarely say “to eat breakfast” — they just breakfast:

• сніданок (snídanok) — breakfast · снідати (snídaty) — to have breakfast
• обід (obíd) — lunch · обідати (obídaty) — to have lunch
• вечеря (vécheria) — dinner, supper · вечеряти (vechériaty) — to have dinner

Обід is traditionally the main meal of the day, and a proper one has courses: перше (pérshe), the first course, which is almost always soup, and друге (drúhe), the second course — a main dish with a side. If a Ukrainian grandmother asks whether you've had перше, she is asking whether you've had your soup.

Breakfast: сирники and friends

Сирники (sýrnyky) — cottage cheese pancakes

Small, golden pancakes made from сир (syr), served with sour cream, jam or honey. One confusing detail: сир means both hard cheese and the soft, crumbly cottage cheese these are made from. Context tells you which.

• каша (kásha) — porridge; вівсянка (vivsiánka) — oatmeal
• яєчня (yaiéchnia) — fried eggs
• бутерброд (buterbród) — an open sandwich
• кава (káva) — coffee; чай (chai) — tea

Lunch: борщ, вареники and the classics

Борщ (borshch) — the soup of all soups

Red borscht is made with буряк (buriák, beetroot), cabbage, potatoes and usually meat, and every family is convinced theirs is the right one. It's served with a spoonful of сметана (smetána, sour cream) and пампушки (pampúshky): soft little bread rolls brushed with garlic, часник (chasnýk). In spring there's also зелений борщ (zelényi borshch), green borscht made with sorrel.

In July 2022, UNESCO added the culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. For Ukrainians, that was about much more than soup.

Вареники (varényky) — dumplings with every filling

Half-moon dumplings, boiled and served with sour cream or fried onions. The fillings are where the grammar sneaks in: “with” is з + instrumental.

• вареники з картоплею (z kartópleiu) — with potato
• з капустою (z kapústoiu) — with cabbage
• з сиром (z sýrom) — with cottage cheese
• з вишнями (z výshniamy) — with sour cherries, a summer favourite

Голубці (holubtsí) — cabbage rolls

Cabbage leaves wrapped around rice and meat, stewed slowly. The name is usually linked to голуб, a pigeon, and the word is almost always used in the plural.

Деруни (deruný) — potato pancakes

Grated potato, fried until crisp, served with sour cream. The name comes from дерти, to grate or tear, which tells you exactly how they're made.

Налисники (nalýsnyky) — thin crêpes

Thin pancakes, usually rolled around sweet cottage cheese and baked or fried.

Сало (sálo) — cured pork fat

Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like, and yes, it's delicious — sliced thin on чорний хліб (chórnyi khlib), dark rye bread, with garlic. Sálo is so tied to Ukrainian identity that it's the subject of endless jokes, many of them told by Ukrainians themselves.

Drinks: узвар and компот

• Узвар (uzvár) — a drink made by simmering dried fruit: apples, pears, prunes. It's one of the twelve dishes on Christmas Eve.
• Компот (kompót) — a sweet drink cooked from fresh or preserved fruit and berries. Served cold in summer, it tastes of every Ukrainian childhood.

Phrases at the table

Ukrainian hospitality has a script, and knowing your lines makes all the difference.

Смачного! (smachnóho) — enjoy your meal

Дуже смачно! (dúzhe smáchno) — it's delicious!

Say it early and say it often. For extra warmth: Просто смакота! (prósto smakotá) — “Simply delicious!”

Можна ще? (mózhna shche) — can I have some more?

The highest compliment you can pay a Ukrainian cook. Add трошки (tróshky), “a little”, to sound modest: Можна ще трошки?

• Передай, будь ласка, хліб. (peredái, bud láska, khlib) — Pass the bread, please. Polite form: Передайте.
• Я наївся / Я наїлася. (ya naívsia / ya naílasia) — I'm full. Man / woman speaking.
• Я вегетаріанець / вегетаріанка. — I'm vegetarian. Man / woman.
• Без м'яса, будь ласка. (bez miása, bud láska) — Without meat, please.

A warning: a Ukrainian host will offer you more at least three times. Бери ще! (berý shche), “Have some more!”, is a sign of love, not a question. When you really can't, smile and say:

Ordering in a Ukrainian café

• Можна меню, будь ласка? (mózhna meniú, bud láska) — Could I have the menu, please?
• Що ви порадите? (shcho vy porádyte) — What would you recommend?
• Я б хотів / хотіла… (ya b khotív / khotíla) — I'd like… Man / woman.
• Мені, будь ласка, борщ і каву. — A borscht and a coffee for me, please.
• Тут чи з собою? (tut chy z sobóiu) — For here or to take away? You'll also hear на виніс (na výnis), “to go”.
• Можна рахунок? (mózhna rakhúnok) — Could I have the bill?

Notice борщ і каву: after мені or я б хотіла, the dish goes into the accusative. For most masculine nouns like борщ nothing changes, but feminine кава becomes каву.

Food words that feel like home

Ukrainians love diminutives, and food is where they bloom. Борщик, варенички, чайок — the same dishes, said with tenderness. You'll hear them from grandmothers and from anyone trying to tempt you into a second helping.

And a few dishes named after Ukraine that you might already know: котлета по-київськи (kotléta po-kýivsky), chicken Kyiv, and Київський торт, the Kyiv cake with meringue and hazelnuts.

So which one do I hate?

You'll have to watch the TikTok and guess. What I can tell you is that tasting your way through these dishes is one of the best ways to learn the words: you'll never forget деруни once you've had them hot from the pan.

If you'd like to practise ordering, complimenting and politely refusing a fourth helping, we can role-play it in my Ukrainian lessons online. For the toast that follows the meal, see how to say cheers in Ukrainian, and for the words behind смакота, my Ukrainian words with no English equivalent. Starting from zero? My free guide to your first 100 Ukrainian words is a good place to begin.