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Traditional Lithuanian food is an adventure through locally sourced ingredients, a patchwork of agricultural traditions and culinary influences stemming from Western cuisine and Eastern European cuisine. In truth, if we had to estimate, it feels like Lithuanian cuisine is comprised of about 80% pork, potato and sour cream – but a lot of great things can be done with that.
One thing we will say is street food isn’t really a feature of the Lithuanian food scene. Aside from Christmas markets and a couple of food halls in Vilnius (which we’ve mentioned below), you’ll have to find these foods of Lithuania at restaurants, cafes and eateries around the country. We’ve given you our suggestions for where to try the best of these foods based on local recommendations.
![Potato latkes on a plate](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-potato-latkes.jpg.webp)
![Mixed traditional food on a plate](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-mixed-traditional-food.jpg.webp)
![Vegetables in boxes in Lithuania](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-vegetables-in-boxes.jpg.webp)
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1. Cepelinai
No dish symbolizes the Lithuanian people quite as much as cepelinai. Lithuanians even have a saying about cepelinai: “when you eat cepelinai, all worries disappear”. These zeppelin-shaped soft potato dumplings are the undisputed national dish of Lithuania.
![Cepelinai on a plate](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-cepelinai-728x728.jpg.webp)
Lithuanians are getting creative with how they make cepelinai, but they are usually made with minced meat or cheese (usually cottage cheese) and then served with a side of sour cream. They are usually topped with crispy bacon bits or smoked bacon sauce, but that isn’t a must.
You will want to make sure you try cepelinai in a few places across the country, simply because a national dish is always made with slight variations in different places. Either way, you really can’t visit Lithuania without trying this dish. It’s kind of part of the experience of Lithuanian cuisine.
![Pickled vegetables in buckets at Hales Market in Vilnius](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-pickled-vegetables-728x728.jpg.webp)
Best place to try cepelinai
Vilnius
It’s no surprise that the national capital boasts many restaurants that serve cepelinai, but not all are made equal. We recommend Stikliai Tavern in the Stikliai Hotel for an elevated, gourmet-style experience with some of the best cepelinai around. We also think Stikliai Tavern is one of the best restaurants in Vilnius.
Otherwise, you can’t go wrong with Šnekutis which serves the hearty and simple recipe without the bells and whistles that Lithuanians know and love.
![Interior of Stikliai Tavern](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-Vilnius-Stikliai-Tavern-interior.jpg.webp)
Kaunas
The old capital of Kaunas also offers plenty of eateries to sample cepelinai. The best of them is definitely Bernelių užeiga Smuklė which serves consistently good cepelinai, but broadly serves some of the best of the foods of Lithuania in the country generally.
2. Šaltibarščiai
Šaltibarščiai is a pretty cool name (the diacritics make it sound very different to how an English speaker would read it) and pretty cool generally. In fact, it’s risen to Instagram stardom on account of its photogenic deep pink color which is a function of its main ingredient, beetroot. This cold beet soup is a refreshing mix of kefir or buttermilk, beets, cucumbers and dill.
The fun doesn’t stop at cold beet soup for Lithuanians: you’ll find šaltibarščiai-flavored ice cream if you look hard enough (or maybe not even so hard – a lot of convenience stores sell it). Foods of Lithuania can be strange without trying, but this one takes the cake.
Best place to try šaltibarščiai
Vilnius
It really can be found anywhere in the city, but once you’ve had it a few times, you’ll want to try the šaltibarščiai bagel at Beigelistai in the Hales Turgus (market) right in the center of town. It’s an innovative take on a very traditional dish and is a great way to experience how Lithuanians are experimenting with Lithuanian cuisine.
Palanga
Ultimately, a cold beet soup is made for hot summer weather (yes, it can actually get quite warm in Lithuania). Sitting outside near the beach in Palanga and enjoying šaltibarščiai at one of the many restaurants along the water is exactly the right way to do it.
![Entrance to Hales Turgus, one of the best places to try traditional Lithuanian food](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-Vilnius-entrance-to-Hales-Turgus.jpg.webp)
3. Kibinai
Kibinai are crescent-shaped pastries filled with minced meat, vegetables or cheese. It may seem like a fairly innocuous dish, but kibinai is so much more than that: it’s a marker of the ethnic and cultural diversity of Lithuania. This is easily the most exciting traditional Lithuanian food to our minds because its origins may not, in fact, be Lithuanian.
Kibinai wouldn’t be out of place on a list of traditional foods of Iraq as this dish was brought to Lithuania by the Karaite people who trace their origin to modern-day Iraq. Our theory is that the word “kibinai” is connected to the Arabic word “kibbeh” which is a common food throughout the Middle East. Middle-Eastern Kibbeh is more or less the same concept as Lithuanian kibinai: meat- or cheese-stuffed parcels.
We have absolutely no way of verifying this hypothesis, but what we do know for sure is that kibinai are delicious and are undeniably part of the national foods of Lithuania.
![Kibinai on a plate with a side of sweet potato balls](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Lithuania-kibinai-on-a-plate.jpg.webp)
Best place to try kibinai
Trakai
There are many places to try kibinai throughout Lithuania these days, but you should try it in its home of Trakai at a Karaite restaurant, specifically Kybynlar. Get a couple while looking out at the beautiful Trakai Castle and think about the anthropology of how a dish like this managed to creep into the very top of traditional Lithuanian foods.
![Trays of kibinai](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-trays-of-kibinai.jpg.webp)
4. Kugelis
Kugelis is almost always described as potato pudding. There’s probably no word in the culinary language that evokes feeling of warmth and comfort like “pudding,” and this is fitting because kugelis is, at its core, a heart-warming comfort food that Lithuanians adore.
The potato is mixed with onions, eggs and bacons and, as is typical in Lithuanian cuisine, is served with sour cream. But it’s also served with lingonberry jam to cut through some of the heaviness which, we think, is the perfect choice.
Best place to try kugelis
Vilnius
This is a tough one to write because we were told by many a Lithuanian that their grandmother makes it best. It might be a bit hard to score an invitation to a family gathering where grandma will make you kugelis, so you’ll have to opt for Etno Dvaras which makes virtually all of the traditional foods of Lithuania.
5. Bulviniai Blynai
Yes, these are potato pancakes, but more than that, bulviniai blynai are crispy potato pancakes that are soft on the inside, and that makes all the difference. This is one of those foods of Lithuania that you can’t really be anything other than perfectly satisfied from. They’re the perfect comfort food, and they’re definitely one of our favorite Lithuanian foods.
Best place to try bulviniai blynai
Any restaurant serving traditional Lithuanian food throughout the country will serve bulviniai blynai. But the best place to try them is at the Stikliai Tavern in the Stikliai Hotel. The version with salted fish is absolutely magnificent, but even just the standard version with sour cream is absolutely the right choice for pretty much any time of day.
![Bulviniai Blynai](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-Bulviniai-Blynai.jpg.webp)
6. Skilandis
No list of traditional Lithuanian food could be complete without mentioning Skilandis, a type of cured sausage made from minced pork and various spices. It’s an essential part of the Lithuanian culinary scene, so much so that it has earned Protected Geographical Indication status from the EU. It’s a unique dish that holds the culture and traditions of the Lithuanian people.
![Skilandis or Lithuanian cured sausages hanging in Hales Market](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-cured-sausages-hanging.jpg.webp)
Skilandis are quite literally a Lithuanian institution. Walking through the market halls of Vilnius, you’ll see little stalls with hanging meat that will almost always include skilandis. It’s as part of the landscape as Trakai Castle.
Best place to try skilandis
In our opinion, the best place to try skilandis is in Hales Turgus (market) in Vilnius where there are several stalls selling the sausage. Otherwise, if you’re thinking of going on a road trip around Lithuania, you’ll find skilandis all around the Aukštaitija region.
![Woman selling honey in Hales Market](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-woman-selling-honey-in-Hales-Turgus.jpg.webp)
7. Balandėliai
There is some conjecture as to whether this word translate to ‘pigeon’ or ‘dove,’ but either way you should make an effort to try these stuffed cabbage rolls. The funny thing about balandėliai is that they’re the second dish on this list of traditional Lithuanian food that has its origins in Middle Eastern cuisine. Stuffed cabbage rolls are known by many names to many people, whether dolma to the Turks, dolmades to the Greeks, or malfouf to the Syrians, Lebanese and Egyptians.
In a dish that has literally millennia of history, it’s no surprise that the Lithuanian version has evolved into its own subtly different dish. In Lithuania, it’s not uncommon to find the minced pork within the cabbage mixed in with onions which is fairly unique as far as stuffed cabbage rolls go.
Best place to try balandėliai
It helps to go more traditional if you’re on the search for balandėliai. We recommend Senoji Trobele in Vilnius if you’re looking for the whole experience of traditional Lithuanian cuisine. Some of the best places to eat in Vilnius also serve balandėliai.
8. Kepta duona
This is probably the bar snack which puts salted peanuts and pretzels to shame, but be warned: it can be surprisingly heavy. Kepta duona is fried bread sticks rubbed with garlic and served with cheese sauce (and a very generous amount of cheese sauce, I hasten to add).
In Lithuania, the quality of the kepta duona is probably the unofficial barometer of how good a bar is, so feel free to try them everywhere you go because eating fried bread and cheese is simply part of the national experience.
Best place to try kepta duona
One of our favorite bars in Vilnius, Špunka, serves kepta duona that is seemingly a cut above the rest. It can be a little bit heavy on the garlic, but you’ll probably be drinking anyway so it might not worry you as much (unless, of course, you’re on a date).
![Blintzes and dumplings in Lithuania](https://travelinsighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lithuania-blintzes-and-dumpings.jpg.webp)
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