page_title: Lithuanian cuisine
section_title: Soups and main dishes
hierarchical_section_title: Lithuanian cuisine / Random list of dishes / Soups and main dishes
caption_attribution_description: Lietuvių: Cepelinas
context_page_description: Lithuanian cuisine features products suited to the cool and moist northern climate of Lithuania: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, berries, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Various ways of pickling were used to preserve food for winter. Soups are extremely popular, and are widely regarded as the key to good health. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Northern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has much in common with its Baltic neighbors and, in general, northern countries.
  Longlasting agricultural and foraging traditions along with a variety of influences during the country's history formed Lithuanian cuisine.
  German traditions have had an influence on Lithuanian cuisine, introducing pork and potato dishes, such as potato pudding and intestines stuffed with mashed potato, as well as the baroque tree cake known as Šakotis. Lithuanian noblemen usually hired French chefs - French cuisine influence came to Lithuania in this way. The most exotic influence is Eastern cuisine, and the dish kibinai which became popular in Lithuania.
context_section_description: Bulvinių kukulių sriuba – minced potatoes formed into small balls, and boiled in milk. These are usually made from the same potato mixture used in cepelinai.
  Cabbage soup flavored with carrots, ham, onions, sauerkraut or all of these and boiled with lard.
  Cucumber soup – the broth is pureed with cucumbers and sweet or sour cream, often garnished with dill.
  Juka – blood soup from the southern region of Lithuania.
  Lapienė – greens such as sorrel or spinach are braised and added to a creamy broth.
  Sauerkraut soup – often seasoned with pork, carrots, onions, and bay leaves.
  Barščiai – hot borscht (beet soup); it is served uncreamed or blended with sour cream or buttermilk; sometimes chopped Boletus mushrooms are added.
  Šaltibarščiai – cold summer soup based on beets and milk kefir or sour milk, colored a shocking pink. It is made with cooked or pickled shredded beets and various other chopped vegetables, such as cucumber, dill, or green onions. Hot boiled potatoes, cold sour cream, and diced hard-boiled eggs are often served alongside to add color, texture, and thermal contrast. The older traditional version of šaltibarščiai was simply white without beets.
  Vištienos sultinys – chicken broth is always popular, especially for the elderly and ill.
  Maltiniai or Frikadėlės (Frikadeller) – soft minced meat and onion patties, often served with potatoes, sliced cucumber, dill pickle and/or grated beats and a sauce.
  Manų Putra/Košė – Semolina wheat porridge/pudding topped with butter, cinnamon, sugar and/or berries. It is common as a breakfast dish or as a dessert.
  Šaltiena or košeliena (aspic or meat jelly) – many savory foodstuffs are presented in gelatin molds; horseradish is often served as a condiment.
  Blynai or Lietiniai, Sklindžiai – although blynai is often translated as pancakes, they are usually more similar to crepes. They are either wafer-thin, as crepes are, or made from a yeast-risen batter, often mixed with grated apple or potato.
  Kėdainių blynai – grated raw potato pancakes, similar to latkes.
  Žemaičių blynai – similar to Kėdainių blynai, made from boiled potatoes and filled with chopped cooked meat
  Lietiniai – large, usually square thin crepes filled with minced meat, curd with cinnamon, or minced sauteed mushrooms.
  Buckwheat pancakes – traditional dish in Dzūkija
  Balandėliai (little doves) – cabbage leaves stuffed with meat and braised.
  Dešra – sausages are made in many different ways: they may be smoked or fresh, and include pork, beef, potatoes, or barley; in rural areas, blood may be added.
  Didžkukuliai or Cepelinai (zeppelins) – potato dumplings stuffed with meat, mushrooms, or cheese, often garnished with spirgai, fried minced onion and bacon or sour cream.
  Kastinys – sour cream "butter"; sour cream is kneaded and washed until it forms a soft spread. A traditional dish in Samogitia.
  Kibinai – pastry with mutton and onions, a Karaite dish.
  Kukuliai - Potato dumplings similar to gnocchi.
  Koldūnai, Virtiniai, Auselės – these are various kinds of dumplings, filled with minced meat, sausage, cottage cheese, or mushrooms, usually garnished with crumbled fried bacon. They are similar to Polish pierogi or kołduny, but are usually smaller.
  Kugelis (also bulvių plokštainis, the lexically correct non-foreign name, literally "flat potato dish" or banda - this usage predominates in the Dzūkija region) - potato pudding made with grated potatoes and eggs. It is usually served with sour cream or spirgai. Also served with diced bacon and diced onion cooked in the bacon fat.
  Šaltnosiukai (cold little noses) – dumplings filled with lingonberries, not found anywhere outside Lithuania.
  Skilandis or Kindziukas – pig stomach stuffed with meat and garlic and cold-smoked.
  Suktiniai (beef birds) – beef or pork is pounded until very thin, filled and rolled up, and braised. An example of this is zrazai, which are Lithuanian beef rolls. See image at right.
  Švilpikai - an oven-baked potato snaps.
  Šiupinys (Hodge-Podge) – a stew made from a variety of ingredients - groats, peas, beans, potatoes, meat, rye flour. Various different combination
caption: Cepelinai, a potato-based dumpling dish characteristic of Lithuanian cuisine
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A495", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2012:07:02 14:57:45", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "240", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5108", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11264", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "3", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:07:02 14:57:45", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:07:02 14:57:45", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "245/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "101/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "101/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "33/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "1600", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1200", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "3320", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1600000/241", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1200000/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}