Serbian cuisine is hearty — meats (pork, beef, lamb), bread, raw and aged cheeses, pepper, onion, white and red cabbage predominate. Influences: Oriental (Turkish — baklava, ćevap), Hungarian (paprikash, goulash), Greek (moussaka), Bulgarian (shopska salad). Every meal starts with a shot of rakija.
🥗 Salads and starters
- Shopska salad — tomato, cucumber, pepper, onion, cheese (on top).
- Serbian salad — tomato, onion, pepper, no cheese.
- Urnebes salad — fiery with kashkaval.
- Kajmak — cream cheese, spread on bread or with meat.
- Pršut — cured meat (Zlatibor — best).
- Kulen — Serbian sausage (Sremski kulen — UNESCO protected).
- Pinđur — pepper paste.
🍲 Soups
- Chicken soup — chicken broth with vegetables.
- Pasulj — bean paprikash with meat.
- Škembe — tripe soup.
- Goulash — Hungarian paprikash with meat, popular in Vojvodina.
🍖 Main dishes
- Ćevapi — small elongated patties of minced meat. Main Serbian national dish. Served with lepinja, onion and kajmak. Best in Leskovac and Niš.
- Pljeskavica — large round patty. Leskovac — most famous (strong, spicy).
- Stuffed pljeskavica — with kashkaval, kulen, chilli inside.
- Karađorđe steak — veal cutlet stuffed with kajmak, breaded, fried.
- Sarma — sour cabbage leaves with meat mixture and rice.
- Podvarak — sour cabbage with meat, baked.
- Moussaka — layers of potatoes and meat, eggs on top.
- Stuffed peppers — peppers stuffed with meat and rice.
- Spit-roasted suckling pig — whole pig roasted on spit.
🥖 Bread and pastry
- Pita — phyllo dough pastry with filling (cheese, spinach, potato, meat). Gibanica — national pita.
- Kačamak — corn flour porridge.
- Proja — corn bread.
- Lepinja — white round bread, ideal with ćevapi.
🍰 Desserts
- Tulumba — fried elongated dough, in syrup.
- Baklava — Oriental dessert with walnuts and syrup.
- Kadaif — phyllo strip with honey.
- Palačinke — pancakes with jam, cheese, chocolate.
- Slatko from... — traditional preserved fruit dessert. Served with water and coffee.
🍷 Drinks
- Šljivovica (rakija) — national drink, 40–50% alcohol. Šumadija and Pešter šljivovica the best.
- Lozovača — grape rakija.
- Dunjevača — quince rakija.
- Serbian wine — Župa (red Prokupac), Vojvodina (Bermet — premium), Fruška Gora. Varieties: Prokupac, Tamjanika, Grašac.
- Beer — Jelen, Lav, Zaječarsko. 150–300 dinars.
- Coffee — Serbian (Turkish), unfiltered, in small džezvas with sugar.
🍴 Recommended restaurants
- Belgrade: ? (Znak Pitanja), Skadarlija (Tri Šešira, Šeširu Moj, Dae Dae).
- Novi Sad: Project 72, Plava Frajla.
- Niš: Stara Srbija, Čegar.
- Zlatibor: Brankovina.