The Best Hungarian Food: 30 Traditional Dishes to Try in Hungary
LOOKING FOR THE BEST HUNGARIAN FOOD?
I grew up in Budapest and while I always considered Hungarian food great, I have come to appreciate it the most after moving abroad. Now I try to follow my mom’s recipes or just enjoy her cooking whenever I come home.
Hungarian cuisine is known for having a lot of meat (chicken, pork, beef), paprika spice, various soups and stews, as well as bread and pastry.
The Goulash Soup is the national dish of Hungary but there are many other dishes in Hungary that you should try!
Some of the best dishes in Hungary are the goulash soup, pörkölt (beef stew), stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikash, hortobágyi pancake, fasírt (meatloaf patties), thick vegetable soups, chimney cake, and lángos (which is a salty snack).
So, here are the best traditional Hungarian dishes and where to try them!
Top 5 Hungarian Dishes to Try
There are so many delicious Hungarian dishes but if you only have a short time in Hungary, these are the 5 must-try dishes:
- Goulash Soup: Soup with beef and vegetables
- Pörkölt: beef stew served with “nokedli” (dumplings) or “tarhonya” (egg barley)
- Stuffed Cabbage: cabbage leaves stuffed with minced meat (pork/beef), rice and onion
- Lángos: deep-fried dough with sour cream and cheese (more like a salty snack)
- Chimney Cake: sweet dessert in flavours such as vanilla, cinnamon, coconut and walnut
The Best Hungarian Food to Try in Hungary
Traditional Hungarian food is known for dishes with a lot of meat (chicken, pork, beef), various soups and stews, bread, and the use of paprika spice powder.
Hungarian Dishes for Lunch and Dinner
GOULASH SOUP (Gulyásleves)
- Includes meat (beef)
The Goulash soup is the national dish of Hungary and is probably the most popular Hungarian dish. If there is one Hungarian dish that is known world-wide, it is the Goulash soup.
If you want to know “what to eat in Hungary?”, the answer is start with goulash!
The Goulash soup is made of beef, vegetables (potato, carrot, onion), noodles, and paprika spice. It is really heavy, and it is served with bread.
Sometimes, they also serve goulash soup in bread, which looks like a “bread bowl” with the goulash soup in it.
Traditionally, goulash soup has been prepared in a big pot on open fire (like a cauldron), however, most households now just cook it on the stove.
It is still popular to cook the goulash soup in a big cauldron on open fire outdoors in the summertime when family and friends get together for a day. If you cook goulash soup using traditional recipes, it can take 2-3 hours on the open fire to get it ready, during which time friends and family hang out with snacks and drinks.
Traditionally, goulash is made with beef, but you can also find it with pork. In case you cook it at home, it gets ready faster if you use pork, then if you cooked it with beef.
BEEF STEW (Pörkölt)
- Includes meat (beef/pork)
Pörkölt is a meat stew made of beef or pork, and it is a very traditional and popular dish in Hungary. It is made with paprika powder added to it, so it has a red-like colour due to the paprika spice.
Pörkölt is usually served with nokedli or tarhonya. Nokedli is a Hungarian dumpling made of flour and eggs, and it is very soft. Tarhonya is a type of noodle made of eggs but in very tiny shape.
I also like to add a little bit of sour cream on top of it and eat it with Hungarian pickles – it is so good!
STUFFED CABBAGE (Töltött káposzta)
- Includes meat (pork)
Stuffed Cabbage is made of cabbage leaves stuffed with minced meat (mostly pork), rice and onions. The stuffed cabbage leaves then are folded into a shape like a roll or ball with the meat, rice and onions inside.
In addition to the stuffed cabbage rolls, it also comes with a little bit of soup with sauerkraut. It is popular to put sour cream on top of it and mix it all together.
It is a heavy dish, and is very popular especially in the winter. Many Hungarian households prepare stuffed cabbage during the Christmas/New Year’s period, as cabbage is supposed to bring good luck for the new year.
CHICKEN PAPRIKASH (Csirkepaprikás)
- Includes meat (chicken)
The Chicken Paprikash is also one of the classic Hungarian dishes.
Its name is derived from the paprika spice which is the most popular spice to use in Hungarian cuisine. The paprika spice powder also gives the dish a slightly orange colour.
The chicken paprikash is popularly served with nokedli, which is like Hungarian dumplings but very small in shape. If you don’t want to have it with nokedli, you can also just eat it with pasta or rice.
If you go for Chicken paprikash, I recommend trying it with Hungarian pickles, such as fermented cucumber, or cucumber salad with sour cream!
HOTOBÁGYI PANCAKE (Hortobágyi palacsinta)
- Includes meat (chicken)
Hungarian dishes are known for having a lot of meat in them, so while we have sweet pancakes in Hungary, the Hortobágyi Pancake brings a more salty, savoury taste.
The Hortobágyi pancake is like a Hungarian meat pancake. It is a crepe filled with meat (chicken), and served with paprika sauce and sour cream.
It is quite a heavy dish, so while it is technically a “pancake”, it gets you pretty full as it is filled with meat.
I would say, if you are not very hungry, you can have it as a standalone dish, however, if you are very hungry, then it can be like a salty dessert after the main dish.
FISHERMAN’S SOUP (Halászlé)
- Includes fish
The Fisherman’s Soup (‘Halászlé’ in Hungarian) is a typical Hungarian food. It is a soup with fish and seasoned with paprika powder. It can be a bit spicy as sometimes they also add hot peppers.
Hungary has two main rivers, the Danube and Tisza River, and the Fisherman’s soup originates from the areas near these two rivers in Hungary where fisherman would cook the soup on an open fire.
The Fisherman’s soup may originate from the Danube and Tisza River regions, but it has become popular all over the country.
When cooked on an open fire, people use big cauldrons and cook massive portions. Even today, it is popular to cook the Fisherman’s soup on an open fire in a cauldron in the summer when friends and family get together in their gardens.
ÚJHÁZI CHICKEN SOUP (Újházi tyúkhúsleves)
- Includes meat (chicken)
Hungarian cuisine is famous for soup dishes and the Újházi Chicken Soup is one of the most popular soups in Hungary.
It is made with chicken and vegetables, such as carrots and green peas. It also has very thin pasta in it, and sometimes they also add a special Hungarian dumpling in it which is made from semolina.
The families in Hungary usually get together for a family meal on Sundays, and it is traditional to have the Újházi Chicken Soup. Following the soup, you have additional main dishes, like chicken schnitzel.
MEATLOAF PATTIES (Fasírt)
- Includes meat (pork)
Fasírt is like a meatloaf patty made of minced pork meat, egg, flour, spices, mixed with small pieces of bread.
Once all ingredients are mixed together, they are made into patties and coated with breadcrumbs. Then, the patties are fried in oil, and it gets really nice and crispy.
Fasírt is then usually served with roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes. It also goes nicely with Hungarian thick soups like the green pea or potato soup. Fasírt is extra tasty if you also get some Hungarian pickles to go with it.
Fasírt is one of my favourite dishes and when I lived home, I always loved it when my mom used to make it. If you are looking for a light dinner, you can also make sandwiches using the fasírt patties.
POTATO CASSEROLE (Rakott krumpli)
- Includes meat (Hungarian smoked meat: kolbász)
The Hungarian Potato Casserole (also called as “Layered Potatoes”) is a an easy to make, tasty dish. It is a casserole with potatoes, eggs, smoked sausages, and sour cream on top.
The ingredients (potatoes, eggs, sausages) are sliced into thin shapes and then layered on top of each other in a casserole. On the top, the sour cream is added and then cooked in the oven.
It is a simple but very tasty dish, and you can also have some pickles on the side.
HUNTER’S STEW (Vadas)
- Includes meat (beef)
The Hunter’s Stew is a heavy dish but it is really, really tasty!
It is made of meat, usually beef, but sometimes they also make it with chicken. In addition to the meat, it has a sauce made of vegetables like carrots. It is served with bread roll dumpling.
I always found that the Hunter’s stew doesn’t look too appealing, maybe due to the sauce looking orange due to the carrots, but it is one of the tastiest Hungarian dishes.
The name of the dish originates from hunting as “vad” means “game” in Hungarian.
LECSÓ (Hungarian Stew)
- Usually non-veg, but vegetarian options also available
Lecsó is a traditional Hungarian stew made of sausages and vegetables, however, if you are vegetarian, they can also make it without meat.
The main ingredients in Lecsó is tomato, pepper, onion, paprika powder, and Hungarian cured meat (kolbász).
Lecsó is also popular to prepare in a big cauldron on open fire. Many Hungarians like to get together in their gardens, cook and have fun. Lecsó and Goulash are two typical dishes that Hungarians cook when getting together with friends and family.
COTTAGE CHEESE PASTA (Túrós Csusza)
- Includes meat (pork)
The cottage cheese pasta is a light lunch, and it is a mix of sweet and salty flavours.
It is made of pasta with cottage cheese on top which give it the sweet taste, but you also add slices of bacon which make it a bit saltier.
As it is a light dish, you either need a starter or a first course, like a soup, to go with it.
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Hungarian Soups & Stews (Főzelék)
Hungarian cuisine is famous for its soups, and we have two types of soups: one which is like the usual soup you find everywhere, and one which is more like a thick soup, almost like a vegetable stew.
Soup is so popular in Hungary that you can name any vegetable, and I guarantee that there is a Hungarian soup made of it.
The most popular Hungarian soups are the spinach soup, lentil soup, green peas, potato, yellow pea stew, and cherry soup (yeah, we even have soups made of fruits).
CHERRY SOUP (Meggyleves)
The Hungarian Cherry Soup is made of cherry, but sometimes you can also find other fruits like apple added to it. It is a sweet soup and is kept refrigerated and served while cold.
As, it is served cold, it is a popular dish during the summer when the weather is hot. The cherry soup is very light and is more like a dessert. It is very light, so you definitely need to have a main course beforehand to make sure you get full.
SPINACH SOUP (Spenót)
The Spinach Soup is a traditional Hungarian soup, and it is a thick soup mainly made of spinach, spices, and milk. They also add flour to it which make it thicker.
The spinach soup goes nicely with fasírt (Hungarian meat patty) or pörkölt (beef stew). It is also tradition to add fried eggs to go with it.
Having the spinach soup with fried egg is very traditional and it is rare for foreigners visiting Hungary to try it.
Funnily, I met a traveller in a small town in Nepal who told me about how much she liked the spinach soup with fried eggs on top when she visited Budapest. We laughed how weird it seems to put the fried egg on top but ultimately, super tasty.
LENTIL SOUP (Lencsefőzelék)
Lentil soup is also a popular Hungarian dish and is also more like a thick, stew-like soup. It’s made with lentils and then add some flour and spices. The flour makes the soup more like a stew.
The lentil soup goes great with sausages and even some bread. It is a popular dish on New Year’s Day in Hungary as it is believed that eating lentils will bring good luck for the year ahead.
GREEN PEA SOUP (Zöldborsó főzelék)
The Hungarian Green Pea Soup is also more like a stew and is a thick soup. I like this soup as it is tasty, and even if you prepare it at home, it is quick and easy to make.
The green pea soup is a light dish on its own, but it goes great with sausages or meat stews, which is then good as a main dish.
It has some spices in it but mainly just salt and pepper. They add some flour and milk, which make its stew-like texture.
YELLOW PEA SOUP (Sárgaborsó főzelék)
Apart from the green pea stew, there is also a similar stew-like soup made of yellow peas. They add a little bit of paprika powder to the yellow pea soup but it is not a spicy dish.
I like the yellow pea stew the most with meat stews, sausages or bacon. It is a simple dish, but if you add some meat to go with it, it gets pretty good.
Hungarian Snacks and Desserts
LÁNGOS
Lángos is a deep-fried dough, and traditionally it is topped with sour cream and cheese. It also has some other variations like a dough with garlic, bacon or chicken on top.
Lángos is more like a salty snack, and it is popular during the summer especially at Lake Balaton.
Lake Balaton is a popular place for holidays during the summer in Hungary and every beach town has these food huts selling lángos and drinks.
Lángos is a very popular snack and you can find places that sell lángos all over Budapest, such as the Retró Lángos. They also have vegan lángos.
CHIMNEY CAKE (Kürtöskalács)
The Chimney Cake is a popular dessert originating from Hungary, however, you can now find it all over Europe.
The Chimney Cake is the best in the winter and it is very popular at Christmas Markets in Hungary. They make it fresh when you order it, and it is still warm when you get it, thus, it makes it nice to have in the cold winter months.
They come in many different flavours, such as vanilla, cinnamon, coconut and walnut. You can also find some new places where they make it with ice-cream inside, which is super nice! The ones with ice-cream are nicer in the summer.
PLUM DUMPLINGS (Szilvás gombóc)
The Hungarian Plum Dumpling is a sweet dish, and is best as a second course, following a main course or a heavy soup.
The dumplings are filled with plum and once ready, they are soft and you can even put some caster sugar on top. It makes it very sweet but super tasty!
KAISERSCHMARRN (Császármorzsa)
The Kaiserschmarrn or “Császármorzsa” in Hungarian is a sweet dish. It also works best as a second course, following a heavy main dish. It can stand as a main dish only if you are not too hungry, otherwise, it would not make you full on its own.
It is made with semolina and milk, and is shredded into small bits while it is cooked. It is topped with jam and raisins and is pretty tasty!
BEIGLI
Beigli is a dessert made of pastry and poppy seeds or walnut. It is like a roll, and you slice it into thin pieces like bread.
Beigli is mostly popular during Christmas when many households make it as a dessert for the Christmas celebrations. It can usually also be stored for a long time, so families have it as dessert all throughout the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
KIFLI
Kifli is a pastry and is very popular in Hungary. It is not like a dessert but you can usually use it to make sandwiches or some sweet desserts.
People usually eat kifli for breakfast, and you can either top it with jam or Nutella to make it sweet, or you can cut it half and make it into a sandwich with Hungarian salami.
CHESTNUT PURÉE (Gesztenyepüré)
The Chestnut Purée is a popular dessert in Hungary and it is usually topped with whipped cream on top. It is sweet and tasty, and is great for a dessert after a big meal.
You can get the chestnut purée in restaurants as a dessert but you can even get it in supermarkets, which make it really easy to eat it at home.
FLÓDNI
Flódni is a sweet Hungarian pastry and it is like a layered cake. Each layer has a different flavour, such as apple, walnut, poppy seeds, and plum jam.
You can get flódni in bakery shops all across Hungary, but as the cake originates from the Hungarian-Jewish community, the best place to try it is in the Jewish Quarter in Budapest. My recommendation is to check out the Arán Bakery.
Hungarian Cured Meat
Hungary is well-known for its cured meat, such as salami. Hungarian cured meat comes in various forms such as “szalámi”, “kolbász” or hurka (roasted sausages).
“Szalámi” is smoked pork meat and the best one you can get in Hungary is by the “Pick Szalámi” brand. It is popular to make sandwiches with szalámi.
“Kolbász” is similar to szalámi in that it is also smoked pork meat, however, it is softer and thinner in shape. The best kolbász to have in Hungary is the Gyulai kolbász.
“Hurka” is also a type of sausage made from pork meat. It usually comes in two types, liver sausage and blood sausage and is roasted in the oven. It is served with roasted potatoes and pickles. It may not sound too tasty (liver and blood sausage!), but if you like meat, it is very tasty!
Hungarian Pickles
There are lots of Hungarian dishes that are made of meat and are typically salty. The salty dishes go really nice with Hungarian pickles or salads.
Two popular pickles are the dill pickles (“kovászos uborka”) and the cucumber salad with sour cream.
Where to Try Hungarian Food in Budapest
If you are looking for Hungarian food in Budapest, check out the following restaurants. They serve tasty, authentic Hungarian dishes and are located in the city center of Budapest.
FAQs: The Best Hungarian Food to Try in Hungary
What is a typical Hungarian food?
Traditional Hungarian food generally includes a lot of meat (chicken, pork, beef), various soups and stews, bread, and the use of paprika spice powder.
What is the national dish of Hungary?
The national dish of Hungary is the goulash soup which is a soup made of beef, vegetables (potato, carrot, onion), noodles, and paprika spice.
What is famous to eat in Budapest?
The most famous dishes to in eat Budapest are the goulash soup, chicken paprikash, stuffed cabbage, pörkölt (beef stew), lángos and chimney cake.
What is a typical snack in Hungary?
Lángos and chimney cake are typical snacks in Hungary. Lángos is a salty snack made of deep-fried dough topped with sour cream and cheese, while the chimney cake is a sweet snack that comes in vanilla, coconut and walnut flavours.
What is the most famous Hungarian meal?
The most famous Hungarian meal is the goulash soup which is known world-wide as the national dish of Hungary. It is a soup made of beef, vegetables and paprika spice powder.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hungarian cuisine is known for having a lot of meat (beef, chicken, pork), paprika spice, various soups and stews, as well as bread and pastry.
The Goulash Soup is the national dish of Hungary but there are so many other dishes that you should try while visiting Hungary!
Some of the best Hungarian dishes are the goulash soup, pörkölt (beef stew), stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikash, hortobágyi pancake, fasírt (meatloaf patties), thick vegetable soups, chimney cake, and lángos (which is a salty snack).
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