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Last updated on June 17th, 2025 at 11:23 am
Georgian cuisine is one of the top reasons to visit Georgia and that’s also true for anyone following a meat-free diet as vegetarian Georgian food is utterly delicious.
Standing at the point where Europe and Asia meet, Georgia is a fascinating country to explore and the local cuisine is equally exciting. Before travelling to Georgia for the first time, we didn’t have a clue what to expect as vegetarians.
We thought that traditional Georgian food would be heavily meat-based and that vegetarian Georgian food would be next to non-existent. Yet, we couldn’t be more wrong.
Although Georgian cuisine features many meat-based dishes indeed, there are also several traditional dishes that are vegetarian or vegan.
So much so that Georgian cuisine is now among our favourite international cuisines. Here’s our guide to the best vegetarian food in Georgia.
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Vegetarian Georgian Food at a Glance
Before we list the best vegetarian dishes in Georgia, here are a few things to know about Georgian cuisine and, more specifically, its vegetarian version.
Why Georgian Food Is Traditionally Vegetarian
Georgians have always been quite religious and the predominant religion is Orthodox Christianity.
This means that there are several fasting periods throughout the year, during which Georgians abstain from consumption of meat or even dairy products.
In recent years, fasting might not be as popular as it used to be a few decades ago.
Yet, this tradition has led to the creation of an entire fasting menu featuring several plant-based recipes that are now an integral part of Georgian cuisine and intertwined with the local culture.
Sharing Food Is The Georgian Way To Eat
As you’re about to see in this guide to the best vegetarian Georgian food, lots of dishes are made to be shared rather than enjoyed as individual main courses.
Georgians love to eat in the company of family and friends and this is why sharing food is the way to go.
The best way to delve into Georgia’s food culture is to join a tour that includes a Supra, an authentic Georgian feast. When booking this tour, don’t forget to add our code triptome5 at checkout for a 5% discount
A Georgian Supra is the ultimate manifestation of the locals’ love for sharing food, spending time with loved ones and toasting to everyone’s good health and happiness. Read more about the Georgian Supra here.
Main Ingredients of Vegetarian Georgian Cuisine
Some staple ingredients in several vegetarian Georgian dishes are walnuts, mushrooms, eggplant and a lot of local cheese.
Moreover, you’ll be amazed by the country’s wide array of bread products, some of which you’ll find in this list of the best vegetarian food in Georgia.
Local Georgian cuisine uses a lot of dried or fresh herbs, like basil, and spices.
However, it’s worth noting that food in Georgia has a distinct flavour thanks to some spice or herb blends that are unique to Georgia, like Ajika or Svan Salt.
Ajika is a red-coloured condiment that’s quite spicy, with notes of garlic. It’s widely used in cooking but also sprinkled over salads. Svanetian Salt is a mix of salt and aromatic herbs that often replaces plain salt in Georgian cooking.
20 Best Vegetarian Dishes To Try in Georgia
1. Shoti (Georgian Bread)
Who starts a list of the best vegetarian food in Georgia – or any country for that matter – with something as mundane and plain as bread? Trust us, there’s nothing mundane nor plain about Georgian bread.
Shoti is a type of bread baked in a traditional well-shaped brick oven, called Tone – and this is why Shoti might also be called Tone bread.
It’s not an easy job to stick long pieces of dough in the burning oven but the result is more than rewarding.
It’s hard to put into words, but bread in Georgia tastes the way it should, exactly as we remember it from when we were kids, before bakeries decided to replace their authentic products with fancy Instagrammable ones.
You can find Shoti bread at Georgian supermarkets, but it’s best to buy it while it’s still hot from the oven at any (literally) hole-in-the-wall bakery.
2. Khachapuri
Speaking of bread, Georgia’s national dish is Khachapuri, in essence, a cheese-filled bread. Simple though it may sound, Khachapuri is heaven on your plate.
As a true symbol of Georgian cuisine, Khachapuri comes in many versions, with each region having its own variation.
The three most common versions – that you can find anywhere in the country – are Imeretian, Megrelian and Adjarian Khachapuri.
Imeretian Khachapuri is the queen of Georgian cheese bread. Its scrumptious dough is filled with Imeruli and Sulguni – two types of Georgian cheese – and then baked on a clay pan.
Megrelian Khachapuri is similar but with extra cheese on top.
Adjarian Khachapuri is probably the most photogenic of all. It’s boat-shaped, with an egg on top. If you’d rather skip the egg, just ask for your Adjarian Khachapuri without the egg and it will probably be replaced with extra butter.
You can try Khachapuri literally everywhere in Georgia – bakeries, supermarkets and all sorts of restaurants.
We’d say that restaurant Khachapuri tastes better than bakery Khachapuri, but that’s a matter of personal taste.
If you make it to the mountainous region of Svaneti in northwestern Georgia, try the local Petvraali, the most delicious Khachapuri variation in our humble opinion.
It’s similar to Imeretian Khachapuri but with the addition of millet into the filling.
3. Lobiani
Lobiani is Khachapuri’s bean-filled cousin. It’s very similar to Khachapuri but uses kidney beans instead of cheese as its filling.
Traditionally, Lobiani included ham, but nowadays, several restaurants serve veggie versions. Just make sure you double-check that you’re ordering a meat-free version.
4. Vegetarian Kubdari
Kubdari is yet another of Khachapuri’s cousins, this time its meat-filled version, hailing from the region of Svaneti. Vegetarian Kubdari isn’t very easy to come by, but if you do, don’t miss it.
During our winter trip to Mestia in Upper Svaneti, we tried a divine mushroom Kubdari at Café Laila, one of the cutest hang-outs in this small highland town.
5. Vegetarian Khinkali
Alongside Khachapuri, Khinkali is one of the most famous dishes in Georgia. A Khinkali is a Georgian dumpling that resembles a small sack tightly tied at its top.
Originally, a Khinkali would be filled with meat and nothing but. That said, nowadays, you can find several vegetarian options, mainly with a mushroom or cheese filling. You can also find potato Khinkali.
Most Khinkali restaurants, especially in Tbilisi, will have one or more of these veggie-based Khinkali variations. Khinkali dumplings taste even better with a good sprinkle of black pepper.
Georgian eating etiquette requires you to eat Khinkali with your hands, without using a fork.
However, this applies mainly to meat-filled Khinkali, as eating with a fork would mean that the rich juice inside the dumplings would go to waste.
Vegetarian Khinkali dumplings aren’t that juicy anyway so, don’t worry, you won’t be frowned upon if you use a fork.
We’d highly recommend joining a Khinkali cooking class to learn how to wrap these delicious dumplings like a pro.
6. Pkhali
Pkhali is a quintessentially Georgian starter that you’ll find in any restaurant or home. This colourful appetiser consists of several minced vegetables mixed with a walnut paste or sauce and shaped like balls.
The most common Pkhali types are made of spinach, beetroot or even beans. Pkhali is a nutritious dish that’s also suitable for vegans.
7. Nigvziani Badrijani
Nigvziani Badrijani is yet another Georgian appetiser and one of the best vegan dishes in Georgia. It consists of fried eggplant rolls filled with a ground walnuts and garlic paste and topped with pomegranate seeds.
It’s not uncommon to see Nigvziani Badrijani served alongside a Pkhali assortment at most restaurants in Georgia.
8. Georgian Salad
There’s nothing fancy about a Georgian salad but this doesn’t take away any of its flavour. A Georgian salad is typically made of tomatoes and cucumbers, seasoned with vegetable oil and, often, Ajika.
Although a Georgian salad should be vegan, more often than not, restaurants add cheese. Therefore, make sure you ask in advance if you want the original vegan version.
If you’re invited to a Georgian home, you’ll see that sometimes whole fresh vegetables instead of a salad will be waiting on the table for you to cut them. That’s all part of the sharing food culture, so, embrace it.
9. Lobio
Lobio is the Georgian word for beans and this dish is exactly this – a hearty bean soup, ideal to try at any restaurant on a cold winter day.
Always served with some type of Georgian bread, Lobio is a traditionally vegan dish. That said, on some rare occasions, meat is added to the soup, so make sure you double-check in advance, to avoid unpleasant surprises.
We tried this traditional Georgian bean stew at Salobie Bia, one of the cosiest restaurants to seek refuge from the cold or rain if you’re visiting Tbilisi in winter.
10. Mushrooms on Ketsi
This delicious dish thrives in its simplicity. It consists of mushrooms filled with Sulguni cheese and baked in a clay pot – or Ketsi.
Mushrooms on Ketsi is served at most restaurants in Georgia. For a vegan version, you can ask for just the mushrooms, without the cheese.
11. Fried Oyster Mushrooms
Mushrooms are omnipresent in Georgian cuisine and another dish you should try is fried oyster mushrooms. You’ll find this vegan dish at several traditional Georgian restaurants and, each time, it will be a bit different.
Sometimes, oyster mushrooms will indeed be fried while, oftentimes, they’re sauteed in cast iron pans. Almost always, oyster mushrooms are topped with chilli flakes and onions.
12. Gebzhalia
With origins in the region of Samegrelo, this dish may be classified as an appetiser, but it’s so filling that it can easily dub as a main. Also, it’s beyond words delectable.
Gebzhalia is a type of soft flattened cheese shaped into rolls and seasoned with loads of mint.
It’s then covered in a thick sour cream or Matsoni sauce – Matsoni is the Georgian equivalent of yoghurt. Gebzhalia is any dairy lover’s dream.
You can try Gebzhalia at any Georgian restaurant. We particularly liked the one served at Shavi Lomi, one of the best restaurants in Tbilisi.
13. Ghomi
A dish that dates back to ancient times, Ghomi is one of Georgia’s many symbols of hospitality as there’s no warmer welcome than offering a steaming bowl of this special porridge to any guest.
Made of cornstarch and cornmeal, this Georgian porridge is often served alongside meat dishes. However, several restaurants serve it with thick slices of cheese instead.
Ghomi is often considered a side dish but it’s satisfying enough to be eaten as a main course.
14. Elarji
Elarji is a type of Ghomi. The fresh cheese added to the mix turns this porridge into an incredibly elastic type of food, that’s not only delicious but also impressive to look at.
At some restaurants, like Ethnographer Restaurant in Tbilisi, waiters put on a remarkable show when serving the elastic Elarji to your plate.
Sadly, we don’t have any photos to show you, only some – pretty bad – cellphone videos.
15. Tashmijabi
Tashmijabi is Svaneti’s take on Elarji. Using potatoes instead of cornstarch as its main ingredient, Tashmijabi is the epitome of cheesy, gooey mashed potatoes.
This dish is omnipresent at restaurants in the Svaneti region, but not as easy to find in the rest of Georgia.
16. Mexican Fries
No, it’s not a typo. Mexican fries are everywhere in Georgia. These vegan potato wedges are seasoned with Georgian spices and dried herbs and they’re very popular in Georgia.
Although nobody’s sure of the origin of the name Mexican fries, everybody loves them. Apart from restaurants, you can also try Mexican fries as a pub snack, alongside a glass of local beer.
17. Mchadi
If you like decadent snacks, you should also try Mchadi. This Georgian cornbread is a delicious vegan treat, fried to perfection.
Restaurants serve Mchadi alongside dips and salads, but there’s nothing wrong with admitting that we devoured quite a few on their own during our stay in Georgia.
18. Ponchiki
This list of the best vegetarian Georgian food wouldn’t be complete without mentioning some of the country’s most delicious sweets.
Ponchiki are Soviet-era deep-fried doughnuts with a luscious custard filling whose mere memory makes us salivate.
When we were in Georgia, we savoured Ponchiki at any given opportunity. Hands-down, the best Ponchiki are served at Café Funicular at Mtatsminda Park in Tbilisi.
19. Orbeliani Candy
Don’t let its tiny size fool you. Orbeliani candy is a delicious dessert that pairs well with a cup of coffee or top-quality Georgian tea.
One of the best places to try Orbeliani candy is the lovely Café Leila in the Old Town of Tbilisi, a few steps from the iconic Clock Tower.
20. Churchkhela
Last but not least, one of Georgia’s emblems, Churchkhela is a cross between a nutritious snack and a satisfying dessert.
Made of walnut halves doused in grape juice, this vegan snack is ubiquitous and it’s also one of the best Georgian souvenirs to buy for your loved ones back home.
We’ve spent enough time in Georgia to safely say that sampling delicious vegetarian Georgian food is one of the reasons to visit Georgia in its own right.
Far from being just sustenance, though, traditional Georgian cuisine with its distinct tastes and unparalleled comfort-food quality is also part of the country’s culture.
We can’t wait to go back to Georgia soon to savour more vegetarian Georgian food but also explore this unique food culture in depth.
WORDS & EDITING: Maria
IMAGES: Katerina