11 Russian Dishes That Are Missing From Your Life

Beets. Blini. Borscht.

1. Blini

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Blini (or affectionately, blintchiki) are Russian pancakes. You can eat them plain, topped with caviar or jam, or filled like a dumpling. So good! You can try making them yourself here.

2. Borscht

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This stew, made with red beets, hails originally from Ukraine. Add a dollop of sour cream for optimum coziness. You can find a recipe for borscht here.

3. Pelmeni

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Russian cuisine without pelmeni is like a Russian winter without snow: unimaginable! You simply HAVE to try these delicious meat dmplings. This is one way to make them. But you can also buy them frozen in a Russian supermarket.

4. Golubtsi

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The cabbage roll purists prefer these to be made with only cabbage and meat, but you can also add onions and spices. Here's one recipe to make them yourself.

5. Olivier salad

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Think of this as a souped-up potato salad that goes great with a holiday meal. Typical ingredients include potatoes, carrots, peas, eggs, pickled cucumbers and cooked meat and/or sausage. Here's a recipe to try it out!

6. Dressed herring

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Known colloquially as "herring under a fur coat," this impressive layered salad consists of salted herring, potatoes, carrots, red beets, onions, eggs and mayonnaise. Sometimes a sour green apple is added. Here's one way to make it.

7. Sharlotka

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This Russian apple cake is your new fave dessert — and it's honestly pretty easy to make, with just five main ingredients in this recipe.

8. Vinaigrette Salad

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Think red beets, potatoes, pickles and pickled cabbage all coming together in one colorful (and very Instagrammable) salad. Here's one way to make it. Also, BTW, this is not the same as the French salad dressing.

9. Okroshka

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This is a cold and refreshing soup with cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs and dill. It's a wild but amazing combo – and part of a quintessential Russian summer. Here's a recipe to make it yourself.

10. Shashlik

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It's a shish kebab, the Russian way. The secret is the vinegar or lemon juice marinade — which makes the meat tangy and sweet. Here's one way to make it!

11. Piroshki

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These stuffed pierogi-like rolls can be filled with fruit, potatoes or meat before being baked or fried. Here's one recipe for apple piroshki.

Are there any must-try dishes we missed? Comment with your Russian recs below!

This post was translated from German.