National dish

What is the national dish of Georgia?

The national dish of Georgia is khachapuri: a leavened bread filled with salty Georgian cheese, usually imeruli or sulguni, shaped differently in each region. The best-known version abroad is the boat-shaped Adjarian khachapuri, finished with butter and a raw egg yolk. In 2019 "The Khachapuri Tradition in Georgia" was added to the country's list of intangible cultural heritage.

Updated 2026-10-124 min read

What is khachapuri?

Khachapuri is a cheese-filled bread. The dough is leavened and left to rise, shaped by hand, then filled in the centre with cheese, sometimes with eggs or other ingredients. It is eaten in restaurants, at home and as street food across Georgia.

It is so ordinary in Georgia that economists use it as a price index. The International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University built a "khachapuri index" that compares the cost of making it in different Georgian cities to measure inflation.

Its recognition is as heritage: on 22 January 2019 "The Khachapuri Tradition in Georgia" was entered on Georgia's national list of intangible cultural heritage, and the country marks National Khachapuri Day every 27 February.

The regional types of khachapuri

Almost every Georgian region has its own shape and filling. The main ones:

Imeruli (Imereti): round and closed, filled with white Imeretian salted cheese. The most common type.
Adjaruli (Adjara): an open boat with cheese, butter and an egg yolk in the middle, said to stand for a boat, the sea and the sun.
Megruli (Samegrelo): like imeruli, with more cheese melted on top.
Achma (Abkhazia): many thin layers, often compared to a lasagna without sauce.
Guruli (Guria): a crescent with chopped boiled eggs inside, baked at Christmas.
Penovani: made with puff pastry, the flaky version sold in bakeries.

How Adjarian khachapuri is made

Our Adjarian khachapuri recipe starts with a yeast dough of 500 g flour, 300 ml warm water and 7 g yeast, kneaded 10 minutes and left to rise for about 1 hour 30.

The filling is 300 g grated sulguni and 200 g crumbled imeruli. Each oval of dough gets a line of cheese down the middle; the long sides are rolled inward and the ends pinched into points to make the boat. It bakes at 250 °C for 12 to 15 minutes.

The finish happens out of the oven: a well is pushed into the cheese, a raw egg yolk and a spoon of butter go in, and the boat is served at once. At the table you tear off a tip of crust and stir yolk, butter and cheese together. The egg is never baked until it sets.

Where khachapuri comes from

Its exact origin is unclear. Darra Goldstein, author of The Georgian Feast, suggests khachapuri probably dates back to the 12th century, a period of renaissance in Georgia. Dali Tsatava, a former professor at the Georgian Culinary Academy, has called it a possible "cousin of the pizza".

Khachapuri has spread well beyond Georgia. It is popular across the former Soviet states, including Russia, where 175,000 were reported eaten during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. It is also a common street food in neighbouring Armenia, where the national dish question has several answers (see what Armenians call their national dish). Georgian Jews brought it to Israel, where it has become a brunch dish.

Other dishes to know from Georgia

The Wikipedia list of national dishes names khinkali alongside khachapuri. These pleated dumplings come from the mountains of eastern Georgia and are credited to the Mokhevians, Pshavians, Mtiuletians and Khevsurians. The raw meat filling is loosened with water so that it turns into broth while the dumplings boil. You hold one by its knot, the kudi, bite the side, drink the broth, and leave the knot on the plate. Georgians eat them with their hands; a fork would spill the juice.

The oldest filling, khevsuruli, is only minced meat, onion, chilli, salt and cumin; the urban kalakuri version adds parsley and coriander. Mushroom and potato khinkali are eaten on Orthodox fasting days, and khinkali from the town of Pasanauri are regarded as the best in Georgia. Our recipe boils them 12 to 14 minutes from the moment they float.

Lobio is the everyday bean dish: red kidney beans cooked with walnuts, garlic, onion and coriander, seasoned with blue fenugreek and dried marigold and served with mchadi cornbread and pickles. Red kidney beans came from the Americas, so this version dates from after 1500.

These dishes are made for sharing. The Georgian feast, the supra, is offered to relatives, friends and guests alike and is led by a tamada, the toastmaster who gives the toasts and keeps the table going.

All three dishes, with ingredients and steps, are on our page about the food of Georgia. For the neighbouring kitchens, including Azerbaijan's national dish, see our guide to Caucasian food.

The recipes

Questions people ask

Is khachapuri the national dish of Georgia?

Yes. Khachapuri is the dish most often named as Georgia's national dish, and "The Khachapuri Tradition in Georgia" was added to the national list of intangible cultural heritage on 22 January 2019.

What is the difference between khachapuri and khinkali?

Khachapuri is a baked bread filled with cheese. Khinkali are boiled dumplings, usually filled with raw spiced meat whose juices become a broth inside the dough.

What cheese is used in khachapuri?

Imeruli, a white salted cheese from Imereti, and sulguni are the traditional cheeses. Outside Georgia, low-moisture mozzarella mixed with feta is the usual substitute.

Why is there an egg in Adjarian khachapuri?

The raw yolk and butter are added after baking and stirred into the hot cheese at the table. The boat shape with the yolk is said to represent a boat, the sea and the sun.

When is National Khachapuri Day?

Georgia celebrates National Khachapuri Day every year on 27 February.

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