25 Delicious Modern Twists on Traditional Ukrainian Recipes

I am Ukrainian and grew up on Ukrainian food, so I have many fond food memories that involve Ukrainian cuisine! However, typical Ukrainian food isn't necessarily the healthiest or quickest food to make. In fact, it can be downright fattening and time sucking. My Baba's original recipe for borscht took endless hours to make and as a working Mom with 2 busy kids, I simply don't have that time. For this post, I have gathered up 25 Delicious Modern Twists on Traditional Ukrainian recipes from my own recipe collection and my fellow food bloggers. Many of these modernized traditional Ukrainian dishes will not only save you time, but calories as well. And these popular dishes are amazingly delicious!

This round-up includes popular Ukrainian foods, with everything from Ukrainian breakfast to dessert, all with a modern twist. I have shortcut borscht (borscht being the national dish of Ukraine), paleo, low-carb and gluten-free cabbage rolls, perogy grilled cheese and bread machine Paska Babka and dessert perogies. And best of all, it's completely Baba approved!

I have made it my mission to modernize Ukrainian cuisine by making it quicker, easier and healthier. I have also included several lighter and allergy friendly Ukrainian recipes.

Ukrainian Breakfast

🍳Ukrainian Breakfast Sandwich Recipe

This Ukrainian Breakfast Sandwich is made with a quick microwave poached egg and kielbasa, on a English muffin, with Ukrainian flavors like dill and horseradish. It's a quick and satisfying Ukrainian breakfast!

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Syrniki Recipe (Cheese Pancakes)

Make these delicious, pillowy-soft, cheesy pancakes for a delicious breakfast treat. Serve these syrniki with syrup like traditional American pancakes, or with a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt and a spoonful of fruit preserves.

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📋 Ukrainian Breakfast Hash Recipe

Easy Ukrainian-style breakfast hash using leftover (or microwaved) potatoes with sauerkraut, kubassa/kielbasa, fresh dill and dry cottage cheese. Eggs are optional. Perfect for your next brunch or breakfast potluck!

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📋 Pierogi Breakfast Casserole (with frozen pierogies) Recipe

This Pierogi Breakfast Casserole is the ultimate lazy perogy casserole made with frozen perogies.  Make-ahead and chock-full of yummy perogies and breakfast things like cheese, eggs, dill, sauerkraut, bacon bits and onions, it's the perfect breakfast potluck dish because everyone loves perogies!

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Ukrainian Lunch Recipes

📋 Loaded Pierogi Soup Recipe

This Loaded Pierogi Soup is a delicious and healthy Ukrainian soup with all the flavors of loaded pierogies! Bacon, potatoes, cheddar cheese, cabbage, fried onions and sour cream are combined to create a creamy blended soup that's hearty enough for a meal!

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Pierogi Grilled Cheese

This perogie grilled cheese is the quintessential Ukrainian sandwich and simple to make with perogies, cheese, onions, bacon and sour cream for dipping!

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📋 Ukrainian Borscht Soup Recipe (with beef) Recipe

Borscht is a classic Ukrainian dish that usually takes a great deal of time to cook. This homemade Ukrainian Borscht soup (with beef) is a shortcut recipe using canned beets with no chopping required. It's easy, quick (cook time of 15 minutes), healthy, low fat, WW friendly and delicious!

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🍱 Ukrainian Bento Box Recipe

This bento box idea is a quick and easy Ukrainian lunch. A cold meal of Ukrainian sausage (kubasa/kielbasa), cubed cheddar cheese, sliced dill pickles, rye bread, crackers, mustard and baby carrots, it's just like the late night snack you'd have at a social!

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Ukrainian Main Course Recipes

Healthy Chicken Kiev

A cheesy, garlicky and herby filling stuffed in to a chicken breast and covered with bread crumbs, and then baked to crispy perfection. Simple, but impressive enough for a dinner party, this Chicken Kyiv can be adapted to include different fillings too.

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📋 Ukrainian Daughter's Crock Pot Casserole Recipe

A Ukrainian recipe for slow cooker casserole- a huge Ukrainian meal in one pot, including kielbasa sausage, cabbage, rice and pierogi/perogy flavors. Prepped in 20 minutes and no precooking anything. The slow cooker does all the cooking for you!

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UKRAINIAN KOTLETI (MEATBALLS)

Easy recipe for the classic Ukrainian Kotleti (Pork Patties). Juicy and tender ground pork and chicken with seasonings shaped into patties, breaded and fried. Though not your classic meatballs in sauce, these patties are a classic in the Slavic kitchen.

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📋Perogy Pizza Recipe (Boston Pizza Copycat)

This Perogy Pizza is a copycat of Boston Pizza's Spicy Perogy Pizza. It's topped with quick and easy cactus cut potatoes, sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, tamed jalapenos and green onions. It's a great way to get your perogy fix in the form of pizza!

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📋 Pierogi Zucchini Boat Recipe

Have your perogy fix and healthy food too! These quick and easy, gluten-free, low-fat and Weight Watchers friendly Healthy Pierogi Zucchini boats are loaded with flavor and health benefits but low on calories and fat! 

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📋Ukrainian Style Eggs Recipe

These Ukrainian Style Eggs are the perfect egg dinner recipe! They have all the virtues of loaded perogies but they are easier, faster, healthier and completely versatile. They can be scrambled, fried (to your liking) or baked and loaded with your choice of toppings! They are also Weight Watchers friendly.

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Ukrainian Sides

📋 Lazy Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls Recipe

These Lazy Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls taste exactly like regular meat and rice cabbage rolls, but in cabbage roll casserole form and without all the work. They are also Weight Watchers friendly!

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Potato Cheddar Vareniki with Braised Cabbage and Prosciutto

Old world Ukrainian and Italian flavours collide in this delicious ultra modern dish of perogies, prosciutto and braised cabbage

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Low-carb Turkey Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls make winter better! They're comfort food that warms you up but traditional recipes can be high in calories. In these Low Carb Turkey Cabbage Rolls I've left out the rice and swapped out the beef and pork for lean turkey. These delicious cabbage rolls are perfect for paleo and ketogenic diets and for anyone looking for a hearty meal under 300 calories

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📋 Perogy Potato salad

If you love perogies and are looking for potluck ideas, you will love this gluten-free Perogy Potato salad. This Ukrainian version of potato salad is an award-winning potato salad that's perfect for a summer BBQ, a potluck, cookout or even when you are camping/glamping this summer. This easy salad is sure to become a family favorite!

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Cabbage Rolls with Dill and Roasted Red Pepper

This Cabbage Roll recipe features a beef meat filling with white rice, stuffed into cabbage leaves covered in a dill-icious tomato sauce, then baked to perfection. Make your own cabbage rolls like a Baba.

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📋 Paska Ukrainian Bread Recipe (Bread Machine)

This easy Bread Machine Paska bread, a traditional Ukrainian Easter Bread, is made in your bread machine, then decorated with simple decorations and baked for a short time.

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📋 Ukrainian Babka Recipe (Bread Machine)

This tender, cake-like Ukrainian Babka, a traditional sweet bread for Ukrainian Easter celebrations, is made in your bread machine!

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Ukrainian Desserts

📋 Saskatoon Berry Dessert Perogies Recipe

Saskatoon Berry Dessert Perogies are a great way to enjoy perogies for dessert! With a cooked Saskatoon berry filling and easy perogy dough, they are simple to make. And if you can't get your hands on Saskatoon berries, you can use blueberries or other sweet fillings.

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📋Lemon Poppy seed Torte (with Raspberry Curd filling) Recipe

This Lemon Poppy Seed torte is a traditional Ukrainian honey cake with poppy seeds and a modern twist. It's filled with a tangy raspberry curd and a creamy white chocolate whipped cream frosting. It's easy to decorate, but looks elegant and is perfect for any special occasion!

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🍩 Pampushky - Ukrainian Doughnuts

This Pampushky (Ukrainian Doughnut) recipe is a light and airy raised doughnut without filling. These traditional Ukrainian donuts are made into modern mini (Stampede-style) doughnuts and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar just the way my Baba used to make them when I was a kid. 

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Noodle Cookies - Pecan Meringues

Russian Pecan Meringues come from a long tradition of dishes and desserts made with noodles, nuts, eggs and sugar. Today, handmade noodles with eggs are rolled and crisped in the oven, folded into a brown sugar pecan meringue, then baked into a crunchy cookie.

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So, if you're looking for modern Ukrainian fare that will spice things up, while saving you energy, calories and time, then give these recipes a try!

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Still hungry for more Ukrainian food? Try my other delicious Ukrainian Recipes!