Georgian Food: Georgian Cuisine Is More Vegetarian Than You Think

I once wrote about how Mexican cuisine is too often misunderstood as cheap, fast, and branded as such (in my post ‘The Brand of Cuisine‘ here). Georgian food suffers from a similar problem.

Outside Georgia, traditional Georgian food is often reduced to a parade of meat, khachapuri, and heavy feasting. Yes, those things exist. Yes, they are part of the picture. But they are not the whole or even the main picture. In reality, Georgian cuisine is far more nuanced, regional, and plant-forward than many people realise. Official Georgian tourism content highlights vegetarian Georgian food as a major part of the country’s culinary identity, featuring a wide range of walnut dishes, herb dishes, pickles, beans, mushrooms, and soups with cornbread.

The stereotype of Georgia as a carnivore haven is, in my view, a lazy one.

Like much of the West, Georgia also fell victim to meat propaganda. Rich slabs of meat became associated with status, power, celebration, and abundance. But when you look at the actual architecture of Georgian food, especially in the western parts of the country, you find something else underneath: beans, corn, walnuts, vegetables, herbs, pickles, and seasonal produce. Western Georgian traditions in particular make heavy use of walnuts and hazelnuts, while many classic dishes revolve around vegetables, greens, and corn-based staples.

Georgian supra: abundance does not mean meat-only

One of the best ways to understand Georgian cuisine is through the supra, the famous Georgian feast. A supra is not just dinner. It is a communal ritual of hospitality, sharing, toasting, and showcasing the breadth of Georgian cuisine. Georgia Travel describes it as a generous communal meal and a ritual of sharing, with tables laid out in impressive variety.

And that is exactly the point.

I have been to several supras, both in cities and villages, and the table is usually packed with twenty or more dishes. Yet only a few of them are actually meat-based. You may find homemade sausages, or chicken in a rich garlicky sauce, or some celebratory meat dish, yes. But the rest of the table is often carried by vegetables, beans, walnuts, breads, herbs, pickles, and cheese.

So if someone tells you Georgian food is all meat, I would politely suggest they have not really been paying attention.

The plant-forward side of Georgian food

This is where Georgian food becomes especially interesting to me.

Pkhali

Pkhali is one of the clearest examples of how elegant vegetarian Georgian food can be. It is usually made by combining vegetables or greens with walnuts, vinegar, herbs, and spices. Georgia Travel describes pkhali as a beloved vegetarian dish built around vegetables and seasoned walnut paste, while other guides note that it is often served as a platter of several flavours.

In practice, that means you might get my favourite spinach pkhali, beetroot pkhali, cabbage pkhali, pumpkin or bean pkhali all on one plate. It is rich, earthy, gently acidic, and extremely satisfying with bread and pickles. And I especially love ekala pkhali, which is made from an endemic plant I can’t possibly describe; you might just need to come and try it.

Georgian cucumber and tomato salad with walnuts

The humble Georgian salad is another good example. On paper, cucumber and tomato sound almost too simple to discuss. But then Georgia adds walnut paste, and suddenly the dish becomes fuller, richer, and far more substantial. Walnuts are deeply embedded in Georgian taste, and western regions such as Guria and Adjara also use hazelnut-based seasonings.

This is one of the recurring strengths of Georgian cuisine: simple produce, made more serious with nuts, herbs, and acidity.

And I also must add, after living for 10 years in the UK, you will not find such delicious ripe and aromatic tomatoes there, not in the markets or at Waitrose. The quality of fresh produce here in Georgia is stunning!

Ajapsandali

Ajapsandali is often described as Georgian ratatouille, and that comparison is useful up to a point. It is a vegetable stew dominated by aubergine, often joined by tomatoes, onions, peppers, potatoes, herbs, and basil. I a classic Georgian dish built around eggplant and vegetables, and it can be eaten hot or cold.

To me, ajapsandali is one of the best illustrations of why Georgian food deserves more credit. It is vibrant, deeply aromatic, comforting, and completely capable of carrying a meal without meat needing to play the hero.

Lobio and mchadi

Lobio is another cornerstone of traditional Georgian food. At its core, it is a bean dish: humble, nourishing, and far more important than people outside the country often realise. Beans with mchadi, the classic Georgian cornbread, were once thought of as peasant food. But they are now appreciated far more widely, also being aware of beans’ protein and nutritional value.

If you come from a culture that understands the genius of beans and corn together, this dish makes immediate sense. Lobio with pickles and mchadi is one of those combinations that feels ancient, economical, and clever all at once.

Aubergine rolls with walnut paste

And then there are the aubergine rolls. Long slices of fried aubergine, wrapped around a savoury walnut filling, often sharpened with vinegar, garlic, coriander, and spices. It is one of those Georgian dishes that people remember because it is both generous and restrained at the same time. Rich, yes. But also herbal, nutty, and precise. Eggplant with walnuts is one of the cuisine’s defining vegetarian expressions.

Georgian food today: tradition plus modern additions

Modern urban Georgia has also absorbed broader Middle Eastern and international influences rather naturally. Hummus, baba ganoush, and falafel are all familiar enough now, especially in cities.

Back at Living Vino, my plant-based restaurant and natural wine bar, we used to serve Georgian salad with a few falafels to add protein and crunch. We also served adjapsandali with chickpeas to make it more nutritionally robust. I still think this was a very natural evolution rather than some forced fusion. The foundations were already there.

That is why I keep coming back to the same point: Georgian cuisine is not wrongly seen as delicious. It is wrongly seen as mostly meat.

A brief word on Georgian wine

I am not going to dwell too much on Georgian wine here, but as a WSET Diploma holder and Wine Educator, I can’t ignore it either. Wine is central to Georgian identity, and the supra itself places wine at the centre of the table. Wine is the centrepiece of the supra, and the country has a deep winemaking heritage and a remarkable number of endemic grape varieties.

That said, my own experience is more mixed when it comes to what is actually available on the market.

The factory wines will most certainly disappoint. 

The natural wine segment is more exciting, but also more expensive. Quality can be inconsistent, and finding the producers you really trust takes time. In my view, too much pride and not enough curiosity still hold some parts of this sector back.

But there are also excellent people moving things forward. Producers such as Baia’s Wine and Chito’s Gvino remind me that Georgian wine can be honest, distinctive, and deeply enjoyable when the right people are behind it.

What Georgia and Mexico have in common

Now that I run a Mexican bar and restaurant, I am constantly struck by the quiet similarities between these two cuisines.

Mexico and Georgia are far apart geographically, but they share some serious staples: corn, beans, pumpkin, nuts, and seeds. In Mexico, the milpa system built a whole worldview around those ingredients. Georgia, in its own way, also built a cuisine around practical abundance: what grows well, what stores well, what feeds many people, and what can be transformed with herbs, nuts, acidity, and technique.

Georgians may not be as obsessed with chillies as Mexicans, but corn dough products are everywhere, bean dishes are everyday food, and fresh coriander appears constantly as garnish and seasoning. And many Georgians who are the guests at my Fiesta: Mexican Restaurant & Bar can see and enjoy that too.

Georgian food is generous, expressive, and full of flavour, but beneath all the feasting and traditions, it is also a cuisine built on smart use of produce. And that is exactly why traditional Georgian food deserves to be seen not just as hearty, but as deeply plant-forward too.