Bosnian Cuisine/Food

Bosnia & Herzegovina - Cuisine

By Nick Last updated Dec 17, 2024

Influences and Ingredients

Bosnian cuisine is balanced between Western and Eastern influences. The food is closely related to former Yugoslav, Middle Eastern, and other Balkan cuisines.

Bosnian cuisine uses many spices, but usually in moderate quantities. Most dishes are light, as they are cooked in lots of water; the sauces are fully natural, consisting of little more than the natural juices of the vegetables in the dish. Typical ingredients include tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach, courgette, dried and fresh beans, plums, milk, paprika and cream called pavlaka and kajmak.

Typical meat dishes include primarily beef and lamb. Some local specialties are ćevapi, burek, dolma, sarma, pilav, gulaš (goulash), ajvar and a whole range of Eastern sweets. The best local wines come from Herzegovina where the climate is suitable for growing grapes.

Alhough most Bosnians consume meat and enjoy cooking meat on open fire (a form of socializing), there is variety of traditional vegetarian meals as well.

Read about Halal Food in Bosnia. Learn about Traditional Drinks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dishes

Some traditional Bosnian dishes include:

Ćevapi – Bosnian kebabs: small grilled meat sausages
Pljeskavica – a patty dish
Begova Čorba (Bey’s Stew) – a soup
Stuffed peppers
Sogan-dolma – onions stuffed with minced meat
Ćufte – meatballs
Meat under sač – a traditional way of cooking lamb, veal, or goat under a metal, ceramic, or earthenware lid on which hot coals and ashes are heaped
Burek – a meat-filled flaky pastry, traditionally rolled in a spiral and cut into sections for serving. The same dish filled with cottage cheese is called sirnica, one with spinach and cheese zeljanica, and one with potatoes krompiruša. All these varieties are generically referred to as pita (pie).
Sarma – meat and rice rolled in pickled cabbage leaves
Bosanski Lonac – Bosnian meat stew
Sudžuka – (Sujuk) – spicy beef sausage
Suho meso – air-dried meat similar to Italian bresaola
Djuveč – vegetable stew
Sataraš – a dish made with vegetables only
Klepe – a traditional Bosnian dumplings that are a mix of Turkish manti and Italian ravioli

Dairy

Famous Cheeses are:

Livno cheese (Livanjski sir) – a world-famous dry yellow cheese from the west Bosnian town of Livno
Tešanjski – made from the nettle and milk
Travnički – a white feta-like cheese