From a rich and diverse cuisine, Romanian traditional food is heavily influenced by Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Bosnia. Romanian savory dishes often are filled with veggies, herbs, olive oil, and spices. Whereas, their sweet food is decadent and delicious.
Chefs in Romania pay a lot of attention to the way how the food is presented. This is something just important as much as the taste of the food.

So, if you don’t know much about Romanian cuisine, here is a list of 14 gorgeous, delicious dishes.

1. Romanian Cabbage Rolls (Sarmale)

Traditional Romanian food known as cabbage rolls has a variety of ingredients.
They are prepared using sour cabbage, ground pig, bacon, onions, rice, tomato juice, and spices. Although they take a few hours to cook, remember that perfection seldom occurs quickly. When done, they have a fantastic appearance and flavor. They get a gorgeous golden-brown color, are glossy from the tomato sauce, and have fresh parsley on top.

2. Romanian Tara Paine

Despite its slightly tough exterior crust, the inside of Romanian country bread is extremely soft and moist. It pairs well with soups and other things that we like to sop up with crusty bread because of its flavor, which is comparable to sourdough bread’s. This bread also requires many hours to prepare, but a significant portion of that time is spent waiting for the dough to rise and idling while it cooks. Only 20 minutes of actual effort are required.

3. Mamaliga

Mamaliga is the country’s national dish, made with porridge made from cornmeal. Another term for it may be polenta. This dish is incredibly creamy and thick. Contrary to polenta, which is occasionally consumed in its soft, porridge-like form, mamaliga is left to firm into a solid circle of deliciousness. Mamaliga just requires two ingredients: cornmeal and butter, in addition to water, salt, pepper, and a creamy side dish.

4. Stuffed Peppers

The Romanian stuffed peppers taste almost similar to Italian and Mexican ones. For sure, they taste and are similar to the stuffed peppers of Albania and Greece. The fillings include pork, or beef, rice, peppers (all kinds), and plenty of herbs with seasoning.

5. Cheese Pie

Cheese pies are very popular and traditional dishes around the entire Balkan. The Romanian one doesn’t differ much from other cheese pies that you can find in the Balkans. Romanian cheese pie is a flaky puffed pastry stuffed with two kinds of cheese. This pie is absolutely the best. It’s yummy, cheesy, with every bite tasting heavenly.

6. Mushroom and mayo Salad

This cold salad is typically served on New Year’s Eve in Romania, but you can have it any time of the year with some crackers or a slice of toasted bread.
It’s also simple to create. The only ingredients you’ll need are mushrooms, mayonnaise, garlic, and dill. It simply takes mixing and cutting.

7. Meatball Soup

This classic Romanian soup is a dish that every Romanian recipe collector should know. Romanian meatball soup is “the glory of the soups” and “the pride of every Romanian cook.” That’s a lot of pressure for one soup dish to handle. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to make and tastes great. It has a strong tomato and herb taste and is not too hot. Additionally, the soup is quite substantial and ideal for the winter months thanks to the thick, delicious meatballs.

8. Cozonac

Cozonac is a traditional, straightforward, sweetened yeast bread of Romanian heritage. This citrus-scented sweet dough is coiled around a nutty filling and baked to create a spiral pattern. It is often produced during Easter and Christmas. A celebratory loaf of bread with a delicate and supple crumb is the end product.

9. Sausage Stew

This recipe reminds me of the Romanian version of steak and potatoes, with the polenta acting in place of the potatoes. But really, it would be more fitting for breakfast. Of course, the polenta, sausage, and fried egg gave it away. This is the way to go if you want a filling, delicious breakfast that features all your morning favorites.

10. Zacusca (Eggplant and Red Pepper Dip)

Romanian Traditional Food also includes Zacusca , which combines roasted red peppers and eggplant, is sure to win you over if you like roasted vegetables in general. Even though it’s referred to as a spread, this traditional recipe that’s quite popular in Romania emphasizes using local foods.
Zacusca is a vegetable spread prepared mostly from roasted eggplant and red peppers, however it may also contain additional ingredients, depending on the chef, such as onions, tomatoes, oil, and spices. Although it might be described as a sauce or a salsa, it is thought of as an eggplant and pepper spread from Romania. The spread resembles ajvar, a well-known roasted pepper and eggplant sauce from Serbia, quite a bit.

11. Feta Fried Bread

This thin bread has a crunchy outside and a very soft, gooey, and cheese-filled inside. You’ll use yeast, water, sugar, flour, and salt to produce the dough. Pure feta cheese makes up the stuffing. A cheese quesadilla would probably be the closest thing to feta fried bread, but that’s also not quite accurate.

12. Tripe Soup – Ciorba de Burta

Traditional Romanian soup called “tripe soup” is created with beef tripe, garlic, sour cream, eggs, and vinegar. It’s a meal that any serious food enthusiast must eat because of its incredible creamy texture. The soup is flavorful and somewhat spicy. Parsley’s vivid green color contrasts beautifully with the soup’s cozy golden hue. You may freeze it when it has cooled and it will keep fresh for up to 4 months.

13. Cheese Donuts

The finest doughnuts ever are these papanasi, or Romanian fried doughnuts! Every bite is a perfect treat, being soft but crispy, dripping with sour cream and blueberry jam. It is understandable why they are the most popular dessert in Romania.
Both kids and adults will like these since they are quick, simple, and extremely tasty to create.

14. Sweet Dough Rolls – Mucenici

The desert has the name of the Mucenici vacation in Romania. The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste are honored at this Christian feast. Emperor Licinius, who had been persecuting Eastern Christians for a while, murdered forty Roman troops close to Sebaste in 320. Since their martyrdom has been memorialized for generations, the Mucenici festival was born. To represent the human shape of the martyrs, the dough is twisted into a figure of eight in this manner.