EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Romania
Top 10 Romanian meat dishes
Are you a meat lover? The person that cannot live without having a good meaty meal at least once a day? If so, Romania is quite a good place for you to stay. They love meat and almost every dish includes it. So, if you are a vegetarian, then a hard time for you. Of course, you will also find a lot of other meal options, however it would not be as easy as for all meat lovers. If you eat fish, it is a little bit easier, but if you omit them too, then start looking for your lunch good in advance!
Coming back to our meat dishes – they are rich, good portions and usually include pork or chicken meat. In some regions beef and mutton meat would be available at the same level, however, pork and chicken are dominating. Nothing surprising given the fact of the meat price and the easiness of breeding.
So, let’s start our top list!
1. Romanian Meat boards
Meat boards are available in almost all menus. For one, two or four persons, these sets include a couple of different meats and are usually served with potatoes, polenta or fries. Potatoes are grilled, boiled or cut in smaller pieces and fried. Romanian polenta is called mămăligă. Mămăligă is a traditional Romanian porridge made of maize flour. It is a local substitute of noodles, rice, potatoes, or different groats, so much liked in other parts of this region. As a side dish, choose o traditional set of pickles including cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and paprika, or just go with a standard version of mixed fresh vegetables like lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes.
Meats served on the boar include usually different types of meats. So, you will get some pork, some chicken and some beef. It is very rare to get a fully mutton meat, but it is still doable depending on the region of Romania. Usually, the board will include some kind of a pork or chicken schnitzel, sausages, minced meat Ćevapčići and a steak. Sometimes you will get ribs or bacon too, but it is up to the restaurant what they offer you.
Meats are mainly served with no breadcrumbs or not breaded in any other way. Meats are grilled or fried, served alone, one by one. The same applies to other meats like Ćevapčići, bacon, ribs or sausages. Ribs and bacon are usually relatively fatty. Steaks have less fat, however, even though all meats are sometimes grilled, they are not deprived of fat.
2. Romanian Goulash
You cannot leave Hungary or Romania without trying at least once their Goulash. Part soup, part stew, this is a typical and traditional Romanian and Hungarian dish. Semi spicy, with pork or beef meat and it is loved by locals. Full of energy, warming and aromatic. Tomatoes, bell pepper, onion and sometimes also other vegetables give a unique flavor. Goulash is not a fatty dish; however, it is also not a light one either. A lot of meat, some meat fat, potatoes and bread that is served with it, all that make that you feel really full after a bowl of goulash.
3. Grilled meats in Romania
Another very popular dish is a set of grilled meats. Meat boards served as a meal for two or four are also available in a single version. These dishes include a couple of different meats as in a meat board, but all of them are served from grill. In some places, you will be able to distinguish that specific grilling taste that gives the meat a special aroma. Meats are juicy, well grilled, and relatively not fatty. In some places, you will get grilled meats served from a plain grill, more like the one that is used for burgers. In that case, unfortunately meats are a little bit worse. First of all, due to the lack of that specific grilling flavor. Secondly, meats are fattier and very often are grilled on an oily board, what means they more or less fry. However, still they are good and worth trying. When it is about meats that you will get, usually that is a chicken breast, sausages, ribs, a couple of minced meat Ćevapčići, bacon and some part of pork or beef.
Apart from that, you might also buy grilled meat on stalls. Chicken skewer, sausages, ribs and pork chops are loved and very popular. Served warm, with some cabbage salad, bread or potatoes they offer a full rewarming meal.
4. Wiener Schnitzel
Wiener Schnitzel, although it is name relate strongly to Austria, both countries – Romania and Hungary love it. Partially due to the history and to the Austrian influence, partially due to their love of pork meat and everything that is breaded. Wiener schnitzel is a big and thin pork steak, that is fried in breadcrumbs or in corn and egg flour. Wiener schnitzel is served with mashed or boiled potatoes, fries or mamaliga. Usually, a small salad is served as a garnish, but do not expect a lot of it. Mainly it is a meat and potato meal with no vegetables abundance.
5. Romanian style Pljeskavica
Pljeskavica is also known in other countries like Croatia. It is loved and used as a regular meat in burgers. Apart from that, pljeskavica is also a full meal that is served with fries, potatoes, and fresh salad. Generally speaking, it is a minced meat cutlet, fried on a grill or pan. You will find pljeskavica burgers in many places across Romania and it does not matter whether that is a big city or a small village. Burgers are liked, cheap and very popular. A regular burger includes a standard minced meat, that is in that case pljeskavica, fresh salads and sauces. Salads are made of a freshly cut iceberg lettuce or cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers and very often some canned corn is added too. As an option you can almost always select an extra ingredient like cheese or fries that would be in the burger and not served aside. Regular mayo or ketchup sauces are widely available, while a garlic one or this with hot paprika are only in some places. Pljeskavica burger is usually a pork or a beef meat, but in some places, you will get a chicken version too. The price stays the same no matter which meat you pick.
6. Ćevapčići in Romania
Another minced meat dish is Ćevapčići (here you can read more about it: Ćevapčići - a Croatian alternative to a regular burger?). Ćevapčići is a grilled, small, and relatively thin, minced meat stick, that is either served on skewers on which it was prepared or alone, if prepared without them. Ćevapčići is also a whole dish that is served with regional specialties, fries or potatoes and some salad. It is a quick and popular food that is very often ordered with beer. Ćevapčići is on a plate or a tray with pickles, ajvar, freshly chopped onion rings, some tomato and iceberg lettuce. Aside are sauces like mayo and mustard. Minced meat used for Ćevapčići is very similar to the one that is in pljeskavica. The biggest difference is in the size. Usually a beef or a pork meat is used, however in some places you might get a mutton meat too.
7. Romanian Skewers
Chicken or pork grilled skewers with onion, bell pepper and eggplant are very popular during Autumn in many touristic places. Hot, freshly grilled and served with baked potatoes or fries are a good option if you are looking for something to eat, and you want to avoid both a typical fast-food and a long waiting in restaurants.
A regular skewer is about 20 to 25 cm long, has 5 or 6 quite big meat chunks and relatively a lot of well grilled vegetables. Skewers are not spicy, just mild. Meat is soft and is well soaked in the flavor of peppers and onions that were grilled with it.
8. Pide - Turkish accent in Romania
Although pide is a traditional Turkish meal, it is very popular in Romania and Hungary. As in the case of other meals, also this one shows the interlacing mixture of cultures, traditions, and historic influences.
What is pide?
Generally speaking, pide is a Turkish version of an Italian pizza. What is characteristic about it, is its shape – oval.
It is made of flour, yeasts, some oil and very often yoghurt, that gives the softness. On top of it is minced meat, cheese, vegetables and sometimes eggs. The dough is thin, with rounded borders and the inner part is well baked. All ingredients for the topping create a thin layer, so it is a relatively light meal and, comparing with pizza that is very often shared for two, pide is a single person meal.
9. Duck breast
Even though duck is not the most popular meat either in Hungary or Romania, this meat appears quite often in different menus. It is worth trying it, and definitively it is a good option if you would like to try something else than pork, chicken or beef. We tried it a couple of times and every time the meat was delicate, not so fatty as a duck sometimes can be and juicy. The fried skin was also very tender, not chewy but nicely crispy and created a great crust for a tender meat. Apart from it, a local mamaliga or couscous as a side dish and a set of fresh salads created a really good meal.
10. Breaded chicken breast
Breaded chicken breast is a chicken version of Wiener schnitzel. That is the simplest way of describing this meal. While in a Wiener schnitzel you use a thin slice of a pork meat and serve it in breadcrumbs, in this one, a chicken breast is enrolled in a thick layer of flour and egg. Sometimes sesame seeds are added as a topping, but usually chicken is in a plain breadcrumb shell. To that, fries or baked potatoes are served, and sometimes a small portion of a garnish-salad is added. The chicken breast is whole, or sometimes halved and stuffed with cheese.
