Vegan food in Georgia is a pleasant surprise for anyone avoiding meat and dairy. Thanks to Orthodox fasting periods — when meat, milk and eggs are excluded — Georgian cuisine has a whole layer of dishes built on vegetables, beans, nuts and herbs. Below: what to order, where milk and eggs hide, and how to explain your preferences to a waiter.
Why is Georgia vegan-friendly?
The secret is fasting. For several weeks a year observant Georgians avoid animal products, so every traditional menu has a 'fasting' section. These dishes are cooked year-round, they're cheap and genuinely delicious — everyone eats them, not just vegetarians.
The second plus is the abundance of vegetables, nuts and herbs. Walnuts, coriander, pomegranate, aubergines and beans are the base of dozens of dishes. So a 'vegan table' in Georgia isn't about restriction — it's about variety.
What dishes to order?
Pkhali
A pâté of boiled vegetables (spinach, beetroot, beans) with walnut, garlic and spices. Almost always fully vegan. Order the assortment to try several at once.
Lobio
Stewed red beans with spices, served in a clay pot with mchadi cornbread. Filling and animal-free.
Ajapsandali
A stew of aubergine, pepper, tomato and herbs — Georgia's answer to ratatouille. Vegan by definition.
Badrijani
Fried aubergine rolls with walnut paste and pomegranate. Confirm the paste — occasionally spiced, but there's no milk in it.
Lobiani
A flatbread stuffed with beans — the vegan cousin of khachapuri. A great option when everyone else is eating cheese bread.
| Dish | Vegan | What's inside |
|---|---|---|
| Pkhali | Yes | vegetables, walnut |
| Lobio | Yes | red beans, spices |
| Ajapsandali | Yes | aubergine, pepper, tomato |
| Lobiani | Yes | dough with beans |
| Khachapuri | No | cheese, often egg |
| Khinkali | Usually no | meat (mushroom versions exist) |
What to watch out for?
A few popular dishes are easy to mistake for fasting food when they aren't:
- Khachapuri — cheese and often egg/butter. Not vegan. Swap for lobiani.
- Khinkali — usually meat; mushroom or potato versions exist, but the dough is sometimes made with egg — ask.
- Kharcho and chikhirtma soups — meat broth.
- Mchadi and bread — usually vegan, but cafés sometimes add cheese — check.
- Walnut sauces — almost always vegan, but confirm satsebeli/tkemali to be safe.
How to tell the waiter?
English is understood in tourist spots, but a couple of Georgian words work wonders:
- მარხვის (markhvis) — fasting, i.e. no meat, milk or eggs. The most useful word.
- ვეგანი ვარ (vegani var) — 'I'm vegan'.
- ხორცის გარეშე (khortsis gareshe) — no meat.
- ყველის გარეშე (kvelis gareshe) — no cheese.
More useful expressions in our guide to Georgian phrases for travellers.
Tip: don't look for a 'vegan' sign. Walk into any home-style dukani and ask for 'markhvis' — a fasting menu exists almost everywhere, and it's cheaper than the meat dishes.
Where to eat in Tbilisi?
Tbilisi has both dedicated vegan cafés and regular restaurants with a large fasting menu. Look for Georgian home-cooking places — they always have pkhali, lobio and ajapsandali. See our Tbilisi restaurants guide, and what else to try in our Georgian cuisine guide.
The best way to master fasting cuisine in one evening is a Tbilisi food tour: the guide orders the right dishes and explains what's in each.
Breakfast and street snacks
For breakfast go for mchadi with lobio, a plate of pkhali, or porridge — cafés serve all of it. At bakeries ask for lobiani and fasting breads without cheese. Coffee with plant milk is easy in Tbilisi's specialty cafés, but ordinary places usually pour cow's milk — check first.
Street snacks are almost all plant-based: churchkhela (nuts in thickened grape juice), dried persimmon, roasted chestnuts in autumn, boiled corn, fresh figs and pomegranates at the markets. Supermarkets stock plenty of nuts, dried fruit, adjika and tkemali — though do check the sauce labels.
Vegan food by region
In Kakheti, wine traditionally comes with nuts, pickles and vegetable starters — a vegan spread assembles itself. In Adjara, beyond the famous cheese khachapuri there's borano's vegetable cousins, bean dishes and sea greens. In the mountain regions — potatoes, mushrooms, wild herbs and cornbread.
The rule of thumb: the further from tourist zones and the closer to home cooking, the more honest the 'markhvis' and the cheaper the food. Village dukani cook fasting dishes for real, not as a concession to a guest.
How to order without slip-ups
A vegan option exists on almost every Georgian menu, but three hidden ingredients can spoil the order. First, cheese: it goes into breads, salads and even some vegetable dishes 'for flavour', so always say 'no cheese'. Second, butter and clarified butter: vegetables are fried and bread is baked in it, so ask for plant oil. Third, broth: kharcho and chikhirtma are meat-based, and an innocent-looking 'vegetable' soup is sometimes built on chicken stock — check separately.
The rest is easy. Ask for 'markhvis' — fasting — and take lobiani instead of khachapuri. Central chains have English menus with labels; in family dukani it's simpler to show a list or name the dishes in Georgian. For fresh vegetables, nuts and herbs, visit a market — cheaper and more honest than tourist cafés. Three short questions to the waiter — no cheese, which oil, what stock — remove almost every risk.
Plant-based groceries in shops and markets
Cooking at home in Georgia is easy and cheap: seasonal vegetables, fruit and herbs are sold on every corner, and Tbilisi's Deserters' Bazaar offers a wider choice at lower prices than supermarkets. A basic plant kitchen — beans, lentils, nuts, tahini, local sunflower oil and spices such as utskho-suneli — costs very little.
Chains like Carrefour, Spar, Nikora and Fresco stock tofu, soy and oat milk, dairy-free yoghurts and frozen ready meals, though the range is smaller than in Europe and pricier due to imports. Read labels: butter and cheese hide in unexpected products, while the 'lenten' mark (მარხვის) is a reliable guide, since such foods are displayed separately during Orthodox fasts.
For specialist items — plant cheese, protein, meat substitutes — try eco-shops and delivery marketplaces. Fresh shoti bread and tone lavash are almost always animal-free: the dough is just water, flour, salt and yeast, with no milk or eggs.
Key takeaways
If you remember just the essentials:
- Ask for 'markhvis' (fasting) — a section without meat, milk or eggs is on almost every traditional menu and costs less.
- Georgian vegan classics: pkhali, lobio, ajapsandali, badrijani and lobiani — filling and genuinely tasty.
- The main trap is cheese, and it's everywhere; specify 'no cheese', which oil is used and what the broth is made from.
- Khachapuri and khinkali are usually not vegan — take lobiani, a bean-filled flatbread, instead.
- Fasting dishes are cheapest and most honest in home-style dukani and at markets.