Slovenian food, region by region

Everyday eating

The Tourist Board describes Sunday lunch quite precisely. First, soup, often beef with noodles, vegetable or mushroom. Then meat, a roast or fried chicken, with roast potatoes and a salad on the table at the same time, often dressed with pumpkin seed or olive oil. Then dessert. During the week, and above all in the countryside and in mountain huts, the typical choice is a spoon stew, goulash, jota, ričet or minestrone. And Carniolan sausage, on its own or with a stew, which Taste Slovenia calls the best-known Slovenian food product in the world; it’s covered in Carniolan sausage.

Slovenian dishes by region

In the Alps, Carniolan sausage leads, alongside žganci, called the pillar of Carniola in the 19th century, sauerkraut, sour turnip and trout. On the coast and in the Karst, hand-harvested Piran salt, Piran sea bass, prosciutto cured by the bora wind and jota. In Ljubljana and the centre, walnut potica and Idrija žlikrofi, potato-filled pasta shaped like a bicorne hat, covered in Idrija žlikrofi. And in the Pannonian east, flour dishes and breads, bograč and, above all, gibanica.

Festive sweets: potica and gibanica

Potica is the cake of every celebration, a rolled yeast dough with a filling, most commonly walnut; it’s in potica. Prekmurje gibanica layers poppy seed, curd cheese, walnut and apple, and is covered in Prekmurje gibanica. Štruklji, rolled dumplings that are boiled, baked or steamed, come with some 80 sweet or savoury fillings according to Taste Slovenia; they’re in štruklji.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Ljubljana on Expedia and filter by area before price.

EU-protected products

Taste Slovenia counts more than 20 products and dishes protected by the European Commission. Four cheeses have designation of origin, Bohinj Mohant, Tolminc, Bovški sir and Nanoški sir, along with two honeys, Piran salt and Istrian olive oil. Eight meat products have geographical indication, such as Carniolan sausage and Karst prosciutto, as do pumpkin seed oil, Ptuj onion and Štajerska hops. And potica, gibanica, žlikrofi and Bela krajina flatbread are traditional specialities guaranteed.

Where to try Slovenian food

At inns, tourist farms and mountain huts, and at markets. The Tourist Board picks out Ljubljana’s, with stalls of meat, dairy, bread and vegetables, and the fresh farm-milk vending machines open 24 hours, which fascinate visitors. There are also food festivals all over the country, for goulash, potatoes or frika, and for cherries, asparagus, olive oil, chocolate, beer or wine. Wine has its own page, Slovenian wine.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Ljubljana and pick one that fits your day.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Ljubljana on Booking.com and filter by area before price.