We may earn affiliate commissions from websites we link to, at no cost to you. Click here for details.
The food in Azerbaijan is full of flavour and guaranteed to be a true highlight of your visit.
The world dolma means “stuffed”. It is a family of stuffed dishes common in Caucasian, Eastern Mediterranean, Iranian and Balkan cuisines. Dolma can be served cold or warm and it’s my favourite food in Azerbaijan and in other regions of the world.
Dolma is vine or cabbage leaves stuffed with diced meat, rice, onions, fresh herbs such as mint, dill and coriander, salt & pepper and butter. This tasty food in Azerbaijan has more than 25 variations depending on the season and the region.
Badymdjan dolmasi are eggplant, tomatoes and pepper dolma filled with the above ingredients – a wonderful food of Azerbaijan.
Lahmacun translates to “dough with meat.” Pronounced “lah-ma-joun”, it’s a word I learned to say very quickly during my visit as I love this food in Azerbaijan. I’d describe lahmacun as thin, crispy pizza topped with a spiced minced meat combination and is usually served with either fresh parsley or salad and a wedge of lemon.
Before consuming the lahmacun, squeeze the lemon inside, add the herbs/salad and fold over and eat while it’s hot. It’s the ultimate street food of Azerbaijan.
Lahmacun is filling, cheap and highly enjoyable – so don’t miss trying this food in Azerbaijan if you get the chance to visit.
It is also popular in the Levant region (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, and Jordan) where the Ottoman Empire once extended. This dish is known by a different name in other countries, but I can tell you from experience, it is always a pleasure to eat.
I enjoyed the variation of lahmacun in Syria, called ‘sfiha’. Read more about the food I loved the most in Syria.
Lamb or veal stew with chestnuts and dried fruit is a popular food of Azerbaijan. It’s a perfectly balanced sweet and sour stew often served with rice pilaf. This is a dish you must try in Azerbaijan before you leave.
The secret ingredient to create this wonderful stew is albukhara, a tangy dried fruit that adds the sour element to the dish. Once dried apricots, raisins and chestnuts are added, the sweetness from these ingredients creates the balanced flavour of the stew.
I love it and as soon as I took the first mouthful, it reminded me of some fantastic meals I ate when travelling in Iran. This makes perfect sense as Iran borders Azerbaijan and both countries have fantastic cuisine.
RELATED POST: Masouleh; A Beautiful Rooftop Village in Iran
Join our Nomads Newsletter!
Receive our best tips on how to travel in every country!
Sign up now, and we’ll send you our FREE eBook, “How to Travel Like a Boss!“
Baliq (fish) is a popular food in Azerbaijan. Fish caught in the Caspian sea (usually salmon & sturgeon) can be eaten fried whole or cut into chunks, marinated, skewered, and grilled. The marinade is typically a blend of chopped parsley, dill, lemon juice, and salt. This is a common blend of flavours of the food of Azerbaijan.
Plov is known as the national dish of Azerbaijan. This is also a popular dish in other Central Asian and Eastern European countries. Azerbaijani plov uses saffron-flavoured rice cooked with lamb, aromatic herbs, dried chestnuts, apricots, onion, garlic, carrots and cumin.
I enjoyed this delicious ‘Shah plov’ at Xezer Restaurant in Baku. I’d recommend this restaurant for those looking to try delicious food in Azerbaijan.
The crispy exterior you see below is made with lavash, a thin and soft wheat-based flatbread, and it was delicious. This is the kind of food of Azerbaijan that I’d return for.
The food in Azerbaijan maintains some ancient cooking methods. Clay or copper pots are traditionally used and provide a unique flavour to the dish. One Azerbaijani dish which is still cooked and served in a special pan is Sadj. Meat and vegetables are cooked together in the sadj, with tail fat from lamb to add flavour and colour.
It is served from the stove to the table on the pan, usually with the coals burning underneath to keep it hot.
Try the best lamb sadj at Beer Bakal restaurant & lounge in Nakhchivan.
Our list of the most popular food in Azerbaijan wouldn’t be complete without kebabs. These are a much-loved local favourite in Azerbaijani cuisine. You will find similarities between kebabs here and in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Different meats and vegetables are seasoned with spices, skewered and then chargrilled.
I enjoyed Lyulya kebab the most. It’s a special kebab variety popular throughout the Caucasus region, consisting of minced lamb, salt and pepper, herbs, and finely diced onions. It is then skewered and chargrilled.
The preparation of kneading the meat for a long time makes this variety of kebabs so unique. They hold together much better and the texture is much softer when eaten.
Much of the sweet food in Azerbaijan features natural ingredients such as nuts, honey and dried fruit. Azerbaijani desserts vary from region to region, and pakhlava, (also known as baklava), is the most popular of the nation’s sweets.
Pakhlava is a rich dessert made of thin filo pastry layered with chopped nuts and sweetened with honey or syrup. It has a unique diamond shape and you can find many variations of this sweet in Azerbaijan.
This sweet was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine, and again you will find ‘baklava’ in several other countries.
Get Connected with eSIM
Get connected easily on your travels—buy an eSIM! It works like an app: buy it, download it, and get connected in minutes! It’s easy, affordable, and convenient. Keep your original phone number, too!
Use our code: RACHEL5045 to get $3 off your first purchase!
Qutab is a crispy moon-shaped stuffed flatbread with a variety of fillings. Minced meat, cheese and herbs or spinach are most common.
These delicious packages are usually served with lemon & herbed yoghurt, or fresh sumac and chilli sauce for those who like a little spice.
Piti is a soup dish that requires at least 8 hours of cooking to get the best result. I encourage you to try this food in Azerbaijan, the flavour and texture are wonderful. It’s prepared with chunks of lamb, potatoes, garlic, onions, peas, chestnuts and fresh herbs.
Many recipes add dried plums to the broth to add a sour flavour to balance the dish. Chickpeas are added to the soup later on.
The ingredients are placed into a small clay pot (this gives a special flavour to this dish) and then covered with water. It’s then placed in an oven to be slow-cooked.
If you’re interested in experiencing a destination in Azerbaijan that is quite unique, we highly recommend visiting Nakhchivan, the fascinating exclave of Azerbaijan.
Deep within the mountain regions of the southern Caucasus, Nakhchivan is a perfect example of an off beaten destination for the adventurous traveller.
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the most popular food in Azerbaijan. Don’t miss our comprehensive Caucasus Itinerary to discover the best of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.
You may also be interested in our Ultimate Food Guide to Georgia. This region has many culinary gems to discover.
We have many travel guides and tips for Asia— a fascinating continent!
Delicious cuisine can be enjoyed across Asia, and our food map of Asia will inspire your food journey.
These top 5 best street foods in Asia are unmissable! We explain Central Asian food, including seven popular foods in this region.
Our Southeast Asia packing list will be helpful if you’re travelling here.
Furthermore, if you plan to travel long-term (or at least until the money runs out), these 21 cheapest countries to visit will help you make your hard-earned dollars stretch a bit further.
Not surprisingly, our top 10 best countries for food lovers include a few Asian countries.
You’ll need to stay connected while travelling in Asia. We recommend eSIM. It’s easy, reliable and affordable. View eSIMs for individual Asian countries, or consider a regional eSIM for Asia (which covers 18 countries).
If your travels in Asia are part of a much larger global adventure, then a Global eSIM may be the answer. It connects you in 124 countries, offering data-only eSIM and data/call/text eSIM. The Global eSIM has been a game-changer; we couldn’t imagine travelling without it now.
If you want to travel with like-minded travellers, consider joining a group tour. Check out our Group Tours first for any upcoming departures in Asia, or view Tourradar for great deals on tours in Asia.
Check out our best-ever travel tips compiled from more than twenty years of experience.
✈️ Flights: We use Skyscanner to book cheap flights worldwide.
🏨 Accommodation: Booking.com is our preferred platform for booking hotels and accommodation. We use Vrbo to book apartments and long-term stays.
🏥 Travel Insurance: We recommend Heymondo (Get 5% off Heymondo) & SafetyWing
🚌 Transportation: Trainline is the best website to reserve trains. We use Omio to book transport worldwide. For travel in Asia, we use 12Go.
🚘 Car Rental: We use DiscoverCars to book rental cars worldwide.
👫 Group Tours: We now offer Group Trips; check them out here. Alternatively, we recommend G Adventures OR Tourradar.
📸 Day Tours & Trips: GetYourGuide & Viator are the only two platforms you need.
📚 Lonely Planet: The Best Range of Travel Guides & Ebooks, and FREE Shipping! (use code RACHELDAVEY10 for a 10% discount)
🎒 Luggage: Osprey Farpoint 40L Backpack or Samsonite Luggage Range.
🛄 What to Pack: Don’t forget your Universal charger and a good power bank. To help you pack the essentials, here is our ULTIMATE Packing List for all Travellers.
🐶 Become a House Sitter: Join Trusted Housesitters and enjoy FREE accommodation worldwide. Use our invite to receive 25% off your new membership.
💰 Send Money Anywhere: WISE & Revolut are the best online accounts that let you send money, get paid, and spend money internationally. Both are so easy to use and way cheaper than any bank transfer.
📶 Stay Connected: Airalo eSIM allows you to get connected the moment you land at your destination, and you can avoid those expensive data roaming charges. We LOVE this product! Use promo code NOMAD15 for 15% off ALL eSIMs (new Airalo users only) OR use NOMAD10 for 10% off ALL eSIMs (for existing Airalo users)
✅ Check out our Travel Gear and Travel Resources for more valuable tips to save you money!
