Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Khinkali
Twisted soup dumplings filled with spiced meat and hot broth, eaten by hand, a proud Georgian mountain dish.
Georgian · medium · serves 4
prep 45 min · cook 15 min
~652 cal · 40g protein · 77g carbs · 18g fat · 3g fiber · 2g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Khinkali are Georgia's iconic soup dumplings, born in the mountainous regions of the country and now beloved nationwide. Large and twist-topped, they are a dish with their own etiquette, eaten with the hands and never a fork.
A simple dough is wrapped around a filling of spiced minced meat, traditionally seasoned with coriander and, crucially, a little broth or water so that a pocket of hot soup forms inside as they cook. You hold one by its thick twisted knot, bite a small hole, sip the broth, then eat the rest, leaving the tough top knot behind on the plate to be counted.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, egg- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
3 cups flour
1 lb ground beef and pork
1 onion, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp each ground coriander and cumin
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
1
Make a firm dough with the flour, a pinch of salt, and water, and rest.
2
Mix the meat with the onion, garlic, spices, cilantro, and enough cold water to make it loose and juicy.
✎ Chef’s note
Work extra cold water into the filling. That liquid becomes the burst of hot broth inside each cooked dumpling.
3
Roll dough circles, add filling, and pleat the edges up into a twisted knot on top.
4
Boil gently until the dumplings float and the dough is cooked, then serve dusted with black pepper.
Georgian mountain tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Imereti. Imeruli cheese is what the bread is named for: a fresh cow's-milk cheese, brined and springy and slightly sour, made in the region and used young. The bread is cooked on a dry griddle rather than in an oven, which gives it a blistered surface and means it is made to be eaten within the hour rather than kept.
🗺️
Georgia. Georgian food is one of the world's great undiscovered cuisines, famous for khachapuri (cheese-filled bread), soup dumplings called khinkali, and walnut-thickened sauces. As the likely birthplace of wine, its feasts (the supra) are legendary rituals of toasting and abundance.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Georgia
Imeruli Khachapuri (Cheese-Stuffed Bread)A golden, pan-baked flatbread sealed around a molten heart of tangy, salty cheese.
LobioKidney beans simmered and half-crushed with walnuts, coriander, and Georgian spice, served in clay with cornbread.
Chvishtari (Cornmeal Cheese Bread)Griddled cornmeal cakes packed with young melting cheese, crisp outside and molten within, from the mountains of western Georgia.
Browse all Georgia recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Georgia meal
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ChurchkhelaDessert
Mtsvadi (Georgian Grilled Pork Skewers)Dinner
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Khinkali?
Twisted soup dumplings filled with spiced meat and hot broth, eaten by hand, a proud Georgian mountain dish.
Where does Khinkali come from?
Khinkali is a Georgian dish from Imereti, Georgia.
Can Khinkali be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Khinkali recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Khinkali safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Khinkali take to make?
About 60 minutes total (45 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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