Ukrainians are known for loving good food and being great cooks. We also love sharing our recipes, which means there are tons of awesome cooking videos on YouTube.
We’ve put together a list of our favorite Ukrainian cooking channels for you to check out, enjoy, and learn from!
Level: elementary to advanced
Our first recommendation is Лілія Цвіт — a talented Ukrainian confectioner. Her channel is packed with short amateur videos with a wide range of recipes (both sweet and salty). It’s perfect for quick daily practice! New videos are posted every few days, so there’s always fresh content to enjoy.
Ukrainian learners will appreciate her relatively slow and clear language with plenty of basic cooking vocabulary. Plus, you can turn on subtitles and watch (or cook) even if you are a beginner.
Лілія takes special pride in her ПЛЯЦКИ (Ukrainian big but relatively simple cakes), so be sure to check them out and pick your favorite!
In the meantime, don’t miss her recipe for ПАМПУХИ З ВИШНЯМИ, a Christmas must-have and a favorite of many Ukrainians:
Level: advanced
Next on our list is the renowned charismatic Ukrainian chef and restaurant founder — Євген Клопотенко. His cooking channel is probably the most popular and widely viewed in Ukraine. Yevhen’s mission is to promote Ukrainian cuisine globally, revive forgotten traditional recipes, and enhance the eating culture in Ukraine.
Explore his channel for a mix of quick recipes (not only Ukrainian) and in-depth videos that delve into the history and fascinating facts about food from different regions of Ukraine. Enjoy the aesthetics of professional cooking while diving into Ukrainian culture. Are you ready to challenge yourself with some ancient Ukrainian dishes?
As for language learning, Yevhen’s channel is more suitable for advanced levels as he speaks quickly and uses plenty of interesting informal words and jokes. If you can understand them, be proud of yourself! However, beginners can still enjoy the channel to some extent, as all instructions are clearly demonstrated on video.
Yevhen also has a website full of amazing recipes and an online shop offering products, books, and more. If you’re in Kyiv or Lviv, be sure to also visit one of Yevhen’s restaurants to experience authentic Ukrainian cuisine:
- Restaurant “100 років тому вперед” — Київ, вул. Володимирська, 4
- Bistro “Інші” –- Львів, вул. Соборна, 2а
Recently, we had a podcast episode about Іван Котляревський and his poem Енеїда, which is a rich source of authentic Ukrainian dishes. Yevhen has cooked one of these dishes — ПОЛТАВСЬКІ ПУНДИКИ. Check it out here:
What should you start with to explore Ukrainian cuisine? Find out about the top 10 Ukrainian dishes that you should try in Ukraine in our podcast!
Level: intermediate to advanced
The next Ukrainian cooking channel we recommend is a family creation Наші Бесаги. This channel is not just a rich source of recipes but also an encyclopedia of old Ukrainian traditions.
By visiting this channel, you’ll uncover fascinating facts, mouth-watering dishes from various Ukrainian villages, cultural peculiarities, and just enjoy remarkable aesthetics. Each video is a complete performance with carefully planned costumes, settings, instruments, and ingredients.
The language used is rather slow and clear, with cultural and sometimes dialectical terms explained in the videos. Don’t hesitate to explore this channel, even if you’re not yet confident in your Ukrainian! The relaxing off-screen narration will make you feel comfortable while immersing you in the depth of Ukrainian cooking traditions.
We suggest starting your journey with the recipe for the legendary ПАЛЯНИЦЯ. (Fun fact: the pronunciation of this word is often used to determine if someone is Ukrainian, and there are many memes about it):
Level: intermediate to advanced
The next on our list of Ukrainian cooking channels is Оля Пінс — корисні і прості рецепти! — a great option for fitness enthusiasts or just those who enjoy healthy and simple food.
Olia shares a lot of nutritious recipes along with a breakdown of carbs, proteins, and fats, often provides additional information on the value of various foods, and reveals some of her tips and advice on cooking quick, healthy, and tasty meals.
Olia speaks at a medium pace, so this channel is recommended for intermediate or higher levels. Also, note that Olia used to have a channel in Russian, so there might be some occasional differences from standard pronunciation, stressing, and vocabulary.
We invite you to check out a video on how to save time in cooking and preparing healthy meals for a few weeks ahead (ЗАГОТОВКИ):
Level: elementary to advanced
If you have a sweet tooth, Ваніль і Шоколад will definitely catch your eye among other Ukrainian cooking channels. With nearly two hundred heavenly recipes for homemade sweets, including cakes, cookies, desserts, and more, you’re sure to find something delicious.
The language is slow and clear, and subtitles make the videos easy to follow, even for beginners.
Start with the recipe for the famous КИЇВСЬКИЙ ТОРТ and try cooking it at home — you’ll be impressed!
Level: beginner to advanced
Another great Ukrainian cooking channel with a variety of ПЛЯЦКИ and other homemade dishes is Домашні рецепти від Natalia Sus. Whether you’re looking for an exciting dessert recipe for your birthday or any holiday, or just want to try a simple everyday dish, this channel has you covered.
Natalia speaks slowly and briefly, making her videos easy to follow. Additionally, many recipes have no voice at all, just short written instructions and detailed visual demonstrations, making the channel suitable even for beginners!
We recommend watching Natalia’s simple recipe for КРИМСЬКІ ЧЕБУРЕКИ ІЗ СИРОМ — you can easily cook them at home. If you can’t find cottage cheese, feel free to substitute it with another type of cheese or meat!
To learn more about КРИМ and its traditions, check out our podcast! We have already had a whole series of episodes about Крим, one of which is about Гастрономічні традиції.
Level: beginner to advanced
As we are approaching the end of our mouth-watering list, we want to recommend you the cooking channel Готуємо з Лесею Піжик — another fantastic source of easy yet delicious recipes.
Lesia also takes care of her foreign audience and provides English translations for all recipe titles and main instructions. You can also find a brief English translation in the description of each video, so we recommend this channel even to beginners, eager to explore Ukrainian eating culture. Yet, her speech is moderately paced and great to practice listening at higher levels!
Since СИРНИКИ is one of the most loved Ukrainian dishes, we suggest starting to explore the channel with this recipe (be careful — once you try СИРНИКИ, there is a high risk of addiction):
Level: elementary to advanced
Last but not least is one more source of simple home recipes — Смаколики Юлі. This channel has a wide choice of quick but tasty (not only Ukrainian) main courses, desserts, and even pickles.
The pace of speech is not fast and the vocabulary is quite simple, so you can enjoy a great number of short videos for your everyday language and cooking practice! Our recommendation is the recipe for ЛІНИВІ ГОЛУБЦІ — a simplified (“lazy”) version of traditional ГОЛУБЦІ (indeed, Ukrainians like to adapt their traditional dishes to their busy modern lives):
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That’s all for today! We know you’re already hungry (just like us), so go ahead and try out a Ukrainian dish from one of these channels!
Feel free to share your creations on social media, tag us, or send us your feedback. We’d love to celebrate your cooking achievements with you!
Make sure to check our 12 Ukrainian YouTube Channels to Practice Your Ukrainian. Choose your favorite topic and boost your listening skills to the next level!
Learning Ukrainian and looking for great resources? Check out our list of the 1000 most common words in Ukrainian with interactive flashcards. You can also learn Ukrainian step by step wherever you are with our free Ukrainian Lessons Podcast.
