Sviata Vecheria Recipes: The Ukrainian Christmas Eve Table
Sviata Vecheria, Ukraine’s Christmas Eve Holy Supper, opens with kutia – wheat, poppy seeds and honey – and uzvar, a dried-fruit compote, served before anything else is touched. The rest of the twelve meatless dishes follow: boiled dumplings, stuffed cabbage, and a beet soup made without meat.
Poland keeps its own version of this night, Wigilia – see the Wigilia table for that spread.
First to the Table
Dumplings, Cabbage and Soup
DUMPLINGS
Traditional Ukrainian Varenyky
Boiled dumplings, filled meatless for the Holy Supper’s fast.
STUFFED CABBAGE
Traditional Ukrainian Holubtsi
Rice-stuffed cabbage rolls, one of the twelve dishes.
LIGHTER TAKE
Healthy Ukrainian Holubtsi
The same rolls, a lighter filling.
LIGHTER TAKE
Healthy Ukrainian Borscht
Keto and plant-based takes on the classic beet soup.
SOUP
Traditional Ukrainian Borscht
Made without meat for the fast and served with vushka.
SOUP
Traditional Ukrainian Kapusniak
Sauerkraut soup on mushroom broth, one of the twelve dishes.
LIGHTER TAKE
Healthy Ukrainian Kapusniak
The same sour cabbage soup, lighter on salt and fat.