Let’s face it, nobody travels to Mongolia for the food. But if you are planning a trip, it’s worth learning more about the interesting food culture, and a little about how these foods are prepared. Perhaps you can plan on tasting a few delicacies yourself!

Traditional Mongolian food is based on a diet of survival. With seven months of the year locked in brutal winter, the diet reflects what is available seasonally and what is needed for the body to survive harsh conditions.

It’s easy to understand how this diet came about. Mongolians are traditionally nomadic and move between summer and winter grounds with livestock. This means no planting or harvesting of crops.

Mongolian meals are high in fat and low in vegetables, most meals will have a component of either meat or dairy, and many dishes also have a wheat-flour element. This makes for some very heavy and hearty meals.

During summer a variety of dairy products are made, and in winter meat is frozen and dried to last the winter. Many of these foods have remained a staple in the Mongolian diet for centuries and the recipes remain largely unchanged today. Keep an open mind when you come to Mongolia when it comes to eating!

If you are a vegetarian, you can still travel to Mongolia, it just pays to have a strategy. See the end of the article for my tips for vegetarians.

I’ve also included links to YouTube videos from the channel ARTGER. Make sure you check it out if you want to learn more about Mongolian food and Mongolian culture (I’m not affiliated with them, they just have great videos!).

*This post contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you make a purchase through these links I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

Mongolian Main Dishes

Khuushuur- Mongolian meat pie
Khuushuur is a deep fried pastry filled with mutton or beef. It is flavoured with simple seasoning with onions and garlic added in. This is a popular food and is really delicious. You can find khuushuur in the city and in the countryside, at restaurants, in homes, and during summer there are khuushuur food trucks and pop up stalls around events such as Naadam.
Some places will offer vegetarian versions of khuushuur. This is usually mashed potato with onion, carrot and sometimes other veggies. This is really good as well! It is more commonly found in Ulaanbaatar city, not the countryside.

2. Buuz- Mongolian dumpling

Buuz is a Mongolian dumpling. It is pronounced more like ‘bodz’ and is eaten year round, but is most popular during Tsaagan Sar (Mongolian New Year). During Tsaagan Sar families will make thousands of buuz and then spend three days visiting family and eating all the buuz at each other’s houses.

Buuz is made with mutton meat that is usually high in fat and seasoned with basic seasoning, onion, and garlic. The juice or ‘soup’ inside can be very hot, so be careful when you bite into one. The liquid is mostly fat and if eating with your hands it will solidify onto your fingers so if you aren’t so keen on that use a spoon.

More on Tsagaan Sar traditions and how to make buuz.

3. Khorkhog- Meat and veggies with hot rocks over a fire

Khorkhog is a must try food in Mongolia. It is goat or mutton that is pressure cooked with hot rocks over a fire. Khorkhog is usually made from a whole goat, so is saved for special occasions or larger gatherings.

A fire is made to heat hot rocks, and the goat or sheep is killed. To kill the goat or sheep an incision is made in the chest and someone puts their hand in and pinches the aorta until the animals dies. This is surprisingly humane and quick. One benefit to this method is you don’t waste the animal’s blood by tipping it all over the ground.

The animal is then freshly butchered into chucks of meat. The meat and vegetables such as onions, carrots, and potatoes are placed in a large milk vat for cooking along with the hot rocks. The metal container is sealed and places in the fire to cook, it only takes about 45mins.

The meat is amazingly tender and has a wonderful smokey flavour from the hot rocks. After the meat and vegetables are placed in trays, it is a tradition to pass the hot rocks around the group. You can pass the rocks between your hands to promote circulation and relieve tiredness. This was one of Chinggis Khan’s favourite meals and remains a favourite among Mongolians and tourists.

4. Boodog- Next level khorkhog

This is the next level up from Khorkhog. Making this is a real work of art and a true feast. If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to experience eating boodog, make the most of it, this is a truly unique experience and very tasty! Instead of cooking the meat in a container like Khorkhog, the actual body of the animal becomes the cooking vessel. This can be made with goat or marmot, and either way it is impressive. The animal is butchered in a way that the skin remain intact. It is sealed up and filled with the meat, vegetables, and hot rocks to cook from the inside out.

5. Guriltai Shul- Noodle soup

This is the classic Mongolian dinner and staple meal all over Mongolia. It is a simple meat broth usually made from boiling mutton then adding in hand made wheat-flour noodles. Sometimes there are onions in it, or spring onions on top and added sheep’s tail fat.

6. Budaatai Huurga- Fried rice

A simple fried rice that is a common dish all over Mongolia. Rice is fried with chucks of mutton, beef, and often sheep’s tail fat will be added in. Vegetables in it include cubes of potato, carrot, onion, and spring onion.

7. Tsuvian- Stir fried noodles

Tsuvian is popular among Mongolian men as it is very filling and has giant portion sizes. Hand-made wheat-flour noodles are fried in a giant pan with strips of carrot, onion and meat. Meat is usually mutton with added sheep’s tail fat, but can also be made with horse meat or beef.

Recipe for Tsuvian

8. Chanasan makh- Boiled meat with salt

This is popular communal eating. Chunks of mutton on the bone are boiled in salted water until cooked and then placed in an impressive heap on a plate. It is eaten by using a knife to tear strips of the meat and then passing the knife on to someone else. The prized bits of meat are the ones with lots of fat. It is often cooked with potatoes and carrots.

9. Banch- Small boiled dumplings

A variation of dumpling that is usually boiled in soup or added to Suutei tsai (salty milk tea). It is usually mutton with the same filling as buuz but is a smaller dumpling that is shaped more like a little round package or a half moon shape.

10. Vitals Soup

In Mongolia, no part of the animal is wasted. This soup is thought to be very good for you and made by carefully cleaning and preparing the vital organs in a very particular way. It can have a combination of different organs including lungs, heart, intestines, liver, stomach and kidneys. This one is an acquired taste but don’t turn your nose up at it until you see the amount of work that goes into preparing it and how cleverly Mongolians use every part of the animal. Checkout the video below to learn more.

11. Marmot Meat

Eating marmot meat may sound odd, but Mongolians consider it a delicacy and believe that the meat is rich in nutrients and protein. Marmot can be boiled in water with salt or made into Boodog in the same way as a goat by cooking with hot rocks inside the body cavity.

Hunting and eating the marmot meat is illegal in Mongolia. Though there is a certain time of the year, you can eat it and can be hunted with a permit. Marmots are carries of bubonic plague and every year someone in Mongolia ends up dying from this now preventable disease. It’s safest not to eat it unless you are sure it is the right time of year and it doesn’t have the plague.

Marmot is an oily, strong flavoured meat that probably isn’t worth the risk of trying.

Mongolian teen dies of bubonic plague from eating marmot (2020)

12. Horse Meat

I have not had good experiences with horses in Mongolia, and personally I would rather eat a horse than ride one. Horse meat is rich in protein and traditionally was eaten at the beginning of winter and during cold weather. Now you can eat it year round due to refrigeration. Horse meat is often boiled, but can also be fried after boiled. It has a strong taste and oily texture with very yellow fat.

13. Sheeps Head

Sheep’s head is a popular food in Mongolia and one you should try if you are feeling adventurous. First all the hair is removed from the head by burning and scraping. The cleaned and prepared head is then boiled in water until cooked.

This is a meal you can commonly get in Ulaanbaatar from many restaurants. There is a fancy version at the Mongolian’s Restaurant in the Shangri-La mall if you want to try it somewhere nice.

Check out the video below for how it sheep’s head is traditionally prepared.

14. Borts- Dried meat

Borts is meat that is dried in summer and traditionally was to ensure there was meat to last through winter. Now you can buy it in stores all year round and is a good snack for long journeys.

15. Sharsan Eleg- Fried liver

Sharsan eleg is fried liver with sheep’s tail fat. It is a common dish in restaurants in Ulaanbaatar and one of my husband’s favourites.

16. Naadam Khuushuur

Naadam khuushuur is only made in summer around the time of the Naadam festival. Naadam is the celebration of the three manly sports; archery, wrestling, and horse racing and is held in July every year.

Naadam khuushuur is probably my favourite Mongolia food. I’m pretty sure it has the same ingredients as normal khuushuur: meat, onions, garlic in deep fried pastry. But it tastes so much better than normal khuushuur. The meat is flattened in a certain way, and I’m guessing because it has a larger surface area when frying, this is what makes it that much more delicious!

At Naadam there will be many road side stalls selling Naadam khuushuur, so make sure you stop and get some.

17. Steamed Beef Rib

This is found in many restaurants in Mongolia and is my husband’s favourite. The beef rib is steamed until soft and tender alongside potatoes and carrots and usually comes with a side of onion broth. It also comes with a blanket of thin pastry draped over it. This is a good hearty meal, especially in winter.

Mongolian sweet foods

18. Boortsog- Sweet fried dough

Boortsog is a sweet, deep fried dough that sometimes looks like a twisted rope and tastes like a donut. These are amazing when you eat them fresh and hot, but terrible when you eat them more than a few hours later. The trick is to stand near the cook when they are making them and eat them right away. I like eating them with strawberry jam. Lots of ger camps will serve these for breakfast, but often they are rock hard. It’s worth hunting down some fresh ones on your trip to Mongolia!

19. Ul Boov – Biscuit

These are giant biscuits that look like the sole of a shoe and are about thirty centimetres long and four centimetres thick. They are served for Tsaagan Sar (Lunar New Year) festivities and are stacked in impressive towers that make centrepieces for the celebrations. They are arranged on the plate in a triangle or square and have to be layered in odd numbers, as the odd numbers represent happiness.

Check out the video below for how to arrange them.

Mongolian Milk Products- tsagaan idee (white food)

20. Aruul- Dried milk curd

Aruul is made by separating out the curd from milk in a process using all natural ingredients. Aruul can be made into many different shapes. It is shaped and lain out in the sun to dry. In summer you will often see the roof of gers covering in drying aruul.

When it dried, it becomes hard and crisp and can be stored for a long time. It is solid to bite down on and tastes like sour, like heavily fermented yoghurt.

It is a popular snack and is said to be very good for your teeth and bones.

21. Tarag- Mongolian yoghurt

Tarag is a popular product in Mongolia. It is an all natural yoghurt that is thinner than western yoghurts and is sour with a slight fizziness. It is common to have it in the summer in the countryside, but you can also buy it all year round in supermarkets. I really like this yoghurt, though a few times it has been a little too fermented for me.

This is really healthy and you won’t get a more organic and naturally made product anywhere in the world. It is usually made with cow’s milk, but can also be made from sheep's or goat’s milk. It is nice when you add wild Mongolian blueberries to it.

22. Byaslag- Mongolian cheese

This is kind of like a cottage cheese but with a more animal taste about it. It comes in blocks and is quite soft. It can be made from yaks, goat, sheep, or cow’s milk.

23. Urum – Clotted cream

Clotted cream is a rich cream that comes from boiling cow, yak, or goat’s milk with flour and scooping the top of the milk. It has a sour taste and can be eaten with boortsog and jam, or put on bread.

How to make urum

24. Aarts- Dried yoghurt curd

Aarts is another by-product of milk and is the curd that is made from yoghurt. It can be eaten with milk and sugar or boiled with water and sugar. This is another product with a very sour taste, but is often sweetened with sugar.

Mongolian Beverages

25. Suutei Tsai- Salty milk tea

Milk tea is a traditional drink in Mongolia. It is made by brewing water and milk with tea in a large pan on the stove and adding salt to it. It is mixed by scooping up with a ladle and pouring back in from high above the pan.

You might be served this if you visit a Mongolian family. The saltiness can seem quite odd at first, but it can be quite a nice drink. It can also be served with meat, fat, or bansh (dumplings) added into the tea. This is good for curing a cold, apparently.

26. Tsatsargana – Sea buckthorn Juice

This is my favourite Mongolian product. Sea buckthorn is a bright orange berry that grows on very tough bushes mostly in western Mongolia. The berries become ripe in late summer and can be turned into juice or tea. The berries are tangy and have an almost citrusy/ passionfruit taste with a hint of fermentation. The juice smells very strongly fermented, but tastes nothing like the smell. You can get hot sea buckthorn tea in many restaurants in Ulaanbaatar and I highly recommend trying it. Not only is it good for you, it tastes great!

You can also get a concentrate of the juice from the supermarket. Shar Doctor is my favourite brand and is extremely popular. Just pour a dash into the bottom of a mug and fill the rest with hot water and drink it.

I think sea buckthorn should be the next superfood! It has lots of health benefits and you can also buy the oil as a health supplement.

27. Airag- Fermented mare’s milk

Airag is fermented mare’s milk and a classic Mongolian beverage. It is mildly alcoholic at around 2% and has a very strong, sour, fermented taste. Airag is made in June when the horses can be milked and so it is ready in time for Naadam. Mongolians love this drink. In summer in the countryside you will see cars rocking up at horse herders gers with empty 5L Bonaqua bottles ready to fill them with airag. It is in high demand and drunk by the litre! Apparently it is very good for you.

If a Mongolian tells you it’s good for you so you should drink a litre of it, don’t do it. You will get an upset stomach, which isn’t fun if you are in the countryside and there are no toilets. And no, I didn’t find this out the hard way, I was warned. If you don’t like it, just be polite and have a sip and pass it on.

28. Camel milk

If you have the chance to visit the Gobi Desert, you should try some camel’s milk. It has a much stronger taste than cow’s milk and is probably not for everyone but a great experience. we visited a camel herding family in the Gobi Desert and this woman in the photo showed us how to milk camels. She had amazing skills balancing on one leg while holding the bucket balancing on her other leg and milking the very tall camel!

Khoormog is a fermented camel’s milk similar to airag but is thicker and creamier.

29. Shimiin Arkhi- Milk vodka

This homemade vodka is made from fermented cow’s milk/ yogurt and very cleverly distilled using simple equipment over a ger stove. Shimiin arkhi can range in alcohol content since it is homemade and usually not tested. It can be drunken warm or cold and retains an earthy/ animal taste.

The process of making it is ancient and really quite clever. Check out the video below to see how.

Where to try Mongolian food

If you are in Ulaanbaatar, the best places to try Mongolian food are the Modern Nomads restaurants or Mongolian’s Restaurant in the Shangri-La. There are several around the city. The best option of an authentic experience is to stay with a local family, or book a tour where a Khorkhog is provided.

Modern Nomads restaurants- menu | locations
Mongolian’s restaurant- menu | location
Local family visit- A unique experience. Can be organised through tour companies.
Tour- request some traditional Mongolia food as part of your tour.

Tips for Vegetarians Visiting Mongolia

(and people who want to pretend to be vegetarian on their trip)

Things to be aware of

If someone on a menu says ‘vegetable soup’, it might mean soup that has vegetables in it, it will probably have meat as well (some in Ulaanbaatar will be the exception).
If you ask for something to be vegetarian, people will often be helpful and try make your meal vegetarian by picking the meat out of it for you.
Vegan and vegetarian means the same thing to many Mongolians. They might not know you don’t eat eggs, or dairy, and they probably won’t understand it. Just be kind about it.
Be prepared for some strange dishes. My sister came to visit and got kiwi fruit in her pasta when she requested a vegetarian option.
Tips
Brings lots of snacks. Good supermarkets to stock up in are Good Price, in the Shangri-La Hotel basement, or E-mart (there are several you can google).
Buy fresh fruit and veggies in Ulaanbaatar before going out to the countryside. You won’t find anything fresh outside of UB, and it’s better to know you have it with you.
If you are going on a road trip, bring a plug in car fridge so you can keep everything cold.
Thing you can always get as good snacks include apples, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles and pickled vegetables.
Vegetarian khuushuur is so good! You can ask if a restaurant can make it for you. I prefer it over the meat version. It’s usually mashed potato with maybe some carrot or onion in it. I’ve seen this more in the last few years and some places might not have it on the menu but can make it.
Dishes you can ask to be vegetarian, khuushuur (fried pastry pocket), buuz (dumplings), tsuvian (fried noodles), budaatai huurga (fried rice).
Vegetarian restaurants options in Ulaanbaatar
- Luna Blanca
- Loving Hut
- The Green Zone
- The Bull- hotpot with lots of vegetable options. There are several around the city. Book a table first.

Summary

Sharing food together is a big part of Mongolian culture and the warm hospitality extends to friends, family, and strangers alike. If you visit a family in the countryside expect to try a few new things :)

I hope you learnt something about Mongolian foods! If you are planning a trip to Mongolia I suggest you try a few foods outside your comfort zone, it’s all part of the adventure.

Leave me a comment below if you’ve tried any of these, or let me know which ones you would like to try!