Everybody has heard of the English breakfast with bacon and eggs, or the French croissants or loaf with confiture. But what about the typical Bulgarian breakfast? Here are some of the most famous Bulgarian dishes to have in the mornings.
Princesses

Princesses with minced meat/Photo: Mycookingcreations
Sandwiches with eggs and white cheese or with minced meat is famous Bulgarian breakfast. First ones are made when you mix 2 eggs and some Bulgarian white cheese in a bowl. Then put the mixture on slices of bread and bake it in a party grill. The others are called “Princesses” and are made when you put minced meat on the bread slices and also bake them in party grill. So delicious!
Popara

Popara, Photo: www.detstvoto.net
Widespread morning meal in Bulgaria is “Popara”. Bulgarian kids love it! It’s made with a glass of warm milk (or tea), 2 chopped slices of bread, Bulgarian white cheese, some butter and sugar if you want it sweet. Put everything in a bowl and you are ready to eat. I assure you it is very delicious and super easy to prepare. It tastes better than it looks. I promise!
Banichka and Boza

Bulgarian Banicka, Photo under CC 2.0.
A traditional Bulgarian Breakfast is “Banitsa s boza”. Banitsa is traditional Bulgarian food prepared by layering a mixture of whisked eggs and pieces of cheese between filo pastry and then baking it in an oven. Boza is a drink with thick consistency and a low alcohol content, it has a sweet flavor. Although a popular beverage, boza is also used to describe something (film, piece of music, etc.) to be bland, boring, and of low quality. This comes from the turbid consistency and colour of Bulgarian boza .
Mekitsas with feta cheese and ayran

Ayran – cold yougurt drink
Mekitsa is made of kneaded dough that is deep fried. For the dough we use flour, eggs, yogurt, leavening agent, water, salt and oil. The mekitsas are fried in a pin and are typically served with jam, honey, cheese or even yogurt. They can be powdered with icing sugar. The name “mekitsa” comes from the Bulgarian root mek (“soft”), referring to the dish’s texture. –itsa is a Slavic feminine suffix.
A typical Balkan beverage is“Ayran”. It is a cold yogurt beverage mixed with salt. We love it here and we drink it a lot. Bulgaria is famous with its yogurt so Ayran is really delicious here. Make sure to try it!
Fried bread slices (or french toasts) with homemade confiture or feta cheese

Bulgarian Fried bread slices, Photo under CC 2.0.
This is beloved Bulgarian threat and all the kids love it. It’s basically like a french toast. The bread slices are rolled in a mixture of eggs and milk. Then they are fried in a pan with some oil. The fried bread is served with homemade confiture and the famous Bulgarian cheese or honey.
Which one of these breakfast dishes would you try first?
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Sandra | January 14, 2015
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I have a soft spot for french toasts (not so much for meat for breakfast or bread soaked in warm milk…) 🙂
Escape Hunter | January 14, 2015
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A special thing I once tasted was rose gem from Bulgaria. Literally, gem made from roses.
And there even was a rose drink (natural, of course), also from Bulgaria 🙂
Maria | Author | January 14, 2015
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Bulgaria produces some 80% of the rose oil IN THE WORLD! We mostly use it for export as you can figure out but rose oil is perfect for perfumes, cosmetics and gem, yes. I haven’t tried it yet, but I would love to!
AlekS James | July 3, 2020
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Ah yes I love that stuff.
Interesting we spell it Jam in the UK. I presume gem is the same. But the Bulgarian Word for Jam (my Bulgarian partner informs me) is very close to our English word Marmalade, but here in the UK, the word marmalade is specifically orange jam not general fruit of any kind.
I also love Bulgarian Rose Hip Jam.
Svetoslav Ivanov | September 4, 2015
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In the south east part of Bulgaria, one of the famous breakfast is “Strandzhanka” – http://i2.offnews.bg/events/2014/02/04/295829/1391515983_5.jpg
Many people think that this is so called “Princess” but the Strandzhanka is made only with meat and it is prepared on ordinary grill for steaks.
Maria | Author | September 4, 2015
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Yum, yum!
NTripping | August 20, 2016
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I loved popara as a child!
Your post brings so many wonderful childhood memories, Maria 🙂
Thanks for creating this awesome list.
Cheers,
N.
Maria | Author | August 20, 2016
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Me, too! I even make it pretty often myself! 🙂
Kris | April 10, 2017
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As a bulgarian… i can say that these are not really breakfast meals. Popara was the most hated thing in my kindergarden. Everyone hated it. Just because something can be eaten with jam doesn’t make it a breakfast.. My grandma bought me cereal like everyone else. Ate slices of bread with jam. Or lutenica. Small things. This whole post should be renamed as ” Bulgarian comfort food ” princesses are sold in bars, rrstaurants and cafes as a snack. Popara tastes weird if you didn’t grow up with it. Banitsa is sold in snack shops that have dough stuff. Boza is a sweet wheat drink and i don’t know where you found alcohol in it. Kids drink tons of that!!! French toast is like a snack aswel! This whole page is full of fake info… all this is eaten in bulgaria but its not that well made. Also.. French toast “TREAT” not “THREAT” and Ayrian doesn’t always need salt. The salty ones are sold at doner kebab and douch snack shops. Homemade ayrian can be done with yoghurt and water ( not too much to dilute the taste but enough to make the yoghurt liquid and not thick )
Svetlana | March 19, 2018
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The only fake info comes from your ignorance, Kris. This is a great article!
Intrepid8 | June 27, 2017
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Thank you for sharing!
Emma | December 22, 2018
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Bulgarian French toast is called gigipapa. 😉
Megi | September 22, 2020
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As another Bulgarian… Whose kids were not born and do not leave in Bulgaria but still they were raised with popara as a main breakfast when they were little. My mom still makes “Princesses” for my niece for breakfast (either with ground meat or kashkaval cheese). I do not want to follow your negative tone, but would like to point out that if you are going to criticize somebody’s spelling, you should make sure of the correctness of your own one – “as well” not “aswel”, names of countries (Bulgaria) are always written with a capital first letter (that is what they thought us in first grade in the Bulgarian school), “it’s not” or “it is not” not “its not”…
Jane | January 16, 2021
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Hello,
In these times of Covid when we are unable to travel, I am ‘visiting’ a different country every week. I am trying to learn about the country and its food. This is very helpful for me in my ‘visit’ to Bulgaria. Thank you.