Hungarian cuisine is mostly continental Central European, with some elements from Eastern Europe such as the use of poppy, and the popularity of kefir and quark.

Dishes are often flavoured with paprika (ground red peppers), a Hungarian innovation.

Other herbs and spices commonly used in Hungarian cuisine include garlic, marjoram, caraway seeds, celery seeds and dill seeds. Typical Hungarian food is heavy on dairy and meats, similar to that of neighboring Czech, and Slovak cuisines.

Chicken, pork and beef are common, while turkey, duck, lamb, fish and game meats are mostly eaten on special occasions. Hungary is also known for relatively inexpensive salamis and sausages it produces primarily from pork, but also poultry, beef and others.

Bread is perhaps the most important and basic part of the Hungarian diet. It is eaten at all meals, accompanying main dishes.

Other characteristics of Hungarian cuisine are the soups, casseroles, desserts, and pastries and stuffed crêpes (palacsinta), with fierce rivalries between regional variations on the same dish (such as the Hungarian hot fish soup called fisherman’s soup or halászlé, cooked differently on the banks of Hungary’s two main rivers: the Danube and the Tisza), palacsinta (pancakes served flambéed in dark chocolate sauce filled with ground walnuts) and Dobos Cake (layered sponge cake, with chocolate buttercream filling and topped with a thin layer of crunchy caramel).

Two elements of Hungarian cuisine that impress foreigners are the various vegetable stews called főzelék as well as cold fruit soups, such as cold sour cherry soup.

Hungarian cuisine uses a large variety of cheeses, but the most common are a type of crumbly quark, cream cheeses, picante ewe-cheese , the most common Hungarian cheeses like Karaván, Pannonia cheese, Pálpusztai, Emmentaler, Edam and Trappista.

There are many smoked pork products. Many dishes get their character from the smoky taste of one or more of these ingredients. A variety of Hungarian smoked sausages, smoked ham, and smoked lard are also consumed without further preparation.