Name: Cevapi (Belgrade style)
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Serbia
Ingredients: 500g minced beef (80% lean); 300g minced lamb; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon sparkling water; 4 lepinja flatbreads; 1 raw white onion, finely chopped; 200g kajmak (or thick clotted cream); Ajvar pepper relish for serving

Cevapi are grilled finger-shaped minced beef-lamb skewers, the Serbian Balkan icon. Served in a half-lepinja bread with raw onion, kajmak cream cheese and ajvar relish.

Cevapi reach Belgrade through Ottoman lineage, then sharpen into the Sarajevski style of the 19th-20th century Yugoslavia and travel as economic-migration cuisine across the Balkans. The Sarajevski cut (smaller, denser, beef-lamb without seasoning visible) is the canonical form on Belgrade grills; Walter Sarajevski cevap has been the Belgrade benchmark for decades.

4 editor picks for Cevapi in Belgrade, ranked by editorial score. All Belgrade signature dishes · Cevapi across every city.

Also in: Sarajevo, St. Louis.

Tri Sesira ★ 4.6

Cocktail bar

stari-grad · Skadarska 29, 11000 Belgrade

Tri Sesira (Three Hats) opened on Skadarska in 1864 in a building whose previous workshop had three pleated hats for trademark. Skadarlija anchor.

Walter Sarajevski Cevap Bulevar Mihajla Pupina ★ 4.4

Street food

novi-beograd · Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 4, 11070 Novi Beograd, Belgrade

Walter Sarajevski Cevap on Bulevar Mihajla Pupina anchors Novi Beograd's Sarajevski cevapi chain. Grilled minced beef-lamb, lepinja bread, kajmak side.

Manufaktura ★ 4.4

Eastern European

stari-grad · Kralja Petra 13-15, 11000 Belgrade

Manufaktura plates traditional Serbian on Kralja Petra near Knez Mihailova. Mangalica meats, regional cheeses, cherry iced tea and garden seating.

Walter Sarajevski Cevap Vojislava Ilica ★ 4.3

Street food

vracar · Vojislava Ilica 141, 11000 Belgrade

Walter Sarajevski Cevap on Vojislava Ilica is the eastern Belgrade location for Sarajevski cevapi. Same grill standard, lepinja and kajmak service.

Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide

Cevapi makes more sense with someone from Belgrade explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.

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Private truffle hunting tour from Belgrade with professional guides and trained Lagotto Romagnolo dogs. Includes traditional lunch with fresh truffles and local wine i...

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