Planning a trip to the Netherlands and curious about Dutch cuisine? After three years of living there, we’ve rounded up 20 must-try foods – from street snacks to hearty classics – that we genuinely recommend. Read on for the list of 20 Must-Try Foods in the Netherlands.
Warning: Reading on an empty stomach is not recommended! 🙂
Kaas (Cheese)
One of the first traditional Dutch foods that comes to mind is cheese (‘kaas’ in Dutch). The Netherlands produces many varieties, including popular cheese such as Edam, Maasdam and Gouda. Visit a farmers’ market, a local cheese shop, or a dedicated cheese market (in Gouda, Alkmaar or Edam) to find cheeses to suit every taste.
Read about the home of Gouda cheese at – Visit Gouda – a Charming Dutch Town.
Stroopwafels
Stroopwafel (‘syrup waffle’ in English) is a traditional Dutch dessert made of two thin waffles sandwiched together with a sweet syrup filling. You will find stroopwafels in almost every souvenir shop and farmers’ market across the Netherlands. (Don’t tell anybody that I told you, but you can buy stroopwafels in any supermarket – and they’re just as tasty as the ones in souvenir shops).
My kids are big fans of Dutch stroopwafels, so even after moving back to New Zealand, we still buy them from the international section of our local supermarket. 🙂
Bitterballen
Bitterballen is a popular Dutch snack or finger food. It’s essentially a deep-fried ball of mashed potato mixed with meat, generously coated in breadcrumbs. In cafes, bitterballen is often served as part of a bittergarnituur – a selection of popular warm snacks.
Kroket
Kroket is a warm snack, very similar to bitterball but shaped like a roll and usually larger in size. You can enjoy it as a snack or finger food with a beer, or as a main dish – often served on a slice of freshly baked bread with a side salad.
Frikandel
Another popular warm snack in the Netherlands is frikandel – a skinless, deep-fried Dutch sausage. It’s often sold in automats (vending machines) that keep food warm, alongside other popular Dutch street foods like kroket.
Herring
Herring (or ‘haring’ in Dutch) was one of Yuriy’s favourite Dutch foods when we lived in the Netherlands. Cleaned, raw, slightly brined and sprinkled with chopped onions – that’s how the Dutch like their herring. You will find stalls and kiosks selling it at farmers’ markets, street food stands and tourist spots all over the country.
Kibbeling
Another traditional fish dish in the Netherlands is kibbeling. It’s a deep-fried battered fish, usually served with a mayonnaise-based dipping sauce. It’s especially popular as a street food during the cooler months and is often paired with hot chips. We often ordered takeaway kibbeling while at the beach in The Hague or Katwijk.
Pannekoek
Pannekoek (‘pancake’ in English) is not just any pancake. Dutch pannekoek is a large, thin pancake (more like the French style) and often pan-fried with slices of bacon, mushrooms, apples, banana or raisins. There are dedicated pancake cafes all over the Netherlands (search for ‘Pannenkoekenbakkerij’, ‘Pannenkoekenhuis’ or simply ‘Pannenkoeken’ near you).
No wonder I don’t have any photos of us eating Dutch pancakes in one of the cafés – we eat them faster than I can get the camera out! 🙂
Poffertjes
Next in our ‘20 Must-Try Foods in the Netherlands’ list is another of my children’s favorite Dutch desserts – poffertjes. These mini pancakes are served hot with butter and a generous dusting of powdered sugar. They tend to disappear super fast into little tummies – no matter how many of these tiny treats you buy!
Stamppot and hutspot
Dutch stamppot is a dish especially popular during cooler months. It consists of mashed potato mixed with green vegetables such as kale, onions and cabbage. It’s traditionally served with a Dutch smoked sausage – rookworst. I’m personally not a fan, but stamppot is a much-loved winter comfort food in the Netherlands.
There is also a variation called hutspot, made with mashed potato, carrots and onions instead of kale and cabbage.
Snert (or Erwtensoep)
Another popular winter dish in the Netherlands is Dutch pea soup, known as erwtensoep or simply snert. This thick, heart soup is packed with vegetables and pork – a real tummy filler.
Oliebollen
Oliebollen are deep-fried doughnut balls sprinkled with icing sugar, traditionally sold in the Netherlands around New Year. The word oliebol(len) literally translates to “oil ball(s)” in English. You can buy oliebollen from mobile stalls throughout the country. Eat them fresh and warm, with your choice of flavor – icing sugar, chocolate syrup or raisins.
Chocomel
Chocomel may be a drink rather than a food, but my son insisted it deserved a spot on our ‘20 Must-Try Foods in the Netherlands’ list! 🙂 It’s the Dutch version of chocolate-flavored milk, served in most cafes across the country. In warmer months, it’s chilled; in winter, it’s served hot with whipped cream on top and a marshmallow on the side. I’m sure your kids will love it – there’s even a lactose-free version if your needed.
Friet (or Patat)
I know, I know – fries aren’t exactly a traditional Dutch dish, but they’re hugely popular in the Netherlands. In Dutch, they are called ‘friet’ or ‘patat’. Patat is always made fresh and, besides appearing on menus in cafés and restaurants, it’s also a beloved street food. You’ll often find it served in paper cones with a generous dollop of sauce on the side (mayonnaise, ketchup or satay).
Hagelslag
If you’re staying in a hotel in the Netherlands with breakfast included, chances are you will find a selection of chocolate sprinkles – ‘hagelslag’. The Dutch eat bread with butter and hagelslag on top for breakfast, and often as a sweet treat after lunch too. There are many varieties to choose from: milk chocolate, white chocolate, large flakes, tiny flakes, and even colored sprinkles.
Hagelslag is so beloved in the Netherlands that it features in a traditional baby birth celebration. To mark the arrival of a newborn, pink and white sprinkles are served on a thick round biscuit for a girl, and blue and white for a boy.
Speculaas cookies
Dutch speculaas cookies – also known as Dutch windmill cookies – were traditionally baked around Sinterklaas (Dutch St Nicholas), but nowadays you’ll find them sold year-round. These crisp, spiced biscuits pair nicely with tea or coffee, though they’re just as delicious on their own.
Pepernoten and Kruidnoten
Pepernoten and kruidnoten are small Dutch cookies traditionally enjoyed during the Sinterklaas season (Dutch St Nicholas). Pepernoten are soft and chewy, while kruidnoten are crunchy, and much loved by my boys.
Shops across the Netherlands start selling pepernoten and kruidnoten as early as October, right through to mid-December, with Sinterklaas Eve falling on 5th of December. Outside of this festive window, we couldn’t find kruidnoten anywhere, so we learned to bake them at home. There’s no way we’d limit these delicious little treats to just three months a year! 🙂
Chocolate Letters
One more treat tied to Sinterklaas traditions in the Netherlands is the chocolate letter. On the eve of Sinterklaas, Dutch children put out their shoes for Sinterklaas and his helpers to fill with sweets – often including a chocolate letter shaped like the child’s initial (hello, sugar rush in the morning!).
While you’re welcome to try this tradition yourself, there’s no guarantee you’ll wake up to chocolate on 5th December. 😉 So it’s best to head to the shops and stock up if you’re visiting between October and December. They also make great souvenirs to bring home.
Broodje
Broodje – the Dutch sandwich – is an iconic meal in the Netherlands. You’ll find countless varieties of broodje in fast food outlets, supermarkets and on restaurant menus. Don’t hesitate to order one in a restaurant – you won’t be served a plain sandwich made with sliced toast. A typical broodje comes with a generous piece of freshly baked bread and plenty of filling – meat, cheese, greens, or whatever your order calls for.
Kapsalon
Last on our list is a relatively recent Dutch fast food creation – ‘Kapsalon’. It’s typically served in a foil tray, layered with fries, meat and a slice of cheese, lightly baked together and topped with fresh veggies.
I first heard of kapsalon when my colleagues invited me to join them for lunch. After my visible confusion (‘kapsalon’ means ‘hair salon’ in Dutch!) they explained that no one is heading to the hairdresser! 🙂 But rather to enjoy a newly popular dish invented by a Rotterdam hairdresser who asked a nearby snack bar to combine all his favourites in the one tray.
And that wraps our ‘20 Must-Try Foods in the Netherlands’ – a collection of popular Dutch foods we tasted and (mostly) loved. Not every dish was a hit with every member of our travelling family, but we’d still recommend giving them a try during your next visit to the Netherlands.
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We had a Dutch neighbor once that introduced us to Hagelslag. My kids of course, thought it was the greatest thing to put on top of bread ever!
Here in New Zealand we have something similar – bread with sprinkles called ‘fairy bread’. But there are way more varieties in the Netherlands with Hagelslag and it’s much more popular over there 🙂
Cool post. Didn’t really know much about Dutch food until I read it. Bitterballen and kroket have a very Spanish touch to me. In the north of Germany herring is very popular too. Friet is pretty much the only one I had already associated with Netherlands. 🙂
I’ve tried a few of these over the years. Would like to try Kibbeling though. My fave remains bitterballen, I ordered those so much in Holland.
So many good foods we want to try. We’ll get there someday and we’ll be ready, thanks to your article!
The first time we went to Amsterdam we ate so much cheese! I love reading about all the different foods – do they have non-meat versions for those dishes that contain meat?
Absolutely – there are vegetarian versions of most of the dishes!
I’d like to think that I’m a huge foodie and I try most of the things a place is known for, but this list is so comprehensive – and has so many things I never heard of! Out of all of them, I have to admit… Poffertjes is kind of my jam. Fried mashed potatoes? ABSOLUTELY YES.
What a delicious roundup! Love love love the poffertjes!