Best Filipino Snacks – 30 Best Philippine Snacks
All our favorite Philippine snacks and Filipino merienda from salty snacks to sweet snacks that you can find in the Philippines. Click here to get your discount booking activities in the Philippines!
Read here our favorite Filipino breakfast, Filipino desserts, vegetarian Filipino food, Philippine fruits, Filipino drinks and Filipino street food
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BEST FILIPINO SNACKS
MOST POPULAR FILIPINO SNACK
1. BALUT
Balut is the most popular of the list of Filipino snacks especially locals love foreigners trying balut. Balut is a developing duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell.
SALTY FILIPINO SNACKS
Rachel and me totally prefer salty snacks than a sweet Filipino merienda. Han prefers sweet snacks for sure. We njoy going for street food: calamares, intestines and trying food.
2. EMPANADA
Ilocos Norte has the best tasting empanadas. If you are in Laoag, you can go to Batac which is about 30 minutes away to buy empanadas. Batac is like the empanada capital in Ilocos Norte. It’s made by a dough with vegetables, chicken or meat inside. It’s fried in hot oil. Prices are from $1-2.
3. OKOY
Okoy or Ukoy is a crispy deep-fried fritters made with small shrimp, vegetables, green papaya, and glutinous rice batter. There are many varieties of this dish. Some even use other seafood or bigger shrimp to make it tastier. It’s one of Ruben’s favorite Philippine snacks.
4. PORK BARBECUE
Another famous snack in the Philippines is barbecue. It can be pork barbecue or chicken barbecue. You can find them in street food stalls offering different charcoal grilled meat and internal organs of pig and chicken. You can buy pork barbecue in the Philippines for as low as PHP 10!
5. LUMPIANG
This is a famous food not just in the Philippines but other Southeast Asian countries as well. It is influenced by Chinese cuisine. Lumpiang Shanghai is Filipino spring roll– with ground pork, carrot, and spices covered in a thin Lumpia wrapper. You can dip it in sweet sauce to maximize the flavor.
6. CHICKEN FEET
You can find chicken feet as snacks in the Philippines in local markets. They are usually fried and then covered with flavored sauce. You can find also find some boiled in soups and later deep-fried. It’s perfect to share this meal with cold beer. Prices are $2-3.
7. DANGGIT
Danggit is a famous variant of fish found in the region is danggit, or salted and dried rabbitfish. It’s crunchy and salty, perfect to dip in vinegar, eat with hot rice and fried egg in the morning. Yum!
8. MAMI
Mami is a soup with noodles, chicken, beef, pork, wonton dumplings, intestines and boiled egg. Price for one bowl starts at $1 USD. One of Ruben’s favorite dishes in Angeles City.
9. PALDEOT (CHICKEN BUTT)
Have you ever tasted a grilled chicken butt? If not, then you must try it in Pampanga! This tasty snack has a smoky flavor and very tender. You must try it! You won’t even know it’s chicken butt, ha! Kapampangans love to eat this with a cold bottle of beer.
10. MANGO SHRIMP PASTE
Mango Shrimp Paste is one of Rachel’s favorite Filipino snacks. Green mango deep with fish sauce can be found as snacks in the Philippines. Prices are affordable around 30 PHP.
11. CHICHARON
Chicharon is a very salty Filipino snack. You will find everywhere in local markets. When traveling street sellers will sell inside the bus and is also common to find in many of the Filipino dishes.
12. DRIED MANGOS
Dried Mangos is one of the most popular Filipino snacks. You will find almost everywhere as a pasalubong in the Philippines. Also popular in countries like China and Taiwan.
13. CALAMARES
Image courtesy of Flickr
Calamares is a street food in the Philippines. Calamares is deep fried squid covered in batter. One of our favorite Filipino snacks partnering with a cold beer.
14. ISAW (INTESTINES)
Filipinos love street food, and it’s a must to try charcoal grilled intestines of pork or chicken. It’s paired with vinegar or sweet sauce. Rachel can have it any time of the day.
15. CHICKEN/FISH BALLS
You can find Fish and Chicken Falls as Filipino street food everywhere and anytime. Prices are starting from 2 PHP and they are deep fried.
16. KWEK KWEK
kwek kwek is a fried boiled egg. It’s chewy and delicious. It’s served hot and you will find it everywhere as Filipino street food too. Prices are starting from 5 PHP.
17. KIKIAM
Kikiam is a mix of meat and vegetables deep fried. The size is like a finger and is one of the most popular Filipino street food. Prices are starting from 5 PHP.
FILIPINO MERIENDA: SWEET PHILIPPINE SNACKS
Kids and adults love to have merienda in the Philippines. All these Filipino merienda are sweet snacks. All of them delicious!
18. BIBINGKA
Bibingka is another popular Filipino merienda and street food mostly eaten during Christmas season. This egg-based dessert is eaten alongside. It’s usually served on a banana leaf. Read here Filipino desserts.
19. HALO-HALO
It’s the most popular dessert in the Philippines. The ingredients are kidney beans, sugar palm, coconut, ice cream, purple yam and evaporated milk. Prices are from $1-2.
20. BUKO PANDAN ICE CREAM
It became one of our favorite desserts aside from ube, halo-halo and crema de fruta. Just 50 PHP for this Filipino merienda, and we were able to eat more than once.
21. ISKRAMBOL
Iskrambol is for sure Han’s favorite in the list of Filipino snacks. Iskrambol is even sweeter than halo halo. It’s made of condensed milk, milk powder, syrup and marshmallows.
22. ENSAYMADA
This is another type of bread in the Philippines. It is covered in butter, cheese, and sugar. It’s fluffy and cheap! Prices start at PHP 20 for this yummy Filipino merienda.
23. CHAMPORADO
Champorado is a delicious chocolate rice porridge in the Philippines, usually eaten for Filipino merienda or as snack. It’s served with evaporated or condensed milk. A weird trivia about Champorado is that Filipinos sometimes also eat it with tuyo, or dried fish. You have to taste it when you go to the Philippines!
24. BINATOG
This is a corn desert, steamed and flavored with milk and freshly grated coconut. It also comes with butter and salt and is served for desserts in the afternoon and can be found in the market in Sagada.
25. PUTO
Puto is a steamed rice cake staple in every Filipino merienda or breakfast occasion. It is usually topped with a slice of cheese or salted egg.
26. UBE
Ube is a purple yam that is very common in the Philippines as a standalone dessert or an ingredient of another dessert. Actually, most of the purple desserts you’ll ever taste maybe has ube in it. It has a very gentle flavor, that’s why it blends well with other sweet ingredients.
27. BANANA CUE
Banana cue is deep-fried banana with caramel sugar. It’s sweet and delicious. Prices are starting from 10 PHP.
28. KUTSINTA
Kutsinta is cake made of steamed rice cake. It’s a mix of rice flour and brown sugar. You can find them as Filipino merienda or snack 5 PHP.
29. TAHO
Taho is one of Rachel’s favorite Filipino street food a snack food made from fresh soft tofu and sago pearl. It’s very sweet because of the arnibal. You can find them early morning.
30. TURON
Image courtesy of Flickr -Philippine snacks
Turon is primarily made with saba, a type of banana, wrapped in a thin wrapper and then deep-fried with lots of brown sugar. Some turon variations have langka or jackfruit too.
HOW TO PARTNER YOUR FILIPINO SNACKS
FILIPINO BEER
For me the best partner for this Philippine snacks is beer especially for salty snacks. My two favorite beer are Red Horse and Pilsen San Miguel. I love drinking them with barbecue and salty snacks like calamares, lumpiang and mami. Prices of the beers are around $1 USD for a half-liter bottle.
BUKO, SMOOTHIES AND FRUIT JUICES
Buko is always refreshing and it’s perfect for partnering with these sweet Filipino snacks. You can also try different juices and smoothies in the Philippines. My favorite juices and smoothies are made from mango, papaya and banana. Prices are starting from 30 PHP and OMG is so delicious!
What do you think about our favorite Filipino snacks? Would you prefer salty Philippine snacks or sweet Filipino merienda? Let us know in the comments below!
About the Author: Ruben, co-founder of Gamintraveler.com since 2014, is a seasoned traveler from Spain who has explored over 100 countries since 2009. Known for his extensive travel adventures across South America, Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Africa, Ruben combines his passion for adventurous yet sustainable living with his love for cycling, highlighted by his remarkable 5-month bicycle journey from Spain to Norway. He currently resides in Spain, where he continues sharing his travel experiences with his partner, Rachel, and their son, Han.