Every country snacks differently, and the differences usually come down to what grows locally and how people eat between meals. Here's a tour through the food, continent by continent — with a few honest overlaps with what we actually stock.
What this guide covers
- Asia — China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines
- Europe — Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Russia, Turkey
- The Americas — the USA, Mexico and wider Latin America, and the Caribbean
- Africa — a continental overview, plus Nigeria and South Africa
- Oceania — Australia and New Zealand
Snacking habits track local ingredients and history more than almost any other part of a cuisine, because a snack has to be cheap, quick and made from what's around. That's the thread running through everything below.
Asian snacks
Asian snacking spans the full range from delicate to fiery, often within the same country. Street food culture is central here in a way it isn't everywhere — quick, cheap, portable food sold from stalls and carts is where a huge amount of Asian snacking actually happens. For more on one country in depth, we've written a full guide to Thai snacks.
Chinese snacks
- Baozi — savoury, soft, fluffy steamed buns
- Jianbing — savoury, spicy, crispy and chewy folded street-food pancake
- Tanghulu — sweet and tart, fruit skewers in a hard sugar glaze
- Spicy duck neck — spicy, salty, chewy
- Mala tofu — spicy, numbing (from Sichuan peppercorn), savoury
Japanese snacks
- Pocky — sweet, creamy, crunchy chocolate-coated biscuit sticks
- Mochi — sweet, chewy, soft rice cake, often with a sweet filling
- Senbei — savoury or sweet rice crackers, crisp
- Onigiri — savoury, mild, salty rice balls, often wrapped in nori
- Wasabi peas — spicy, sharp, crunchy
- Umaibo — savoury, cheesy corn puff sticks
Korean snacks
- Tteokbokki — spicy, sweet, chewy rice cakes in gochujang sauce
- Choco Pie — sweet, chewy, chocolate-coated marshmallow biscuit
- Honey butter chips — sweet, salty, buttery crisps
- Pepero — sweet and crunchy, Korea's take on the chocolate stick
- Banana kick — sweet, banana-flavoured corn puffs
- Yoghurt jelly — sweet, tangy, chewy
Thai snacks
- Mango sticky rice — sweet, creamy, slightly salty from the coconut sauce
- Crispy seaweed — savoury, salty, sometimes spicy
- Durian chips — sweet, faintly bitter, crunchy — an acquired taste even for durian fans
- Pandan coconut rolls — sweet, coconut, fragrant
- Thai roti — sweet, chewy, sometimes finished with a savoury or spiced filling
Indian snacks
- Samosa — crispy, salty, spiced pastry parcel
- Bhel puri — tangy, spicy puffed rice street snack, loaded with chutneys
- Kachori — spicy, crunchy, flaky fried pastry
- Dhokla — tangy, lightly spiced steamed chickpea cake
- Aloo tikki — potato-based, spiced, pan-fried patty
- Banana chips — spiced and salted, a South Indian staple
Pakistani snacks
- Chana chaat — spicy, tangy chickpea salad
- Nimco — salty, spiced fried snack mix
- Dahi bhalla — cool, tangy, sweet and spicy lentil dumplings in yoghurt
- Roll paratha — savoury, spiced flatbread roll
- Jalebi — sweet, crisp, syrup-soaked spiral
Sri Lankan snacks
- Isso vadai — spicy, savoury, crispy prawn fritter
- Kottu roti — spicy, savoury, slightly tangy chopped flatbread stir-fry
- Fish rolls — spicy, savoury, breadcrumbed and fried
- Vadai — spicy, crunchy or soft lentil fritters
Filipino snacks
- Banana cue — sweet, caramelised, sticky fried banana on a stick
- Taho — sweet, silky, warm soft tofu with syrup and pearls
- Turon — sweet, crispy, fruity fried spring roll
- Kakanin — sweet, sticky, coconut-based rice cakes
European snacks
European snacking leans towards baking, and it shows: biscuits, pastries and chocolate dominate far more of the continent's snack culture than savoury street food does. Coffee-and-pastry culture, in particular, runs through Italy, Sweden and beyond.
British snacks
- Twiglets — crunchy, strongly yeasty (Marmite-flavoured)
- Scotch egg — meaty, savoury, soft-centred
- Jaffa Cakes — light sponge base, sweet orange jelly, chocolate coating
- Custard creams — sweet, crisp vanilla biscuits
- Hobnobs — oaty, nutty, crunchy
- Sherbet Dip Dab — tart, fizzy sherbet with a lollipop to dip in
If you're after the lighter end of British snacking, we've covered it separately in our guide to healthy British snacks.
Irish snacks
- Tayto crisps — the original cheese and onion, tangy and iconic
- Sausage rolls — savoury, flaky pastry, a bakery staple
- Soda bread — dense, tangy, nutty
- Barmbrack ("brack") — fruity, lightly spiced tea loaf
- Macaroon bar — sweet, coconut-coated chocolate bar
Scottish snacks
- Scotch pie — crisp, lard-based pastry case with a savoury meat filling
- Macaroni pie — buttery, cheesy, pure comfort food
- Bridie — savoury beef and onion pastry, from Forfar
- Shortbread — buttery, crumbly, sweet
- Tunnock's Teacake — chewy marshmallow and biscuit base, covered in chocolate
- Soor plooms — sharp, sour, fruity boiled sweets
Swedish snacks
- Kex — crisp, cheesy wafer biscuit
- Kaviar — sweet, salty, smoky, creamy smoked cod roe paste
- Mazarin — sweet almond filling in a pastry shell
- Bilar — soft, chewy, marshmallow-like fruit sweets shaped like cars
Italian snacks
- Taralli — salty, ring-shaped, baked with olive oil or chilli
- Grissini — mild, dry, salty breadsticks
- Cannoli — sweet, crisp shell with a creamy filling
- Biscotti — sweet, crunchy, almond-flavoured twice-baked biscuits
- Kinder Bueno — sweet, milky, nutty wafer bar
Spanish snacks
- Tortilla española — mild, eggy, with tender potato
- Croquetas — creamy filling, usually chicken or cod, crumbed and fried
- Pan con tomate — juicy, garlicky tomato bread
- Patatas bravas — crispy potatoes in a spicy sauce
- Torreznos — salty, rich, crackling-like pork snack
- Migas — savoury, garlicky fried breadcrumbs, often with chorizo
Russian snacks
- Pirozhki — buttery, sweet or savoury filled hand pies
- Sushki — slightly sweet, dry, ring-shaped biscuit-bread
- Syrniki — sweet, cheesy, fried curd cheese pancakes
- Zefir — sweet, fruity, marshmallow-like confection
- Dried fish — intensely salty and fishy, a classic beer snack
Turkish snacks
Rooted in Ottoman and Anatolian tradition, and closely related to the wider meze culture shared across the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkans.
- Simit — sweet, nutty, sesame-crusted bread ring
- Pide — rich, savoury flatbread, usually with meat, cheese or spinach
- Börek — buttery, salty filled pastry
- Beyaz peynir — salty, tangy white cheese, often eaten with bread
- Lokum (Turkish delight) — sweet, often pistachio-flavoured
- Baklava — rich, sweet, nutty layered pastry
- Künefe — sweet, cheesy, syrup-soaked dessert
- Halva — nutty, sweet, dense sesame confection
Bring the spice rack up to speed
Whole and ground spices for cooking your way around the world.
Snacks of the Americas
North America, Latin America and the Caribbean each have distinct snacking traditions, shaped respectively by mass food manufacturing, indigenous and colonial ingredients, and African, Caribbean and colonial influences layered together.
USA snacks
- Potato chips — salty, crispy, endless flavour variations
- Beef jerky — smoky, salty, chewy
- Popcorn — buttery or sweet, sometimes spiced
- Nachos — cheesy, salty, often topped with jalapeños and salsa
- Mozzarella sticks — cheesy, crispy, salty
Latin American snacks
Shaped by indigenous staples like corn and tamarind alongside colonial-era additions. Common across the region:
- Elote — sweet corn with mayonnaise, cheese and lime
- Takis and sabritas — spicy, tangy, salty rolled or flavoured crisps
- Tamarindo — sweet, savoury and sour tamarind pulp, often with chilli
- Empanadas — savoury filled pastries
- Arepas — mild, corn-based flatbreads, split and filled
Mexican snacks
- Tamales — mildly savoury, filled with meat and cheese, steamed in a corn husk
- Gorditas — thick corn cakes filled with cheese, beans and meat
- Takis — chilli-lime flavoured rolled tortilla chips
- Duvalin — sweet, hazelnut and vanilla cream, eaten with a small spatula
Jamaican and Caribbean snacks
- Patties — spicy, crisp pastry filled with seasoned meat
- Coco bread — sweet, soft, slightly crisp, often wrapped around a patty
- Bammy — cassava flatbread, often soaked in coconut milk
- Spiced banana chips — salty and crisp
- Tamarind balls — sweet and tangy, rolled in sugar
The same fruit turns up closer to home too — see the Dried Banana Chips in the shelf below.
African snacks
A hugely varied continent, but a few threads run through much of its snacking: fried dough, spiced and dried meat, and plantain or cassava in place of potato. Chin chin (fried dough squares), puff puff (sweet doughnut-like fritters), suya (spiced grilled meat skewers), plantain chips and kuli kuli (spiced groundnut cakes) turn up across West Africa in various local forms.
Nigerian snacks
- Akara — savoury, spicy black-eyed pea fritters, seasoned with onion and pepper
- Puff puff — sweet, doughy fried balls
- Chin chin — sweet, buttery, a hint of nutmeg or vanilla
- Suya — spicy, savoury, smoky grilled meat skewers
South African snacks
- Biltong — salty, smoky, tangy dried and cured meat
- Droëwors — dry, spiced, salty cured sausage
- Vetkoek — fried dough bread, often filled
- Chakalaka — chunky, saucy spiced vegetable relish, usually eaten with bread
Oceanian snacks
Australian and New Zealand snacking share a lot of ground — both lean on baking traditions brought from Britain, reshaped with local ingredients and a stronger sweet tooth for coconut and caramel.
Australian snacks
- Vegemite on toast — salty, bitter, intensely savoury
- Meat pies — flaky, buttery, savoury
- Tim Tams — sweet, chocolate-coated biscuits
- Fairy bread — buttery, soft white bread covered in sprinkles — a children's party staple
- Lamingtons — sweet sponge cake, coated in chocolate and desiccated coconut
New Zealand snacks
- Pavlova — sweet, crisp-shelled meringue with a soft marshmallow centre
- Hokey pokey (ice cream) — sweet vanilla ice cream with honeycomb toffee pieces
- ANZAC biscuits — sweet, chewy oat and golden syrup biscuits, shared with Australia
World flavours we actually stock
We're a UK grocer, not an importer of every snack listed above — most of what's covered in this guide you'd need a specialist shop or a trip abroad to find. What we do stock is a smaller set of genuinely world-flavoured snacks, honestly described rather than stretched to fit.
A taste of elsewhere, available now
Dragon Fruit Crisps (10 bags)
A South-East Asian fruit, freeze-dried with nothing added. Hot pink, speckled, genuinely crisp.
From £13.20Shop
Toasted Coconut Chips
The same coconut that turns up across Thai, Filipino and Sri Lankan snacking, thick-cut and toasted.
From £12.15Shop
Dried Banana Chips
The plain, unspiced cousin of the banana chips found from South India to the Caribbean.
From £4.31Shop
Hard Boiled Sweet Mix 450g
Five flavours in the old British sweet-shop style — the closest thing on this list to a Soor Ploom.
From £11.00Shop
Trying new snacks safely
Half the fun of world snacks is that the ingredients are unfamiliar, which is also the thing to be careful about. Many of the items above contain nuts, sesame, gluten, shellfish, dairy or soy in forms that aren't always obvious from the name — prawn crackers, satay-style sauces and sesame-crusted breads being the classic surprises.
If you or anyone you're cooking for has a food allergy, check the ingredients on any imported product carefully, since labelling standards and language vary by country of origin. The Food Standards Agency's allergy guidance sets out the 14 allergens that UK-sold food must declare — imported snacks bought here should still carry this information, but it's worth a second look before serving something unfamiliar to a group.
Snack descriptions and origins here are given as general cultural context rather than definitive claims — regional variation within any country is enormous, and this guide reflects common examples rather than every version of each dish. Prices and stock for products mentioned change; check the product page for current details.
Why bother trying world snacks?
Snacking is one of the more revealing parts of a food culture, because it isn't dressed up the way a formal meal is — it's just what people actually reach for. Following that thread from street food stalls in Bangkok to a chip shop in Glasgow tells you something real about a place: what grows there, what was cheap, what travelled well, and what people missed enough to recreate abroad. That's the appeal, and it's worth pursuing on its own terms rather than as a novelty.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most popular snack food in the world?
There's no single answer, because "popular" depends on region — potato chips and crisps dominate in the West, while rice- and corn-based snacks are more central across much of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Fried dough in some form appears almost everywhere.
Which country has the spiciest snacks?
Mexico, parts of India and Sichuan-style Chinese snacks are consistently among the spiciest, built around chilli, Sichuan peppercorn and tamarind-chilli combinations. Heat tolerance and pepper varieties both vary regionally, so "spiciest" is relative rather than fixed.
Are Asian snacks generally healthier than Western ones?
Not as a rule. Both categories range from whole, minimally processed foods to deep-fried and heavily sweetened ones. Rice paper rolls and edamame sit at one end; tanghulu and jalebi, both essentially sugar-coated, sit much closer to a Western doughnut.
What's the difference between Australian and New Zealand snacks?
They overlap heavily — ANZAC biscuits are shared by both countries, and lamingtons and pavlova cross the Tasman Sea in both directions depending who you ask. Vegemite versus Marmite (the New Zealand equivalent) is the most commonly cited difference, though both are savoury yeast-extract spreads.
Can I buy authentic world snacks in the UK?
For most items on this list, an Asian, African, Caribbean or Polish/Eastern European specialist grocer will stock the real thing far more reliably than a general supermarket. We stock a smaller set of world-adjacent items ourselves, listed above, rather than attempting to import everything covered in this guide.
Do you deliver snacks across the UK?
Yes — we ship UK-wide, with free delivery once your order passes £50. Full details are on our shipping policy page.
Start closer to home
Dried and freeze-dried fruit, sweets and everyday snacks, delivered UK-wide.