Australia has a number of iconic dishes that you can’t get anywhere else. And even if you can, trust me it won’t taste the same as an Aussie made version! These popular foods are must eats in the land down under and you shouldn’t miss an opportunity to try any of them.
Thanks to Australia’s multicultural population, the country has incredible southeast Asian cuisine and amazing Mediterranean food that you will be tempted by, but we advise you to hold off until you’ve tried these quintessential Australian food items first. Here are the top nineteen foods you should try in Australia.
Must Try Foods In Australia
Fish and Chips
Fish and chips is a classic Australian dish that you’ll find in just about every pub, restaurant, cafe, and corner store. We even call seafood takeaway stores the fish and chip shop!
Fish commonly used for fish and chips in Australia is Dory, but it could also be hake, hoki, sole, flake, or ling cod, and possibly flathead or snapper at more expensive restaurants. The fish comes beer battered or crumbed and is usually served with wedges of lemon and tartare sauce while the hot chips are sprinkled with chicken salt and a splash of vinegar if requested.
While the British also enjoy fish and chips in their homeland, it’s just not quite the same because fish species and oils used differ. As well, nothing beats enjoying this iconic dish across the road from one of Australia’s many beautiful beaches after a refreshing dip in the ocean. The Brits cannot compete with that!!
A little note to my American friends, Australians call fries ‘hot chips’.
Barramundi
While we’re on the topic of fish, let’s talk about what kind of fish are staples on Australian menus. The barramundi is one fish species that is a staple at most restaurants in Australia which you definitely must try!
Barramundi which are native to Australia and the Indo-Pacific, are a mild tasting white fish with a succulent buttery flavor, best served grilled with lemon. It can be a little bit expensive, however, since you won’t find it commonly on menus in other countries, you best take the opportunity to order it while you can.
Here are some fun facts about barramundi:
- Almost all barramundi are born male, then turn into females when they are three to four years old. This means female barramundi can only be courted by younger men!
- Barramundi are catadromous fish, meaning that they are born in the ocean and live in freshwater — basically the opposite lifestyle of the salmon. However, they also are able to live purely in saltwater.
Snapper
Snapper is another popular fish to eat in Australia. In fact, they are probably the most popular table fish in the country. They are great looking fish and best cooked whole whether baked, steamed, grilled, or barbequed.
The flesh is flaky and soft, and when cooked right, it is juicy in texture with an incredibly delicious flavor. However, if over-cooked the flesh will quickly become dry and not as pleasant to eat.
Moreton Bay Bugs & Balmain Bugs
Moreton Bay Bugs and Balmain Bugs are a beloved crustacean in Australia, particularly on the east coast. While they do look somewhat alien-like, please do not be put off because these seafood delicacies are decadent.
They are similar in taste and price to the lobster, and loved by Aussies just as much as folks from New Orleans love their crawfish. Most of the meat is located in the tail, and the bugs are typically cut in half and then grilled, served with butter and lemon.
The crustaceans have broad flat heads with short, narrow tails, and found from northern NSW to Shark Bay in Western Australia, although they are primarily caught between Cairns and Bundaberg as bycatch of Prawn and Scallop fisheries.
Apparently marketing departments prefer to use the term bay lobster, but good luck getting Australians to calling them that! Aussies are notorious for their use of slang and shortening words.
Meat Pies
I bet you were wondering when the good old meat pie was going to get a mention on this list. Well, I didn’t want to start with the obvious, but yes, the meat pie is probably the most iconic Australian food.
The meat pie is the dish most often associated with Australia, and this is probably because Australians love eating meat pies at any time of the day. Whether it’s a bacon and egg pie for breakfast, or a meat filled one for lunch or dinner, it can never be a bad time to have one.
The classic meat pie is filled with minced meat and gravy, but other common flavors are steak and cheese, satay chicken, curry chicken, and shepherds pie. Most Aussies love to smother their meat pie with tomato sauce (ketchup for you Americans). You can get them at bakeries, gas stations, and in the frozen section at grocery stores.
Around 270 million meat pies are consumed every year in Australia so it is no exaggeration at all to say that all Australians love meat pies!!!
So how does one eat a meat pie? Most Aussies like to bite straight into their pies which takes some skill as it can be a messy process. Others like to eat meat pies with a knife and fork. As for me, I like to eat the top lid first, then scoop the mince out with a spoon, and savor the pastry crust last.
Sausage Rolls
Similar to the meat pie, a sausage roll is another classic Australian savory snack consisting of meat wrapped in pastry, but this time it’s puffed pastry. Inside the puffed pastry is a type of sausage meat typically made with ground pork.
Just like the meat pie, the sausage roll can be found just about every where from the bakery to gas stations and grocery stores.
One of the toughest decisions Australians have to make on a daily basis is which to choose for lunch, the meat pie or the sausage roll. A raging debate has continued for years over which of these Australian classic foods is better, I’ll let you decide.
Hot Chips and Gravy
Australians love hot chips and gravy. Probably just about as much as they love their meat pies. It may be a simple dish, but that does not stop it from being a favorite among Aussies for lunch and even dinner.
Chips and gravy is the go to food when you are ordering for a group of friends as it is loved by all. It is also a go to food when you can’t be bothered cooking at dinner time, and also a go to menu item when you don’t have a lot of money to spend. Because it is tasty and inexpensive, it has become a staple in every Aussie’s diet.
Hot chips are most loved served with tons of chicken salt, another favorite Australian food. Chips are then coated in a delicious gravy sauce, the more the better. Unfortunately, some shops don’t load up the chips with as much gravy as you want and you need to ask for extra, which sometimes they’ll charge you for.
The term ‘hot chips’ can be confusing for both Americans, Canadians, and folks from the U.K. Australians refer to potato chips as just chips, and french fries as chips too, so they differentiate between the two by calling the latter hot chips, obviously because they are served hot.
Americans and Canadians call hot chips ‘fries’, and while people from the U.K. call hot chips, chips, they call potato chips, crisps, so they sometimes think Australians are strange for describing chips as hot.
Chip Sanga
The chip sanga is a variation on the hot chips, but basically it is hot chips in a sandwich. Yes, this is Australians getting creative with their beloved hot chips. How it works is you get two slices of white bread, butter them up, place hot chips between the bread, and bingo, you’ve got yourself a chip sanga!
Whether you have the sandwich with gravy or true blue tomato sauce is up to you. Either way you’ll be surprised how good this simple dish can be.
What the hell is a sanga I hear you say? A sanga is just Australian slang for sandwich.
Sausage Sanga
While we’re on the topic of sangas, another commonly eaten sanga (or sandwich) in Australia is the sausage sanga. However, unlike the hot chip sanga, the sausage sanga is eaten with only one slice of bread that cradles a sausage in the middle.
Traditionally, the sausage sanga is served with grilled onions, yellow mustard, and tomato sauce. It may sound a little bit like a hot dog but it is not. Unlike hot dogs, Australian sausages are not made of low quality, bordering on dangerous, meat. They are more similar to German brats, although still not quite the same.
Sausage sangas are traditionally offered at barbeques and other gatherings with friends and family. One place you can try this Aussie dish is at Bunnings, a chain hardware store with locations across the country.
On weekends most Bunnings sell sausage sandwiches in the parking lot near the front entrance to the store, usually to fundraise for community groups. It is an extremely Australian tradition to stop by and grab a sanga or two for lunch. Often people only go just to grab a sandwich and not because they need something from the hardware store.
Potato Scallops
Potato scallops are another classic food served at take away shops. No, they have nothing to do with seafood or scallops. Rather, they are thinly sliced potatoes that are battered and deep fried.
Chicken Parmigiana
The chicken parmigiana is basically a chicken schnitzel topped with first ham, then Napoli sauce, followed by melted cheese. It is usually served with chips, but you can almost always substitute for mashed potatoes, vegetables, and gravy.
Even though the dish was not invented in Australia, it has been adopted nationally and you’ll find chicken parmigiana on almost every menu across the country.
Be warned, this menu item is referred to in Australia as chicken ‘parma’ or ‘parmi’ for short. Yep, Aussies speak their own version of English.
Lamb Cutlets
Lamb, just like in New Zealand, is a very popular dish in Australia. Especially lamb cutlets. Lamb cutlets are usually crumbed first and then deep fried, served with mashed potato and gravy.
Most pubs and bistros will have lamb cutlets on the menu or offer them on the ‘specials’ menu if they’ve had a recent delivery.
Roast lamb and lamb chops are also popular meals at bistros and pubs across Australia, and common to cook at home as a family meal once a week.
Hamburger With The Lot
A hamburger with the lot is not just any old burger, it’s a towering monstrosity of every topping you could think of to put on a burger. Think grilled onions, beetroot, bacon, fried egg, cheese, and pineapple, in addition to the beef patty. This is the Aussie burger with the lot. The real funs starts when you attempt to put the whole lot into your mouth. A messy sight indeed.
This Aussie classic is perfect when you’re really famished. Something to note is that most hamburgers in Australia come with beetroot which can come as a surprise to a lot of foreign visitors.
Vegemite
Just like the meat pie, vegemite is another food item often associated with Australia. It is true that most Australians enjoy this weird tasting spread, but some Aussies detest it just as much as visitors to the land down under do.
So what is vegemite made out of? The thick, dark, paste-like substance is made from leftover brewers’ yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. It tastes salty, malty, and very bitter. In fact it’s so bitter, that you really only want to use a minute amount when you spread it on your toast.
Most popularly it is spread on toast for breakfast, but also on crumpets, crackers, and sandwiches.
Should you try it? Why not?! You only live once right. Who knows, you might like it… although more than likely you won’t. Just remember to spread it on your bread sparingly otherwise your first reaction will definitely be yuck!
‘Avo’ On Toast
While avocado on toast has grown in popularity worldwide, and places like California spring to mind when you think of other places obsessed with this dish, Australians have developed a national obsession for avocado on toast bordering on insane. There are tons of funny memes that poke fun at how obsessive Aussies have become over the ‘avo’ on toast.
Although served in many other countries, in Australia it has been elevated to another level. The humble ‘avo’ on toast here usually comes topped with poached eggs, lox, feta cheese, goat cheese, olives, and other fancy foods.
Avocado on toast can be found at almost every cafe around the country and usually served for breakfast and lunch. Besides being tasty, it’s also healthy which is probably another reason Aussies love it so much.
Lamingtons
Although very simple, the plain Lamington cake is held in very high regards with Australians. This staple at Australian bakeries is basically a sponge cake coated in chocolate sauce, and rolled in desiccated coconut. It is served in square or rectangle pieces and inexpensive.
Shockingly, Australia’s famed dessert was actually invented in New Zealand and originally named a “Wellington” according to new research published by the University of Auckland who observed a partially eaten Lamington cake clearly visible on the counter of a cottage overlooking Wellington Harbor in a painting dated back to 1888.
The first known reference to a Lamington before this was a recipe published in 1902 in the Queensland Country Life newspaper. Historians had believed the Lamington was named after Lord Lamington who served as governor of Queensland. It is believed that in 1901, a maidservant of Lord Lamington dropped a piece of sponge cake into melted chocolate. To avoid wasting it, Lord Lamington told the maidservant to cover the cake in desiccated coconut, and that’s how the dessert came to be.
Experts at the University of Auckland discovered there are records showing Lord Lamington undertook a trip to Wellington in 1895 before beginning his tenure as Queensland governor, and found an article from the local newspaper stating how he was so taken with the local sweets provided by bakers, especially one called the ‘Wellington’ which was “a double sponge dessert, dressed in shavings of coconut intended to imitate the snow capped mountains of New Zealand.”
This seems like pretty conclusive evidence that the Lamington is in fact a product of New Zealand, however good luck getting an Aussie to believe this story.
Pavlova
Pavlova is another dessert that Australians and New Zealanders have disputes over its origins, but regardless, this dessert is delicious and a must eat in Australia.
In case you’re not familiar with it, it’s a meringue dessert made with egg whites which has a chewy texture and a soft marshmallow filling inside. It is a dessert synonymous with summer and summer celebrations, and often served on Christmas day.
Pavlova was named for the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova after she toured Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. The popular dessert can be served family style or in individual sizes, and best served with whipped cream and fresh fruit.
Tim Tams
Tim Tams are Australia’s most loved chocolate biscuit. It is chocolate cream filled, and covered in chocolate. And trust me, once you go back to your home country you’ll be looking for ways to keep getting your Tim Tam fix.
Made by the Arnott’s company, Tim Tams come in a variety of different flavors however the standard chocolate and the double coated chocolate are the classics. Deluxe flavors include white chocolate, salted caramel, dark chocolate raspberry, and dark chocolate mint.
Kangaroo Meat
Although kangaroo meat isn’t as common on the menu in Australia as much as you think it would be, there are still some places that serve it, and there are some specialty stores that serve kangaroo meat pies and kangaroo jerky.
One of the reasons for its lack in popularity is that it is very lean and ‘gamey’ tasting, a bit like deer, but this is what makes it such a healthier alternative to beef.
Aboriginal people have been eating the meat for centuries, but only a few decades ago did it become legal for human consumption in Australia. So if you want to sample Australia’s famous marsupial, here is your chance to tick it off your Australian bucket list.
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What are you looking forward to eating most in Australia? Let us know in the comments below.
