If I ask you about traditional Australian food—your answer would be roasted kangaroo or Aussie burger. But let me tell you, with the melting pot of cultures and customs, this country has no shortage of iconic dishes.

The migrants from the Mediterranean and Asian-Australia introduced some unique culinary traditions, which mixed with the Australian eat culture to offer us some flavourful and intriguing taste that you will find nowhere else.

From comforting traditional cuisines to exciting street food—this country has an abundance of unique dishes to suit all tastes.

Here, in this article, I will tell you the top 22 traditional Australian food you must relish while travelling to Australia. So, just scroll down to get the taste, and I hope you are not hungry.

Aussie Meat Pies

Your visit to Australis is incomplete if you don’t treat your tastebuds with a hot and flaky classic meat pie. From house parties to bakeries and supermarkets— these savoury pies are everywhere.

Even you will find some specialty pie shops displaying different types of pies—Traditional Aussie Beef Pie, Lamb, and Rosemerry Pie, Chicken and Leek Pie. And if you are a vegetarian, go with cheese or cauliflower pies—a perfect snack for your movie nights.

This traditional Australian food is hand-sized and stuffed with minced meat and gravy. And to make it more delicious—people use mushrooms, feta cheese, onions, and other stuffings, with the topping of tomato sauce. And the gourmet version comes with mashed potato and mushy pies.

Hot meaty pies in Australia are as famous as hamburgers in America—every year, both Australia and New Zealand arrange meat pie-making competitions.

Lamingtons

If you have a sweet tooth, you should not miss this national cake of Aussie. Yes, I am talking about the most delicious, spongy, and buttery Lamingtons cake—one of the most famous traditional Australian food.

It is a square-shaped sponge cake or butter cake, dipped in chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. You will find a layer of cream or jam when you take a bite of this dessert.

This traditional Australian food—was first made by a maid-servant to Lord Lamington, a former Governor of Queensland. Lamington tastes heavenly—when you pair it with a hot coffee in the afternoon!

Roasted Lamb

Nothing can be better than preparing a lamb roast for Sunday lunch, Right?

This national dish of Australia is insanely delicious and tender when you prepare it with garlic, olive oil, rosemary, and lemon myrtle and cook it in the oven.

At restaurants, this juicy and buttery-flavoured traditional Australian food is served with baked potatoes and is considered as a heavy meal that you would not need second lunch or dinner. Lamb is also one of Melbourne’s iconic dishes.

Aussie Barbeque

When we think about Australia, things that come to mind are pleasant weather, adventurous surfing, and Barbeques. BBQ is not uniquely Australian, but its open-air cooking method ingrains it in Australian cuisine.

Besides the most famous quote, ” slip a shrimp on the barbie—Aussie barbeques are with burgers, sausages, white bread, streak, barbecue sauce that you can pair with stubbies (beer to non-Australians).

You will find this traditional Australian food not just at home or in a feast— but also in public holidays, tourist spots, and even in the local hardware stores.

Head down to local Bunnings, and will see an iconic sausage sizzle—a grilled sausage (snags) beautifully nestled in sliced bread with fried onions, tomato sauce, and various condiments.

Pavlova

What can be better than satisfying your sweet tooth with Pavlova after a BBQ party? This most famous Australian dessert is made from crisp meringue crust topped with whipped cream and fruits.

The unique part of this traditional Australian food is—this airy dessert is topped with some seasonal and vibrant coloured kiwi fruit, strawberries, passionfruit, banana—often served at celebratory dinners.

There is a never-ending battle between Australia and New Zealand over the invention of this dessert—first created in honour of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova—during her visit to Australasia in the 1920s.

Vegemite On Toast

You can love it or hate it, but this thick brown yeast spread is a can’t miss delicacy and a most famous traditional Australian food—tastes delicious when paired with avocado, toast, melted cheese, or tomato.

Or Australians love to spread butter over toast and then spread a thick layer of vegemite on it—a mouthwatering meal for your breakfast, lunch, or anytime you want.

It looks like British Marmite, but according to locals, it is different from Marmite—as it is made from yeast extract instead of vegetable extract.

This salty, savoury, and undoubtedly one of the best traditional Australian food is high in Vitamin B—comes with lots of health benefits and also aids to keep mozzies at bay—first created by Melbournian.

Chicken Parmigiana

You will find this Aussie classic chicken dish in every pub celebrating parma night. A chicken parma is a breaded chicken, aka chicken schnitzel topped tomato sauce topped with melted cheese and prosciutto ham.

Chicken parmigiana, known as chicken parma by Italians—is an Italian-American cuisine, first prepared using an eggplant. It started to gain popularity in Australia using chicken breadcrumbs as a base, and nowadays, it is popular in the US and Europe.

The speciality of this Australian version is it is served with chips or salad and a cold beer. But there is a debate among the parma lovers—chips should be under the parma or on the side—confusing.

Tim Tams

If you travel through Australia is not possible to never get a taste of this melt-in-the-mouth chocolate biscuit. If you eat one, you will end up with two or three for sure—yeah, they got some addictive powers.

Tim Tam consists of soft chocolate fillings sandwiched between chocolate-malted wafer cookies and smothered in chocolate. These days, it comes in various flavours—chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla, or pair it with salted caramel or red velvet.

Another way to eat this traditional Australian food is ‘Tim Tam Slam’—it includes biting off the opposite corners and using it as a straw to drink with hot chocolate or coffee.

Pumpkin Soup

If Australia is famous for seafood and grilled sausages, it is also well known for—serving a wide range of vegetable dishes. And among them, the most popular is pumpkin soup—a traditional Australian food that you can’t ignore.

If you are up for travelling to the mountains, pumpkin soup is the right option for you. You can also find it at every corner of this country—a family-friendly traditional Australian food that tastes delicious with some granny smith apple.

Pumpkin soup is available in different flavours, from silky cream permeated blends to the Thai version—this popular Australian food is the right thing when you are chilled to the bone.

Cherry Ripe

It is one of the oldest and best-selling chocolate bars in Australia. Cherry Ripe is a delicious nostalgic bar that comes with coconut filling and cherry. And comes with a coating of dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate and is finally wrapped in an iconic red wrapper.

Cherry ripe has been there since 1924 in every shop and store of Australia—made its place in the list of most popular traditional Australian food.

They are also available as ice creams—Cadbury Old Gold dark chocolate and baked cheesecake.

Fairy Bread

If you are at an Australian kid’s birthday party, you will find yourself taking a bite of cheerful and rainbow-coloured fairy bread—an unbeatable treat for your tastebuds.

This simple snack is made from three ingredients white bread, with a layer of butter or margarine, and some ‘hundreds and thousands’ (multicoloured sprinkles) that sticks to the bread cut into triangles.

This popular traditional Australian food is a guilty pleasure for Aussie young and adults—what’s more—the 24th of November is also celebrated as Fairy Bread Day.

ANZAC Biscuit

The origin of this traditional Australian food is quite interesting— the word ANZAC comes from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps fought during World War I. In Australia 25th of April is celebrated as a public holiday for the men who fought for their country.

The wives baked this delicious biscuit to send off at war to their men as it did not spoil easily for its ingredients. And Anzac biscuits were used for baking for selling purposes as a fundraiser for the war at that time.

They contain rolled oats, sugar, desiccated coconut, flour, butter, bicarbonate soda, golden syrup, and water—cheap to make and stay fresh for a long boat journey.

Witchetty Grub

It is not the food that you will find in most pubs. But if you want to get a taste of some proper Aussie Bush Tucker—a Witchetty will be the right choice for you.

Witchetty grub is a wood-eating larva of a moth—that has been enjoyed by indigenous Australians for thousands of years. It is edible, high in protein, and an alternative to meat.

People like to eat them raw paired well with peanut or barbeque sauce. You can also cook to get the taste of their crispy and crunchy skin that tastes close to roasted chicken and with a yellow interior similar to a fried egg.

Kangaroo Meat

How about eating the national animal? Well, don’t get me wrong, but it is one of the healthiest and low-fat red meat in Australia.

You can cook kangaroo meat in many ways, steaks, sausages, burgers, and much more.

But keep in mind, you have to cook it rare to medium, as it tends to dry out easily. Grilled kangaroo meat tastes incredible with garlic, rosemary, pepper, and fruity flavours like orange, plum, and red currant.

Tastewise is similar to beef but loaded with more proteins and iron and is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.

It has anti-carcinogenic and anti-diabetic properties and also aid reduce obesity—grilled kangaroo is listed among the best traditional Australian food.

What Are The Traditional Street Foods of Australia?

For the foodies, the real adventure does not lie inside a restaurant. But on the streets to get the taste of some finger-licking delicious foods. The best part about Australian street foods is you will find them in markets, especially in Sydney.

From Aussie burgers to the most famous Chiko rolls—you will get to indulge in the local cuisine and want to taste them again and again.

So, here is the list of some best traditional Australian foods you can find outside of an eatery.

Fish And Chips

Want to go for a walk on the beaches? Don’t forget to try some chips and fresh fish. With the fish in the waters, this country is the best place to satisfy your cravings for seafood.

You will find chip shops serving fresh fish with lemon and chicken salt wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper.

The Australian fish and chip shop was first opened by Athanasius Comino, a Greek migrant—who opened his shop on Sydney’s Oxford Street in 1879.

Pigs In A Blanket

If you ask me the most delicious fast food in Australia, my answer will be pigs in a blanket. Yes, this tiny pork sausage wrapped in crispy bacon strips is one of the best traditional Australian food that you will find nowhere else.

The term ‘pigs in the blanket’ are also known as cocktail sausage, hot dogs, or Vienna sausages wrapped in a pancake or dough famous in the US, Germany, and Canada.

But the Australian version offers you a double dose of meaty surprise, which is all about having a double meat sandwich and forgetting the bread.

Burgers With Beetroot

Burgers with beetroot—you might find it unique, but this is what makes the Australian burger special that you have no option but to sink your teeth into.

Just take a soft burger bun and load it with crispy beef patty, salad, and sauce. And for the Australian twist—topped it with beetroot, a slice of pineapple, and fried egg. Hmm, delicious.

According to MTV, you will find the best Aussie burger at Burger Me Fresh in Coolangatta. This traditional Australian food is the perfect street food that you will find in some chip shops after a long day of surfing.

John Dorry Fillets

Insanely delicious—this is the perfect way to describe this sweet flavoured and much-loved Australian meaty fish.

John Dorry can prepare as baked, steamed, poached, or wrapped in breadcrumbs and pan-fried in herbed oil. It tastes flavourful when served with chips, salad, roasted seasonal veggies, and mashed potatoes.

You can try this buttery flavoured white fish at any seaside restaurant with a cold beer. From fine-dining recipes to the traditional fish & chips—this traditional Australian food is just everywhere.

Chiko Rolls

This savoury roll is the Aussie version of the Chinese spring roll, but you would not find any chicken in it. Although inspired by Chinese spring rolls, Aussies used their modifications to bring a new version in Chiko rolls, aka sausage rolls.

It is a deep-fried chewy dough made from egg and flour with the stuffings of beef, cabbage, celery, green beans, onions, rice, and some seasonings.

Frank McEnroe, a boilermaker from Bendigo, Victoria first, introduced this Chiko roll in New South Wales at the Wagga Wagga Agricultural show. These rolls are popular among surfers to hold with one hand while enjoying a cold beer.

Barramundi

A plate of barramundi is a perfect dish for a seafood fan. You will forget about ‘fish n chips’ when you treat your tastebuds with some soft and crispy pan-fried barramundi served with spices and lemon myrtle.

It means ‘large-scaled river fish’ comes from the Aboriginal language—undoubtedly a delicious traditional Australian food that is quite popular in restaurants, especially in Sydney.

Barramundi is a good source of lean protein and a healthier alternative than any battered fish. And they are best enjoyed on the streets of Australia.

Crab sticks

This Australian snack is a can’t miss dish for your tastebuds. The fun fact about this Australian cuisine is it does not contain crabs.

Crab sticks are made of processed and pulverized white fish dipped in the batter and deep-fried in the shape of a crab leg.

This street food is an inseparable part of the Aussie culture and a must-try traditional Australian food, especially for kids. It tastes mouthwatering delicious when you have it with soy sauce and sriracha.

Dagwood dog

Watching a carnival with a Dagwood dog in your hand—is a must thing while you visit Australia. Yes, this is another most famous street food of Australia that you should not miss.

Hot dog on a stick, crispy and spicy with the toppings of tomato sauce—do you need anything else? You will find this fast food on the menu of any supermarket, fair, or carnival.

Wrapping up

You have seen by now Aussies love to devour all kinds of meat, veggies, fruits, and dessert and not to mention their affection for seafood. From the sizzling barbeque to mouthwatering desserts, there are plenty of ways to satisfy your craving around this country.

Most traditional Australian foods are served in different ways depending upon the region and culture. One intriguing fact about Australian cuisine is—many of the foods have existed for centuries and are always loved by the locals.

So, whenever you visit Australia, don’t forget to explore your tastebuds with these Australian delicacies, as they are not just food—they carry some history and tradition with them.

Last Updated on January 10, 2024 by namitasoren