Italian Street Food (What to Eat in Italy)
These Italian street food options are absolutely a MUST when in Italy. If you’re looking for a list of what to eat in Italy, you’ve come to the right place!
You probably already know that my mother was born in Italy, right?
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And given that I’ve been going to Italy since I was born, I am rather familiar with it too, so I’d like to share some of my favorite Italian street food with you. Granted, some of these snacks will keep you going for hours (like the porchetta panini), but these would never be considered a meal by Italian standards!
Here they are in no particular order~
Italian Street Food (What to Eat in Italy)
1. Pizza con Patate (Potato Pizza)
You may think that pizza with potatoes wouldn’t taste very good. But you’d be wrong. If you won’t be popping over to Italy anytime soon, you can make this in your own kitchen with the recipe I linked to in the previous sentence.
2. Foccacia (or Panino) con Salame (Salami Sandwich)
What I love about sandwiches in Italy is their simplicity. No mayo, mustard, pickles, bacon, etc., to hide tasteless fillings and cotton wool bread…just fabulous tasting cured meats and incredibly good bread. Done.
3. Cornetti con Panna (Cream Filled Croissants)
These are one of my cousin Gianfranco and my favorites! In fact, he drove into town to buy these the day before, but the shop was closed, so I picked up a couple the next day. I would like these even more if the cream was sans sugar, but when I asked the shop owner about it, he thought I was crazy: “Panna senza zucchero? Non essiste!” Which totally cracked me up, “Cream without sugar? It doesn’t exist!”
4. Pizza al Taglio (Pizza by the Slice) is Italian Street Food
Do I even need to comment here? Once again, if you don’t see yourself booking an Alitalia flight anytime soon, check out this pizza recipe.
5. Ciambelle (Italian-Style Pretzels?)
These beauties are a sort of large Italian pretzel, or a cross between bread and a pretzel. Rather chewy and with fennel seeds throughout, ciambelle are incredibly addictive and are best eaten the first day, which is not usually a problem. One of the best handheld snacks in Italy (found in the Lazio region).
6. Panino con Mortadella (Mortadella Sandwich)
I don’t enjoy mortadella unless it’s sliced super thinly. In Rome, we had to ask if they could slice it paper thin, but I believe this is because the person thought we were average tourists (thicker mortadella slices weigh and cost more!) Most times, mortadella is sliced so thin that you can almost see through it. A mortadella panino is one of my mother’s very favorite things to eat when she returns to Italy.
7. Gelato (Ice Cream, similar) A Must have Italian Street Food!
I don’t care what flavor you choose, you cannot go wrong. I kept eating nocciola (hazelnut) and Nutella gelati whenever I got a chance, and I am so not an ice cream girl! While not an authentic gelato, you should try my lemon ice cream recipe which is made in a blender! I also have an orange ice cream recipe, and they are both delicious! I can recommend Gelateria La Romana as a specific gelato shop which you’ll find even outside of Rome!
8. Panino con Rapini (A sort of Greens Pizza)
I ate this on the bus in Rome on the way to pick up our rental car. You just have to try this because the flavor is fantastic and it’s full of vitamins and folic acid! How often do you eat greens when you travel? Not enough, right? So this is perfect to get some tasty greens into your system, via a pizza! Check out a basic way to make rapini. I also have a rapini pasta recipe which is similar to Stanley Tucci’s signature dish.
9. Panino con Porchetta (Roast Pork Sandwich)
Porchetta is pork. But it ‘s super tasty pork. Put it in a panino and eat it as you walk along the street at an Italian market, and it’s the best! Once again, super simple: pork + bread = awesome. I have the best porchetta recipe (given to me by a butcher in Orvieto)!
So that’s my nine suggestions for handheld snacks that you should not miss when you pop over to Italy next time. Have you been to Italy and if so, have you eaten any of these snacks? Let me know what you think in the comments below…
P.S. the shell shaped pastry above is another one of my mother’s favorite foods in Italy: sfogliatelle are filled with a sweetened ricotta (often with candied fruit) filling. They are famous in Naples.
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Oh do have room for a 10th? I can’t believe I’m still hungry after all 9 of these, but I had the BEST fried baby artichokes in Italy while walking around Rome and I’ve never forgotten them. GREG
Trust me, if I would have seen those, they would be on this list! The only artichokes I saw were raw at the market, but they were beautiful! Wish I could have bought them to cook them myself! Thanks for stopping by, Greg :) CC
Hi Christina…..My husband, sister, and myself visited Italy for the first time several years ago. I so want to return! Both sides of my family have roots in Calabria. My husband is not Italian. When we arrived in Rome on a Sunday morning my husband went straight to bed. My sister and I were anxious to get out and look around. The first thing we noticed was the wonderful smell of tomato sauce that filled the air. We said to each other….”hey it’s Sunday….what else would they be cooking and the custom was brought to America.” After walking around for a short time we returned to the hotel and both felt a draw to this beautiful country….like we came home. We were born in America but we figured it was our strong roots that we were feeling. My husband said the country was beautiful but he did not get that feeling! That said our favorite food was the Gelato….and I am not an ice cream person either but Gelato in Italy is to die for! We could not pass a Gelato stand without stopping and enjoying another….especially my husband! he grew up in OK and they made their ice cream from fresh milk from their own cows but he went crazy over the Gelato in Italy. The second was the pizza! It is different than even the way my grandmother and Mom made it. It wasn’t in Rome and I know the different Regions make the same food but in different ways. I cannot remember where we had the pizza but it was a small quaint town that we decided to explore rather than taking the optional tour. The pizza was served in small individual pizzas so we each had out own complete round but small pizza. All the ingredients were placed separately….like a quarter of it had pepperoni, another quarter had artichoke hearts and so on. The sauce and cheese were the only ingredients that went all over the pizza. It was different but very good. We took a picture of it to show our Mom how the Italians in Italy do pizza. Everything we ate during our 14 day tour was delicious and we never got sick as we did in Mexico. I love, love, love Italy and want to return soon. Next time I would like to see Calabria.
I enjoy your newsletter very much and have been subscribed for about two years but this is the first time I am leaving a comment. You make it easy to leave comments! I didn’t have to look up a password….grazie for small favors! BTW….I never tasted tripe but my grandmother cooked it every once in a while. She had a cook stove in the basement where they did canning and that is also where she cooked the tripe. I too could not get passed the smell or what it looked like cooking in the pot, therefore I never would taste it. My father loved it and made a tripe sandwich with it. Through your Italian recipes and comments you bring back warm memories of growing up Italian especially the summers at my grandparents house with my cousins. Thank you Christina. Ciao!
Oh no! I don’t know how anyone can go to sleep upon arriving anywhere in Italy! I’m with you, no matter how tired, I’d have to go exploring! Yes, it’s hard to pass up any gelaterie, and the pizza you are describing sounds like a Quattrostagione (4 seasons) as there is a different topping on each quarter…I love them!
If you do go to Calabria, you should also visit Sicily since you’ll be so close. I’ve been once and have been dying to return as it is so incredibly beautiful! I’m so happy to hear you’ve been such a loyal follower for two years! Thank you so much for following along and for the lovely comments! I hope you won’t be so shy from now on! :) CC
That Panino con Mortadella just made my mouth water.. Oh I’m so hungry now :(
I know, I hate it when that happens!
Hi Christina,
WOW! Now that’s Italian! All of these Italian sandwiches are spectacular! You are making me hungry for some of them right now.. So hard to choose, but I would have to say that I have a tie..one would be the Gelato and the other Cornetti con Panna (cream filled croissants). But wait maybe the Panino con Rapini or the Ciambelle! Whatever my choice is, they are super! Your choice of sandwiches is so tasty. Thank you for showing and explaining the goodies that are waiting for us to hop on a plane and find these luscious foods in Italy… Have a great weekend,
Dottie :)
Having eaten my way through several Italian cities on multiple occasions, I say guilty to eating all of these. One of the best places on earth to eat and the Italians are so much more blase about eating on the street than the French!
Oh I’ve heard! No eating on the streets in Paris! Terrible rule, IMHO! haha!
Oh my goodness, so hard to choose but I think Gelato would definitely be the first I would go for given I have such a sweet tooth!
Not a bad choice and I can totally relate! :)