Dutch food has a bit of an unfair reputation for being bland and uninteresting. If you’ve been on any of our Amsterdam food tours, you surely know why this is unfair (and false!). While it’s certainly not as famous as France or Italy’s, there are quite a few tasty traditional Dutch foods & dishes that you’ve got to try when visiting The Netherlands – and some you can replicate at home! Here’s our pick of the best of them.
8 Traditional Dutch foods You MUST Try
Stamppot
Stamppot is the perfect thing to eat on a cold Dutch winter’s day! It does bear many similarities to dishes that you’ll eat elsewhere in Europe and America – it mainly consists of vegetables and mashed potatoes with some sort of meat (usual chunks of sausage or bacon) and rich gravy. However, there are lots of different variations in dutch foods that you can try.
You could try it with green vegetables like broccoli or kale, orange vegetables like carrots, or even purple vegetables such as beetroot! If you are vegetarian, it is just as tasty without the meat.
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Dutch Fries
While fries don’t come from The Netherlands (the jury’s out on whether they are from Belgium or France!), they are incredibly popular throughout the country.
You’ll find fresh, crispy fries everywhere you look in Amsterdam or Rotterdam, usually served with a deliciously rich creamy mayonnaise sauce.
There’s also oorlogsaus, which is a type of sauce that you can pour over the top. This sauce is a combination of ketchup and peanut satay sauce, with some onion on top. It’s decadent, and it’s delicious.
Erwtensoep
Erwtensoep is a really thick pea soup that is often enjoyed as a lunch or even dinner – the thickness of the soup means that it is quite heavy!
It consists of green peas and a range of other vegetables, and it usually has some smoked sausage inside. Most Dutch people enjoy it with rye bread – another staple from the Netherlands.
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Poffertjes
These are typical Dutch festival food, but we think that they are a great comfort food too.
Poffertjes are made with two ingredients – buckwheat flour and yeast – and are a warming, bready pancake. They are usually served with syrup, sugar, and butter – but if you decide to make them yourself, why not sample a few different toppings?
Bami Goreng
Bami Goreng certainly isn’t a Dutch name – it’s actually an Indonesian dish. The Netherlands colonized Indonesia and occupied some parts for a whole 350 years. This shared history means that you can find a lot of Indonesian food in the Netherlands.
This particular dish is a stir-fried noodle concoction, with various vegetables, chili, garlic, and usually meat and egg.
You can make a version of this yourself at home (although it’ll never be as good as a Bami Goreng from an Indonesian restaurant!). Traditionally, it will be made with chicken (never pork, as most Indonesians are Muslim), but you can use tofu instead if you are vegetarian as it will not be hard to make tofu taste like chicken.
If you’re using tofu, don’t forget to press it when cooking to ensure that it absorbs the stir-fries’ flavors.
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Nasi Goreng
Another famous Indonesian dish that has found its way into Dutch cuisine is Nasi Goreng. This dish name literally translates to ‘fried rice’ and consists of rice, vegetables, some sort of meat, and various spices, usually topped with a fried egg.
Nasi Goreng is quite an easy dish to make at home – so if you want to try your hand at Indonesian/ Dutch cooking, give this one a go! Again, you can use tofu in the place of meat.
Hutspot
Hutspot is a glorious mash of potatoes, carrots, and onions. It is essentially this mashed mixture, served with beef, sliced sausage, or meatballs.
It doesn’t sound like much – in fact, it was created in Leiden, a town outside Amsterdam, in 1574 when there wasn’t much other food after Spanish troops left the city – but it’s a really warming winter comfort food.
Hachee
Hachee is a beef and onion dish – the beef is slow-cooked with caramelized onions to make it more succulent. It comes with a stew made from bay leaves, cloves, and other spices. This is an ancient meal, dating all the way back to the Medieval era, but it still remains one of the most popular Dutch dishes to this day.
While Dutch cuisine isn’t that famous, there is an abundance of dishes that you can try! Whether you’re going on vacation to the Netherlands and want to know what to expect or are planning to try some of these Dutch classics at home, save this list for the most authentic Dutch meals!
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