Don’t Leave Belgium Without Trying These Traditional Dishes

Are you looking for the best traditional food from Belgium? Or wondering what’s the most popular Belgian food other than waffles and chocolates? You’ve come to the right place!

I’m Belgian and have lived here my entire life; I also enjoy good food and have eaten all these dishes plenty of times. So if you want to know more about the traditional foods from Belgium, I’m happy to share my insight as a local below.

When talking about Belgium food, people always think of Belgian beer, waffles, and fries.

However, the country’s cities have many more dishes to offer foodies and travellers, so taste the traditional food from Belgium and learn where to order them.

Belgians are true Burgundians, enjoying large meals with friends and family and spending hours at the table.

The Belgian kitchen is characterised by regional and seasonal products with significant roles for the potato, fish and game.

We covered some of these fantastic delicacies in our list, from appetisers to desserts.

Traditional Food From Belgium: What to Expect?

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Are you ready to take a bite of Belgian food? When visiting any country, eating traditional dishes brings us closer to the locals, offers sneak peeks into a town’s history, and lets us discover different flavours.

Belgium has a rich food history that brought about the best chocolate globally, more than 500 kinds of beer, and more!

How about getting to know more about the best foods in Belgium cities? We Belgians love seafood, meat, and seasonal vegetables that bring your tastebuds into an adventure of flavours.

The Belgium food culture offers unique, simple, yet flavorful menus from healthier, sweet to savoury options. 

We listed some of the best Belgian food known mainly by locals and the best restaurants and locations to try them. 

Appetizers

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Let’s start with Belgium appetizers. If you are visiting Belgium for the first time, appetizers are one of the most essential parts of Belgian food.

Restaurants often serve vegetables, cheese, and sausages as starters. But when visiting other cities in the country, you may end up tasting local appetizers that not many in the world know.

1. Shrimp Tomato (Tomaat Garnaal / Tomate Crevette)

Tomate Crevette is a typical starter from the best restaurants on the Belgian coast.

Nowadays, you can find the appetizer in every restaurant in the country. Sometimes, you can find Tomate Crevette in the main dish section of the menu too.

The Belgium traditional food is a mix of shrimp, mayonnaise, and tomatoes.

You can find generous amounts of shrimp and mayo stuffed inside the fresh tomatoes with a squeeze of lemon juice or tomato juice and parsley.

Whether you ordered Tomate Crevette as an appetizer or a main dish, people serve it with a fresh salad, bread, or fries – there’s merely a difference in the size of the dish.

🍽️ If you happen to be on the Belgian coast, we suggest you have a quick dine at Julia’s Fish and Oyster, located in the tiny village of St-Idesbald (Koksijde). They serve lunch from 12:00 to 14:00 and dinner from 18:00 to 21:00.

It’s the perfect time to eat delicious local food before exploring the North Sea Coast and the rest of the Western Flanders Province.  

2. Shrimp Croquettes (Garnaalkroketten)

Another shrimp dish in Belgium cuisine you should try is Garnaalkroketten.

These shrimp croquettes are among Belgians’ favourite and recommended appetizers, and most restaurants make this appetizer part of their menu.

Like the Tomate Crevette, you can also eat traditional Belgian food as a main dish, in which case you’ll get three croquettes instead of two.

The Belgian traditional food is thick and comes with a creamy bechamel and grey shrimp filling. Soft on the inside with a crunchy crust, Garnaalkroketten is a favourite among travellers too!

You can order this at any mealtime or season. As an appetizer, restaurants serve Garnaalkroketten with a lemon wedge, fried parsley, and/or slices of bread. You can get full of shrimp croquettes as a main dish with fries. 

🍽️ We recommend tasting the best Garnaalkroketten at Fernand Obb Delicatessen. You can find the kitchen bar along Saint-Gilles in Brussels. So if you are in the city, we suggest eating authentic Belgian homemade meals at this restaurant.

3. Flemish-Style Asparagus (Asparagus à la Flamande) 

White Asparagus dishes are special among Belgians. You can taste their delicious dishes highlighting white asparagus only in May and June.

So if you visit the country in these months, always check out the restaurant menus for white asparagus. 

What makes Belgians crazy about Asperges? They are not easy to maintain and grow, making them a luxurious ingredient among the other food in Belgian cuisine.

The white asparagus is softer and sweeter than other varieties, and they are pretty expensive. Still, every bite of the ‘Asparagus Flemish style’ dish is worth every penny.

If you visit the country during the harvest season, you can find asparagus à la Flamande on most restaurant menus served with hardboiled eggs and butter sauce. Some variations include salt, ham, salmon, and shrimp toppings. 

People also include white asparagus in other dishes such as soups, quiche, and pasta.

🍽️ Taste this appetizer in Mechelen restaurants or dine in Allegro Moderato in Ghent. We recommend booking a table at this restaurant on special days due to its romantic atmosphere.

Make it a significant food experience even when you are staying for only 1 day in Ghent by ordering the appetizer. 

4. Potato Salad (Salad Liégeoise / Luikse Salade)

In colder months, the Salad Liégeoise is one of the best food in Belgium. The salad from Liège offers warmth and a treat for food travellers and locals. 

Each serving of potato salad is packed with green beans, bacon, and potatoes. Some serve the Salad Liégeoise with hard-boiled or poached eggs and walnuts on top.

Likewise, other restaurants add sherry and vinegar varieties to make the dish more flavorful. Taste this savoury appetizer and main dish in restaurants in the city of Liège.

Savoury Dishes

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Did the appetizers pique your appetite? Next on your restaurant order in Belgium are the savoury and main dishes.

You may prefer getting some of the appetizers in bigger servings as your main dish, but Belgians still have a selection of delectable flavours to offer.

Whether fish, chicken, or beef, discover the traditional main dishes from various places in Belgium.

5. Flemish Beef Stew (Stoofvlees/Stoverij / Carbonade Flamande)

Stews are a popular Belgian homemade food, and stoofvlees (also called stoverij) is the first on the list. When picking beef stew for your first dinner in Belgium, you can never go wrong.

It is a well-known traditional food among Belgians, some even stating that it is the signature Belgian dish.

The 15th of March was even declared the national Flemish Stew and fries day by the famous tv chef and restaurant owner Jeroen Meus.

You can find families cooking the famous Belgium food in their homes, but making this iconic traditional dish takes time and patience. The meat takes 3 hours to simmer, making it immaculately soft and easy to eat.

What makes Stoofvlees different from the French Beef Bourguignon are the ingredients. Instead of red wine, Belgians prepare the stew with dark beer, giving the sauce and meat a rich taste. They also add mustard and thyme. 

You can get the famous food in Belgium with fries, bread, or potato croquettes. It is best to pair the stew with an apple-based fruity sauce or add a green salad side dish.

🍽️ Visit the dainty restaurant in Bruges called De Vlaamsche Pot for large delicious portions. For only €32,00, you can get the Flemish beef stew served with fries and sauces. 

6. Fish or Chicken Stew from Ghent (Gentse Waterzooi) 

Pick the Gentse Waterzooi (or just Waterzooi) as your main dish if you prefer a creamy stew. When choosing comfort food, Belgians often go for Waterzooi.

When visiting any destination – but especially the city of Ghent – picking Waterzooi for lunch or dinner is a good choice if you want to try typical Belgian food.

Waterzooi is one of the traditional foods in Belgium for cold weather. The dish basically means water or to boil.

Restaurants and families make this delicious soup with fish, carrots, leek, potatoes, and heavy cream, giving you a rich, creamy taste. The broth and egg make the sauce thick.

Nowadays, you can find both chicken and fish options for Waterzooi in restaurants, often served with bread. However, it’s not a standard dish on most menus.

🍽️ We recommend stopping for a chicken or fish stew meal at ‘t Klokhuys, located at the heart of Ghent. The restaurant is famous among locals and tourists for its Gentse Waterzooi, available for only € 27. It is also the best spot for tasting other local meals such as Stoofvlees. 

7. Mussels (Moules-Frites / Mosselen Met Friet)

Moules-Frites is among the traditional Belgium foods using freshly caught mussels from the North Sea.

Belgians love beer as their secret food ingredient, and combining mussels with a traditional Belgian beer is part of what makes this seafood dish a delight among locals and travellers.

The mussels are cooked in vegetable broth or white wine. Restaurants typically serve Moules-Frites with steamed onions and celery.

On the side, you can either have slices of bread or a variety of dips for your fries, like lemon-mustard sauce and mayonnaise, but the locals love to dip their fries into the leftover sauce from the mussels. 

🍽️ Chez Leon is the best restaurant when it comes to this Belgium national food. It is found right at the heart of Brussels and nearby many sights. Besides being a tourist favourite, locals also love their seafood dishes.

Another great option is to eat mussels at one of the many seaside restaurants along the coast – it won’t get any fresher than this!

8. Vegetable Stew with Meat (Hutsepot / Hochepot)

You can just see how Belgians love to have a hearty soup, and among the many foods to try in Belgium, we have another one on our list that you should definitely have when visiting the country.

With rich vegetable crops and meats, you can find a mix of these ingredients in their traditional Hutsepot, which is something between a stew and soup. In any case, it’s a typical winter dish that will get you all heated up.

Get a warm taste of the Belgium typical food prepared traditionally by farmers during the winter season. It is a mix of winter veggies like carrots, parsnips, onions, leeks, celery, herbs, potatoes and large chunks of meat.

When staying at friends’ houses, their stew may taste different. Each home has its own recipe for Hutsepot. They may use beef marrowbones, ribs, or sausages – as it used to be a poor-mans-dish, it may contain anything that was available.

9. Mashed Potatoes with Vegetables (Stoemp)

Another traditional food in Belgium you should order during the winter season is Stoemp. It is less creamy than your regular mashed potatoes.

What sets Stoemp apart from its mashed potato counterpart is that Belgians include a mix of other vegetables.

A Stoemp is not just potato-based but always includes a vegetable. The most popular ones are carrot stoemp, spinach stoemp, pea stoemp and so on. Any vegetable is possible.

💡 Did you know? This is a very popular dish for locals to make at home. It’s also a massive hit with kids and an easy way to make them eat their veggies.

Belgians often serve Stoemp with sausages. Besides serving as the main course, the mashed potato can also be a side dish.

🍽️ Order the vegetable dish at Fin de Siècle in Brussels. Their Stoemp Saucisses only cost € 17,85. The restaurant is trendy among locals for its spot-on delicious Belgian delicacies.

10. Eel in the Green (Paling in’t Groen / Anguille au Vert)

Eels are famous worldwide, and it is also a traditional food of Belgium. Whether grilled, smoked, or cooked, most restaurants have their own twist on eel dishes. 

With a wide selection of eel dishes, what should you get in Belgium? Paling in’t Groen is a must-try!

The traditional dish originated in Antwerp, where locals caught their eels at the De Schelde River. Fishermen often prepared Paling in’t Groen with vegetables and herbs found along the river back in the day. 

Belgians cut the eels into chunks and cook them in sorrel, chervil, parsley, or watercress. The combination gives a green colour, so always check your teeth for bits of greens after eating this delicious dish. 

The eel dish is best served with hot bread or fries and drinks of beer or wine, particularly the Alsace kind. The cold dish is also best eaten with a squeeze of lemon all over the eels. 

🍽️ The best place to taste Eel in the Green is at Siphon Damme. If you want classic Belgian meals, the restaurant is a favourite among Belgian food connoisseurs and locals. Located in Bruges, they specialized in cooking Paling in’t Groen.

11. Endive Gratin with Ham (Chicon au Gratin)

We listed a handful of winter dish recommendations, and Chicon au Gratin is another must-try savoury dish.

It is one of the easiest and quickest national food in Belgium that is often prepared at home, but you can find it in some restaurants as well.

The simple dish only consists of Belgian endives and baked ham. Belgians wrap endives with ham slices, then the grated cheese and Béchamel sauce make it creamy.

The flavours can be shocking for travellers who are not used to eating endives, but the bitterness and rich cheesy sauce make a great combination! 

Eating the Chicon au Gratin is as traditional as you can get. The meal is often served with mashed potatoes.

Even just staying for one day in Brussels, it is not impossible to get a taste of this classic dish.

🍽️ It may be an easy feat, but we found the best place in Belgium: Restobieres (Permanently closed). The dainty restaurant offering traditional Belgian food in Brussels is a local secret that offers a Belgian gastronomy tour with most dishes served with beer. 

Sweet Dishes 

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It is time to conclude your meal with desserts. Chocolates are not the only dessert or snack you should try in Belgium. You can still find local sweet confections and products originating from various towns!

12. Cuberdon

The cone or nose-shaped candy is a popular snack and delicacy among Ghent locals. When visiting this majestic town, do not forget to grab a handful of Cuberdon.

Traditionally, the sweet snack has a purple exterior and a raspberry filling. Nowadays, you can get these tasty snacks in different flavours/colours that come in various sizes.

It has a hard outer layer with a gelatinous filling inside, making it an excellent treat among kids and adults. But this local snack is not easy to make. They need to preserve the candy for three weeks for crystalization. 

To get the best experience eating Cuberdon, you need to eat it fresh from the candy shop. Cuberdons are the least exported snack from Belgium because the shell becomes too crispy when stored for a long time. 

🍽️ You can find Cuberdons everywhere in Belgium, but if you want to try various flavours, order at Confiserie Geldhof. After waking up in your hotel in Ghent, visit the city’s Groentenmarkt. It has a couple of open-air carts selling piles of Cuberdons every day.

13. Sirop de Liège / Luikse Siroop

Sirop de Liège is a Belgian jelly spread made from dates, pears, and apples. Sometimes, it can be a mixture of apples or pears with apricots and dates. Belgians do not really use sweeteners to make it sweet. 

You can buy Liège’s authentic jelly spread mixture in just about every supermarket. 

We suggest pairing Sirop de Liège with sliced bread or baguettes. You can also use Sirop de Liège with cheese in your bread for a quick breakfast, lunch, or snack. We recommend pairing the jam with Herve cheese.

Besides on a tartine (or an open sandwich), you can also garnish Boûkète with Sirop de Liège. For our daughter, the combination of French toast and Sirop de Liège is a winner!

🍽️ Get the best spread from Siroperie Meurens. It is the most popular and prominent company producing Sirop de Liège in a variety of flavours in Liège. 

14. Boûkète

If you love pancakes in the morning, you should never miss out on Boûkète when in Belgium and particularly in Liège. These sweet pancakes are another Liège speciality made with lard and buckwheat flour.

Since the 18th century, the locals have continued creating these pancakes in their homes.

Traditionally, Belgians eat or serve the pancakes during the Christmas season or on August 15, during the Free Republic of Outre-Meuse festival.

We suggest pairing the Christmas food in Belgium with mulled wine when eaten during the holidays. Buy Boûkètes freshly made or cold topped with cassonade, raisins, or Sirop de Liège.

15. Lacquemants

Another wheat-based sweet snack in Belgium is Lacquemants. The culinary speciality is found anywhere in Belgium, but traditionally, Belgians eat them at the Liège October fair.

You can also taste the thin wafer at Sinksenfoor in Antwerp as snacks during your visit.

Belgians often cut the Lacquements horizontally and coat them with orange blossom-flavoured sugar candy syrup.

Carts in Liège during the October Fair and Sinksenfoor sell Lacquemants individually in a cone. But you can often purchase Lacquemants in boxes of 6 and reheat them at home with a microwave.

16. Aalsterse Vlaai

Part of Aalst food history is the Aalsterse Vlaai. As the name suggests, the pastry is mainly produced in the town of Aalst. The regional pie also has variations depending on the area in Aalst.

Whether you pick the Wetterse Vlaai or the Kalkense Vlaai, they all have one key ingredient: the mastellen, a flat cinnamon bun that originated in Aalst. 

💡 Did you know? Mastellen is usually eaten as “ironed mastellen“. Now, you would probably think that this has a symbolic meaning, but that’s not the case. The Mastellen are cut open, buttered and topped with brown sugar. Then some aluminium foil goes on top after which it is ironed very softly until the mastel becomes flat.

Traditionally, locals made the pie with leftover speculaas or gingerbread during fair seasons.

Vlaai is so soft that you can eat it or use it as a spread for your sandwich. As opposed to the Limburgse Vlaai from the Netherlands, Aalsterse Vlaai does not contain fruit.

The traditional way Belgians cook Aalsterse Vlaai is with mastellen, gingerbread, candy syrup, milk, brown sugar and eggs, and then sprinkled with granulated sugar.

After leaving it to rest overnight, it is mixed again and cooked for about 40 minutes. 

What makes Aalsterse Vlaai challenging is looking for mastellen. Not all bakeries sell these, making people look for substitute products for a long time (speculaas is often used). 

You can easily recognize the pie for its brown-yellow colour in a tin. Nine famous bakeries and coffee shops sell the delicacy in Aalst.

🍽️ If you want to take a coffee break after touring around Aalst, visit Koffie & Theehuis Lowie. They serve pies and unique brewed coffee selections. 

17. Speculoos

Speculoos are spiced cookies that are traditionally made and eaten on St. Nicholas Day or Sinterklaas.

They are also popular during the winter holidays and can be found in many Belgian homes and bakeries. But nowadays, you can find them year-round at breakfast tables or coffee breaks.

Made from a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, this treat is often paired with a comforting cup of coffee or tea.

They can also be used to make other desserts, such as speculoos ice cream, speculoos cake, speculoos crumble, or speculoos paste.

18. Rice Tart (Tarte au Riz / Rijsttaart / Rijstevlaai)

This classic dessert has its roots in the Belgian countryside, the region around Verviers in Belgium, where rice was a commodity.

Tarte Au Riz is a traditional Belgian dessert that is made with rice, milk, sugar, eggs, and butter.

The rice is cooked in milk until it is soft, and then it is combined with eggs, sugar, and butter. Afterwards, the blend is poured into a pastry crust and baked until achieving a golden brown hue.

If you are ever in Belgium, be sure to try Tarte Au Riz. Usually served warm, but you can also enjoy it cold.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Final thoughts: Traditional food from Belgium

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If you are a foodie, summer and winter are the best times to visit Belgium.

The stews you can try in each city satisfy your craving for warm dishes during the cold season, while the summer season lets you in on seasonal crops.

But the flavours in each city vary, guaranteeing that on any date, you can still have a taste of the snacks, appetizers, and other savoury traditional food from Belgium.

Discover what Belgium is famous for and get to know historical figures that helped shape the country to complete your dining and travel itinerary like a pro. 

Babs Rodrigus is a travel addict by heart and loves to explore her home country Belgium ánd the rest of the world – preferably with her wife and daughter. She’s all about showing you the most mesmerising spots in this tiny European country and making you see how great it truly is.

When she’s not travelling, Babs loves to read, write, eat chocolate (hey, Belgian remember) and sing Frozen songs with her daughter.