23 Best Filipino Street Foods To Try in 2025

Few global culinary traditions offer the intriguing range and richness of Filipino street food. This gem of the Asian-Pacific dining world is filled with creations crafted in stalls and stands that give the region’s street food forum a buzzy energy beyond mere tastes and textures. 

There’s also an element of cultural ingenuity that infuses every creation, combining indigenous aspects with influences from beyond the islands. With a menu overflowing with sweet and savory selections perfect for quick grab-and-eat enjoyment, Filipino street food is a treasury of treats no food lover should miss.

Where do you begin if you’re a newcomer to the possibilities of Filipino street food? This insightful guide provides a variety of the best-loved options to get your taste buds moving in the right direction. Whether you find these fascinating and flavorful selections in your local Asian food market, try them in local restaurants in your area or discover them on a journey to the islands, you’re in for a delicious adventure! 

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• What Is Filipino Street Food Like?
• 23 Popular Filipino Street Foods To Try
• Learn How To Cook Filipino Food 

What Is Filipino Street Food Like?

Filipino street food is a hearty mix of traditional flavors that represent the very best of the region’s customary creations. There are strong influences from China and a few elements from Spain, representative of the Philippines’ history as a trade hub and colonial destination. 

You’ll find dishes featuring indigenous ingredients like papaya, banana, coconut and green mango, all of which give the cuisine a distinctive tropical sensibility. Along with savory seasonings and batters that provide quintessential tastes and textures, the street food of the Philippines also incorporates tapioca and ube as sweeteners for the more decadent elements of the local street food menu.

23 Popular Filipino Street Foods To Try 

1. Kwek Kwek

The vibrant colors of kwek kwek make this dish one of the most visually stunning Filipino street foods you’ll find. Kwek kwek offers diners hard-boiled quail eggs dipped in bright orange batter and fried crisp. 

It's served with vinegar or a signature sweet-and-spicy sarsa, a sauce featuring a mix of chili, soy sauce, brown sugar, onions, garlic and sometimes other spices. The eggs are presented on skewers, creating a strand of vivid, savory spheres that invite curious eaters to try a few at a time.  

2. Kutsinta

Kutsinta bear a strong resemblance to flan cups, though these petite Filipino street food treats hold their form as freestanding cup-shaped bites without help from a dish or ramekin. These steamed rice cakes consist of a rice or tapioca flour dough, sweetened with brown sugar and sometimes colored with annatto extract to lend a yellow tint. They’re the size and shape of a peanut butter cup candy and are often topped with shredded coconut for extra flavor.

3. Bibingka

With Bibingka, it isn't just the recipe and ingredients that represent the most authentic Filipino street food traditions. The process used to create the finished dish is also a window into the legacy practices of Filipino cuisine. 

The dish is a baked rice cake cooked in a banana leaf-lined oven. The result is a delicately sweet confection with the essence of coconut and bananas, adorned with caramelized coconut shreds on top. It’s a familiar breakfast dish and a beloved Filipino Christmas food that helps give the holiday a tasty regional spirit. 

4. Bola Bola

Foodies with an appetite for nugget-like nibbles will adore bola bola, a popular Filipino street food that assembles pork into flavorful spheres of fried wonder. The traditional twist in this familiar fare is that the interior is more like a meatball, held together with eggs and breadcrumbs before being either fried, steamed or baked. Vendors incorporate a variety of seasonings and spices into the mix, giving each creation its own enticing profile. 

5. Taho

Silken tofu ground smooth into a silky pudding-like texture and sweetened with a brown sugar syrup becomes taho, a luxurious Filipino street food akin to a pudding parfait. Though taho is a popular option on the streets of the Philippines now, it’s actually a variation on a Chinese creation called douhua brought to the islands by traders who visited the region prior to Spanish colonization. 

Filipino cooks adapted the original recipe by using brown sugar instead of almonds to flavor the smooth concoction, making it their own comfort food classic. Small, chewy sago pearls, made from starch, are often added. 

6. Balut

Balut, an embryonic duck egg eaten while still in the shell, is one of the most representative Filipino street foods on the circuit, though it has a much different origin. This dish first rose to popularity as a transplanted recipe from Chinese settlers who brought the traditions of using incubated eggs as food during the 16th century. 

Now, this distinctive creation that requires 16-18 days of incubation to prepare appears on many a foodie bucket list, as well as being served in restaurants in the region. You can even find balut in the refrigerator sections of some Asian markets in the U.S.!

7. Maja Blanca

The creamy goodness and fun lumpy texture of maja blanca (sometimes called maja mais) make the Filipino street food scene feel like a comfort cuisine festival! A regional take on traditional corn pudding, maja blanca combines creamed corn with whole coconut milk, glutinous rice and sugar. The finished dish is a sweet, starchy delight that can be recreated using creamed corn to make the process easier for home cooks to try in their own kitchens.  

8. Sorbetes 

If the name sorbetes rings familiar to you, it’s likely due to this luscious frozen dessert being a Filipino street food staple. Sorbetes became popular in the early 20th century when the Philippine Islands gained its first commercial ice plant. 

The base is a smooth mix of fruit juices or, more traditionally, coconut or carabao (water buffalo) milk, resulting in a rich, creamy frozen treat. Locals sometimes call it “dirty ice cream,” referring to the traditional hand-cranking method. The finished product can be sweet or savory and may include add-ins such as melon, tart green mango, cheese or ube, a purple yam native to the region.

9. Sotanghon

You may recognize sotanghon as the Filipino street food version of Asian glass noodles. These fascinating strands are typically made from mung bean starch combined with water. A finished sotanghon dish on the menu is likely to include mushrooms and green onions. 

While it can be served in a savory broth, similar to noodle soups, it's also often used in stir-fries and other dishes. It may also include meats like chicken or pork to add substance and enhance the collective flavor of the dish. 

10. Mangga at Bagoong

Fruit features prominently in Filipino street food, especially in mangga at bagoong, a dish that utilizes sour green mangoes and bagoong, a condiment made from fermented shrimp or fish. The simplest version of this intriguing carry-around treat comes in the form of mango slices topped with a salty mash of fermented shrimp or fish. The dark brownish-red bagoong makes a striking contrast against the brightly-colored mango flesh, offering visual dazzle as fascinating as the unique flavor combination. 

11. Banana Cue

Anyone familiar with the Louisiana flavors of bananas Foster will adore the Filipino street food called banana cue, sometimes written as banana Q. This indulgent dish features deep-fried bananas coated with caramelized brown sugar, a soothing flavor that never disappoints. 

The name is a combination of banana and barbeque, resulting from the fact that the bananas are put on skewers, similar to barbecue. Despite the reference to open-flame cooking, this Filipino food is almost always deep-fried for a crispier exterior, which makes it easy to recreate the recipe in your home kitchen.

12. Palabok

With palabok, foodies in the Philippines can enjoy a dish of rice noodles (specifically, pancit palabok noodles) slathered in a zesty orange sauce flavored with shrimp and garlic. The recipe has been influenced by Filipino natives, Spanish colonists and Chinese settlers, resulting in a fusion creation that developed into something unique to the region. 

This treasured Filipino street food can be dressed up with toppings like hard-cooked egg slices, green onions, sauteed pork and whole shrimp. Annatto seeds are the secret ingredient that bestow the sauce with its vivid orange hue. 

13. Turon

Fans of sweet Asian-Pacific pastries can dig into Turon to find a Filipino street food treasure that turns native lumpia into an indulgent dessert dish. Also known as lumpiang saging, which translates to “banana lumpia,” turon consists of thin slices of banana bound in lumpia wrappers. The rolls are deep-fried and coated in caramelized brown sugar for a sweet finishing crust that adds richness and texture to the finished treat.

If you’re intrigued enough to try creating your own but not a fan of deep-frying, the recipe can be adapted for air fryers to make the confection healthier. Not only will it make the finished dish lighter, it also makes for easier prep and clean-up work.  

14. Buko

One of the most natural Filipino street food curious eaters can get their hands on, buko is simply a young green coconut with young coconut meat inside, served in its natural shell with a straw. Vendors will chop off the top while you watch before serving you buko to show you how fresh it is. It’s a refreshing sip that also hydrates and provides vital electrolytes, a valuable find for tourists on their busy Filipino street food quests.

In addition to basic buko, Filipino street food merchants also offer a version of buko juice that includes condensed milk and strips of fresh coconut for sweetness and flavor. This variant is usually served chilled, providing more of a dessert bite than buko in beverage form.

15. Halo-halo

The Tagalog word for mixed, halo-halo is a shaved ice dessert found on the Filipino street food circuit to refresh passers-by with its creamy, fruity goodness. The blend of evaporated milk, crushed ice, syrups and fresh fruits provides fans of sweet treats a soothing break from the tropical heat. 

Halo-halo is often served as a parfait featuring charming layers of jellies, sweetened beans, tapioca pearls, leche flan (caramel custard) and nata de coco (coconut gel), topped with a generous scoop of ube ice cream or other flavors.  

16. Lugaw 

Lugaw is a savory porridge made from glutinous rice that lends the collection of traditional Filipino street food a hearty comfort dish similar to congee. Warm spices like ginger and black pepper flavor the glutinous rice, which is served warm or hot as a dish in itself. While sweet versions of lugaw exist, the savory versions are far more common and considered the original blend.

17. Mami

Mami is a noodle soup with meat and dumplings that gives Filipino street food its own form of chicken noodle soup. Chunks of chicken meat pepper wheat flour noodles surrounded by chicken broth and topped with sliced hard-cooked egg. 

A Chinese settler and transplanted Filipino street food vendor named Ma Mon Luk is often credited with introducing chicken and noodles to the Philippines around 1920. The recipe was so successful, it became a chain of restaurants named for the man who delivered it to the local dining scene. 

18. Chicharon

You can find chicharon, or deep-fried pork rinds, as an easy snack among the more complex Filipino street food creations. These crispy cracklings are deep-fried and salted, then served as finger foods in bars and restaurants, as well as in stalls along the streets in the region. 

Chicharon is often incorporated into other dishes, usually as a garnish to add smoky flavor and crispy texture to a more complex recipe. They’re so popular in the Philippines, the town of Santa Maria in Bulacan throws a chicharon festival celebrating one of the country’s favorite treats! 

19. Ngohiong

Among the myriad street food options around the Philippines, you’ll find an elegant creation called ngohiong. This delicate roll is typically filled with ground pork and shrimp seasoned with a five-spice blend, a warming mix featuring cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, cloves and Chinese peppercorns. The mixture is wrapped in rice paper wrappers before being deep-fried. Dipping sauces for ngohiong may be sweet and sour or spicy to add a contrasting flavor kick.

20. Iskrambol

If you pronounce it properly, iskrambol sounds like “ice scramble,” which is precisely what this fun Filipino street food puts on the table! Crushed or finely shaved ice flavored with pink coloring and sometimes banana extract, and thickened with condensed or evaporated milk becomes a lush base for mix-ins like marshmallows and flavored syrups, much like traditional ice cream. 

It’s a favorite for younger eaters who can pile on the toppings to their tastes. If you’re lucky enough to watch iskrambol being made with an oversized egg beater, you’ll see instantly how the name of this indulgent goodie came about.

21. Vigan Empanada

A Filipino street food that gives hand pies a dash of local flavor, vigan empanada wraps egg, papaya and a chorizo-like sausage called longganisa. The wrapper is made from rice flour colored with joyful orange annatto seeds, giving this Filipino street food a distinctive tone as unique as the blend of flavors inside. 

Though eggs and sausage may seem like a standard partnership, it’s the papaya that brings fruity sweetness and texture to the recipe. Alternate fillings can be made from mung beans and carrots, though papaya is present in this version as well. 

22. Dinamita

Otherwise referred to as dynamite lumpia, this heat-heavy Filipino street food works siling haba (long green chili peppers) into the spring roll situation. The meat-and-pepper filling is wrapped in lumpia wrappers that are deep-fried until crisp, similar to a taquito or jalapeno popper. They’re an exciting and familiar finger-ready snack generally enjoyed with banana ketchup or sweet chili sauce. Cheese may be added, but it's not a standard ingredient. 

23. Ukoy 

Finding ukoy or okoy among the array of Filipino street food offerings means enjoying crunchy fritters made from various vegetables and small shrimp robed in glutinous rice and egg-based batter and fried until delicately crisp. With elements of sweet potatoes, squash and sprouts, this savory creation has a virtual garden of green goodness worked into the recipe. 

A simple vinegar or fish sauce makes a perfect dip or dressing for the finished patties. If you try making ukoy at home, you can leave out the shrimp for a vegetarian version. 

Learn How To Cook Filipino Food

Learn to prepare the best Filipino street food selection among other delicious dishes by picking up cooking classes near you, featuring top local chefs sharing their secrets for creating incredible homemade cuisine. 

You can select sessions featuring a range of cultures and customs to choose from, representing the finest dining traditions from around the world. You’ll even find online cooking classes to satisfy your busy schedule with home-based digital instruction that fills you in on authentic Filipino goodness.

Anyone intrigued by the exciting possibilities of trying the best Filipino street food can research outlets in their area that offer hearty recreations of these dynamic dishes. With so many creations on the scene using wholesome ingredients, you can easily incorporate Filipino street selections to your home dining regimen as well. 

And suppose you’re fortunate enough to experience fabulous street food in the Philippines on your travels. In that case, you can make a first-hand discovery of the tastes and textures from this vibrant foodie paradise.

For even more ways to explore your favorite foods, check out other experiences happening on Cozymeal.