21 Best Italian Street Foods To Try in 2025

Interested in learning more about Italian street food? Planning your food tour of Italy but not sure where to start? Check out our compilation of the very best snacks and treats that this country has to offer. 

Italian cuisine is beloved worldwide for its rich flavors, diverse regional specialties, and iconic dishes like pizza, pasta and gelato. According to Statista, Italian cuisine was ranked as the best globally, with its market value reaching an impressive 228 billion euros in 2022. Its widespread appeal comes from a unique blend of tradition, quality ingredients and culinary creativity, making it one of the most celebrated cuisines across the globe.

Whether you’re staying long-term or just a short while, there are endless Italian cuisine and street food options to try. From worldwide classics like pizza and gelato to lesser-known treats like cannoncini (cream horns) and tramezzini (crustless sandwiches), there’s sure to be something for everyone. 

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• What Is Italian Street Food Like?
• 21 Popular Italian Street Foods To Try
• Learn How To Cook Italian Food 

What Is Italian Street Food Like?

Every country has its own street food, and Italy is no exception. Just like its main cuisine, Italian street food is fresh and authentic. The difference is that these foods are designed specifically for those who are often on the go, or taking a quick little break before continuing the day’s adventures.

As a result, they’re convenient to hold, easy to enjoy and a great way to learn more about the history and customs of the region you’re in. After all, both have lasting effects on the kinds of food served. Whether you’re enjoying lamb skewers in the shepherding country or Italian hot chocolate on the picturesque slopes in the north, there’s always something new to learn.

21 Popular Italian Street Foods To Try 

1. Focaccia 

What’s crisp, fragrant and has endless variations? Focaccia, of course. Originally from Genova (making it a Genoa food), this infamous Italian street food can be found all over Italy, as well as the world, today. It’s often served as an appetizer or light snack. In its most traditional form, this soft and airy bread gets drizzled with olive oil and salt.

Depending on the area, ingredients vary to make other delicious combinations too. One example is focaccia barese from Puglia in Southern Italy, which uses durum wheat flour, rosemary and tomatoes or olives. Another is sardenaira from Sanremo, which uses sardines or anchovies. 

2. Arrosticini 

Have you heard of Abruzzese arrosticini? These are savory Italian sheep or mutton skewers, usually cooked on a long fornacella barbeque. As the name suggests, Arrosticini are a traditional Italian street food with roots in Abruzzo, a region known for its rich shepherding history. Unlike lamb skewers, these sheep skewers have a unique taste that comes from the balance of sheep fat and lean meat, as well as protein and mineral salts that help the meat caramelize while cooking.

Enjoy the sizzle of this Italian street food as it’s prepared fresh before your eyes. Some advice: take bites from the sides to get a balance of the different cuts of meat used in this delicacy.

3. Piadina Romagnola 

If you can’t decide between a flatbread sandwich, a cheese board or a salad, go for a piadina romagnola. This Italian street food combines refreshing vegetables, cheeses and cold cuts with a thin piadina flatbread. This bread is similar to the kind used in Greek kebabs or gyros. It’s from the northern region of Emilia Romagna, a place that’s well-known for its high-quality wine and food. With different customizable ingredient combinations and even dessert options to finish a meal or enjoy as a snack, this is a versatile Italian street food indeed.

4. Panini 

This next Italian street food is definitely one of the more recognizable names on this list. Panini (plural for a panino, meaning ‘small bread’) has become a popular feature of cafés around the world, enjoyed for its simplicity and refreshing taste. And in Italy, these are even available as a convenient handheld street food.

A classic panini is made with a regional bread of choice, tomato slices, mozzarella and basil. Other combinations include prosciutto or other kinds of ham, cheese and vegetables. Fun fact: these quick-serve sandwiches gained popularity in the 1970s when busy office workers in Milan needed a quick and filling lunch option.

5. Calzone 

Ah, the calzone. It’s a pizza. It’s a sandwich. It’s all of the above. This is another Italian street food that can commonly be found worldwide. Essentially, it's a pizza folded into a half-moon shape and pinched together at the curve to create a tasty pocket-like snack. Common fillings include ham, cheese, tomato, eggs and Italian spices. You probably won’t be surprised that the calzone shares the same origins as pizza, in the region of Compania. Both of these Italian street foods are also oven-baked, have different versions depending on the area and can be found in pizzerias all over the country.

6. Pizza al Taglio 

If you want pizza in its best on-the-go form, go for pizza al taglio. Its direct translation means ‘pizza by the cut,’ which is exactly what this Italian street food is: specialized pizzas, cut into square or rectangular slices and sold to customers by weight. The light toppings and handheld nature makes pizza al taglio easy to enjoy while on the go or during a well-deserved break from the day’s adventures. First seen in Rome back in the 1950s, the convenience of this snack helped it grow into the commonly beloved Italian street food it is today.

7. Panzerotti 

Similar to the earlier mentioned calzone is the panzerotti. While this Italian street food looks extremely similar at first glance, there are a few key differences upon further investigation that work to elevate it. First off, the panzerotti uses a softer dough than calzones do. Instead of being folded, classic fillings like tomato, pesto, cheese and ham are stuffed inside. Finally, the panzerotti is fried instead of baked.

When the layers are crisp and fall away into flaky perfection, that’s when you know you’ve got one of the best Italian street food options in your hand. Be sure to try the panzerotti among other Milan food options.  

8. Porchetta 

If you ever find yourself in the Lazio region during local festivities or events, be sure to try the panino con porchetta. This unique Italian street food is made with a slice of stuffed pork roast seasoned with garlic, rosemary, black pepper and spices, then sandwiched in a crusted rosetta or ciriola bread roll.

Other fillings like lettuce and tomato might also be added, resulting in balanced bites of fresh veggies and juicy, seasoned meat. It’s a festival classic and even has one dedicated to it: Ariccia’s Sagra della Porchetta, meaning Porchetta festival. Of course, porchetta is available all over the country as well. This Italian street food is a must-try for meat lovers everywhere.  

9. Lampredotto 

When you’re on the lookout for different foodie bucket list options to try, make sure the lampredotto in Florence is on your list. This delicacy of an Italian street food is made with broth-boiled beef stomach; the fourth stomach of the cow, to be specific (also known as the ‘abomasum’). It’s then used as filling in a sandwich along with salt, pepper and an flavorful green sauce made from eggs, capers and anchovies.

With beef that’s soaked up the heartiness of the broth and a tangy sauce to pair it with, the delicate flavors of this Italian street food are simply unmatched. Locals line up in droves for this famous Florence food.  

10. Tramezzini 

Prefer a no-crust situation? Tramezzini sandwiches are about to be your new favorite Italian street food. These sandwiches come in classic triangles, no crusts or crunch whatsoever. And of course, all the popular filling combinations. Choose from egg salad, tuna, ham and cheese or tomato and mozzarella.

You can also request for your tramezzini to be grilled beforehand if you want the cheese to be melted and warm, which makes for a perfect breakfast or midday snack. This is a street food Italy locals would deem to be one of the best in the city, right up there with other delectable Rome food options.  

11. Olive All’Ascolana 

Along with sandwiches, there are tons of other unique Italian street food options. Olive all’ascolana is one of them. These stuffed olives are filled with seasoned ground meat and Parmesan, then lightly breaded and fried to crispy mouthwatering perfection. This is a signature dish made with green olives that grow in the town of Ascoli-Piceno as well as the general Le Marche region. This mini-sized Italian street food is often sold as an appetizer in wine bars and restaurants as well as by itself in a paper cone.

12. Suppli 

As the cousin of arancini, suppli might be seen as its smaller (yet still mighty), more cylindrical version. The fillings of this popular Italian street food include rice cooked risotto-style, with butter, eggs and milk mixed in afterward, along with other ingredients depending on the region. After the rice cools down, it gets added to tomato sauce, stuffed with a stick of mozzarella, shaped into small cylinders and fried until golden brown. In true romantic fashion, the full name of this Italian street food is suppli al telefono, which refers to how the resulting cheese pull of splitting one into two halves looks just like an old telephone line. 

13. Arancini 

Fans of Italian cuisine should know this next Italian street food well: arancini, meaning orange. With Sicilian roots, arancini are delectable handful-sized balls of rice and filling that gets breaded and fried. The rice is first cooked in broth or salted water, then seasoned with saffron for color. It then gets added to traditional fillings like thick ragu, peas and caciocavallo cheese, or more modern ones like diced ham and mozzarella. After getting shaped like a ‘feminine’ sphere (arancine) or ‘masculine’ cone-esque shape (arancini) and fried to a golden hue, the Italian street food looks just like its namesake.

14. Scaccia 

With variations across regions and a unique composition of ingredients, scaccia is a compelling Italian street food indeed. Its roots go back to Ragusa, where it was enjoyed as a humble staple for the peasant class. Afterward, it was brought to Sicily. Today, scaccia is made by covering a thin pizza-like dough with classic toppings like ricotta cheese, sausage, sauces, anchovies and vegetables, then folding it and repeating.

In the end you have a lasagna-style dish with layers upon layers of flavor and filling. If you head to Tuscany, you might find another version of this Italian street food: schiacciata, which is made with focaccia and different cuts of ham instead.  

15. Cioccolata Calda

Calling all chocolate lovers! This next Italian street food/ drink option is a seasonal one: cioccolata calda, otherwise known as Italian hot chocolate. It’s known to be one of the most decadent, comforting drinks you can try, especially if you find yourself on the slopes of Northern Italy during the winter. Cioccolata calda is made with milk, melted chocolate and a thickening agent like cornstarch to achieve that rich and creamy texture. Vendors of this Italian street food/ drink staple often make it by the batch and use an old-fashioned ladle and cups for serving, along with whipped cream and cocoa powder.

16. Cuoppo Napoletano 

Where to begin? This name refers to the assortment of deep-fried Italian street food snacks you can get while walking down the cobblestone paths of Naples. The city is famous for its endless vendor stalls of treats, especially the centuries-old cuoppo. Created by sea merchants to sell leftover fish pieces by frying them on the spot for customers, this Italian street food has grown to have two options: land and sea.

The land (di terra) option consists of fried potato croquettes, arancini, and stuffed vegetables. The sea (di mare) option includes fried calamari, salt cod and anchovies. This is a great Italian street food option to hold while strolling along, seeing the sights.

17. Cannoncini

Now that we’re well into sweet-tooth territory, it would be remiss to keep from mentioning the cannoncini, also known as Italian cream horns. This Italian street food is a popular mignon (‘small and pretty’) pastry because of its delicate shape and simple purpose as a vessel for smooth classic fillings. To make it, pastry dough is shaped into a cone with a metal cylinder before getting baked and glazed with caramelized sugar.

Afterward, it’s piped with common fillings like custard, lemon or chocolate. Be sure to try this dainty Italian street food if you have the chance, especially if you find yourself in its originating birthplace, Piedmonte.

18. Cannoli 

For a more complex alternative to the cannoncini, try its better-known counterpart: the cannoli. This Italian street food comes from Palermo, making it one of the top authentic Palermo food options you can go for. It’s a tube-like pastry made with crusty pastry dough that gets fried and piped with a unique filling of sweet ricotta cheese. In some recipes, chocolate chips are added too.

Then it gets dipped into different toppings, with pistachios being the most common, and finished with candied cherry and orange peel pieces on each end. The result is a delightful Italian street food that’s sweet, creamy, nutty and tangy all at once.

19. Gelato 

Perhaps the most famous Italian street food dessert you can get is gelato. This artisanal treat can be found all over the world, but there’s something special about enjoying a scoop from a traditional Italian street vendor. Every batch is made with a custard base, similar to ice cream, but that’s where the similarities end. In comparison, this Italian street food is made with more milk, less cream and less eggs if any at all. It’s churned more slowly too, which keeps the dessert dense and smooth. Gelato comes in endless flavors, including lemon, dark chocolate, strawberry and raspberry.

20. Maritozzi 

For the perfect bun-to-cream ratio, it’s imperative to try maritozzi. At its core, this Italian street food is a fluffy brioche bun that’s sliced halfway down the middle and piped with whipped cream. But there’s so much more to it; the brioche is made with olive oil, honey, orange zest and vanilla and varied additions like raisins, candied fruits and even pignoli nuts.

Maritozzi is a lesser-known street food in Italy that visitors and locals often like to enjoy for breakfast, or perhaps as a midday snack. This makes complete sense; each bite of this food option is light and airy, making it perfect for pairing with a morning coffee or espresso. 

21. Sfogliatella Riccia 

Our last but not least Italian street food on this list is the sfogliatella riccia, meaning ‘small thin leaf or layer.’ This flaky shell-shaped pastry is a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds. While it’s known as a Naples food staple today, the sfogliatella riccia originates southeast of the city in the province of Salerno. It’s made with dough and a filling of sugar, limoncello and nuts, which gets baked into delicate perfection and dusted with icing sugar. For a uniquely fragrant, crispy Italian street food that also hits the sweet spot, this is the one to try.

Learn How To Cook Italian Food 

Exploring the different kinds of Italian street food available is one of a few great ways to learn more about the country’s customs and history. If you find yourself curious to learn even more, consider taking one of the cooking classes near you for some hands-on experience in creating your own Italian dishes. Each class is taught by an expert chef with plenty of experience to learn from. You’ll be learning the secret techniques for cooking perfect famous Italian street foods like the ones on this list, as well as other dishes, in no time at all.  

If you’d like to learn more from the comfort of your own home kitchen, joining one of the online cooking classes available in your area could be the perfect compromise. Recreate your favorites of the best Italian street foods around, with the guidance of an expert chef to help every step of the way. 

From savory fried goods and pizza-esque options to unique pastries and desserts, Italian street food has it all. The convenience and variety of this food option make it even more enticing when you’re planning on sightseeing or simply relaxing for days on end. So when you’re planning your next visit, be sure to factor in some time to relax and enjoy some of the best traditional street food Italy has to offer.

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