Canada isn’t just a mass of land that sits north of the USA. We have our own land, people, culture, tradition – and food! Canada is a multicultural country with deep roots and our diet reflects this diversity. Traditional Canadian food, meals and snacks are full of flavour, fun and life!

Read on to learn about the most famous and popular dishes in Canada. Here is your list of everything you must eat when you visit the country. Spoiler alert – it’s not just poutine!

Your List of the Best Canadian Foods, Meals and Snacks

Traditional Food in Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Lobster

Head to the eastern provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador and you will be greeted with friendly faces, a warm welcome, and lots of fresh seafood.

Canada’s east coast is famous for seafood of all kinds. But the region is notorious for lobster. Seafood connoisseurs often refer to the hard-shelled Canadian Atlantic Lobster as the “King of Seafood”. But it also goes by many other names like Atlantic Lobster, American Lobster, Canadian Reds, Northern Lobster and Maine Lobster.

Enjoy your lobster boiled, steamed or stuffed into lobster rolls seaside while singing your favourite sea shanty!

Nova Scotian Donair

This is a unique twist on the traditional Turkish and Greek doner kebab. Halifax, Nova Scotia introduced their version of donair in the early 1970s.

The Halifax take uses beef instead of lamb and adds on a sweet sauce. The sauce makes it truly unique and is made from sugar, garlic, condensed milk, and vinegar.

Halifax loved this dish so much that they named the donair the city’s official food in 2015.

Famous French Canadian Food

Poutine

All hail the almighty poutine! This is probably what Canada is best known for – and I’m totally okay with that.

This high calorie dish originates from the French Canadian province of Quebec. And it’s a crowd pleaser. Traditional poutine consists of french fries topped with fresh cheese curds and a thin brown gravy.

The poutine has become the rock star of the country and is often referred to as Canada’s national dish.

You can try this Canadian recipe at home. St-Hubert is a Canadian restaurant specializing in chicken and poutine. They produce a wicked Poutine Gravy Mix so you can recreate the dish yourself.

Montreal Smoked Meat

Here Canada shows off more of its diversity with the Montreal smoked meat sandwich.

The smoky and salty meat sandwich was brought to Canada by Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s. You will find delis all over Montreal serving up this mile-high sandwich usually served on rye bread with yellow mustard.

Montreal Bagels

Also brought to the country by Jewish immigrants, the Montreal bagel is very different (and dare I say better?) from a New York style bagel.

You will find dozens of bakeries in Montreal selling bagels. And their characteristic sweet, dense and chewy texture is provided by handmade dough, boiling in honey-sweetened water, and then wood-fire baked.

If you are visiting Montreal (which you absolutely must!) check out St-Viateur Bagel. It’s our favourite bagel shop and one of the oldest in the city.

Tourtiere Meat Pie

We have French roots in our family and the tourtiere pie is definetly a tradition in our home.

Although the dish has a French origin, it is a custom throughout the country. And many people only make this delicious dish once a year – on Christmas Eve.

A tourtiere is made with a flaky pie crust filled with ground pork, beef and/or veal, mashed potato, and best of all, cinnamon, clove, allspice and nutmeg. The combination of texture, taste and spice make it a perfect holiday recipe.

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Best Foods of Ontario

Pickerel

Ontario is the ‘unofficial’ center of the Canada. It houses the country’s capital of Ottawa and the almighty Toronto.

It is also very unique as it is surrounded by the Great Lakes. Life in Ontario is consumed by these huge freshwater lakes. And it makes for some fantastic fishing.

Pickerel, or Walleye, is arguably the tastiest fish you will find in the great lakes. And you will see it on menus all over the province. The sweet, white flesh fish is typically battered, fried and served up with coleslaw and tartar sauce.

Icewine

Similar to dessert wine, Icewine is a thick and sweet wine served as or alongside dessert.

Some of the world’s best Icewine is known to come from Canada, specifically Ontario. This is due to Ontario’s perfect climate for Icewine production. In order to produce Icewine, grapes are left on the vine until a sustained temperature of -8°C or below is reached. The grapes then need to be hand-picked and pressed before they thaw. This results in a wine with high sugar and acid content.

Ontario produces world-class wines and they can be found in wine stores across the world. Look for Canadian Icewine in your local shop. If you find it, be sure to serve it in the proper Icewine Glass. Very important.

During your trip to Ontario, make sure to visit Niagara-on-the-Lake for a winery tour you will never forget.

Sausage Stands aka ‘Street Meat’

Sausage stands can be found across Canada, but they are far more common in Ontario.

But us Canadians know these sausage stands by the much more affectionately named ‘Street Meat’. This is the food that fuels all Canadians in their twenties. These tiny sausage carts pop up outside of the clubs at 2 in the morning. It’s the perfect drinking meal.

Your order is an easy choice – sausage on a bun. But they will have a wide array of toppings like fried onions and cheddar cheese.

Persians

This Canadian delicacy is unique to a very small section of Canada – Thunder Bay. You really can’t find these treats anywhere else in the country.

The Persian is somewhat like a cross between a large cinnamon bun and a doughnut and is topped with pink, strawberry icing. You Thunder Bay-ians are hella lucky!

Popular Foods of Western Canada

Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo bars were, of course, created in Nanaimo, British Columbia. But they are a very common dessert throughout the country.

They are the king of dessert bars. Consisting of three beautiful layers. The bottom layer is a fudgy mixture of cocoa, nuts and coconut. The middle layer is a vanilla custard. And the top is a hardened layer of chocolate.

When I lived in Ontario I ate these all the time. Now I literally live half an hour from Nanaimo and I haven’t had one since. Go figure.

If you live nowhere near Nanaimo, you can still give these bars a try. President’s Choice makes a Nanaimo Bar Baking Mix that makes baking simple.

Saskatoon Berry Pie

Saskatoon berries, also referred to as Saskatoons, are purplish-blue berries that resemble blueberries. The Saskatoon berry season is in late June and early July, which is the best time to try the Saskatoon Berry Pie.

They are the perfect pie filling as they are a small enough fruit to break down during the baking process. And the berry is closely related to the apple which gives the filling a perfectly sweet flavour.

Wild Mushrooms

The expansive damp and shady forests of the Pacific Northwest are perfect for mushroom growth. Mushroom foraging is very popular in British Columbia. Of course, chefs and local restaurants take advantage of the supply and have a heavy focus on mushroom-based dishes.

The most common and popular mushrooms found in this region are the wild chanterelle, pine, morel, lobster, and puffball varieties.

Pacific Salmon

The East Coast is famous for its lobster, and the West Coast is famous for its salmon.

You can feel the pride British Columbia has for its Pacific salmon in every market and restaurant you walk into.

There are five types of Pacific salmon found in British Columbia: sockeye, pink, chum, chinook and coho salmon. You will find the fish prepared in every way possible. The most popular being sushi, salmon jerky, smoked salmon and cedar plank salmon.

Our favourite preparation is candied salmon. It’s like candy but its fish. Sounds odd but it works. You can try it too without a trip to British Columbia: Premium Wild Canadian Pacific Smoked Candied Salmon.

Aboriginal and Northern Canadian Food

Bannock

Inuit fried bread has been a part of the Native Candian diet for centuries. Traditionally, it is a quick bread that is baked or fried (spoiler alert – we like it fried).

If you are ever visiting Vancouver, Brtish Columbia you must enjoy dinner at Salmon n’ Bannock. This traditional aboriginal restaurant is consistently voted one of the best restaurants in the city and serves up incredible bannock.

Game Meat

As many aboriginals settled in the northern parts of Canada, their diet consisted mostly of meat that they could hunt. There was little ability to grow and store fruits and vegetables.

The tradition stays strong to this day and the Native Canadian diet centers around game meat including moose, deer, and bison. These meats have now made their way into the Canadian diet as well.

Traditional and Popular Canadian Dishes

Maple Syrup

If you don’t know us for poutine, then you will know us for maple syrup.

This sweet syrup runs deep in our veins and was first collected and used by aboriginal people of Eastern Canada. It remained a big part of our diet since then and Canada is now the world’s largest producer of maple syrup.

Maple syrup is harvested in the spring when the trees thaw out. During this time, all throughout Ontario and Quebec, you will find ‘Sugar Bushes’. This is where they grow the maple trees, harvest the syrup and celebrate with pancake breakfasts.

You will also find the infamous ‘maple toffee’ or ‘tire d’érable sur la neige’ at the sugar bush. Maple syrup is drizzled over top of snow, which instantly freezes the syrup into a toffee.

If all you have ever had is Aunt Jemima, then you have never truly tasted maple syrup. Real maple syrup is thin with a rich, deep amber flavour. Try the real thing at home: 100% Pure Canadian Maple Syrup.

Canadian Peameal Bacon

“Canadian bacon” to most of the world, “Peameal bacon” to us.

Peameal bacon is a wet-cured pork loin that has been trimmed of fat and rolled in cornmeal which creates its signature yellow crust. Because the pork is brined it is both leaner and juicer than regular bacon.

Peameal bacon is a very popular meat that is commonly served with breakfast alongside our fried eggs.

Split Pea Soup

Another dish people can thank French-Canadians for is split pea soup, a winter specialty in Canada. The true traditional version includes whole yellow peas, salted pork, and herbs. But there is a variation in Newfoundland, which usually has root vegetables.

Yorkshire Pudding

Yorkshire pudding is a common English side dish and came to Canada from the English settlers.

It is a take on a dinner roll, but way more interesting. This baked pudding is made from a batter consisting of eggs, flour, and milk. It is then baked in boiling hot oil which turns them into little puff balls of pure airy bliss.

Yorkshire pudding is commonly served with roast beef on a Sunday night family dinner. And you absolutely must serve it with dark beef gravy.

And for the record, my mom makes it the best. Buuut in a pinch, this works too: Original Yorkshire Pudding Mix.

Canadian Pizza

Canadian pizza has nothing to do with the pizza itself. It is all about the toppings.

Order from any Canadian pizza joint and they will have a ‘Canadian Pizza’ option. This typically includes bacon, pepperoni, and mushrooms. A fantastic combination.

Caesar Cocktail

Sorry Americans. But your Bloody Mary has nothing on our Caesar.

Caesars are a big deal in Canada. I would go as far as to call it our national drink. You will find every trendy restaurant offering a ‘Caesar Sunday’ to aid the hangovers of Canadians all over the country.

While very similar to the American Bloody Mary, there is a key difference – Clamato juice. ‘Clamato’ juice gets its name from, you guessed it, clams. This tomato-based juice adds clam juice for a salty and savoury twist. Sound gross? Well, you’re wrong.

Every restaurant has their own take, but the basic recipe includes vodka, Clamato juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and a celery salt-rimmed glass.

The drink is usually garnished with a stalk of celery. But restaurants have gotten pretty creative with this. Check out Score on Davie in Vancouver where they garnish their Caesars with burgers, full chickens and cake.

Step up your cocktail game at home, because Clamato ships international!

Canadian Breakfast

Canadians love breakfast. And we love a good ‘greasy spoon’ breakfast joint to fill our bellies before venturing out into the cold abyss. A Canadian breakfast consists of fried eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and toast.

A popular meal on the breakfast menu is the Lumberjack’s breakfast. This is an enormous breakfast of three or more eggs, portions of ham, bacon and sausages, and several large pancakes.

The lumberjack breakfast was invented by Mr. Houston, hotelier of Gastown, Vancouver in 1870. He created the meal in response to requests from his clientele for a better “feed” at the start of a long, hard day of work

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Canadian Snacks, Candy and Treats

Butter Tarts

I’ve loved butter tarts my whole life and until I was researching for this post I didn’t realize they were a Canadian treat. No wonder I love them. Gosh, I am so patriotic.

The butter tart is said to be invented in Eastern Ontario around 1915. It’s a genius invention. Who would have figured filling pastry with butter and sugar would be delicious?

Ketchup Chips

I have heard rumours that ketchup chips aren’t a thing in other countries? Is this true?

Ketchup chips are one of the most popular flavour of potato chip in Canada. And for good reason. They are the perfect addition of sweet spice to the crunchy chip.

Other popular chip flavours in Canada are Dill Pickle and All Dressed – which are also apparently unique to the country.

Kinder Surprise

We included this one purely as a dig on the States. We have to take our wins when we can get them.

Kinder Surprise eggs are of course available and extremely popular everywhere in the world. Everywhere except for the USA of course.

These milky and creamy chocolate eggs contain a toy inside. Which is what makes them illegal in the States. The USA has a law where anything that is edible cannot contain something that is inedible. Too bad for you guys! 😜

Flapper Pie

The Flapper Pie is a staple of the Canadian prairie culture. And it may be pie perfection.

The pie is a vanilla custard pie topped with meringue and has a Graham cracker crust. Making for a perfectly light dessert with a little crunch for fun.

Beaver Tails

Beaver Tails are a truly Canadian company which started its roots in Ottawa, Ontario. There are now shops all across the country. You’ll find these food trucks and little shops everywhere from amusement parks to the top of ski hills.

A beaver tail is a long and narrow piece of sweet dough that is deep fried until crisp. The fried dough is usually topped with icing sugar, cinnamon sugar, or our favourite, Nutella. The finished product resembles a beaver tail – Canada’s national animal.

Canadian Chocolate Bars

Canada loves its sweets (if you haven’t already noticed). And we have some killer chocolate bars to prove it.

Our most notable Canadian candy companies are Nestle and Cadbury. Nestle produces favourites like Smarties, Coffee Crisp, Aero, and Kit Kat. Cadbury produces Caramilk, Crunchie, Mr. Big, and my personal favourite, Wunderbar. Wunderbar is chocolate bar perfection. If you haven’t had this chocolate bar I am so sorry. (If you want to try any of these chocolate bars, I have linked each one so you can purchase it on Amazon).

Okay Canucks, did I miss anything? Share your favourite Canadian meal in the comments below!

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