When in Palermo, you must try Sicilian Street Food! The Italian lifestyle is a rather relaxed one. Especially the more in the south of the country you are, the more relaxed it will appear. Also, it’s definitely way hotter in the south in the summer, than in other more northern regions. Hence, a relaxed pause of the day in the afternoon, to beat the suffocating heat, is necessary. Also, eating while on the go is a nice way. Not particularly in the form of rushing and rushing and literally eating while walking, but pausing on the way in a bar for a snack, and enjoying a nice Sicilian street food. And continuing the journey, probably to a nice restaurant for dinner. Read here below more about the different typical nibbles and snacks, both sweet and savoury, you have to try when in Sicily! besides the ones below, you will aso find plenty of intestines at street vendors, such as Stigghiola or Pani ca Meusa.

Sicilian Street Food – a must try!

When in Palermo, you should definitely devour into their food scene and try some of the authentic Sicilian street food. However, eating everything in just one day might not be too beneficial for your health, as everything is fried in oil. Just keep this in mind. Even if your time on beautiful Sicily might be short, don’t overdo it on the Sicilian snacks, as they are no doubt delicious, but rather fatty and hefty…

typical sicilian street food – Arancine / Aranchini

When you hear about Sicilian Street Food, Arancine might be the first and only thing that instantly comes to your mind. Arancine or Arancini are breaded and fried rice balls often filled with meat ragu, peas or cheese. And utterly delicious! Depending on the province, they are also prepared in conical form.

typical sicilian street food – Panelle

Panelle are typical for Sicily and are typically made with chickpea flour and some seasoning/herbs. Panelle are often eaten between slices of bread or in a bun, like a sandwich. Panelle is quite similar to the panisse of Nice, also fritters made with chickpea flour.

typical sicilian street food – Crocché

Crocché is a dish of both Neapolitan and Sicilian origin. The mix of mashed potatoes and egg is coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried similar but not as crispy as a croquette.

typical sicilian street food – Sfincione

Sicilian Sfincione pizza has a soft, focaccia-like base and is smeared with tomato sauce and topped with flavorful cheese, anchovies, onions and oregano. The toppings such as onions and anchovies either as a whole, or everything and the tomatoes cut into small bits to a spreadable mass and then cooked. Compared to Pizza Neapolitana the dough of Sfincione is thicker and sometimes even lightly sweetened.

typical sicilian street food – Cannolo

The only sweet typical Sicilian street food in this list, even though they are of course not the only typical sweet cake from Sicily. Cassata is also definitely worth a mention. However, Cannolo are way more popular and available all over the world, in upper scale Italian Restaurants and bakeries. Such as in Los Angeles, or Sydney.
Cannolo is a round shaped deep-fried pastry, typically filled with a cream of ricotta, vanilla or cocoa, chocolate chips and candied fruit. You can usually find Cannolo in different sizes, in small petite and regular. With the latter of a size of about 7 to 10 cm in length. For a first try, it’s recommended to enjoy a petite size if alone, when available, or share a regular sized one.

Have you already enjoyed one or more typical Sicilian street foods? What was your favourite? Let me know in the comments below! 😉