10 Delicious Dutch Dishes in Amsterdam

Stamppot is a traditional Dutch dish made from a combination of potatoes mashed with one or several vegetables. These pairings also include sauerkraut, endives, kale, spinach, and sometimes turnip greens. This is usually paired with the traditional Dutch sausage. Stamppot is believed to be one of the oldest, and yet still one of the most popular Dutch dishes ever.

How about some Stamppot at Moeders?

Hutspot is a dish of boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots, and onions. The meal includes a type of carrot known as winterpeen, which gives it a distinctive hint of sweetness that ordinary carrots cannot. Hutspot is traditionally served with a piece of braised beef or a sausage and can be found all over the country. Every year this meal is consumed by locals and tourists in enormous amounts.

The Pantry is a popular Hutspot place.

The Dutch Butter Cake is dense and chewy like a biscuit. It is made with a combination of butter, flour, sugar, eggs and vanilla. On some occasions almond extract, almond shavings and lemon zest may be added to the ingredients for extra flavour. The Dutch Butter Cake is usually served with a cup of coffee on the side in the Netherlands.

You can enjoy this lovely dessert at Winkel 43.

Oliebol is the Dutch version of doughnuts made by using two spoons to scoop a certain amount of dough and dropping it into a deep fryer filled with hot oil. The dough is made from flour, eggs, yeast, salt, milk, baking powder and also currants and raisins to enhance the flavour. Oliebol is a traditional treat on New Year's Eve.

Head to RIJKS for Oliebol.

Bitterballen are a Dutch meat-based snack cooked by making a very thick stew thickened with roux and beef stock and subsequently loaded with some meat. The stew is refrigerated until it firms, and then the thick mixture is poured into balls, which get breaded and fried afterwards. Basic seasonings include onions, salt and pepper as well as parsley and nutmeg.

Foodhallen serves such snacks.

A Stroopwafel is a wafer waffle made from two thin layers of baked dough mixed with a caramel filling. The filling is made from syrup, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Warm caramel sets as it cools, thereby binding the waffles together. First made in the Dutch city of Gouda, the Stroopwafel is now extremely popular throughout the Netherlands and the former Dutch colonies such as Indonesia and Suriname.

Rudi’s Original Stroopwafels Albert Cuyp Markt Amsterdam is a well-known Stroopwafel spot.

Soused Herring is raw herring soaked in a mild preserving liquid. It can be raw herring in a mild vinegar pickle or Dutch brined herring. As well as vinegar, the marinade might contain cider, wine or tea, sugar, herbs, spices, and chopped onion. Soused Herring is normally pretty mild due to the fact that it is made from young immature fish. The Dutch eat it on a bun or as a snack with some chopped onions and pickles. It is not only very tasty, but also incredibly healthy. 

Soused Herring can be found at Haring & Zo.

This is a skinless deep-fried sausage made from chicken, pork and beef. It can be served by itself or with mayo, in a roll or cut open and doused in mayo, curry or ketchup and minced onion. Unlike the modern Frikandel, the historical one is made from minced veal and generally spiced with mace, nutmeg, salt, pepper and sometimes orange peel.

Try it at Frietboutique.

Also known as Dutch Windmill Cookies, Speculaas bring spiced cookie flavour of the traditional Christmas recipe. These crispy, spiced cookies are traditionally stamped or molded before baking to imprint an image into them, like the classic windmill. They are often decorated with thin almond slices and come in various shapes. Speculaas are many children's favourite treat.

Have some Speculaas at Lanskroon Bakery.

This is a traditional Dutch batter treat. Resembling small, fluffy pancakes, they are made with yeast and buckwheat flour. They have a light, spongy texture and are sometimes served with custard. Typically, Poffertjes are a sweet treat, served with powdered sugar and butter, and sometimes syrup, too. However, there is also a savoury variant with gouda cheese.

PANCAKE & BURGER BAR offers this dessert to visitors.

A cosmopolitan city with an outward-looking attitude, Amsterdam has never had any trouble attracting people. Today food can be counted among its attractions, with the gastronomic landscape holding its own alongside those of cities twice its size.