South African Street Foods

Street food is part of every country’s everyday life. It’s the part of our culture that we can share with tourists, it makes us feel at home and can be seen wherever we go in the world. South Africa’s Street Food is a reflection of all the cultures that live within our borders and, to be honest, might be the tastiest that the world has to offer.

Bunny Chow

One of the most popular street foods in South Africa, that is served in almost every country our expats live in. It may be a little different to our home-grown Chow, but it still follows the same criteria: bread filled with curry. Traditionally, we use a quarter loaf of bread, hollow it and fill it with mutton or beef curry. Over the years, the filling has become more diverse and so has the bread. Bunny Chows can now be seen in large bread rolls and filled with anything from vegetable curry to chicken stew.

Amagwinya or Vetkoek

Another bread-based food…but deep fried. Amagwinya is a deep-fried bread that is filled with anything from minced beef to bacon and egg, some even like it with a bit of apricot jam and cheese. This is definitely the ultimate on-the-go lunch food…just remember the serviettes!

Walkie-Talkie

This cleverly named street food consists of the chicken head and feet. This has typically been a street food amongst poorer communities, because of the affordability of these parts of the chicken but, as many countries find, this inexpensive meal has made it to the top of the list of foods to grab in South Africa. The heads and feet are deep-fried giving it a crispy, deep-fried chicken flavour that everyone loves.

Roti

While this meal takes credit with our Indian immigrants, South Africa has become a large consumer of this delicious street food. Wrapped much like a burrito, the roti is a circular shared unleavened bread filled with a variety of fillings from vegetable curry or stew, to masala steak and curried mince.

Biltong

Everyone loves a good piece of biltong. Whether you like the chewy, spicy biltong sticks, or large slices of moist biltong with extra fat, this South African snack will never disappoint. 

Boerie Roll

A humble hot dog roll filled with boerewors, fresh off the braai and covered in tomato sauce and mustard or tomato and onion stew. This is a staple at every school gathering, church fete and even outside your local supermarket on a Saturday morning!

Kota

Much like the Curry Bunny, but filled with chips, salad, meat (usually Russians or Viennas) and sauce. Aptly named Kota, for the use of the quarter loaf of bread it is served in.

Gatsby

The Gatsby was born in the streets of Athlone, Cape Town. A footlong French roll filled with every filling you can find: chips, salad, steak, polony and sauce. You’re either going to have to skip breakfast and lunch for this tasty meal, or you’ll have to share with a friend…or two.

What are you waiting for? There’s a market, carnival, school fundraiser near you that is probably selling all this deliciousness!