‹ The dishes of every country › Australia and the Pacific

What to eat in New Zealand

The 10 best dishes in New Zealand

Lamb, seafood and Māori hāngī.

1

Hāngī

Best: Rotorua

Meat and vegetables cooked in an earth oven.

Cook itWhere to eat itWikipedia

2

Lamb

Eaten all over New Zealand

Spring lamb roasted with rosemary, from the country's farms.

Cook itWhere to eat itWikipedia

3

Bluff oysters

Best: Bluff

Wild oysters from cold southern water.

Cook itWhere to eat itWikipedia

4A photo like it

Green-lipped mussels

Best: Marlborough

Large mussels steamed with white wine and garlic.

Cook itWhere to eat it

5

Pāua

Eaten all over New Zealand

Abalone made into fritters with batter.

Cook itWhere to eat itWikipedia

6

Whitebait fritter

Best: The West Coast

Tiny fish in an egg batter, a West Coast treat in spring.

Cook itWhere to eat itWikipedia

7

Mince and cheese pie

Eaten all over New Zealand

A meat pie filled with mince and cheese, the best-selling pie in New Zealand.

Cook itWhere to eat itWikipedia

8

Pavlova

Eaten all over New Zealand

A meringue cake with cream and fruit, crisp outside and soft inside.

Cook itWhere to eat itWikipedia

9A photo like it

Hokey pokey

Eaten all over New Zealand

Vanilla ice cream with pieces of honeycomb toffee.

Cook itWhere to eat it

10

Fish and chips

Eaten all over New Zealand

Battered fish and chips wrapped in paper, eaten by the sea.

Cook itWhere to eat itWikipedia

Share New Zealand's dishes

Next door

Every country

Photos: each dish's lead photo on its Wikipedia article (license and author on Wikimedia Commons); "a photo like it" is a food photo of the same kind, not that dish. Cook it opens a recipe in Chef Amazing, or Chef writes one for you. Picked by Chef Amazing, November 2026.