Almost every country has its own snacks, and Britain’s got some seriously tasty ones. You’ll mostly find them in places like Tesco, Morrisons, or Asda. So, let me tell you about some of the best British snacks you need to know about!
Savoury British Snacks
1. Walkers crisps
First of all, it’s not chips, it’s crisps — and chips are chips; they are not fries, alright? So, moving on. Walkers crisp is the most popular crisp brand in the UK. This brand was founded in 1948. The founder’s name is Henry Walker, so you can tell how he got the brand’s name. He founded this brand in Leicester, a popular city in England.
Walkers crisps has many flavours like Prawn Cocktail, Cheese & Onion, and Salt & Vinegar. Sometimes it drops limited edition flavours too. I had sausage sarnie and oh my god! It was delicious. I can still taste it as I am writing this. But anyway, you probably might not get the limited edition flavours that easily. If you don’t find any, just have the Cheese and Onion flavour — that’s easily the best one out of the three. If you don’t like Cheese and Onion, then you’re weird.
You can buy this crisp (Walkers) in Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, corner shops — anywhere really. But be careful, this might be really addicting.
2. Pork Scratchings
If you love the flavour of bacon, you will definitely like this. You are probably wondering what the hell is this snack. Well, this snack is made from pig skin, which is deep-fried to create a crunchy, savoury snack. The process involves cooking the skin until it becomes crisp and golden, often with seasoning like salt or vinegar.
Most people mistake it for pork crackling, but there is a difference. They are similar but not the same — they are like oil and water. Pork crackling is the crispy skin that remains after roasting a piece of pork, and pork scratchings are typically deep-fried pieces of skin, sometimes with a bit of fat still attached.
If you’re a gym bro, then you will like it too because it is high in protein (and fat), so be careful — don’t go overboard. Some of the popular brands in the UK for pork scratchings include Mr. Porky, Tudor, and The Real Pork Crackling Company. Some brands have more flavours. You can buy it basically anywhere — shops like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, or Morrisons.
3. Scotch Eggs
So when was this Scotch egg invented? The exact origin of the Scotch egg is debated, but it is widely believed to have been invented in 1738 by Fortnum & Mason, a luxury food store in London. The name “Scotch” likely comes from the old meaning of the word, referring to “finely chopped” or “ground,” rather than a connection to Scotland itself.
A Scotch egg consists of a soft- or hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, then coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried or baked until crispy. This is also a popular picnic snack in Britain. Some brands in the UK make these, like The Handmade Scotch Egg Company and The Real Food Company.
If you wanna try this snack, popular supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, and Co-op all stock Scotch eggs in their chilled or deli sections. And you can also find this online.
4. Cornish Pasties (Snack-sized versions)
This snack was a healthy meal for the British miners in Cornwall. The full-sized Cornish pasty dates back to at least the 18th century. Over time, snack-sized pasties have become popular, offering a more convenient and portion-controlled way to enjoy this Cornish delicacy without the need for a full meal.
Cornish pasties are a delicious snack. It’s made with a mixture of beef, potatoes, onions, and swede (rutabaga), all seasoned with salt and pepper. The ingredients are wrapped in shortcrust pastry. There are also vegetarian options such as cheese and onion and mushroom.
You can buy this snack in the supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, Co-op, and Iceland. This snack is mostly in the frozen sections of these supermarkets. You can also find this in a bakery like Greggs — UK’s most popular bakery — and Rowe’s Cornish Bakers, The Cornish Pasty Company.
Sweet British Snacks
1. Jaffa Cake
There is a huge debate whether this Jaffa Cake is actually a cake or a biscuit. I remember when I was a little kid in primary school, I got in a fight with a guy because he said it was a cake, and I was like, hell no, it’s a biscuit. Alright, anyway, this Jaffa Cake was invented in 1927. It was introduced by the McVitie’s company, a well-known British biscuit manufacturer, in 1927. The snack was originally marketed as a “cake” rather than a biscuit.
Jaffa Cakes consist of a biscuit base, a layer of orange-flavoured jelly, and are topped with a coating of chocolate. The jelly used in Jaffa Cakes is typically fruit-flavoured, with orange being the classic choice, though there are variations with other fruit flavours. The biscuit base is similar to a sponge cake texture, making it quite light and different from most biscuits.
This Jaffa Cake is sold in a plastic tray, which helps to protect the delicate nature of the snack and keep them fresh. You can buy this snack in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, Iceland, and Co-op.
2. Tunnock’s Tea Cakes
To be absolutely honest, I do not like this. But my friends call me weird because I don’t like this snack, and when I was 14, I finally accepted that I am weird, and this thing might be tasty to other people. So the reason why I am talking about this snack is because I think you might like it, but it’s not for me. It’s a weird taste (to me). At the end of the cake, there’s a crunchy biscuit, which makes it taste weird with the marshmallow filling on the top. This cake is covered with chocolate too.
It was created in 1956. It was introduced by the Tunnock’s company. This company is a Scottish brand founded by Thomas Tunnock in 1890. The Tunnock’s factory is located in Uddingston, Scotland. The tea cake became one of the company’s most iconic products, and it remains a symbol of Scottish confectionery to this day.
The packaging is quite cool. They are sold in multi-packs or boxes, with each tea cake individually wrapped. The red-and-gold packaging is a distinctive feature of the product. If you want to buy them, you can find it in the supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, and Iceland.
3. Flapjacks
Mmmm, these are delicious. You have to try them. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a type of baked oat bar, often made with rolled oats, butter, golden syrup (or sometimes honey), and sugar. They are sweet, chewy, and typically square or rectangular in shape. Flapjack in the UK refers to this specific oat-based bar, but in the United States, the word “flapjack” is often used to refer to what the Brits call pancakes.
Flapjacks are generally high in calories due to the combination of butter, syrup, and sugar, which makes them a satisfying energy-boosting snack. However, they can also be high in sugar and fat, so they are typically considered an occasional treat.
You can make this snack at home as well. It’s not particularly easy, but if you do it with the intention that you won’t fail, then you will definitely make it delicious. Nah nah, I am joking — they are easy to make. The basic method involves melting the butter, syrup, and sugar together, then mixing with the oats before baking. They are often baked at a low temperature for around 20–25 minutes. You can experiment with different flavourings or add-ins, such as dried fruits, chocolate chips, or nuts, to create your own perfect flapjack recipe.
You can buy this in any supermarket like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, and Iceland. You’ll typically find them in the biscuit aisle, snack section, or in the baked goods aisle.
4. Battenberg Cake
I remember when I was a little kid, they were my favourite school meal. One time at lunch, they gave this at school and it ran out, and a kid was crying because it ran out of stock. So the teachers had to go to the nearest Tesco just to buy the cake. That kid was cringey, I swear to you. But this was in Year 1, back when I was 6 years old, so I am pretty sure he changed.
Anyways, if you don’t know what this snack is, let me tell you something — it’s awesome, flavourful, sweet, and so tasty. I am usually not a fan of junk food, but this cake tastes good! It is a square or rectangular cake made up of alternating squares of pink and yellow sponge, typically covered in a layer of marzipan. The cake’s spongy layers are held together with a bit of apricot jam to help them stick.
If you want to make this, here’s the ingredients:
- Self-raising flour
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
- Pink food colouring (traditionally, this is achieved with strawberry or raspberry flavouring)
- Marzipan (made from almonds, sugar, and egg whites)
- Apricot jam (used to stick the layers of sponge together)
If you’re too lazy, then you can buy this in the supermarket like Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons. They are mostly in the bakery section.
Chocolate & Confectionery
1. Cadbury Dairy Milk
This was launched in 1905 and quickly became a favourite due to its high milk content. It was one of the first mass-produced chocolate bars where milk was the main ingredient, giving it a creamier taste. Did you know that the packaging was purple — it’s so iconic that Cadbury even attempted to trademark the colour? Also, before Dairy Milk was a thing, Fry’s Chocolate Cream (another Cadbury brand) was the most popular chocolate bar in the UK, but Dairy Milk soon took over. This brand was also the first brand to advertise on TV in the UK. The 2007 “Gorilla” advert, featuring a drumming gorilla set to Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight, became one of the most memorable ads in UK history.
If you haven’t tried Dairy Milk chocolate, then I’m sorry — just pause life for a moment and change that by going to the nearest Tesco or Asda or any popular supermarket near your hotel or house and buy one Dairy Milk chocolate.
2. Maltesers
Maltesers were first introduced by Mars in the UK in 1937. Maltesers is a really nice chocolate. One really cool fact about Maltesers is that they can float on water — that means you can float them on a cup of tea. If you don’t like plain tea, you can add Maltesers and make them more fancy.
In 2013, they introduced the Maltesers Teasers bar. This chocolate was so popular that it had to be permanent. Maltesers chocolate was also a part of NASA’s project in 2011 — they were used in a zero-gravity test by NASA to study how objects move in microgravity.
Honestly, you get pretty tired eating this, but I recommend you try this. You can find them in Tesco. They also come in a box called Celebration. You can also find them in Asda, Morrisons, etc.
That’s all!
And if you’ve tried any of these snacks, just know you’re living a good life. My favourite snack in Britain? Walkers Sensations. If you don’t know what that is, do yourself a favour and look it up. Honestly, the best crisps (or chips, for my non-Brits) I’ve ever had in my life. And you can trust me — when I was in my prime fat days, I knew what every food tasted like.
If you get Sensations, go for the Thai Sweet Chilli flavour. Absolute top-tier. One time, my mum got the Roast Chicken flavour, and let’s just say… it was not giving.
Anyway, if you ever come to the UK, make sure to try these snacks and let us know what you think!