Europe

Snacks from Iceland

Icelandic snacking is a pylsa with crispy onions and remoulade, and chocolate-covered licorice that tastes like a dare until it does not. Skyr is eaten as a snack cup, not only as breakfast. Kleinur, twisted fried dough, sit in bakeries. Hraun, 'lava' chocolate with puffed rice, is a kiosk bar. Black licorice in everything — ice cream, chocolate, raisins — is the national habit.

Updated August 27, 2026

Signature snacks: Pylsa, Lakkrís chocolate, Skyr cups, Kleinur
Flavor palette: licorice chocolate, skyr, hot dog
When people snack: pylsa after a night out and lakkrís on the road
What travelers buy: licorice-chocolate, Hraun, kleinur the day they are fried, harðfiskur

What to try first

Pylsa The Icelandic hot dog, lamb-blend sausage with fried onions, remoulade, and mustard.
Lakkrís chocolate Milk chocolate bars filled or studded with licorice, a grocery default.
Skyr cups Thick cultured dairy eaten as a snack, often with berries.
Kleinur Twisted diamond doughnuts, cardamom, fried, a bakery classic.
Hraun Nói Síríus 'lava' chocolate with airy bits, a childhood bar.
Harðfiskur Wind-dried fish, torn and eaten with butter, the old travel protein.

Bæjarins Beztu made the pylsa famous, but every N1 station sells a version: lamb-mix sausage, crunchy onions, brown mustard. That is the national snack more than any lava-field metaphor. Then the candy aisle goes black: licorice in chocolate, in syrup, in ice cream. Visitors buy one bar as a joke and locals buy them by the bag.

Kleinur are the fried twist. Skyr in a cup is a hike snack. Harðfiskur is the dried fish that still makes sense on a long drive. Pack licorice chocolate and Hraun. Hot dogs are a stand. Do not write a fermented-shark paragraph into a snack page; hákarl is a tasting dare, not how people nibble at 4 p.m.

Questions about snacks from Iceland

What snacks is Iceland known for?

Pylsur, licorice chocolate, skyr cups, kleinur, Hraun bars, and harðfiskur with butter.

Why is there licorice in Icelandic chocolate?

Lakkrís is a mainstream flavor, not a novelty. Chocolate-licorice combinations are grocery staples.

What should I buy at a gas station?

A pylsa, a Hraun or licorice chocolate, and skyr. Kleinur are better from a bakery.

From the journal

No tasting reviews from Iceland yet. This page is the research hub. When we eat something from here, the note will land in the journal and on this page.