What the Dutch Eat for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner (2024)

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Daily Dutch Eating Habits

Increasing international influences mean that you can easily find everything from muffins to banh mi, as well assatays and sushi here nowadays, and while Dutch city dwellers are generally adventurous eaters, the local cuisine is still very popular for the average weekday meal. Just like any nation, the Dutch are made up of individuals, so we can only generalize and show some of the most typical daily meals you'll find in the Netherlands. Eet smakelijk (enjoy your meal).

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Breakfast

Breakfast usually consists of sliced bread with any of the following toppings: appelstroop, cheese, cold meats, jam, honey, hazelnut-chocolate spread or sweet sprinkles, known as hagelslag (the type you would normally put on your cake: in chocolate, aniseed or fruit flavors). Beschuit (round rusks) with strawberries, buttered ontbijtkoek (a cake made with rye flour and spices like cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg) and currant buns with cheese are popular too. Cereals, granola, and muesli, often served with fruit, are also widely enjoyed. Breakfast will often be consumed with coffee, tea or juice.

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Lunch

Most Dutch people still take a packed lunch to work, typically consisting of a sandwich with brown bread and cheese (known as a bruine boterham met kaas) and half a pint of buttermilk, with a piece of fruit. Dutch office workers often eat a similar meal in their office canteens. Alternatively, they may go for a broodjebal (a meatball on a soft white bun), a sausage roll, a tosti (usually a toasted sandwich with ham and cheese ), a broodje kroket (a deep fried meat ragout croquette on a soft bun), soup or a salad, with a buttered roll and a boiled egg.

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Dinner

The Dutch dine early, with many families eating as early as 5 or 6 p.m. The meal often consists of meat and two vegetables, or a (vegetable mash, consisting of one or more kinds of vegetables, and served with a gravy, rookworst, a smoked sausage, or another meat). Stews and hearty legume-based soups that are a meal in themselves are very popular too, e.g. brown bean soup, pea soup and lentil soup. Dinner is often followed by a dessert of fruit, cold custard or yogurt and a cup of coffee.