Sicilian Cuisine: 20 Must-Try Dishes

Sicilian cuisine is the island’s history written in olive oil, citrus, seafood and sugar. Arab rule between the 9th and 11th centuries brought rice, almonds, saffron, sugar, citrus and couscous. Bringing that sweet-and-sour flavour that's become synonymous with Sicily. The Greeks, Romans and Normans added their own influence too, particularly through meat dishes and dairy (ricotta became a bit of a Sicilian staple).  

Then came the Spanish, bringing juicy fresh tomatoes and dark chocolate from the ‘new world’ that Sicilians, like most of us, took a liking to.  

Add in its deep-rooted history of cucina povera ("peasant cooking"), that turned humble ingredients into proper flavour-packed dishes, and you get food that is bold, clever and never boring. 

Not all dishes are the same. You've got street foods that are best bought from a stall and eaten by the side of a bustling street. Then you've got seafood, best enjoyed fresh by the cost. So, to make your life a little easier we've split our dishes into the categories.  

Street Food & Small Bites

Arancini - Sicily’s golden handful

If there’s one dish that screams Sicilian cuisine, it's arancini. These deep-fried rice balls are wrapped in a crisp breadcrumb shell and filled with ragù, peas and mozzarella. Bite through the crunchy, crispy outside and you get soft, savoury rice with a molten middle.

The dishes origins go all the way back to the 10th century, where after 100 years from rice being introduced someone went "Do you know what would be delicious? A ball of this with some Saffron". Then in the 1800s some legend thought that it'd be a good idea to chuck it in some breadcrumbs and fry it. It was a winning combo, that's made it one of the most popular dishes in Sicily and one that can be enjoyed in almost every town and village across the island.

Panelle e Crocchè - Palermo’s ultimate cheap eat

Tasty, cheap carbs. Can’t ask for much more after a day of wandering Palermo’s markets. Panelle are thin chickpea-flour fritters, crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, while crocchè are potato croquettes fried until golden.

The traditional way to eat them is to stack them together inside a soft sesame roll, usually finished with a squeeze of lemon. It sounds like a lot of carbs, and it is, but somehow, it works. It’s also vegetarian, gloriously unfussy and exactly the sort of thing you want to eat standing up. These really are a Palermo street-food institution.

Exploring Palermo and Sicily by car? Neilson x Mangia's Torre del Barone Resort is just 90 mins away, with water sports, racket sports and plenty more to enjoy on your downtime.

Sfincione - Sicily’s thick-cut street pizza

Sfincione is described as Sicilian pizza, but that doesn’t quite do it justice. It’s thicker, softer and more like a loaded focaccia.  

Baked in trays and sold in squares from bakeries and market stalls, the dough is spongy and airy, topped with tomato, onion, oregano, and breadcrumbs or caciocavallo cheese, often with no mozzarella at all. A Palermo speciality, especially around Christmas, Sfincione is simple, satisfying and ideal for lunch when you want something warm, savoury and very, very filling.

Pane ca’ Meusa - a spleen sandwich, yep, you read that right

It's not an awful sandwich, it's an offal sandwich. Pane ca’ meusa is an infamous street food dish in Palermo that's made with veal spleen and lung, simmered, gently fried and tucked into a soft roll. You can order it schietto, meaning plain with lemon, or maritato, “married”, with caciocavallo or ricotta.

High-end dining this isn't. But if you can get past the mental block of eating offal, it's rich, savoury and a seriously tasty treat for your trip.

Scaccia - Sicily’s folded stuffed bread

Scaccia is a rustic, folded bread from south-eastern Sicily, the type of dish that you go from "just one bite" to "oh, go on then, give us a slice" until you're sat down, belly bulging, thinking about undoing the top button on your jeans.

It's made from a thin dough folded around seasonal fillings like potato and sausage, broccoli and cheese or anchovy and onion, then baked until golden.

Not one of the island’s headline dishes, it's more like a deep cut, that the locals like to keep a secret.  

Pasta & Primi

Pasta alla Norma - the dish that defines the island

If there were a Sicilian pasta festival, pasta alla Norma would be the headline act. Fried aubergine, rich tomato sauce, basil and a generous snowfall of salted ricotta come together in a dish that is simple on paper but very serious in practice.

Born in Catania and named after Vincenzo Bellini’s opera Norma, this is one of the great Sicilian dishes. The east coast does it especially well, but you’ll see it across the island. If you’re ordering one pasta dish in Sicily, make it this. Then probably order another one anyway.

Pasta con le Sarde - the one that sounds wrong and tastes right

Sardines and raisins in pasta? Probably not the first ingredients that'd come to your mind if we asked you to make a Sicilian seafood pasta. But pasta con le sarde is one of the best examples of traditional Sicilian food because it combines Arab influences with the islands rich coastal produce together in one bowl.

Usually made with bucatini, sardines, anchovies, wild fennel, raisins, pine nuts, saffron and breadcrumbs, it’s sweet, salty, briny and aromatic all at once. It’s a bit of a Marmite dish but give it a proper go. Sicily rewards the brave.

Busiate al Pesto Trapanese - the west coast’s pesto

Busiate al pesto Trapanese is lighter, brighter and sunnier than the heavy pasta dishes you may be expecting. The pasta itself are twisted, hand-rolled spirals that catch sauce beautifully, which is exactly what you want when the sauce is this good.

Instead of pine nuts, this Trapani speciality uses almonds, blended with tomato, garlic and basil. Think of it as Sicily’s answer to Genoese pesto but richer in tomatoes, warmer in flavour and very much at home on the island’s west coast. If you’re into how some dishes can feel completely different from region to region, it’s another brilliant example of the famous food and drink of Italy taking on a very local twist.

Couscous alla Trapanese - North Africa on the plate

Couscous? In Sicily? Absolutely. If you're looking for signs of North African influences on Sicilian cuisine, then look no further than Couscous all Trapanese where they've taken CousCous - always the side dish, never the main – and made it a main.  

The dish is built on a rich fish broth, ladled generously over couscous and studded with fresh seafood, a nod to Trapani's coastal fishing heritage and the North African traders who once passed through its ports.

It’s comforting, fragrant and a brilliant reminder that Sicilian cuisine has never been boxed neatly into one category. It borrows, blends, adapts and somehow makes everything feel completely Sicilian.

Antipasti, Seafood & Mains

Caponata - sweet, sour and Sicilian to the core

If one dish sums up cucina povera, it’s caponata. No airs. No graces. Just fried aubergine stewed with celery, tomato, capers, olives, pine nuts and raisins, sharpened with vinegar and sweetened just enough to keep everything balanced. This dish is named after the Spanish ‘capone’, a fish the dish once contained before poorer cooks swapped in aubergine.  

It’s usually served as an antipasto, but honestly, give us a bowl of caponata, some crusty bread and a sea view and we’re content.  

Involtini di Pesce Spada - stuffed swordfish rolls

Swordfish is a big deal in Sicily and involtini di pesce spada is one of the smartest ways to serve it. Thin slices of swordfish are rolled around a filling of breadcrumbs, pine nuts, raisins, anchovy, citrus and pecorino, then baked or grilled until the fish is tender and the filling is fragrant.

It’s a proper coastal showpiece with the sweet-savoury-citrus signature packed into neat little parcels. If you’re after Sicilian dishes that feel both elegant and deeply local, this one should be high on the list.

Pesce Spada alla Griglia & the Catch of the Day

Sometimes the best food in Sicily is the simplest: fresh fish, olive oil, lemon, salt, grill, done. The catch of the day is a favourite across the coast, especially in fishing towns where the day’s catch can go from boat to plate in a matter of hours.

Look out for swordfish, sea bass, tuna, gold bream, prawns, calamari, octopus and sardines, as well as crudo. Eat where the boat lands, is a way of life in Sicily. And it's a pretty good rule to live by on your holiday as well.

Gambero Rosso di Sicilia - the famous red prawn

If you spot Sicilian red prawns on the menu and feel like splashing out, do it. Gambero rosso di Sicilia is one of the island’s great seafood delicacies. They're deep-water prawns with a naturally sweet flavour and a soft, almost buttery texture, that feel like they are melting in your mouth with each bite.

Often served raw or barely cooked, because when an ingredient is that good it doesn't need much. You might also find them folded through spaghetti, finished with grated bottarga for an extra hit of salty, sea-scented flavour.  

Melanzane alla Parmigiana - Sicily’s comfort bake

Parmigiana. That layered Italian dish, right? Yeah, but in Sicily they do it a little differently. They swap pasta for fired aubergine, layered with tomato, basil and cheese, and baked until bubbling and golden.

It’s rich, soft, sharp and comforting, with each restaurant adding its own little spin on the dish.  

Sweets & Pastries

Cannoli - crisp on the outside, sweet on the inside, Sicilian at heart

Take the gun, leave the Cannoli. If you had to pick one dessert that is synonymous with Sicily (and thanks to the Godfather, the mob), it's Cannoli.  

These light, crispy little tubes filled with sweet, sweet goodness are little bites of heaven and have been the staple dessert in Sicily since the 11th century where the locals fused citrus, sugar and ricotta together. Nine centuries on, it's changed a little, but it's still as tasty as ever.

There is one golden rule when buying Cannoli, though. Never buy one that’s been sitting around pre-filled. A proper cannolo is piped to order, so the shell stays crunchy, and the ricotta stays cool and creamy. If you hear the crunch, you’ve chosen well.

Cassata - The cake that is almost too pretty to eat

Cassata is complicated in the best possible way. It’s colourful, elaborate and slightly over the top, with sponge soaked in liqueur, sweet ricotta, bright green marzipan and candied fruit all piled together.  

Originally an Easter cake, now eaten year-round, it is one of those desserts that looks almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Palermo also has a simpler baked version, cassata al forno, which is a little less theatrical but just as delicious.

Granita con Brioche - cake in the morning, sometimes by the ocean

Cake for breakfast. Well, if you must.

Granita con brioche is exactly the sort of holiday habit we can get behind. An ice-cold, grainy granita served with a soft, warm brioche bun for dipping.

It’s especially popular in eastern Sicily, with classic flavours including lemon, almond, pistachio and coffee. Less sweet than sorbet and more textured than ice cream, granita is refreshing, nostalgic and very easy to justify before 9am. Especially, when you're on holiday.

Frutta Martorana — the sweet art of Sicilian deception

It looks like fruit, tastes like marzipan and makes bakery windows look like tiny edible art galleries. Frutta Martorana is made from almond paste, moulded and hand-painted to resemble pears, lemons, peaches, figs, and sometimes even vegetables.

Tradition links it to Palermo’s Martorana convent, where the sweets were supposedly made to impress a visiting archbishop by making the winter orchard look like it was in full bloom. A ridiculous amount of effort for a sweet snack? Yes. Are we glad they did it? Also, yes.

Paste di Mandorla - Sicily’s almond cookies

Paste di mandorla are the everyday bakery sweets you’ll start spotting everywhere, once you know what they are. Made with almond paste dough, they’re soft, chewy, and intensely almondy, often shaped into small rounds or S-shapes and topped with a cherry or a whole almond.

Native to Palermo with links to the Martorana convent, but found in just about any Sicilian bakery. They’re simple, small, tasty little bites that are ideal with an espresso.

Cioccolato di Modica - chocolate made the old, old way

Modica chocolate is not smooth supermarket chocolate. It’s grainy, crumbly, aromatic and made using an older cold-working method that keeps the sugar crystals intact, giving it a texture that feels completely different from something like a bar of dairy milk.  

Flavours often include cinnamon, chilli, vanilla, orange or sea salt. Made using a technique with Aztec and Spanish roots; try it at Antica Dolceria Bonajuto in Modica, Sicily's oldest chocolate shop. It’s the perfect final stop on a Sicilian food list, familiar at first glance, unexpected once you bite into it. 

From Palermo street food and Catania pasta to red prawns, almond sweets and ricotta-filled pastries, traditional Sicilian food is a proper culinary adventure. It’s Italian, Mediterranean, North African, coastal, rustic and sweet all at once, which is exactly why Sicily is such a brilliant place to eat your way around.

If tasting your way through the island sounds like your kind of holiday, take a look at our Sicily holidays at Neilson x Mangia's Torre del Barone Resort. And when you’re not exploring local restaurants, markets and seafront trattorias, you can still expect plenty of sunny Mediterranean flavour through our Neilson food and drink offering.

Looking for more content on Sicily? Check out our complete guide to cycling in Sicily, one day in Palermo: Everything you need to do and see and the best things to do in Sicily.