10 popular Haitian dishes you have to try at least once
From griot to soup joumou — the most popular Haitian dishes explained, what they taste like, and what to order first at a Haitian restaurant.
If you're new to Haitian food, this is your menu cheat sheet. These ten dishes show up at every authentic restaurant from Miami to Montréal — order any of them and you'll eat well.
1. Griot (Griyo)
The national dish: pork shoulder marinated in sour orange and epis, braised tender, then fried until the edges crackle. Served with pikliz and fried plantains. Full recipe →
2. Diri kole ak pwa
Rice and red beans cooked together in a single pot with coconut milk, garlic, and thyme. The daily Haitian staple — every home and every plate.
3. Soup joumou
Pumpkin soup with beef, pasta, and root vegetables. Eaten every January 1st to mark Haitian independence — a soup that was forbidden to enslaved Haitians under French rule and now a UNESCO-recognized cultural treasure.
4. Tassot
Fried goat or beef, marinated like griot but cut smaller and fried drier. Crunchy outside, chewy inside, deeply seasoned.
5. Lambi (conch)
Conch in a Creole tomato sauce, often slow-stewed until tender. The coastal classic — try it grilled (lambi boukannen) if the menu has it.
6. Bouillon
A hearty Saturday-night beef-and-vegetable broth loaded with malanga, yam, plantain, spinach, and dumplings. Comfort food, Haitian-style.
7. Legume
A stewed vegetable dish — eggplant, cabbage, watercress, and chayote braised with beef and/or crab. Thick, silky, and served over rice.
8. Diri ak djon-djon
Rice steeped in the inky broth of djon-djon — a black mushroom found almost nowhere outside Haiti. The "wedding rice" because it costs more than most rice dishes.
9. Akra
Malanga (taro-like root) fritters — golden, crispy, served as a street snack or appetizer with pikliz on the side.
10. Pikliz
Not a dish on its own but the condiment that defines Haitian eating: pickled cabbage, carrot, and Scotch bonnet in vinegar. You will put it on everything.
What to order first
If you've never had Haitian food before, order griot with diri kole, fried plantains, and a side of pikliz. That's the complete introduction on one plate.
Read more in our beginner's guide to Haitian food or browse the Haitian restaurant directory.