Do you have a craving for something delicious? Look no further than the Mediterranean island of Malta and its traditional Maltese recipes. Filled with flavor and overflowing with warmth, generations of Maltese families have created dishes that are sure to tantalize your taste buds.
With 91 percent of the population claiming that cooking is an important part of their cultural heritage, it’s time to explore the cuisine of Malta and the delightful dishes that have made this country famous.
In this article, you’ll discover the delectable pastries, seafood and stews that have been staples of Maltese cuisine for centuries and learn how to cook them at home. Get ready to learn the secrets behind these mouthwatering Malta recipes and bring a little bit of Malta into your kitchen!
You may have never heard of traditional Maltese foods like bigilla or timpana, but you’re sure to love them when you make the recipes. From savory snacks to moist cakes, Maltese recipes are guaranteed to make mouths water.
In this article, you’ll learn the history behind Maltese recipes and explore 16 of the popular Malta recipes we got from our trip Malta. There’s something for everyone – from the home chef looking to experiment in the kitchen to the culinary connoisseur looking for a modern twist on an old classic.
From the humble but delicious pastizzi to a wintry seafood stew, you’ll gain an understanding of Maltese cuisine and walk away with the confidence and ability to recreate these Maltese recipes in your own kitchen.
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1. Maltese Kapunata by Med Munch
Kapunata is one of Malta’s most famous foods. It’s the Maltese recipes version of the Sicilian Caponata, which is similar to the French Ratatouille. It’s consists of a stew of vegetables, flavored with savory olives and capers.
Kapunata is a super flexible Maltese food. You can eat it as a main dish and serve with some crusty bed, or as a tasty side dish for cooked meat. It makes a great addition to fish like tuna or you can also add in some extra vegetables high in protein for an extra protein boost.
Whether you want to keep it simple or add some extra flavors in, this is a perfect healthy Malta food for summertime. If you want to add a little extra, try some pine nuts or raisins. It can be served hot, cold from the fridge or at room temperature.
2. Figolli Maltese Recipe by The Healthy Malteser
If you’re on the lookout for Easter baking ideas, look no further cause these Maltese recipes for Figolli are the perfect homemade Easter sweets! With an addictive fruity yet almondy taste and a soft center, you’ll have gone through a whole Figolla before you know it! Don’t leave it on your counter as this Easter cookie recipe is simply irresistible.
Figolli are a Maltese traditional Easter dessert. They consist of a marzipan-like ground almond filling, sandwiched between 2 cookie layers. They’re cut out in plenty of different shapes and covered in a rich chocolate coating or decorated with royal icing.
They’re ideal homemade easter treats for kids since they do require some time to make, meaning your kids will be kept busy. Kids will love modeling and decorating these Easter baked goods in colorful icing and decorations. Don’t be surprised if your kids come up with a little masterpiece!
3. Maltese Sausage by Group Recipes
Maltese Sausage is a little bit salty but tasty!
If you’re not familiar with the island’s celebrated zalzett tal-Malti – a traditional fresh Maltese sausage – well, you’re missing out and we are giving you the real Maltese recipes. It’s just about as iconic as our local cheeselets (gbejniet), and bread (hobza tal-Malti), and is often enjoyed alongside both.
Made from ground local pork (arguably one of Malta’s tastiest exports), sea salt, crushed black peppercorns and coriander seeds, garlic and parsley, it’s a delectable treat that can be enjoyed raw (at your own risk), boiled, pan-fried or grilled, on its own or as a part of a dish.
4. Prinjolata by The Red Bistro
Prinjolata, a nicely refined name for a Maltese recipes and mad mound of carnival cake. Sheer decadence and full-on frivolity. Having given this cake a miss for all my 19 years in Malta, I was curious to see what exactly is ‘under the bonnet’ of this giant dome of polker-dotted whipped cream.
It was quite a revelation, the prinjolata. You first bake ‘pan di spagna’, a kind of trifle sponge. Then break the sponge up into small pieces and get the beaters out again to mix in the cherries, pine nuts and cocoa nibs. It seemed odd to mash up a perfectly good sponge to start again, but it works. Of course, some like more cocoa nibs…
5. Maltese Christmas Honey Rings by SBS
Author Karmen Tedesco talks to Rita O’Dwyer from SBS Radio Maltese program about how to make a classic Maltese recipe for Christmas honey rings. This recipe, which has been passed on from generation to generation, is also mentioned in one of the oldest Maltese Christmas carols, “Ninu, Ninu tal-Milied”. However, originally these rings were made with chestnut filling instead of treacle and semolina.
6. Maltese Rabbit Stew by The Red Bistro
It’s not often that I do a truly traditional Maltese food at home or for the blog. I tend to forage around what’s in season and create some hybrid Anglo-Maltese/Italian/French/North African dish blending a bit of this and that, from herbs to various cooking methods.
Recently, however, I was asked by an international site to create an authentic Maltese recipe and if I would like to contribute Malta’s ‘national dish’ – Stuffat tal-Fenek or rabbit stew – which is pretty much its most famed dish when it comes to tourism guide mentions. Although I have a rabbit stew recipe already on this site here, plus a BBQ rabbit here, the request was firmly for an original Stuffat tal-Fenek recipe.
7. Maltese Traditional Bread by Group Recipes
The enduring object of dinner table affection in Malta, spanning centuries and involving generations of Maltese families, is none other than bread. The traditional Malta recipe for a round sourdough loaf (Il-Ħobż tal-Malti) – finished with a crunchy wood-fired exterior and fluffy center – has one of the longest recorded bread histories in the world.
The existence of the staple Malta food dates back to the Phoenician period (725-218 BC), although archaeological evidence indicates that Neolithic farmers originating from Sicily were already cultivating wheat on the islands long before – from around 5,000 BC.
8. Maltese Baked Pasta by Recipe Zazz
“This is a traditional Maltese food favorite. It’s similar to a lasagna but without the ricotta cheese. This is a simple version of the classic. It still takes time but will deliver on the comfort food factor!”
The Imqarrun il-forn traditional Maltese recipe has origins in Sicily but is, without a doubt, a staple of traditional Maltese cuisine. This popular baked macaroni takes some time to make, but it’s incredibly easy to do and the result is something like a cross between lasagna and penne al ragù.
The Malta recipe below is for a simple, typical version of this dish, but each cook has their own secrets for making imqarrun il-forn, from a sprinkle of nutmeg to the addition of fresh peas, so we encourage you to play with the recipe to make it your own!
9. Baked Rice or Ross il-Forn by Kitchen Frau
It takes just a few minutes to make the sauce – brown ground meat with onion and spices. Add a can of tomatoes and cook it all for a few minutes to make a simplified bolognese sauce. The difference in the spicing here is the hint of curry powder – that’s what gives this baked rice dish and Maltese recipes (the North African influence).
Then, in a magic minute, you just plonk the rice, meat sauce, and a handful of cheese right in the baking pan (no need to grease the pan or rinse the rice). Whisk up the eggs and the water and pour them on top.
10. Maltese Bragioli by International Cuisine
Maltese Bragioli also known as beef olives, the Maltese recipes is slowly braised stuffed bundles of beef. The term olive is a bit confusing as there are no olives in this recipe. It turns out they got their name because they are stuffed and somewhat resemble the shape of an olive when cooked. Whatever you call them, they are delicious bundles of joy!
11. Maltese Spaghetti by Best Recipes
This is a very simple and inexpensive family meal that everyone will love. My two year old gets very excited when we have this, he can’t wait for it to be served. Spaghetti is probably the most kid-friendly pasta recipe to ever exist! Serve this Easy Spaghetti Recipe with a side of Breadsticks and a fresh Salad – your whole family will be thanking you!
It seems like everyone I have ever met has “a spaghetti recipe” they know and love, and each one is different! Some have store-bought sauce, some homemade. Some have meat, some have veggies, and others don’t. I rely on these authentic Maltese recipes.
12. Maltese Pastizzi Recipe with Ricotta Filling by No Frills Kitchen
Aside from its crystal clear water, year-round mild climate and vast history, the small island nation of Malta rarely gets noticed for its cuisine – and this is a shame! Along with amazing seafood dishes, Malta also does a pastry called pastizzi incredibly well. And ever since my first visit to the beautiful country, I’ve been trying to recreate authentic Malteses recipes for pastizzi to enjoy at home.
It took me a while to get it all just right, but I’m pretty happy with the results. And while this pastizzi recipe isn’t going to be as perfect as the flaky pastries that you can get straight from a wood-fired oven in Malta, it’s pretty close!
If you’re wondering how to make Maltese pastizzi quickly and easily at home, then look no further. This pastizzi recipe uses a ricotta filling and store-bought phyllo pastry to recreate the iconic Maltese hand pies in your own home kitchen!
13. Traditional Maltese Ricotta Qassatat by Kitchen Voyage
Last week, I was really craving some Maltese qassatat. These are the fast food of Malta, along with the pastizzi, square pizza, sausage rolls and various pies. In almost every village you will find that small shop selling these tasty snacks.
Traditionally, the Maltese recipes are usually a pastry pocket filled with either ricotta cheese or a pea mixture. When we first moved to Budapest, we relied on prepacked supermarket ricotta, which is quite different to what we were used to in Malta.
In the meantime, we discovered Orda at one of the cheese sellers, which is a local type of curd cheese and is quite similar to Maltese ricotta.
14. Ottijiet (Maltese Spice Biscuits) by Delicious Magazine
Ottijiet biscuits are spiced shortbread biscuits traditionally eaten at teatime in Malta. They’re so light you’ll want second helpings…
If you’re planning an afternoon tea laden with spices and exotic flavors, these pistachio and rosewater scones are a must and I did my best to give you the Malta recipe for the ones I loved so much on my visit to Malta
15. Maltese Meat Pie by Lady And the Blog
I finally sat down with my grandmother and got her to show me how to make her Maltese recipe. Maltese food is such a part of my life. I grew up on it and I love to serve it to my children. This Maltese Meat Pie will hopefully give you the same sense of home.
Now, I do want to say that my family has been in America for over 60 years. So, I am sure that my grandmother doesn’t quite make the Maltese meat pie the same way that her sisters do back home on Malta.
Who knows? Maybe they all do it the same exact way? I’ve never asked. This is the only way that I’ve known the Maltese Torta. And now I’m sharing it with you.
16. Kusksu (Maltese Soup) by Cooking With Curls
Maltese Soup {Kusksu} is a traditional food served in Malta, although it would be served during the spring when broad beans {fava beans} are in season. Being that I live in a corn field and not a major city, I could not find fava beans!
Maltese recipes are heavy in Italian/Mediterranean Maltese recipes, so I decided to substitute cannellini beans {white kidney beans, northern beans}. I honestly have no idea what a fava bean tastes like, but this soup is really delicious!
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