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27 Worst Rated Scottish Foods

Last update: Thu Mar 27 2025
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Deep-fried pizza is a Scottish concoction consisting of a pizza that is deep-fried in hot oil (without being dipped in batter) instead of being baked in an oven. It can be found in numerous chips shops throughout the country, where it is fried in the same oil where fish and chips are prepared.


This extremely caloric and unhealthy meal is often served with salt, vinegar, or chips in order to improve its flavors.

MOST ICONIC Scottish Deep-Fried Pizza

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02
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One of Scotland’s teatime staples, melting moments are traditional vanilla-flavored oat biscuits or cookies that are typically made by combining butter, caster sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, and oatmeal. The mixture is shaped into small, slightly flattened balls, which are then coated with either rolled oats (which is the traditional way) or desiccated coconut, and garnished with glacé cherries or other candied fruit before they are baked until nicely colored.


Apart from being an all-time favorite tea treat, these scrumptious, buttery biscuits are also commonly prepared for parties and are the perfect accompaniment to a glass of milk.

03

Porridge

SCOTLAND
3.2
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Originally, brose referred to a dish of oatmeal soaked in boiling water or milk, sometimes with a little butter stirred in for a richer flavor. Probably the simplest Scottish fare, depending on what was locally available, brose could be made with barley or beremeal, peasemeal, but also vegetables like young nettle tops, spring onions, swede, and kale.


The origins of brose are unknown, however, up until the 18th century it was known to be a staple of Scottish soldiers on active service who used to carry along a bag of oatmeal with them until they had time to boil some water and prepare this humble, yet hearty meal.

04
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Deep-fried Mars bar is a famous Scottish delicacy and a champion of the jokingly-called Scottish Diet, where the rule is that sugar, fat, and alcohol must each account for at least 30% of a person's daily caloric intake. The unusual snack was invented in 1992 by the employees of the Carron fish bar in Stonehaven, a place where the popular fish and chips are served, and the deep-fried Mars chocolate bar (nougat and caramel coated in milk chocolate) is made in the same oil that the fish and chips were fried in.


However, this dessert became a Scottish tradition and was then copied in chip shops all across the country, and it even spread to Canada and Australia. One batter fits all - fish, chips, and the Mars bar. The batter is made by mixing milk, flour, and eggs. 

MOST ICONIC Deep-Fried Mars Bar

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05
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Lorne sausage is a Scottish favorite made with a combination of ground beef, rusk, and various spices such as nutmeg, cilantro, and ground black pepper. However, it is technically not a sausage – the combination is tightly packed in a rectangular tin and left to set in the refrigerator.


It is then sliced into square pieces which are fried or grilled. Although the exact origins of lorne sausage are still murky, it is believed that the dish was named after the region of Lorne in Argyll. Nowadays, the sausage is incorporated into sandwiches or served as a part of the Scottish version of the full breakfast.

MOST ICONIC Lorne Sausage

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06
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This griddle-baked unleavened flatbread hails from the Highlands of Scotland, where it is traditionally made with a single type of grain - whether barley, beremeal, oats, wheat, rye, or even peasemeal - with the addition of water or buttermilk.


Bannock made from a mixture of different flours is known as mashlum or meslin bannock. This flatbread was once an essential part of everyday life and various festivities in the Highlands, especially during the celebration of the quarter days, and each variety of bannock was given a different name depending on which of the old Gaelic seasonal festivals it was made for. 

MOST ICONIC Bannock

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07

Cake

DUNDEE, Scotland
3.3
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The traditional Scottish almond-studded fruitcake with sultanas and candied peel, known as Dundee cake originated in the city of Dundee while its name appears to have been first recorded in the late 19th century. Interestingly, the cake is said to be first created by Keiller’s, the renowned marmalade makers from Dundee, who apparently found it convenient to bake cakes during the part of the year when they weren't making marmalade, most likely to make use of the spare citrus peel.


Until the 1970s, Keiller's were the only commercial bakers in Scotland allowed to make the famous cake, although the recipe was widely copied in other parts of Britain. In fact, bakers further south would often confuse it with other traditional recipes, suggesting it was merely the topping of whole blanched almonds which distinguished Dundee cake from similar British fruitcakes.

MOST ICONIC Dundee Cake

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08
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Named after the county town of Angus, where they originated in the 18th century as Scotland's answer to the already famed Cornish pasty, bridies are shortcrust pastry turnovers traditionally filled with chunks or strips of beef that was browned in suet with chopped onions.


As the local stories claim, the delicious Forfar bridies took the other part of their name from a certain Margaret Bridie of Glamis who sold them at Forfarshire's weekly market. In 1896, they were mentioned in James Matthew Barrie's novel Sentimental Tommy, which made them popular across Scotland, and over time it has become a tradition to eat bridies for lunch on Saturdays.

MOST ICONIC Forfar Bridie

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09
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Scottish oatcakes are traditional flat cakes made from oats, similar to a biscuit, cracker, or flatbread. Although there are many versions of oatcakes - chewy or hard, rough or fine - they're usually made with a combination of rolled oats, oatmeal, butter (or bacon fat), salt, and hot water.


The two types of oats are mixed with melted butter and hot water. The dough is kneaded into a ball and then rolled out and cut into rounds. The oatcakes are baked in the oven for about half an hour and then eaten once they have cooled down. They've been made in Scotland since Roman times, but many people believe that the oatcakes were made long before that.

10

Saltwater Fish Dish

SCOTLAND and  3 more regions
3.5
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Fish and chips is a traditional dish consisting of freshly fried fish fillets and sliced fried potatoes. The fish is dipped in a batter of eggs, flour, and milk, and it’s then fried in oil, lard, or beef drippings. The most common types of fish used are cod, haddock, skate, and pollock, but cod is the most popular choice, with 60% of all fish and chips meals using it as the preferred fish.


Pollock, on the other hand, is often used as an inexpensive, eco-friendly alternative to cod. The flesh is also soft and succulent, just as cod, but the texture is a bit more flaky, while the flavors are slightly sweet. Due to the fact that pollock is a robust fish, it’s easily battered and fried before it’s enjoyed with a heap of chips on the side.

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Breakfast
ABERDEEN, Scotland
3.6
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Blood Sausage
LEWIS AND HARRIS, Scotland
3.7
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Stew
SCOTLAND
3.8
23
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25
Vegetable Dish
ORKNEY ISLANDS, Scotland
3.8
26
Tart
ECCLEFECHAN, Scotland
3.8
27

TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “27 Worst Rated Scottish Foods” list until March 27, 2025, 3,235 ratings were recorded, of which 2,793 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.

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