List of Chewy Foods

All food can be associated with a few characteristics, such as sour, sweet, bubbly, or chewy. Of these, chewy foods tend to be snacks or confectionary-based, but savory foods such as bread can be chewy too. Chewy foods aren’t typically too popular with people with braces, since dentists recommend they stay away from such foods to avoid damaging the braces.

Many types of candy are characteristically chewy. These candies are often aimed at children, and in the U.S., chewy candies include Swedish Fish, Sugar Babies and Wacky Taffy. In the U.K., chocolate éclairs are a type of chewy chocolate candy.

Cookies aren’t always chewy, but many varieties of cookie do have this particular characteristic. These include ginger cookies, which are buttery and spicy, and the indulgent chocolate chip cookies, which are very rich in taste. Flapjacks or pancakes are another treat famous for their chewy texture. Made from syrup and oats, flapjacks are typically dense, but exactly how tough to chew they are varies according to the recipe and the chef. Some bakers prefer pliant pancakes, while others make brittle ones. Items such as chocolate and sultanas are sometimes added.

Cereal bars come in a range of flavors, but are typically chewy and usually packed with different ingredients. These can include bits of fruit, raisins and almonds. Varieties of cereal bar which can be found on sale include granola bars. Chocolate bars can contain everything from almonds to toffee, and though many aren’t especially chewy, others are; one such variety is a chewy chocolate almond bar.

Bread can be quite chewy, especially the variety known as Boston brown bread, which is fried in butter and filled with raisins. This dense bread is made by steaming rather than baking, and is often served alongside items such as sausages and baked beans. Pizza doesn’t immediately strike people as a chewy food, but plenty of pizzas have a chewy crust. This crust should be crisp on the outside, but the inside should be soft.

Most noodles aren’t too chewy, but one variety which bucks this trend is Jjol Myun noodles. This type of rice noodle has a bouncy taste, and is generally paired with a spicy sauce and served cold rather than hot.

Perhaps the most famous chewy meat product is the beef jerky, often eaten as a snack. This easy-to-store food has its origins with the North American Indians from the Southwest, who dried buffalo meat by removing the water, to preserve it. Called charqui by the Indians, explorers later changed the name of this food to jerky.