Best Korean snacks to buy: 8 favorites, sweet to savory

Choco Pie is the oldest snack on this list. Orion launched it in 1974, began exporting it to Russia in 1993 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024. Each pie is coated in chocolate with a marshmallow filling, and the label lists gelatin, so skip it if you avoid gelatin.

Pepero is Lotte's chocolate-covered biscuit stick. Lotte says students began giving Pepero to friends on November 11 in the 1990s, because the sticks look like the date, and the custom became a lasting tradition. Besides Original, Lotte shows Almond, Nude chocolate, Crunky, White cookie and Choco cookie versions. Even the Original lists peanut and almond powder in its chocolate, so check the box if nuts are a concern.

Real Brownie comes from Market O, a brand Orion launched in 2008. Orion describes it as a dense chocolate brownie with chunks.

Honey Butter Chip is a potato chip with a honey butter seasoning. Haitai's own page sums it up as a chip with sweet honey in it, and the US label lists acacia honey powder alongside butter, skim milk powder, whey and soy ingredients, and says to keep the bag in a cool place out of direct sunlight.

Turtle Chips, sold in Korea as Kkobuk Chip, arrived in 2017. Orion describes them as chips with four crisp layers. The Sweet Corn bag is Orion's corn soup flavor, a little sweet and a little salty. Orion also makes a Choco Churros flavor if you want a sweeter bag.

Saeukkang, sold abroad as Shrimp Crackers, is Nongshim's ridged, fry-shaped snack made with real shrimp. Nongshim USA describes it as French fry-shaped with delicate ripples for extra crispiness. The ingredients include ground shrimp, dried shrimp in the seasoning oil and anchovy, so it's one to skip if you avoid shellfish or fish. Nongshim's listing says the crackers are baked by a parching method rather than fried in oil.

If you like the original, Nongshim USA also lists Spicy, Gochujang and Wasabi versions.

Yakgwa is a traditional Korean honey cookie. According to the National Folk Museum of Korea, it's made from flour kneaded with honey and oil, pressed in a mold and fried. It began as a confection that replaced fruit on ancestral ritual tables, so it was once shaped like dates, chestnuts, pears and persimmons; the round shapes were hard to stack, so it became square. The yak in its name comes from the honey and sesame oil in the dough, which were long used medicinally, and yakgwa is still served on ritual tables today. It contains no fish or meat, the bride's family once sent it to the groom before a wedding, and during the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392) it was known in China as Goryeobyeong. Packaged minis like Samlip's make it an easy snack with tea.

Honey Twist is the modern, crunchy side of honey. Nongshim coats crinkle-cut, twisted strips in acacia honey for a light snack. Its ingredient list starts with wheat flour, sugar and palm oil and also includes acacia honey and canola oil.

Recipes and labels can change, and store pages don't always show them, so read the package you get. This is what the makers or the store labels said as of October 2026. If you're buying for someone with a food allergy, check the facility statements too: Shrimp Crackers are made where eggs, tree nuts, peanuts and sesame are also processed, and Honey Twist where eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish and shellfish are.