Top Vietnamese Desserts - A food tour guide

Vietnamese Desserts: A Sweet Introduction

Vietnamese desserts are not really like Western desserts. There is less focus on rich chocolate or thick creams and much more focus on sticky rice, mung beans, coconut milk, tropical fruits and various jellies. Most traditional Vietnamese sweets are eaten as a snack or after a meal at street stalls and small dessert shops rather than as a separate dessert course at restaurants. More on this in Authentic Vietnamese Breakfast - Top Dishes to Try.

The most common categories you will come across in Vietnam are:

• Chè: A general term for sweet soups and puddings, often warm or chilled, with ingredients like beans, jellies, coconut milk and fruit. There are dozens of types of che across the country.
• Bánh: A broad category covering cakes, buns and pastries (both sweet and savoury). Most Vietnamese bánh in this guide are the sweet versions.
• Xôi: Sticky rice based desserts, sometimes paired with coconut, mung bean or sugar.
• Kẹo: Candies and confections, often peanut-based, sesame-based or made from rice.
• Mứt: Candied fruits and seeds, especially popular during Tet (lunar new year).

Most Vietnamese desserts cost between 20,000 and 50,000 VND ($0.80 to $2 USD) at a street stall or small dessert shop. Prices in tourist areas can be 2 to 3 times higher.

Here are the top 15 Vietnamese desserts every visitor should try at least once.

Top 15 Vietnamese Desserts You Should Try

The list below covers the classics. They are listed roughly in order of how famous they are, starting with the best known. Each entry mentions where it comes from and what to look for. None of these need a reservation or fancy restaurant , most are found at street stalls, small dessert shops and traditional market stalls across Vietnam.

Chè – Vietnam’s best Sweet dish

Basically, chè describes a lot of sweet soups and puddings with the addition of beans, jellies, fruits, and tapioca put together. One of the coolest is called Chè Ba Màu, or in English, Three-Color Dessert. That one is mung beans, red beans, green jelly and mung beans, red beans, green jelly, and coconut milk poured over crushed ice. Then there is Chè Chuối, a warm and comforting pudding made from bananas, tapioca pearls, and coconut cream. In fact, this dessert can be found in almost every food street and cafe in Vietnam.

Bánh Flan – it's like Vietnamese Crème Caramel

This one is French by descent: a smooth custard base under caramelised sugar on top, but with the addition of condensed milk or coconut milk, it becomes extremely rich in taste. Almost every local bakery and restaurant sells Bánh Flan.

Bánh Chuối Nướng – Grilled Banana Sticky Rice

Sweet bananas wrapped in sticky rice, then wrapped again in banana leaves and grilled. It usually gets drizzled with coconut sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds or peanuts to bring in that smoky, sweet, and creamy flavor.

Xôi Ngọt – That sweet sticky rice!

Sticky rice in Vietnamese desserts can be super versatile. You may have options like Xôi Lá Dứa or Xôi Gấc, the red-colored sticky rice made with gac fruit. They are usually consumed with some shredded coconut or mung bean paste to kick up the texture and sweetness of this food.

Tào Phớ – Tofu Pudding

Tào Phớ is super light and refreshing; it is basically silken tofu swimming in this sweet ginger syrup. It's even nicer when it has been chilled, then topped with cool ingredients like grass jelly, coconut milk, or crunchy toasted peanuts, all of it aimed at hot days.

Bánh Da Lợn – Steamed Tapioca Layer Cake

You may also know it as "Pig Skin Cake" because of its translucent layers. Made from tapioca, mung beans, and pandan leaves, this kueh has a chewy, layered texture and is lightly sweetened, making it a favorite snack.

Kem Xôi – Ice Cream with Sticky Rice

You get this great combination of creamy coconut ice cream over sticky rice, usually topped off with some roasted coconut flakes. A favorite among tourists who have tried Thai food before is that it is sweet and refreshing.

Fried Banana – Chuối Chiên

Thinly sliced ripe bananas, battered and fried: crunchy on the outside and soft with a caramel interior. Many times, vendors sell these sprinkled with sugar or smothered in coconut sauce for that extra kick.

Mung Bean Cakes – Bánh Đậu Xanh

These include small cakes made with mung bean paste, sugar, and coconut milk, mostly served with tea. They make for very good souvenirs to bring from Vietnam since they can last long and are culturally significant.

Bánh Bò – Honeycomb Cake

This soft, sweetly gentle cake takes its name from the honeycomb interior created by air bubbles during steaming; flavors of coconut milk and pandan give it a distinctively Vietnamese signature.

Chè Trôi Nước – Sticky Rice Balls in Ginger Syrup

Chewy rice balls filled with mung bean paste are boiled in ginger syrup, making for a warm and fragrant dessert, usually served on family reunion occasions or in any festivals.

Pía - Durian pastry

A specialty from South Vietnam, Bánh Pía is a pastry with a flaky crust containing fillings of mung beans, durian, and sometimes even salted egg yolk. This is for those bold lovers of durian's strong, acquired smell.

Kẹo lạc – Peanut and Sesame Candy

This is crunchy, sweet candy made from roasted peanuts and sesame seeds in caramelized sugar. Although it's rather common as a gift, people share it especially during the Lunar New Year festivities.

Banh Tieu - Vietnamese Hollow Doughnuts

These are doughnuts deep-fried from dough made up of rice flour and coconut milk, which later will turn up spongy hollow within. Usually sprinkled with sesame, these are enjoyed hot from street hawkers.

Flan dừa – Coconut Crème Caramel

This is crème caramel, tropical style, for coconut milk has been added to give it that extra-special exotic touch; it is found everywhere in all the coastal towns and city cafes of Vietnam.

Eating Your Way North

The Hanoi, Saigon and Hoi An sections are the three places most food itineraries stop. The gap between Hue and Hanoi is where most people take a night bus and see nothing.

Phong Nha sits in the middle of that gap, 45 minutes from Dong Hoi airport, and it is where the largest cave passages in the world are. Our Elephant Cave and Ma Da Valley trek is a single day of it: jungle walk in, lunch by Ma Da Lake, a swim into Tra Ang cave, back by evening.

Tips to Enjoy Vietnamese Desserts

• Food Adventures in the Streets:
  Busy markets are some of the best places to taste real desserts at very cheap prices.

• Regional Specialties:
  This section covers northern, central, and southern takes of Vietnam on the same desserts.

• Pair with drinks:
  Most of the above desserts were perfectly matched with Vietnamese iced coffee or green tea for a killing combination in flavors.

Where to Try Vietnamese Desserts in Hanoi, Saigon and Hoi An

Most Vietnamese desserts are easy to find at street stalls and small shops but a few destinations are particularly well known for their dessert scene. Here are the best places to try Vietnamese sweets in 2026.

Hanoi (north):

• Hang Than Street in the Old Quarter: known for traditional che shops with seating. Try Che 84 Hang Than for the classic warm and cold versions.
• Cha Ca La Vong area: several traditional dessert vendors on the side streets.
• Quan Su Pagoda area: vegetarian che served at the temple street stalls (very cheap, around 15,000 VND).
• Best Hanoi specialty: banh com, a sweet green sticky rice cake found at most traditional bakeries in the Old Quarter.

Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon (south):

• Ben Thanh Market food court (upper floor): easy spot to try multiple che varieties in one visit. Slightly tourist-priced but convenient.
• District 5 (Cho Lon area): best place for Chinese-influenced Vietnamese desserts like che dau, banh pia and durian sweets.
• Nguyen Phi Khanh street (District 1): strip of late-night dessert shops popular with locals.
• Best southern specialty: banh da lon (steamed tapioca layer cake) and che ba mau (three-colour bean dessert) which are originally southern Vietnamese.

Hoi An (central):

• Hoi An Central Market: try cao lau noodle vendors in the morning and then move to the dessert stalls for che bap (sweet corn pudding) which is a Hoi An specialty.
• Tran Phu street: several dessert and ice cream shops geared toward tourists but the quality is generally good.
• Best central specialty: banh xoai (mango cake) and che bap (corn dessert), both unique to Hoi An.

General tips:

• Most dessert vendors are open from late afternoon (around 3 PM) through to late evening (10 or 11 PM).
• Daytime markets often have a smaller selection of desserts compared to night markets.
• Cash only at most street stalls and small dessert shops.

Various desserts of Vietnam are proof of this culinary genius; from night strolls in the Old Quarter of Hanoi to busy markets in Ho Chi Minh City, they should not be missed. Each taste speaks a lot about historical, flavorful, and cultural fusions that just should not be missed.

If you are visiting Vietnam and not trying all the desserts then have you even lived your life fully?