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Bissli Israeli Snack — Complete Guide: All Flavors, History & Where to Buy | KosherTop
The complete guide to Bissli — Israel's crunchiest snack since 1975. BBQ, Smokey, Onion, Pizza, Falafel, Mexican flavors and more. Osem kosher parve. Shipped directly from Israel to the USA. Shop at KosherTop.
It started with a mistake.
In 1975, Efraim Sa'adon, a senior production manager at Osem's factory in Bnei Brak, was testing a new industrial deep fryer. On an impulse, he dropped in some pasta shapes. What came out was unrecognizable as pasta — but it was interesting. Crunchy, hollow, intensely textured. "Suddenly I had an idea," he recalled later.
The team at Osem refined the texture, developed seasonings, and launched the product that year. They called it Bissli — a combination of the Hebrew words bis (bite) and li (for me). "A bite for me." It is one of the more apt product names in snack history.
Fifty years later, Bissli is Israel's second most popular snack after Bamba, with a 15% share of Israel's snack market. It is eaten at birthday parties, Independence Day celebrations, school lunches, and Shabbat tables. It is the crunch that every Israeli child grew up with.
And it was discovered by accident.
What Is Bissli?
Bissli is a deep-fried wheat snack — shaped like small pasta spirals or tubes, seasoned with bold flavors, and fried to a hollow, intensely crunchy texture. It is not a chip. It is not a puff. It is something entirely its own: denser than a corn puff, crunchier than a chip, with a specific bite that is unlike any American snack category.
The texture is the point. Bissli breaks with a loud, satisfying crack. The hollow center means the seasoning coats the inside as well as the outside. Each piece delivers flavor from every angle.
Main ingredients: Wheat flour, vegetable oil, flavoring and seasoning blend (varies by flavor). Kosher: Parve — no dairy, no meat. Can be eaten at any meal. No artificial preservatives in most varieties.
Why wheat instead of potatoes? Doron Zilberstein, Osem's snack marketing manager, explained it simply: corn and wheat were easier to grow locally in Israel than potatoes. Bissli's success is partly a story of Israeli agriculture — a snack built from what the land could provide.
The Flavors of Bissli — Complete Guide
🔥 BBQ — The Most Popular
The one that most Israelis reach for first. BBQ Bissli has the specific smoky-sweet flavor profile that made the snack famous: a slightly sweet, richly savory, faintly caramelized seasoning that is more "Israeli BBQ" than "American BBQ." It is not exactly like any American BBQ chip. The flavor is more concentrated, less sweet, with a depth that comes from the wheat base absorbing the seasoning differently than a potato chip would.
BBQ Bissli is the flavor most commonly found in American kosher stores — and the first one to try if you have never had Bissli before.
Best for: First-time Bissli buyers, the classic Israeli experience, anyone who loves bold savory snacks Kosher: Parve
💨 Smokey — The Intense Version
Where BBQ Bissli is balanced and approachable, Smokey Bissli goes deeper into the smoke. More intense, more savory, with a pronounced smokiness that builds as you eat. The second most popular flavor in Israel, and arguably the one with the most devoted following.
If you finish a bag of BBQ Bissli and immediately want another, try Smokey next.
Best for: Those who want more depth and intensity than BBQ, smoke flavor fans, snack connoisseurs Kosher: Parve
🧅 Onion — The Classic Israeli Flavor
Onion Bissli is a different experience from the BBQ and Smokey varieties — less smoky, more savory in a clean, direct way. The onion flavor is assertive and genuine, not the artificial powder-onion taste of generic snacks. It pairs naturally with hummus, soft cheeses, or anything that benefits from an onion note.
Onion Bissli is particularly popular among Israelis who grew up eating it and have strong nostalgic associations with the flavor. Many consider it the "true" Bissli.
Best for: Onion lovers, pairing with dips, those who prefer savory over smoky, classic Israeli nostalgia Kosher: Parve
🍕 Pizza — For the Kids (and Adults)
Pizza-flavored Bissli delivers a tomato-herb-cheese-adjacent flavor — the concept of pizza in a wheat snack, kosher parve (no actual dairy). It is one of the more surprising flavors in the Bissli lineup: less "serious" than BBQ or Smokey, undeniably fun, and genuinely popular with children.
For Israeli parents, a bag of Pizza Bissli in the lunchbox is a reliable crowd-pleaser.
Best for: Children, pizza lovers, a lighter flavor alternative to BBQ/Smokey, lunchboxes Kosher: Parve (no actual dairy despite the pizza flavor)
🧆 Falafel — The Most Distinctly Israeli Flavor
Falafel-flavored Bissli is the flavor that could only come from Israel. Cumin, coriander, parsley, garlic — the spice profile of falafel translated into a crunchy wheat snack. It is earthy, aromatic, and unmistakably Middle Eastern in character. Nothing in the American snack aisle comes close to this flavor profile.
For anyone who loves falafel, Israeli street food, or Middle Eastern spicing — this is the most interesting Bissli flavor in the lineup.
Best for: Falafel lovers, Middle Eastern food enthusiasts, the most "Israeli" flavor experience, gifting to adventurous food lovers Kosher: Parve
🌶️ Mexican — For Heat Seekers
Mexican Bissli brings chili heat and a salsa-adjacent spice profile to the Bissli format. Among the spicier options in the lineup, it appeals to those who find the classic BBQ and Onion flavors too mild. The heat builds steadily — it does not hit immediately but accumulates pleasantly through the bag.
Best for: Spice lovers, those who find BBQ Bissli too mild, fans of bold chili-forward snacks Kosher: Parve
🥜 Bissli-Bamba Mix — Two Icons, One Bag
In 2014, Osem launched the Bissli-Bamba Mix — a blue package combining Bissli (BBQ flavor) with Bamba (original peanut butter puffs) in a single bag. Two of Israel's most iconic snacks, together. The combination works because the two textures and flavors complement each other: the crunch and smokiness of Bissli against the light, peanut-butter airiness of Bamba.
The Mix became a cultural event in Israel when it launched — a collaboration between two childhood snacks that Israelis had been eating separately for decades.
Best for: Those who love both Bamba and Bissli, variety snacking, introducing someone to both at once, Shabbat tables Kosher: Parve
The Complete Bissli Flavor Guide
| Flavor | Profile | Heat | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🔥 BBQ | Smoky-sweet, balanced | Mild | First-timers, the classic |
| 💨 Smokey | Intense smoke, deep savory | Mild | BBQ lovers wanting more |
| 🧅 Onion | Clean savory, assertive onion | None | Nostalgia, pairing with dips |
| 🍕 Pizza | Tomato-herb, fun | None | Kids, lighter snacking |
| 🧆 Falafel | Cumin, coriander, Middle Eastern | Mild | The most Israeli flavor |
| 🌶️ Mexican | Chili-forward, salsa spice | Medium | Heat seekers |
| 🥜 Bamba Mix | BBQ Bissli + peanut Bamba | None | Two icons in one bag |
First-time buyer: Start with BBQ, then try Falafel for the most distinctly Israeli experience.
Browse all Bissli flavors at KosherTop →
Bissli in Israeli Culture
Bissli was born in 1975, in the years after the Yom Kippur War — a time when Israel was rebuilding its confidence and its consumer economy. Osem, already successful with Bamba (launched 1964), was looking for its next snack hit. Sa'adon's accidental discovery with the pasta and the fryer gave them one.
The snack grew quickly. Production at Osem's factories rose from 300 kg per hour to 1.5 tons per hour as demand expanded. By 2007, a survey gave Bissli 15% of Israel's snack market — second only to Bamba.
For two generations of Israelis, Bissli is childhood. It is the snack at the birthday party when you were seven. It is the bag passed around during a school trip to Masada. It is the thing you find on every Israeli Shabbat table, next to the sunflower seeds and the roasted chickpeas. When Israeli adults abroad describe what they miss about Israeli food, Bissli — particularly Onion and BBQ — comes up regularly.
The 2014 Bissli-Bamba Mix was a cultural moment not because it was a new product, but because it acknowledged something Israelis had always known: Bamba and Bissli belong together. They are the twin pillars of Israeli snack culture.
Why Bissli from KosherTop?
Available in Israel, Scarce in America
BBQ Bissli is the one flavor that has made its way into American kosher stores with some regularity — you can find it at Stop & Shop, Giant, or Kroger in areas with Jewish communities. But Smokey, Onion, Falafel, Mexican, and the Bamba Mix are far harder to find. KosherTop carries the full range.
Fresh from the Source
Bissli found in American stores has often been in a US warehouse for months. KosherTop ships directly from Israel — maximum freshness, maximum crunch. A fresh bag of Bissli has a noticeably better texture than one that has been sitting.
Kosher Parve
All Bissli varieties are certified kosher parve — no dairy, no meat, can be eaten at any meal. This matters for kosher households where snacking between meals and during Shabbat requires parve options.
The Full Israeli Snack Experience
Order Bissli alongside Bamba, Krembo, or Elite Turkish Coffee from KosherTop and create the authentic Israeli snack table — the kind that every Israeli knows from childhood, and that every American who has visited Israel wishes they could recreate at home.
KosherTop is Israel's premier online store, shipping authentic Israeli food — including the complete Bissli and Osem snack range — directly from Israel to customers across the USA and worldwide. Based in Hod Hasharon, Israel. Operating since 2015.
