What Is Mebos? The South African Dried Apricot Sweet Explained
Mebos is a South African sweet-and-salty dried apricot snack, chewy and tangy with Cape Malay roots. Here is what it is and how it is made.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
Mebos is a traditional South African snack of dried fruit, most often apricots, that are cured with salt and sugar to give a chewy, sweet-and-salty, tangy treat. It is sometimes pitted and pressed flat into a soft fruit leather, and it keeps well, which made it a favourite pantry snack long before modern sweets. Mebos carries Cape Malay heritage and is loved as a moreish nibble by children and adults alike, though it is high in sugar and salt so it is best enjoyed in moderation. In the UK you can find mebos and other South African snacks at African food shops, which you can find near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Mebos is a South African snack of dried fruit, most often apricots, cured with salt and sugar.
- It is sweet, salty and tangy, with a chewy texture, and is sometimes flattened into a fruit leather.
- It has Cape Malay heritage and is a long-keeping, moreish snack.
- As dried fruit it may contain sulphites, and it is high in sugar and salt, so enjoy it in moderation.
- Other fruits are occasionally used, but apricot mebos is the classic.
Reach into a South African home's cupboard and there is a good chance you will find a bag of mebos tucked away, ready for a quick, chewy, salty-sweet nibble. It is the snack of long car journeys and school lunchboxes, of a small treat handed over by a grandmother, the kind of everyday sweet that tastes of childhood and of home. For South Africans in Britain, that familiar tang of salted apricot is a small, powerful reminder of the Cape.
There is real heritage in mebos, rooted in the Cape Malay tradition of preserving and spicing fruit, a craft carried down through generations of Cape kitchens. A simple apricot becomes something clever and lasting, sweet and salt working together in a way that is unmistakably South African. To share a piece of mebos with a friend who has never tried it, and to watch their face as the sweet gives way to salt, is to pass on a little of that heritage and that taste of home.
What Mebos Actually Is
Mebos is a traditional South African preserved fruit snack, made most often from apricots that are dried and cured with both salt and sugar. This sweet-and-salty combination is what sets mebos apart from ordinary dried fruit: the salt cuts through the natural sweetness of the apricot to give a tangy, moreish flavour that keeps you reaching for more. The texture is soft and chewy, and in one popular form the fruit is pitted and pressed flat into a kind of fruit leather, dense and pliable, easy to tear into pieces.
While apricots are the classic and best known base, other fruits are occasionally treated the same way. The defining feature is the cure rather than the fruit itself, that balance of sweet and salt drying into a chewy, long-lasting snack. Because it keeps so well, mebos was a practical treat long before packaged sweets, and it remains a beloved part of South African snacking today, sitting comfortably alongside the other traditional foods of South African food.
How Mebos Is Made and Enjoyed
Making mebos begins with good ripe apricots, which are dried and worked with salt and sugar so the fruit slowly cures. In the flattened style the stones are removed and the fruit is pressed thin, drying into a chewy sheet; in other versions the pieces stay whole or halved and simply soft and sticky. The result in every case is that signature contrast of sweet fruit and savoury salt, tangy on the tongue and pleasantly chewy.
Mebos is eaten just as it is, straight from the bag, as a snack any time of day. It travels well and does not spoil quickly, which is why it turns up in lunchboxes, glove compartments and handbags across South Africa. Some enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee, others simply nibble a piece when they want something sweet with a bit of an edge. It is worth remembering that mebos is high in sugar and salt, so it is best enjoyed in moderation, a small treat rather than a whole bag at once, and as a dried fruit it may contain sulphites.
Why Mebos Matters in South Africa
Mebos is more than just a snack; it is a small piece of Cape heritage. Its roots lie in the Cape Malay tradition of preserving and flavouring fruit, a resourceful craft that turned seasonal harvests into treats that would last. That history gives mebos a quiet cultural weight, a taste that connects generations and speaks of the Cape's long love of sweet, salty and preserved flavours.
For South Africans, mebos is nostalgia you can hold in your hand, the taste of childhood treats and family cupboards. It is the kind of food that carries memory, and for those living far from home it becomes a cherished link back to the Cape. Simple as it is, mebos endures because it is genuinely delicious and genuinely South African.
Where to Buy Mebos in the UK
Mebos is a speciality treat rather than something you will find on every supermarket shelf, so the place to look in Britain is a shop that stocks South African foods. Shops serving South African and wider African communities often carry mebos, whether the whole salted apricots or the flattened fruit leather, alongside other Cape favourites and pantry staples. Because it keeps so well, it is an easy thing to buy a bag of and enjoy over time. You can find African food stores near you to see which shops nearby stock mebos and other South African snacks.
Frequently asked questions
What is mebos?
Mebos is a traditional South African snack of dried fruit, most often apricots, cured with both salt and sugar to give a chewy, sweet-and-salty, tangy treat. It is sometimes pitted and pressed flat into a soft fruit leather. Mebos has Cape Malay heritage and keeps well, which made it a practical and much loved snack.
What does mebos taste like?
Mebos is sweet and salty at once, with a tangy edge from the cured apricot and a soft, chewy texture. The salt balances the natural sweetness of the fruit, which is what makes it so moreish. It is quite different from plain dried apricots, with a saltier, more savoury character.
How is mebos made?
Mebos is made by drying apricots and curing them with salt and sugar. In one common form the stones are removed and the fruit is pressed flat into a chewy fruit leather; in others the pieces stay whole or halved and soft. Other fruits are occasionally used, but apricot mebos is the classic.
Is mebos good for you and does it contain allergens?
Mebos is made from fruit, but it is high in both sugar and salt, so it is best enjoyed in moderation as a small treat rather than eaten in large amounts. As a dried fruit it may contain sulphites, which are commonly used to preserve dried fruit, so check the label if you are sensitive to them.
Where can I buy mebos in the UK?
Mebos is a speciality South African snack, so African food shops that stock South African products are the best place to find it, whether the salted whole apricots or the flattened fruit leather. It keeps well, so it is easy to buy and enjoy over time. African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks it.
