Halo halo

Ingredients can vary widely, but they usually include boiled sweetened kidney beans, sweetened chickpeas, sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), and plantains sweetened with sugar, jackfruit (langkâ), gulaman, tapioca, nata de coco, sweet potato (kamote), cheese, pounded crushed young rice (pinipig). Most of the ingredients (fruits, beans, and other sweets) are first placed inside the tall glass, followed by the shaved ice. This is then sprinkled with sugar, and topped with either (or a combination of) leche flan, purple yam (ubeng pula), or ice cream. Evaporated milk is poured into the mixture upon serving.

The spelling "halo-halo" (popularized by Chowking) is considered incorrect by the Commission on the Filipino Language, which prescribes "haluhalo".

The similar Visayan dessert binignit is also referred to as "ginataang halo-halo" in Tagalog ("halo-halo in coconut milk"), commonly shortened to "ginataan". It is made with mostly the same ingredients, although the latter is usually served hot.