Portuguese Dishes25 Traditional Foods to Try in Portugal
25 traditional Portuguese dishes to try in Portugal, from bacalhau and grilled sardines to bifanas, caldo verde and pastéis de nata, with what to order.
By Mesa de Portugal Kitchen · Updated · 7 min read
The Portuguese dishes most worth trying are bacalhau (salt cod) in its many forms, grilled sardines, octopus à lagareiro, cataplana de marisco, the bifana pork sandwich, caldo verde soup, leitão (suckling pig), francesinha in Porto and the pastel de nata. Below are 25 traditional Portuguese foods, grouped by type, with a line on where and how to eat each one.
Use it as a checklist for a trip, or as a menu for cooking at home. Where we have a recipe, it's linked.
Seafood and fish
Portugal eats more fish per person than anywhere else in the EU, so start here.
1. Bacalhau à Brás
Shredded salt cod, matchstick potatoes and onions bound with soft scrambled egg, finished with olives and parsley. A Lisbon tasca staple. Our bacalhau à Brás recipe.
2. Bacalhau com natas
Salt cod and potatoes baked in a creamy sauce. The family-lunch version. Recipe.
3. Pastéis de bacalhau
Fried salt cod and potato croquettes, eaten hot or cold as a snack at any café counter. Air fryer pastéis de bacalhau.
4. Sardinhas assadas
Sardines grilled over charcoal and laid on a slice of bread to catch the juices. Best from June to September, when the fish are fat. Grilled sardines recipe.
5. Polvo à lagareiro
Tender roast octopus drowned in garlicky olive oil with punched potatoes. One of the best things on any Portuguese menu. Polvo à lagareiro.
6. Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato
Clams steamed open with olive oil, garlic, coriander and lemon. Order bread for the juice. Recipe.
7. Cataplana de marisco
A seafood stew of clams, prawns and fish cooked in a hinged copper pan, opened at the table. An Algarve classic. Cataplana de marisco.
8. Arroz de marisco
A soupy seafood rice, wet and loose rather than dry like paella, served bubbling in the pot. Usually for two or more people.
9. Carapaus fritos
Small fried horse mackerel, often served with a tomato rice or a vinegary onion sauce. Cheap, crisp and very Portuguese. Air fryer carapaus.
Artame stainless steel cataplana, 30 cm
The family size: enough cataplana de marisco for four, carried to the table and opened in a cloud of steam.
Tip: Check it fits your largest burner before you buy.
Meat
10. Bifana
A thin pork steak simmered in garlic and white wine, in a soft roll, with mustard. Lisbon and Porto argue about who does it best. Bifana recipe.
11. Francesinha
Porto's huge sandwich of steak, sausage and ham, covered in melted cheese and a beer and tomato sauce, often with an egg on top and chips around it. Read our francesinha guide.
12. Leitão à Bairrada
Suckling pig roasted until the skin shatters, from the Bairrada region around Mealhada. Eaten with orange slices, crisps and sparkling wine. See leitão da Bairrada.
13. Carne de porco à alentejana
Marinated pork with clams, fried potato cubes and coriander. Pork and clams recipe.
14. Cozido à portuguesa
A huge boiled dinner of several meats, sausages, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and turnips. A winter Sunday dish.
15. Bitoque
A thin steak with a fried egg on top, chips, rice and salad. Portugal's default café lunch. Bitoque recipe.
16. Frango piri-piri
Chicken flattened and grilled over charcoal, basted with chilli oil. The Algarve made it famous. Frango piri-piri.
17. Arroz de pato
Duck rice baked with slices of chouriço on top until crisp. A northern Sunday lunch. Arroz de pato.
18. Feijoada à transmontana
A bean stew from Trás-os-Montes with pork, sausages and cabbage. Not to be confused with the Brazilian black bean version. Recipe.
Soups and bread dishes
19. Caldo verde
A smooth potato soup with ribbons of shredded collard greens and a slice of chouriço. Served at weddings, festivals and late at night. Caldo verde recipe.
20. Açorda alentejana
Bread soup with garlic, coriander, olive oil and a poached egg, from the Alentejo. Açorda recipe. More soups in our Portuguese soups guide.
Petiscos (small plates)
21. Chouriço assado
Chouriço flamed at the table in a clay dish over burning spirit. Chouriço assado.
22. Rissóis de camarão
Half-moon pastries filled with a creamy prawn sauce, breaded and fried. Rissóis de camarão.
23. Pica-pau
Bite-size pieces of beef or pork in a garlic, beer and pickle sauce, eaten with toothpicks and bread. For more small plates, see our petiscos night guide.
Sweets
24. Pastel de nata
The custard tart with a blistered top and flaky pastry. Eat it warm, with cinnamon, and a bica (espresso). Make pastéis de nata.
25. Arroz doce
Rice cooked slowly in milk with lemon peel, sugar and egg yolk, with a pattern of cinnamon on top. Arroz doce recipe. Our Portuguese desserts guide has many more.
How to order these dishes in Portugal
- Look for the prato do dia. The dish of the day is usually the freshest and best value thing on the menu.
- Ask for meia dose. A half portion is normal in many tascas and often enough for one person.
- Watch the couvert. Bread, olives and butter arrive on their own. You pay if you eat them, so send them back if you don't want them.
- Check whether rice and seafood dishes are for two. Arroz de marisco and cataplana are often priced per person with a two-person minimum.
- Fish may be sold by weight. If the menu says preço por kg, ask how much your fish weighs before it is cooked.
Our guide to ordering in a Portuguese restaurant has the phrases you'll need, and Portuguese food words will help you read the menu.
Bring them home
If you want to cook these dishes after your trip, one broad regional cookbook covers most of this list.
Authentic Portuguese Cooking (cookbook)
Over 185 classic recipes from mainland Portugal, the Azores and Madeira. A highly rated home-cooking reference.
Tip: Good for family recipes you remember but never wrote down.
What you’ll need
Links go to Amazon, where you can check today’s price. If you buy, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Authentic Portuguese Cooking (cookbook)
Over 185 classic recipes from mainland Portugal, the Azores and Madeira. A highly rated home-cooking reference.
Tip: Good for family recipes you remember but never wrote down.
Lisboeta by Nuno Mendes
Lisbon's food in a beautiful hardback by Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes: tascas, petiscos and city classics.
Tip: A lovely gift for anyone who fell for Lisbon.
Artame stainless steel cataplana, 30 cm
The family size: enough cataplana de marisco for four, carried to the table and opened in a cloud of steam.
Tip: Check it fits your largest burner before you buy.
Frequently asked
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Recipes from this story
TraditionalBacalhau à BrásSalt Cod with Eggs and Potatoes
Lisbon's favourite salt cod dish: flaked bacalhau, matchstick potatoes and onions, bound with barely-set eggs and finished with olives and parsley.
TraditionalBacalhau com NatasCreamy Baked Salt Cod
Flaked salt cod, golden potatoes and onions baked in a creamy sauce until bubbling. The comforting bacalhau dish of Portuguese family lunches.
Air FryerPastéis de Bacalhau in the Air Fryer
Portugal's favourite salt cod fritters made in the air fryer: crisp outside, fluffy inside, with no pot of hot oil. Includes how to soak the bacalhau.