Portuguese Meal PlanA Week of Easy Portuguese Dinners

This Portuguese meal plan gives you seven easy dinners for four people: piri-piri chicken, caldo verde, bacalhau à Brás, bitoque, clams with garlic and coriander, pork with clams and duck rice. Most weeknight dishes take 25 to 40 minutes. The trick is 45 minutes of prep on Sunday: start soaking the salt cod, marinate the chicken and make a pot of soup base.

Everything links to a full recipe on our site. Quantities in the shopping list are for four people unless the recipe serves more.

The week at a glance

1. Monday: Frango piri-piri with batatas a murro
2. Tuesday: Caldo verde with bread, cheese and olives
3. Wednesday: Bacalhau à Brás with a green salad
4. Thursday: Bitoque, steak with a fried egg, chips and rice
5. Friday: Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato with linguine or crusty bread
6. Saturday: Carne de porco à alentejana, pork with clams
7. Sunday: Arroz de pato, duck rice for a slow lunch, with leftovers for Monday

Why this order works

The plan follows how the ingredients behave, not just what sounds good.

• Chicken on Monday because it marinates overnight on Sunday and is at its freshest.
• Soup on Tuesday because the base is already made and the night needs to be easy.
• Salt cod on Wednesday because thick pieces need 36 to 48 hours of soaking, so you start it on Sunday evening or Monday morning.
• Steak on Thursday because it cooks in five minutes and you'll be tired.
• Clams on Friday and Saturday because you buy them fresh on Friday and use them within two days.
• Duck on Sunday because it's hands-off for two hours while you prep the next week.

Monday: Frango piri-piri and batatas a murro

Chicken thighs marinated in garlic, chilli, paprika, lemon and wine, cooked in the air fryer until the skin blisters. Punched potatoes go in the second basket, or cook them first and keep them warm. Add a tomato and onion salad. Total time on the night: about 40 minutes.

Tuesday: Caldo verde

Reheat the soup base you made on Sunday, bring it to the boil and add the finely shredded greens for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with a slice of chouriço on each bowl, good bread, some cheese and olives. A Portuguese supper in 15 minutes.

Wednesday: Bacalhau à Brás

Flaked salt cod, onions, matchstick potatoes and soft eggs. Shop-bought potato sticks (batata palha) make it a 25-minute dinner. Serve with a sharp green salad. Read how to soak bacalhau before you start it soaking.

Thursday: Bitoque

A thin steak seared with garlic and bay, a quick beer pan sauce, a fried egg on top, chips from the air fryer and plain rice. Cooks in the time it takes the chips to crisp.

Amazon best seller

CAROTE 12-inch non-stick frying pan

A top-selling non-stick pan, ideal for bacalhau à Brás, where the eggs must slide.

Tip: Use wooden or silicone tools to protect the coating.

View on Amazon

Friday: Amêijoas à Bulhão Pato

Purge the clams in salted water when you get home, then they cook in five minutes with garlic, olive oil, coriander and lemon. For a full dinner, toss them through linguine with the juices, or serve them as a petisco with bread, olives and a tin of sardines. Keep half the clams for Saturday.

Saturday: Carne de porco à alentejana

Pork marinated overnight in white wine, garlic and red pepper paste, browned, then finished with clams, crisp potato cubes and a lot of coriander. Marinate the pork on Friday night. The best dish of the week for opening a bottle of wine. See Portuguese wine for beginners for what to pour.

Sunday: Arroz de pato

The duck simmers slowly into a broth, the rice cooks in it, and the dish finishes in the oven under crisp slices of chouriço. Most of the two hours is hands-off, which is when you do next week's prep. Leftovers reheat well for Monday lunch.

Amazon best seller

Farberware 6-quart stainless stockpot

A best-selling stockpot for caldo verde, octopus and cooking bacalhau.

Tip: Works on all hobs, including induction.

View on Amazon

Shopping list

Fish and meat

• About 350 g dried salt cod, in thick pieces (enough for 400 g soaked)
• 1.2 kg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks
• 4 thin beef steaks, sirloin or rump, about 150 g each
• 800 g boneless pork shoulder
• 2 kg live clams (half for Friday, half for Saturday)
• 1 whole duck, about 2 kg, or 4 duck legs
• 2 chouriços (one for the soup and petiscos, one for the duck rice)
• 100 g smoked bacon or presunto in one piece

Vegetables, fruit and herbs

• 2.5 kg potatoes (floury for soup, small ones for punching, plus some for cubes and chips)
• 250 g couve galega, collard greens or kale
• 5 onions and 3 heads of garlic
• 1 carrot
• 2 large bunches of coriander and 1 of parsley
• 3 lemons, 1 orange
• Salad leaves, tomatoes and a red onion

Dairy, eggs and bread

• 12 eggs
• Butter
• A crusty loaf and a bag of rolls
• A hard cheese for Tuesday

Pantry

• Extra virgin olive oil, plenty of it
• Dried piri-piri chillies or piri-piri sauce
• Sweet paprika and massa de pimentão (or more paprika)
• Bay leaves, black pepper, coarse salt
• 400 g carolino or other short-grain rice, plus long-grain rice for Thursday
• A bag of batata palha (potato sticks)
• Black olives, pickles
• Dry white wine and a lager-style beer
• Linguine (optional, for Friday)

Short of something? Our guide to Portuguese ingredient substitutes covers swaps, and Portuguese pantry staples lists what's worth keeping in the cupboard.

Sunday prep: 45 minutes that save the week

1. Start the salt cod. Rinse it and put it in a large bowl of cold water in the fridge on Sunday evening. Change the water two or three times a day until Wednesday, and taste a flake before cooking.
2. Marinate the chicken. Mix the piri-piri marinade, rub it in and refrigerate for Monday.
3. Make the caldo verde base. Cook and blend the potato, onion and garlic base. Cool and refrigerate for Tuesday. Don't add the greens yet.
4. Shred the greens. Roll and slice the couve into thin ribbons, then keep them in a bag with a paper towel in the fridge.
5. Cook the duck broth. While the duck simmers for Sunday lunch, everything else gets done.

Make it easier

• Use an air fryer for anything fried. Chicken, punched potatoes, chips and potato cubes for the pork all work well, and a two-basket model lets you cook a main and a side at the same time. Our air fryer tips for Portuguese food explain timings.
• Buy ready-shredded couve. Portuguese and Brazilian grocers sell it bagged for caldo verde.
• Swap the clams. If you can't get good clams, swap Friday for grilled sardines or a petiscos board. Our petiscos night guide has ideas.

Amazon best seller

Ninja Foodi 8 Qt DualZone Air Fryer

Two drawers that finish together: bacalhau in one, batatas a murro in the other. Ideal for Portuguese meals, which are usually a main plus a side.

Tip: Use the sync-finish button so both drawers are ready at the same moment.

View on Amazon

For more ideas, browse our list of Portuguese dishes to try.

From the shop

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.

Amazon best seller

Ninja Foodi 8 Qt DualZone Air Fryer

Two drawers that finish together: bacalhau in one, batatas a murro in the other. Ideal for Portuguese meals, which are usually a main plus a side.

Tip: Use the sync-finish button so both drawers are ready at the same moment.

View on Amazon

Amazon best seller

CAROTE 12-inch non-stick frying pan

A top-selling non-stick pan, ideal for bacalhau à Brás, where the eggs must slide.

Tip: Use wooden or silicone tools to protect the coating.

View on Amazon

Amazon best seller

Farberware 6-quart stainless stockpot

A best-selling stockpot for caldo verde, octopus and cooking bacalhau.

Tip: Works on all hobs, including induction.

View on Amazon