Portuguese cuisine is having a moment. After decades of looking toward the more famous cuisines of its European brethren (France, Italy) as the pinnacle of high gastronomy, high-end restaurants in this little Iberian Nation That Could have finally turned their attention inward in their pursuit of culinary validation.
Led by high-profile Lisbon chefs like José Avillez (the two-Michelin-starred Belcanto) and Henrique Sá Pessoa (the two-starred Alma), the Portuguese food renaissance has spread beyond the capital and throughout this formerly under-the-radar seafaring nation.
Alongside Portugal’s fine-dining scene are more casual eateries—some of which (like Pastéis de Belém) have been around for generations—that also shine for their traditional Portuguese dishes, their recipes perfected over time.
Whether you’re dining at a casual taverna or a Michelin-starred restaurant, don’t miss these 13 traditional Portuguese foods on your next trip to this European nation.
What is Portuguese cuisine?
Portuguese food is heavily influenced by the Age of Discovery—when explorers like Vasco de Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral set sail for the New World at the encouragement of 15th-century Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator—as well as by its own 1,115 miles of Atlantic coastline.
As a result, seafood rules Portuguese kitchens, but inland, pork holds its own. The hearty regional cuisine of the Alentejo, for example, is based around slow-cooked porco preto (Iberian black pig), lamb, and bread, all of which are served numerous ways. By land or sea, Portuguese food is backed by a long list of classic dishes with Mediterranean foundations but peppered with portions of African, Brazilian, and Spice Route pizzazz. Today, Portugal has cultivated this globalized mélange into one of the continent’s most exacting and dynamic cuisines.
Massive planks of dried bacalhau are sold in markets across Portugal.
Photo by Photokon/Shutterstock
What is Portugal’s most famous dish?
You won’t find bacalhau (salted cod) in Portugal—bacalhau will find you. Harkening back to a prerefrigeration technique of preserving fish in salt, bacalhau carried on in Portugal despite modern advancements. Today, it mostly comes from Norway: Around 25,000 tons of bacalhau are imported annually. Depending on the preparation (some say there are at least 1,000 recipes), bacalhau can be very good or very fishy (the trick is in extensive soaking in water to remove the salt). Either way, you ain’t getting out of the country without eating it.
Bacalhau can be baked as a filet or in casseroles, grilled, found swimming in rice, or shredded with scrambled eggs, onions, and fried potatoes (the ubiquitous bacalhau à Brás). Some other standouts include bacalhau à Gomes de Sá (baked in the oven with onion, garlic, olive oil, and potatoes), bacalhau com natas (au gratin with cream and cheese) and bacalhau à Lagareiro (loin baked with olive oil and potatoes). Truth be told, every Portuguese restaurant in the country does it and does it well, but Solar do Bacalhau in the historic university town of Coimbra is considered one of the best bacalhau-centric restaurants in Portugal.
Although Portuguese food has grown well beyond bacalhau today, this longtime favorite still monopolizes Portuguese dinner tables.
The pastel de nata is a delicious sweet snack available throughout Portugal.
Photo by Anna Pustynnikova
1. Pastel de nata (custard tart)
- Where to try it: Pastéis de Belém, Lisbon
Even if you know next to nothing about the cuisine of Portugal, you’re likely familiar with the country’s most famous dessert, a tiny, decadent egg tart with a satisfyingly rich taste usually for under €2.
Known around the world as pastel de nata, these custardy pastries trace their roots to the Jerónimos Monastery in the Lisbon district of Belém. Centuries ago, monks and nuns would starch their clothes with egg whites, leaving them plenty of leftover yolks to bake into sweet treats. After the Liberal Revolution of 1820, faced with the closure of convents and monasteries, monks started selling their tarts at a nearby sugar refinery to make money, and the popular Pastéis de Belém bakery—which often has an enormous queue—opened on the spot in 1837.
The original recipe is under lockdown, but the secret is in the textural yin-and-yang between the creamy egg custard filling and the flaky pastry shell. Powdered sugar and/or cinnamon is sprinkled over the top according to taste.
You’ll become a sucker for octopus when you taste polvo à Lagareiro.
Photo by Veronika Kovalenko/Shutterstock
2. Polvo à Lagareiro (octopus with olive oil and potatoes)
- Where to try it: Páteo, Lisbon
One of the most ubiquitous dishes across the country and one nearly guaranteed to be locally sourced, polvo à Lagareiro is said to have originated in the central Portuguese region known as the Beiras. Its beauty is in its simplicity: A meaty piece of octopus—tentacles and all—is roasted, doused in olive oil and garlic, and served alongside slow-baked potatoes.
One of Portugal’s finest examples is the version at Páteo (Bairro do Avillez), one of the more casual kitchens belonging to the culinary empire of chef José Avillez. The country’s most famous chef almost single-handedly jump-started Portugal’s gastronomic revival with the success of his fine-dining jewel Belcanto, so don’t miss his take on this delicious homeland classic with a rapini and onion sauce.
Porco preto served with greens and potatoes is a typical Portuguese dish.
Photo by Bruno Ismael Silva Alves
3. Porco preto (Iberian black pork)
- Where to try it: Taberna Típica Quarta Feira, Évora
Iberian-native black pigs (porco preto) are descendants of pigs originally brought to the peninsula by the Phoenicians, who interbred their swine with wild boars to produce the unique breed that exists today in Portugal and Spain. The Portuguese enjoy meat in charcuterie (presunto ibérico), grilled secretos (a fattier, pork belly–like cut), and enchidos (pork sausages), but nothing touches the astonishing, slow-cooked version at Évora’s Taberna Típica Quarta Feira in the interior region of Alentejo—the heart of pork country. This succulent, acorn-fed pork is cooked in its own juices (think Mexican carnitas) and served all-you-can-eat style in this simple, family-run tavern. Clear your schedule—you’re done for the day.
Arroz de pato, or duck rice, is a popular and filling Portuguese dish.
Photo by Sergii Koval
4. Arroz de pato (duck rice)
- Where to try it: Cozinha da Terra, Louredo
Pork aside, duck rice is one of Portugal’s finest meat moments, a perfect marriage of succulent duck and Carolino rice. The boiled and shredded duck is added to a bed of rice that’s been cooked in duck stock, onions, and garlic; it’s then baked a bit, garnished with spicy chouriço sausage, and served alongside orange slices. As with so many of Portugal’s heartier dishes, it hails from Alentejo. About 25 miles east of Porto in the small town of Louredo, you can dig into this delicacy inside the 17th-century farmhouse of Teresa Ruão, the chef behind the award-winning Cozinha da Terra.
Eating freshly grilled sardines is a delicious rite of passage for those interested in Portuguese cuisine.
Courtesy of Elle Hughes/Unsplash
5. Sardinhas assadas (grilled sardines)
- Where to try it: O Pitéu, Lisbon
The Portuguese summer may bring sun and blue skies, but good weather is never a guarantee. You can, however, count on the irresistible scent of grilling sardines, which fills the air among traditional neighborhoods throughout Lisbon (and elsewhere) during the summer festive season. To kick off the June celebrations of one of Portugal’s most beloved saints, Santo António, try a snack of freshly grilled sardines. They are readily available from June to October, when they are at their plumpest; outside of that period, they are likely to have been frozen.
Their preparation is simple: Seasoned with coarse salt, the sardines are slapped on grills over hot coals, then eaten with broa (corn bread) or, in restaurants, served with traditional sides of bell pepper salad and boiled potatoes. In Lisbon, head to O Pitéu da Graça, a gastronomic reference point for traditional Portuguese cuisine for over 30 years.
The Francesinha is a sauce-covered sandwich that’s popular as a hangover cure in Porto.
Photo by Shutterstock
6. Francesinha (“Little Frenchie”)
- Where to try it: Lado B, Porto
Portugal’s “Little Frenchie” is a heart-stopping stack of wet cured ham, linguiça sausage, steak or roast beef, and melted cheese (sometimes a fried egg as well) on thick bread drowned in a hot tomato and beer sauce (and served with french fries, of course). It is the pride of Porto, at once both a hangover cure and a ticket to the emergency room, a one-and-done culinary caravan of everything that is terrible and phenomenal about a regional food specialty. It’s fantastic.
Its name hints at its history: Portuguese emigrants to France, not to be outdone by that nation’s iconic croque monsieur, evidently boasted, “Segura a minha cerveja!” (“Hold my beer!”) to their French friends and concocted Francesinha. Competition and opinion among Porto residents is fierce, but Lado B is often touted as the best version for novices. The trendy café is always packed, so prepare to hurry up and wait for your plated coronary.
A dish of soupy rice with fresh seafood, arroz de marisco is a favorite of locals.
Photo by Natalia Mylova/Shutterstock
7. Arroz de marisco (seafood rice)
- Where to try it: Mar à Vista, Ericeira
Portuguese rice preparations are some of the best ways to indulge in the country’s fish and seafood bounty—think a slightly soupier version of risotto, loaded with varied ocean goodness such as tamboril (monkfish), bacalhau, and crustaceans fresh from the Atlantic.
The marisqueira Mar à Vista has been going strong since 1950 in the lovely beach town of Ericeira, about 30 miles northwest of Lisbon. Here, life-changing lavagante (European lobster) is sold by weight and then immediately added to seafood rices or massadas (pasta instead of rice) on the spot, according to your choice. Enjoy the dish after you dig into an appetizer of santola or sapateira crabs fresh from the shell.
Açorda de marisco uses leftover stale bread and seafood.
Photo by Shutterstock
8. Açorda (bread soaked in broth)
- Where to try it: Solar dos Presuntos, Lisbon
Making a delicious dish out of stale bread isn’t unique to Portugal, but Portuguese cuisine elevates this simple idea into a gourmet experience. Açorda is nothing more than rock-hard bread, rehydrated via one of several methods (such as a simple Alentejan style with hot water, garlic, olive oil, and cilantro or with various broths and stocks), and then pumped up with seafood. The dish can trace its name to the Arabic word for “bread soup.”
It’s a mushy mess not for everyone, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t love the extraordinary lobster version at gourmet seafood restaurant Solar dos Presuntos in Lisbon. It’s a sort of shellfish porridge, best served with a drizzle of the restaurant’s house-made piri piri (hot sauce).
Many of Portugal’s cheeses have protected designation of origin (DOP) status under European Union law.
Photo by Nessa Gnatoush/Shutterstock
9. Queijo (cheese)
- Where to try it: Casinha Velha, Leiria
Portuguese cheeses aren’t as widely known as other European cheeses, but this little dairy nirvana offers endless varieties to discover. Be sure to try buttery Serra da Estrela, a sheep’s milk cheese produced in (and named after) Portugal’s highest mountain range; creamy Azeitão, an unpasteurized sheep’s milk cheese from the foothills of the Arrábida Mountains south of Lisbon; and São Jorge from the Azores, a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese that’s a bit spicy.
For a true connoisseur’s introduction to artisanal Portuguese cheese, you won’t want to miss the pay-by-weight cheese cart that begins your meal at Casinha Velha in Leiria (93 miles due north from Lisbon): This cow, sheep, and goat cheese caravan will leave you in a queijo coma before you even think about ordering a main course.
The prego is a simple steak sandwich sometimes served at the end of a meal.
Photo by Shutterstock
10. Prego (steak sandwich)
- Where to try it: Cervejaria Ramiro, Lisbon
Leave it to the Portuguese to gorge on some of the freshest, most succulent shellfish and seafood paired with copious wine, and then finish it all off with . . . a steak sandwich. But that’s how it goes at Lisbon’s most heralded seafood spot, Cervejaria Ramiro, and other places like it, where one of the country’s simplest culinary icons—a thin strip of garlic-marinated beef served on a papa seco bread roll, often with basic mustard—is traditionally eaten at the end of the meal. Prego means “nail” in Portuguese, a reference to the way garlic pieces are pounded into the steak before cooking.
The city’s buzzy Time Out Market is also home to the first pregaria, O Prego da Peixaria, a stand entirely dedicated to the sandwich, where variations include toppings like pickles, cheddar cheese, bacon, and tomato jam.
Roasted suckling pig is a traditional Portuguese feast especially associated with the town of Mealhada.
Photo by Dmitry Kornilov/Shuttersock
11. Leitão assado (suckling pig)
- Where to try it: Alma in Lisbon
Few Portuguese events rival a traditional spit-roasted, whole hog affair cooked to perfection (tender and juicy on the inside, crunchy on the outside) in Mealhada. The town, 14 miles north of Coimbra in central Portugal, is the country’s undisputed suckling pig capital. Here in the Bairrada region, the swine is divine, though as un-vegetarian-friendly as it gets.
At four to six weeks old, the piglets are butchered, rubbed with garlic, pig fat, coarse salt, and pepper, and then roasted for hours in eucalyptus wood–burning ovens. Mealhada’s suckling pig specialty restaurants—Pedro dos Leitões, Nelson dos Leitões, Rei dos Leitões, O Castiço, Meta dos Leitões, Pic Nic dos Leitões (you get the idea)—nearly outnumber its population (4,500).
If you cannot make it to Mealhada, chef Henrique Sá Pessoa’s gourmet version at the two-Michelin-starred Alma in Lisbon is served as confit with turnip top purée, black pepper jus, and pickled onions.
Cataplana de marisco is a Portuguese seafood stew named after the copper vessel in which it’s cooked.
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12. Cataplana de marisco (seafood stew)
- Where to try it: Restaurante Alambique, Almancil
Another of Portugal’s seafood revelations, this stew is named after the vessel in which it’s cooked and served. A cataplana is a clam-shaped copper cooking pot that predates the modern pressure cooker (it’s a distant relative of the Moroccan tagine) and allows for slow steam-cooking ingredients in their own juices. It can be loaded with anything—fish, shrimp, and other crustaceans—but is usually a mix of all, cooked with white wine, spices, and herbs and vegetables that might include cilantro, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers.
The dish originally hails from the Algarve, so you’ll want to head to this coastal region along Portugal’s southern coast to try it. Every beach town in the area will have a few spots serving cataplana, but food lovers should make a special trip to Almancil and the Michelin-recommended Alambique. It’s been family-run for nearly 50 years, and the chorizo-bolstered cataplana anchors a menu of local seafood specialties that includes monkfish curry, grilled tiger prawns, and octopus carpaccio.
In the Azores, limpets (called lapas) are served with lemon, while in Madeira you’ll often find them served with bread.
Photo by Javarman
13. Lapas (limpets)
- Where to try it: Bar Caloura, São Miguel
Lapas, known as limpets in English, are a type of small, edible, aquatic snail found in both the Azores and Madeira—Portugal’s two, far-flung island outposts in the Atlantic Ocean—that taste like a chewier clam.
Try them Azorean-style—grilled with garlic and butter and served with a few slices of lemon—alongside a glass of wine at Bar Caloura, an ocean-side, open-air seafood restaurant on the archipelago’s main island, São Miguel. If it’s a nice day, bring a bathing suit and a towel; the restaurant overlooks a popular swimming area.
This article was first published in September 2019, and was most recently updated in January 2024 with new information. Jessie Beck and Nicholas DeRenzo contributed to the reporting of this story.
