Traditional Portuguese Food: Cataplana, Francesinha & More

Spending time at the table in Portugal is not just a modern pasttime, it’s a cultural event even when you’re not celebrating anything. From petiscos to more complicated recipes, traditional Portuguese food is one of the reasons why travelers fall in love with the country.

Most typical Portuguese dishes are hearty, garlicky, and greasy – like all comfort food should be. But where should you start? What dishes should you try first? At Devour we managed to put together a list of the dishes you can’t miss.

Chef cutting dish of bacalhau a bras at a restaurant table in front of a group of diners
Don’t miss these classic dishes on your trip to Portugal!

Açorda

A typical soup in the Alentejo region, açorda will leave you wondering how something so simple can be so delicious. Pieces of day-old Alentejo bread are added to a simmering broth heavily seasoned with garlic and coriander. The bread should soak up the broth but not cook in it. Most versions of this soup add an egg on top, poached, or boiled. Depending on where you are in Alentejo, some recipes include fresh fish or salted cod. Casa do Alentejo, one of the Lisbon restaurants where locals eat, is a great place to find this and other equally delicious dishes.

Açorda, a traditional Portuguese soup made with old bread and shrimp
Açorda with shrimp is a classic – and hearty – traditional Portuguese food. While you’ll find it on traditional menus all over Portugal, some more modern takes elevate the dish, as well. Photo credit: Arnold Gatilao

Cozido à Portuguesa

If there’s one stew in the world that’s perfect for meat lovers, it’s cozido à Portuguesa. It almost seems like someone came up with the crazy idea of cooking all the meats they had in the house and add some potatoes and some vegetables. There are dozens of variations of cozido throughout the country, but the most famous worldwide is probably the one from Furnas. In this small village of S. Miguel Island (Azores), the cozido is slowly cooked with volcanic steam inside a hole in the ground.

Cozido das Furnas in portugal, served with meat and vegetables
Cozido das Furnas, probably the most famous cozido in Portugal. Photo credit: David Stanley

Alheira

Original from Mirandela in the North, alheira is a pork sausage….that’s not actually pork!

During the Inquisition in Portugal and Spain, the Jewish population was forced to convert to Christianity. In public, they would behave as Christians to survive, but in private they kept their culture and traditions alive. To avoid persecution and because it was against their religion to eat pork, the Jewish in Mirandela created this “fake” sausage made with other meats. You’ll find different versions, some less garlicky than others, but deep-frying them is the best way to cook it.

Related reading: We love Portuguese sausages. Here are seven varieties of sausage you should try in Portugal.

 Bacalhau

Salted cod may come from Norway or Iceland, but somehow it’s the most traditional Portuguese food you’ll eat. So much so that people say there’s one different bacalhau recipe for each day of the year. Any bacalhau dish is a good dish, and the fish is so versatile that the only thing you won’t be seeing it in is dessert. It has a more pungent smell than other fish, so don’t be caught off guard. Typical dishes include à lagareiro, à Brás, and à Gomes Sá.

A tray of fried pastéis de bacalhau, codfish fritters from Portugal
One of the most famous petiscos in Lisbon is pasteis de bacalhau. Photo credit: Európa Pont

Cataplana

Cataplanas are more frequent in the South, but some places in the North also cook their version of this fish stew. The dish is named after the cooking pot, a sort of slow cooker made of copper or stainless steel, a heritage of Portugal’s Arabic past. The recipe is as simple as choosing your favorite seafood, adding sliced potatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and herbs, and let it stew.

Cataplana served by the water in the Algarve
Whether it’s made with fish, meat, or both, cataplana is a must-try dish from Portugal’s Algarve region. Photo credit: subherwal

Sopa da Pedra

At Devour we love a dish with a great backstory, and that is certainly the case of sopa da pedra. The legend behind this traditional Portuguese food has it that a poor friar who was on a pilgrimage was too proud to beg for food, despite being hungry. Instead, he asked his hosts if they could spare some vegetables to add to his rock soup. Intrigued, they gave him different products to add to his sopa da pedra.

There are variations of this recipe and it’s a typical dish in the Ribatejo area. All of them are hearty soups – and typically served with a rock in the bottom!

Francesinha

The most famous sandwich in Porto is a full meal. One francesinha is usually enough for two, so be careful when ordering. It’s messy to eat, and you’ll need the precious help of a fork and a knife to cut through the molting mix of cheese and spicy sauce, the slices of lightly toasted bread, and the layers of different meats.

What’s the secret of a great francesinha? Almost everyone will say it’s the sauce. Since francesinha is usually served with french fries, the dish allows you to soak up every single bite of sauce!

francesinha with meat and cheese at a restaurant in Portugal
The mighty francesinha is a must-try in Porto, if only for the fabulous linguiça sausage it includes. Photo credit: Nelson Alexandre Rocha

Update notice: This article was updated on August 17, 2023. 

You know some of the best-loved traditional Portuguese foods—now it’s time to try some for yourself. Our Tastes & Traditions of Lisbon Food Tour will give you a crash course in eating like a local, from how to navigate Portuguese mealtimes to what to eat and where. And, of course, there will be plenty of typical bites along the way.

4 Comment

  1. Jose Menino policarpo pereira says
    December 17, 2019 at 2:03 am

    I, m so glad u had written this some of Portuguese dishes. I was born in Goa India when Portuguese rules l, m sad Portuguese left Goa
    I, m Portuguese citizen
    Thank u so much

    1. Devour Tours says
      December 23, 2019 at 10:54 am

      Thanks for reading!

  2. Eduardo says
    March 4, 2020 at 3:09 am

    Muito obrigado

    1. Devour Tours says
      March 9, 2020 at 6:39 am

      Obrigado por ler, Eduardo!

Leave a Reply