When you heard about Brazil, they mention their football, they talk about the statue of Christ the Redeemer and of course, they will also tell you about the Amazon rainforest and its nature…But only a few will talk about the delicious Brazilian dishes, and in case you don´t know it, the country is recognized for being one of the countries with best gastronomies.
Although the food of Brazil is mostly influenced by the Portuguese, it also has influence from other countries of Europe, Africa, Asia and of course, America. Today we are going to tell you which are the best Brazilian dishes (You need to try them!)
1) Pão de queijo
When doing a list of the most famous food in Brazil, the only way to start is by talking about their most popular food worldwide, which is the “Pão de queijo”, or how it´s said in English “Cheese bread”.
Many people say it´s just bread with a little bit of cheese and it´s nothing special, what we tell those people is that they haven´t tried the right ones. The first time we ate Brazilian cheese bread we loved it, it was of course made by Brazilian people, and it was crazy good. Some years later we tried to make it at home, and it was nothing alike, and of course it tasted worst.
The Pão de queijo comes from a region of the South of Brazil known as Minas Gerais. They are made with the Brazilian soft cheese of that area and with cassava flour. The best of all, is that you can really eat these small breads at any time of the day (breakfast and as snacks are the most common options).
2) Feijoada
On second place we are talking not just about a popular Brazilian dish, but about their national dish, which is the “Feijoada”. A curious thing to know about this meal is that it´s one of the few foods you can still find almost all over the country. The majority are divided in regions.
The feijoada is basically a very hearty stew made of sausages, black beans, and cuts of pork. This Brazilian meal when it´s made in the traditional way, they use many parts of the pig such as trotters and ears, the only problem is that it literally takes 24 hours to be cooked…For that reason the locals are losing the tradition of cooking it at home, and they only eat it in restaurants.
You may also be able to try the lighter version which is known as Caldinho de feijão. It contains less meat, but in any way, we would always recommend you eating this typical Brazilian dish with an empty stomach, because it´s pretty hearty.
3) Picanha
We are following a vegetarian diet, but if that´s not your case, you should know that in Brazil as it happens in Argentina, they are big fans of barbecue dishes. So, if you like meats, you will have plenty of that all over the country, and yes, Picanha is probably the most famous of all.
The Picanha is the most popular cut, it comes from the back part of the cow´s loin, and it´s very interesting because they only season it with salt. Later, they cook it to perfection over charcoal or wood.
Although we have not tried it, people in Brazil go crazy about it, so, of course, if you like meat it´s a very good recommendation.
4) Empadas
As it happens in Argentina, Chile or Spain, in Brazil they also make empanadas, but theirs are very different to the rest. The empadas are one of those famous Brazilian foods to eat as snacks on the go, like if you order a slice of pizza or some small cakes.
You will normally find these small pies filled of three different things, the first one is dried meat, the second one is prawns with cream cheese, and the third option would be chicken with cream cheese as well.
Don´t worry if you call them by empanadas like in other countries, because they will also understand it.
5) Coxinhas
Every country has one kind of food that you could eat a million of those, well that´s what happens with coxinhas. Although these small bites look nothing like chicken, that´s what they are, just small pieces of chicken wrapped into a hot and sticky mass and then breaded and fried.
To give it an extra flavor, many people add cream cheese inside the recipe. The results are incredible because they are crunchy on the outside and very soft on the inside…once you start eating them you can´t really stop.
We believe coxinhas are an authentic Brazilian food, because you won´t just find it in restaurants or cafés, the most common place to buy them is on shops or markets of the streets.
6) Crepe de tapioca
If you know about French crepes, this may sound familiar to you. The “crepes de tapioca” are very similar to the ones you can find in France, they will even offer you both options, sweet and salty ones.
The “crepes de Tapioca” were normally only common in the northeast of Brazil, but in the last years they have started to become more popular in every coastal area of the country.
You will find this popular Brazilian food in many street shops, and you will have the chance to choose between the crepes of ham or cheese, and the ones of chocolate, strawberrys or other sweet foods.
7) Escondidinho de mandioca com frango
Another dish you will find a lot in the northeast of the country is the escondidinho de frango com mandioca, which is basically a mixture between chicken and casava purée.
To understand the name of this plate, you should know that the word “escondidinho” means hidden and the reason of it is because the chicken is hidden under the cassava purée. Brazilian people love to accompany this food with a beer.
Although it´s not such a popular food, Brazilian people love it so much that there are even international restaurants out of the country that have it on their menus.
8) Brigadeiro
Let´s finally start with the best Brazilian foods…or at least for us, which are their sweets and desserts. There are many delicious sweets all over Brazil and the first one of our list is by far the most famous one, which is the “Brigadeiros”.
Brigadeiros are the Brazilian version of chocolate truffle. They are made with condensed milk and then covered in chocolate sprinkles, don´t tell me that doesn´t sound great! You can find them made of white chocolate, but the common ones are made of milk chocolate.
These popular Brazilian foods received its name in 1940 in honor of the political figure Brigadier Eduardo Gomes.
9) Açaí
It´s time to talk about one of our favorite Brazilian dishes, which is the Açaí, a fruit that comes from the palm known as Euterpe Oleracea. This plant only grows in the wild areas of the north of Brazil, especially in very rainy places.
As soon as you try it, you will realize that it feels like when you are eating a sorbet or an ice cream, but it has the advantage that you can mix it with almost everything. In our case we mixed it with muesli, banana and other things and it was delicious.
Although it´s for sure one of those delicious foods in Brazil, it does have an issue, and these are the calories. The popular fruit is very high on calories, and nothing will happen if you eat it occasionally, but just don´t eat it every day.
10) Quindim
If you made it all the way here without stopping to eat some snacks, then we must say you have a great willpower because we were not able to do the same while writing it! To finish we choose another delicious sweet which is the quindim.
The quindim is a common food in Brazil, but its origins are actually from Portugal. When the Portuguese brought the recipe to Brazil, they forgot that it´s made with almonds, so the African slaves decided to adapt it and mix the egg yolk and the sugar with coconut.
Nowadays, this recipe is way more popular in Brazil than what it´s in Portugal.
Enjoy the traditional Brazilian food
That´s all you need to know about the popular dishes of Brazil, as you can imagine, these are just 10 out of the million plates you could choose, but we had to pick our favorites.
Before living, we would love to know which is the best food in Brazil in your opinion!
Hope you have enjoyed reading about the Brazilian meals, and if you have any other question, please let us know!
