17 Foods You Have To Try When Visiting Portugal

With a beautiful Atlantic coastline, a collection of tropical islands under its administration, and an internal range of mountains, Portugal has long been renowned as a travel destination full of natural beauty. But, while the country's environmental wonders are enough to attract any visitor longing for new lands, Portugal's national cuisine hasn't always gotten the same amount of respect. Sure, there is wide love for national dessert wines like port or Madeira wine, but precious few foods from the country have gained as wide of international acclaim.

When you consider the food capitals of Europe, it's hard to compete with Spain's tapas culture or the plentiful bowls of pasta that overflow from the borders of Italy. For too long, Portuguese fare was under-appreciated and overlooked for its agrarian or peasantry roots. Yet, as travel to the country returns to pre-COVID heights, notes Reuters, it's more and more likely that you'll soon have a trip planned to this amazing destination. Fortunately, the dining culture of Portugal is stronger than you might know, and there are loads of delicious foods you have to try when visiting Portugal. Along the way, you can rely on local guides such as Taste Porto, or you can explore freestyle. Still, this guide can help you get a head start on the whats-what of noshing in Portugal.

In 2011, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture started a difficult task. Its mission was to define the national cuisine through a compilation of foods representing the country's various regions, says We Travel Portugal. After narrowing the choices to 21 options, the selected dishes were put to a public vote, notes DN Portugal. The resulting list is now known as the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Gastronomy. Of this collection, alheira — specifically alheiras de Mirandela — is one. Horseshoe in shape, alheiras is a sausage that is inconspicuously missing one important ingredient; pork.

Stuffed with poultry, garlic, breadcrumbs, and a mix of fats, alheiras de Mirandela is delicious in its own right. Yet, the true virtue of this sausage may be in its history. In 1536, the Spanish Inquisition reached Portugal (via the BBC). During a time when Jewish people were being persecuted across the countryside, a lack of pork sausage hanging at home could be a dangerous signal that the residents were not practicing Christians. To trick Inquisitors, a breaded sausage was created to mimic the appearance of non-kosher foods, and the existence of this substitute sausage is believed to have saved thousands of lives. These days, you may find alheiras de Mirandela sausage filled with wild game, poultry, or even pork, though it's still possible to get kosher, vegetarian, and vegan versions. The flavor is smokey and more garlicky than many other types of regional sausages, with a softer texture and an essence of importance.

During a tour with a local company called Taste Porto, we were introduced to the hearty bifana sandwich, and now there is no going back. Although Taste Porto asserts that the origins of this decadent sandwich are a little fuzzy, the taste is anything but. Big, bold, and thoroughly flavorful, bifana is a clear choice when you need something to satisfy a snack craving. Bifana is a simple dish of garlicky pork steak nestled between a bread roll, though you'll find that from the north to the south (and even within those regions), everyone serves it a little differently.

In northern Portugal, you're likely to find bifana with more juice. Having been simmered in a spicy sauce, the pork steak comes in smaller bits with a near-shredded texture. This style makes the bread moist, too, and the overall effect is mouthwatering and heartbreaking. Every bite brings you closer to a moment where your bifana is gone. But don't worry, you can always order another. In the south of Portugal, the steak for bifana isn't cut but instead smashed with a mallet and paired with more garlic but less sauce. Here, it's recommended with a touch of mustard at most. While not dripping like the northern version, there's a lot of flavor in these bifanas too. Because of the regional difference, we recommend eating as many as possible. You know, for research.

Though there are Seven Wonders of Portuguese Gastronomy, pastel de nata might be the one food to rule them all. Sweets play an important role in the food culture of Portugal, so it tracks that this food can be found in nearly any café, restaurant, or snack bar you enter here. Pastel de nata is a custard-filled tart cupped with flakey pastry, slightly scorched on top, and with a sprinkle (or downpour) of cinnamon, depending on your taste. You might see it called pastéis de nata, which is the plural version, an important thing to remember as you'll probably want to order multiple.

Another name for pastel de nata is pastéis de Belém, though the latter name is more than another title. It is a location-specific designation that again derives from a time of religious persecution in Portugal. During the 18th century, members of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém would use leftover yolks to make small custard treats, reports Pastéis de Belém. Following a liberal revolution in the 1820s which shuttered monasteries countrywide, members of Jerónimos Monastery were forced to provide for themselves in new ways. Merchants began selling these custards next to the monastery, and today, the original recipe can still be tasted at Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém.

At one point in recent history, regional newspapers in Portugal estimated that the country's residents were eating 13 sardines every second, notes Portugal Resident. As we've seen, there is a particularly heavy appetite for seafood in Portugal, and this is especially true when it comes to preserved and canned fish, referred to in the country as conservas. Fortunately, if tinned seafood isn't your thing, you can still try some of the local seafood without having to pop a top. Sardinha assada, or grilled sardines, is one way to do so.

This dish is as dressed down as they come, but don't take that as meaning it is lacking. Instead, the unctuous flavor of sardines is complimented by rich olive oil and enhanced through the charred, smokey flavor granted by grilling (via Taste Atlas). Then, tangy lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and bright cilantro accent the simple fish plate. Eat them with bread for a heartier appetizer, or keep an eye out for sardinha assada served as easy-to-gobble-down street food. After all, there is a reason that this is one of the seven wonders of Portuguese gastronomy, says We Travel Portugal.

Wherever you look, Portuguese cuisine is full of plates and recipes that will fill up both your stomach and your spirit. The traditional forms of this cuisine are rooted in hearty foods that provide sustenance and happen to taste great as well. Many Portuguese cooking styles and techniques are agrarian in nature but have been inspired by the maritime nation's access to a world of trade routes and the ingredients that flowed along them. Take rice, for example. While not native to Portugal, this grain plays an important part in nourishing the national appetite, particularly in arroz de pato.

Arroz de pato, or duck rice, is one of those creations that embodies some of the best qualities of Portuguese cuisine (via We Travel Portugal). First, duck meat is seared in its own fats. Port wine is used to deglaze the pan, and then the game poultry is simmered with broth, bay leaf, chouriço (chorizo) sausage, and a mix of seasonings and aromatics. A few more steps — some blending, some straining — are taken in between, then the mixture is combined with carolino rice and baked. The result is a rich, fatty, succulent combination that will float through your mind like ducks over a pond.

Prego sandwiches don't rank among the most interesting foods in Portuguese cuisine, nor do they have an honored place as a wonder of the country's gastronomic world. Yet, despite a lack of accolades and nothing to make them exceptionally fascinating, prego no pão is something you're likely to find wherever you go. It is a straightforward sandwich for the masses, and one rumor of its origin supports this characterization. Per We Travel Portugal, a legend goes that prego no pão was imagined by a business owner from Praia das Maçãs, Sintra, whose name was Manuel Dias Prego. Accordingly, he created the sandwich to be an easy sell (which it still is today).

Another story claims that the food is named after the Portuguese word for nail, "prego," because of the way it is crafted. Prego no pão is a steak sandwich in which a thin piece of meat has been nailed, or pounded, with roasted garlic. Literally, the garlic is hammered into the steak. The meat is rarely marinated or sauced; instead, the sandwich can come with a bit of mustard or cheese along with the option to have it com ovo, meaning with an egg on top. It's all served on a soft bread roll and comes ready for you to sink your teeth into.

Many Portugal meals come from a storied history. Frango assado com piri piri, which is grilled chicken in a spicy pepper sauce, does not have such a long-standing backstory. At least, not in a direct sense.

Taste Atlas writes that narratives place the birth of this dish somewhere in the 1970s, having developed after Portuguese ex-pats returned to the mainland from former territories in Africa. As they had done for generations of oppressive rule, the Portuguese returned with a precious resource; Piri piri, a spicy chile pepper. Taken in that sense, frango assado com piri piri is a food that was in the works for as long as Portugal had been a colonizing empire, which is to say a long time.

Frango assado com piri piri is an ordinary plate to find across the country, though it is most frequently seen in the southern region of Algarve, notes Taste Atlas. The spicy pepper sauce is combined with other tangy ingredients, like lemon, vinegar, and sometimes even whiskey, along with an infusion of garlic and herbs. The dressing tops charred chicken quarters in a zipping sauce that bursts with complex notes in every mouthful. Most often, it's accompanied by fries, rice, or a simple salad (or all of those combined). Ordering it is sure to deliver you one of the most unique chicken plates you've ever tasted, but do take some time to consider the history as you enjoy it.

If you are like us, there was a moment of disconnect when you first heard of arroz de pato (duck rice, if you don't remember). After all, Portugal is a massive consumer of seafood, and the country's next-door neighbor, Spain, is renowned for its own national plate, which piles bushels of seafood atop hills of rice (yes, we're talking about the authentic Spanish dish, paella). So, it left us wondering where the seafood rice was to be found on the east side of the Iberian Peninsula. As they say: Ask, and you shall receive. Duck rice may be one must-have food when visiting Portugal, but it isn't the only form of rice you should be on the hunt for. Order up a pot of arroz de marisco, and you'll see why.

The biggest difference between arroz de marisco and paella is that the latter dish is less of a stew and slightly drier (via Taste Atlas). Instead, the Portuguese version of seafood rice is cooked with a bit more juice, which stems from the natural liquids of the seafood (mussels, clams, prawns, and/or squid) as well as from a base of dry white wine and water. The result is a saucy stew simmered with crashing waves of flavor. Beyond the ocean's bounty, you'll find a typical roster of regional ingredients, including bundles of garlic, onion, tomato, and carrot. Arroz de marisco is the sixth wonder of Portuguese gastronomy on our list.