The iconic yellow Tram 28 rolling past colorful azulejo-tiled buildings on a cobblestone street in Lisbon, Portugal

At Leite’s Culinaria, I’ve been cooking, writing, and sharing these dishes for decades—many of them passed down from my Portuguese family. This page is your passport to all things Portuguese, with a curated collection of my favorite recipes.

Chow,

David Leite's handwritten signature of "David."

Table of contents

What makes Portuguese cuisine unique?

  • Blindingly Fresh Seafood: With its long Atlantic coastline, Portugal naturally celebrates seafood. Bacalhau (salt cod) is the most iconic dish—so beloved there are said to be more than 365 ways to prepare it. But you’ll also find plenty of sardines, octopus, clams, and fresh-caught fish on tables across the country.
  • Hearty Meats: Pork is essential to Portuguese cooking—especially in sausages like chouriço and linguiça. Stews made with beef or chicken are also common, often slow-cooked with wine, garlic, and herbs.
  • Bold, Simple Seasonings: Portuguese flavors come from a handful of core ingredients: garlic, olive oil, bay leaves, paprika, parsley, cilantro, and spicy piri-piri chiles. These create deeply flavorful food without being fussy.
  • Comforting Soups & Stews: Soup is a staple in most Portuguese homes. Caldo verde—made with potatoes, kale, and chouriço—is a national favorite. Other popular dishes include seafood stews like caldeirada, often made with whatever the fishermen brought in that day.
  • Irresistible Sweets: Portugal’s desserts are famous for good reason. From the crisp, creamy pastéis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts) to the malasadas (sugar-dusted fritters) my grandmother made, to the redolent orange-olive oil cake sweets here lean heavily on egg yolks, sugar, fruit, and tradition.

The three iconic Portuguese foods

If you’re new to the Portuguese kitchen, start with these killer pillars. These three dishes are the Global Ambassadors of our culture—the ones that appear on every family table and in every village tasca.

Caldo verde: The unofficial dish of Portugal

Caldo Verde ~ Portuguese Green Soup

Considered Portugal’s national dish, caldo verde, or green soup, is a homey dish of potatoes, kale sliced whisker thin, and smoky pork sausage.

1 hr 5 mins

Salt cod ~ bacalhau

Bacalhau a Gomes de Sa

Marcel Proust had his madeleine. David Leite has his Portuguese salt cod, potato, and egg casserole.

2 hrs 10 mins

Your salt cod questions, answered

Because salt cod is one of Portugal’s iconic foods, many think the Portuguese were instrumental in its discovery, which, alas, they weren’t. Nearly five hundred years before the Portuguese began fishing for cod in the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland, the Vikings had stumbled upon one of the world’s largest caches of cod and figured out how to air-dry the fish.

The reason why salt cod is so prized in the Portuguese community, besides being a cheap and shelf-stable staple, is because the drying and salting give a superior taste and texture to an otherwise characterless fish. When a meaty slab of bacalhau is properly desalted and cooked, it will flake perfectly and have just the slightest toothsomeness.

What should I look for when buying bacalhau?

Look for salt cod, preferably from Norway, in Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Spanish, or Latin markets. I’ve also had very good luck with several online purveyors. Buy the thickest, firmest pieces possible; they’ll make for a more substantial meal and a prettier presentation.

How do you desalt salt cod?

To reconstitute the bacalhau, rinse it well under running water to remove surface salt. Place the pieces in a large bowl and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Stretch plastic wrap over the top and refrigerate, changing the water several times, until the fish is sufficiently desalted for you. Take a nibble—it’s perfectly safe to eat. If it’s too salty, change the water again, and let it sit for a few more hours. The process can take anywhere from 12 to 48 hours, depending on the size of the fillet. Above all, bear this in mind: you can always add more salt, but you can’t remove it from a finished dish.

A plank of dried salt cod.

Pastéis de nata

Pastel de Nata ~ Portuguese Custard Tarts

Not Portuguese? Not a problem. It won’t lessen your appreciation for these little lovelies with the shatteringly crisp pastry cradling ridiculously creamy custard.

2 hrs 30 mins

Highlights of Portuguese table

Hearty soups

Coastal seafood & shellfish

Traditional meats & hearty mains

Desserts ~ sobremesa

The Portuguese pantry & essential ingredients

The magic of Portuguese cooking lies in a few high-quality staples: pungent garlic, peppery olive oil, fermented pepper pastes, and the smoky depth of traditional sausages. Mastering these basics is the first step to an authentic Portuguese table.

A regional gastronomic tour of Portugal

Portugal’s flavors are as varied as its landscape, from the lush, green mountains of the north to the sun-drenched plains of the Alentejo and the volcanic soil of the Azores. To truly understand the food, you have to travel the regions.

And, without further ado, here are the rest of our Portuguese recipes. Aproveitem!

All Portuguese