Portuguese Cuisine: Rich in Tradition, Bold in Flavor

At Leite’s Culinaria, I’ve been cooking, writing, and sharing these dishes for years—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.

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.

Explore My Portuguese Recipe Collection

Below, you’ll find a curated list of the best Portuguese recipes on Leite’s Culinaria. Whether you’re exploring your heritage, reliving a trip, or simply curious about the cuisine, you’ll find classic seafood dishes, rustic stews, savory sides, and iconic desserts.

Each recipe includes detailed instructions, ingredients, and tips I’ve gathered over years of testing and cooking. Just click on a recipe to get started—and bring the flavors of Portugal into your kitchen. Bom apetite.

Chow,

David Leite's handwritten signature of 'David.'
David Leite

Hey, I’m David Leite

I’m a three-time James Beard Award-winning food writer, cookbook author, memoirist, podcast host, and publisher. I created this site in 1999 to help you find simple, quick, and wicked flavorful recipes. For the past 24 years, I’ve been cooking, teaching, and writing about all types of food, including those from my Portuguese heritage. Let’s eat! Vamos comer!

Read More About Me

Salt Cod ~ Bacalhau

A banner that reads Learn to Make Pasteis de Nata.

Well, bakers, I finally did it. I improved on my pastel de nata recipe. I took me the better part of a year, but I crafted a recipe that 1.) is way easier to make (none of that endless rolling), 2.) has a creamer, foolproof custard that doesn’t curdle, 3.) sports more frilly, crispy layers, and 4.) can be frozen and enjoyed whenever your heart desires.

Get the replay of the 3-hour class, equipment list, shopping list, and recipe.

For just $40.00

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All-Time Favorites

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

Milk Mayonnaise

Maionese de leite in Portuguese, milk mayonnaise–you heard us–is a creamy, eggless emulsion held together by oil, milk (natch), and a lotta love.

5 mins

Soup ~ Sopa

Portuguese Bean Soup

A leisurely way to make a super comforting and filling soup that makes rainy days more bearable. And the leftovers are even better.

5 hrs 30 mins

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

Portuguese Fennel Soup

Fennel soup, or sopa de funcho in Portuguese, is a staple in Madeira and the Azores Islands. This recipe is full of fennel, pork, sausage, cabbage, and beans.

2 hrs

Shrimp ~ Camarão

Grilled Shrimp with Piri-Piri Sauce

A simple hot pepper sauce made from piri-piri peppers brings big flavor to shrimp in mere minutes. Those Portuguese know what they’re doing.

3 hrs

Fish & Seafood

Portuguese Fisherman’s Stew

All the iconic ingredients of Portugal—shellfish, cod, sausage, onion, garlic, and tomatoes—collide in this delicious stew.

1 hr 35 mins

Portuguese Fish Chowder

An intoxicatingly aromatic Portuguese classic that’s a tomato-based combo of stew and soup and chowder made of fish, potatoes, and chorizo.

2 hrs 15 mins

Desserts ~ Sobremesa

Portuguese Sweet Lemon-Black Olive Cookies

We think these conversation-starting cookies defy the laws of physics. When you experience what big flavors they flaunt for something so thin, we think you, too, will be convinced.

50 mins

Serradura ~ Portuguese Sawdust Pudding

Perhaps the easiest dessert ever, this simple yet stunning Portuguese staple is made with just three ingredients. Cookies. Cream. And sweetened condensed milk.

1 d 30 mins

Portuguese Chocolate Salami

An easy, no-bake, Portuguese classic made with crushed cookies, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, and whatever nuts or dried fruit you happen to have around. And (hiccup) Port.

2 hrs

FAQs about Salt Cod

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.

All Portuguese

Homemade Portuguese Chouriço

If you've got some time, patience, and access to a smoker, homemade smoked Portuguese sausage is within your reach. Go on. Impress your friends.

2 d

Portuguese Bean Soup

A leisurely way to make a super comforting and filling soup that makes rainy days more bearable. And the leftovers are even better.

5 hrs 30 mins

Macanese Portuguese-Inspired Chicken Curry

Richly flavored, not too spicy, and umami-packed, this curry won rave reviews from our testers. The sauce is perfectly suited to mopping up with piles of naan bread, too.

2 hrs 30 mins

Broa ~ Portuguese Corn Bread

A traditional Portuguese cornbread that's unlike its American counterpart. There's nothing crumbly about it although there is a heck of a lot to love about it.

4 hrs 15 mins

Portuguese Sausage, Ham, and Cheese Bread

A traditional bread that's heavily punctuated with Portuguese loveliness, including chouriço, presunto, and sheep's milk cheese. Practically a meal unto itself. And a damn satiating one at that.

3 hrs 10 mins

Portuguese Green Olive Dip

For this dip, green olives are stirred into an eggless 'mayonnaise' made with milk, oil, anchovies, garlic, and white pepper. A tasty Portuguese olive dip.

5 mins

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

Portuguese Fisherman’s Stew

All the iconic ingredients of Portugal—shellfish, cod, sausage, onion, garlic, and tomatoes—collide in this delicious stew.

1 hr 35 mins

Portuguese Piri-Piri Hot Sauce

Hot, spicy chiles are the heart and heat of this piri-piri sauce, which is used on chicken, shrimp, pork—just about any dish in Portugal.

5 mins

Papo Secos ~ Portuguese Rolls

David explains how to make classic Portuguese papo secos, the stuff of everyday eating, that essentially look like cherubic little baby buns and have a taste that's also divine.

4 hrs

Bifanas ~ Portuguese Pork Sandwiches

In the pantheon of great Portuguese foods, there are few sandwiches that are more superlative than the bifana. Essentially pork, bread, and sauce, it's comfort food at its simplest.

2 hrs

Serradura ~ Portuguese Sawdust Pudding

Perhaps the easiest dessert ever, this simple yet stunning Portuguese staple is made with just three ingredients. Cookies. Cream. And sweetened condensed milk.

1 d 30 mins

Portuguese Clams and Sausage

Clams, spicy sausage, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and aromatics meld in the Portuguese equivalent of a wok (or whatever pot you happen to have handy).

35 mins

Portuguese Chocolate Salami

An easy, no-bake, Portuguese classic made with crushed cookies, confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, and whatever nuts or dried fruit you happen to have around. And (hiccup) Port.

2 hrs