Northern Portugal is renowned for its culinary tradition, deeply rooted in the region's history and culture. The resulting dishes are renowned for their authentic flavor and diversity.
One of its most outstanding features is the use of fresh, local ingredients. The region enjoys an abundance of high-quality agricultural produce and seafood, which is reflected in the cuisine.
Northern Portugal Gastronomy - Credit Municipio do Vieira do Minho
Traditional recipes are handed down from generation to generation, preserving their authenticity. They are often simple, highlighting the natural flavors of the ingredients used and employing traditional cooking techniques, such as wood-oven roasting and slow cooking.
Finally, we can't talk about the cuisine of Northern Portugal without mentioning the world-renowned wines produced in the Douro region. Port wines, in particular, are famous for their unique quality and flavor, and often accompany the region's traditional meals.
Douro River - Credit Mundo Portugues
Whether you're a lover of meat, fish or wine, you're sure to find something to satisfy your sweet tooth in Northern Portugal, and if you'd like to reproduce some of the best recipes at home, here are 10 of them!
- Tripas à moda do Porto
- Francesinha
- Cozido à Portuguesa
- Feijoada à Transmontana
- Arroz de cabidela
- Rojões
- Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá
- Caldo Verde
- Arroz de Pato
- Papas de Sarrabulho
Tripas à moda do Porto
Tripas à moda do Porto is a typical dish from the city of Porto. It's a stew of pork tripe with white beans, vegetables and sausages. The dish is thought to have been invented in the 15th century, when Porto's inhabitants reserved the meat for sailors going out to sea, keeping only the tripe for themselves.
Tripas à moda do Porto - Crédit RTP
Ingrédients (8 people)
- 1.5 kg tripe
- 250g sausage (preferably Portuguese Chouriço)
- 200g smoked ham
- 100g bacon
- 500g dried white beans
- 4 tomatoes
- 3 carrots
- 2 onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 200ml white wine
- 100ml port wine
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 bunch coriander
- olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Chopped parsley
- Cloves
- Salt and white pepper
- White rice
Cooking
- Soak the beans in water overnight. The next day, cook until tender but not overcooked. Drain and set aside.
- Scrape and clean the tripe well, rubbing it with coarse salt and lemon juice. Wash several times in cold water, then again in hot water.
- Place tripe in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and boil. Remove any scum that forms on the surface and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse again with cold water. Cover the pan with salted water, add 1 onion studded with cloves, 1 peeled carrot and a bunch of coriander. Cook until tender.
- Chop the bacon, remaining onion and garlic and sauté in olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the white wine and reduce the liquid by half.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, flour, tripe stock, chorizo, smoked ham and remaining sliced carrots. Boil for about 5 minutes.
- Then add the beans and tripe cut into pieces and cook for a further 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add the port and stir. Remove the chorizo and ham, cut the former into slices and the latter into cubes. Return the mixture to the pan and stir.
- Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with boiled white rice.
Which wine to serve with Port-style tripe?
Typical Moda do Porto Tripas require a wine that is red, full-bodied, with lively tannins and balanced acidity.
Kopke São luiz is a red wine from the Douro region with a deep red color and sweet flavors. It's a well-balanced wine with present tannins and a persistent but harmonious finish. It's a red wine that goes perfectly with Port-style tripe.
Francesinha
Another Porto specialty, the Francesinha is a hot and spicy sandwich made with sliced bread, ham, sausage, grilled meat and melted cheese. The whole thing is topped with a tomato, beer and chili-based sauce.
Francesinha - Credit Ncultura Noticias
Ingredients for the sauce
- Light beer (about 1 liter)
- Port wine (about 20 cl)
- Tomato sauce or tomato pulp (approx. 50 g)
- Piri-piri (to be found in the store section of the site)
- Olive oil, 2 onions, 2 garlic cloves, bay leaf
- Cornstarch to thicken sauce
Ingrédients for the sandwich
- 8 thick slices of sandwich bread
- 4 thin veal, beef or pork steaks
- 4 slices ham
- 1 smoked sausage
- 1 fresh sausage
- Slices of cheese (to garnish and cover sandwiches)
- 4 eggs
Cooking
- Chop 2 onions and 2 cloves of garlic and place in a saucepan. Add the veal, beef or pork steaks. Add olive oil and bay leaves. Simmer until the meat is cooked. When the meat is cooked, remove it from the pan and save it for later.
- Add the port wine, beer and tomato sauce to the pan. Leave to reduce for an hour. Remove the bay leaves and blend in a blender. Add cornflour if necessary to thicken the sauce. Add the hot or mild Piri-piri to taste. Set the sauce aside.
- Prepare the sandwiches with the sandwich bread, steaks, slices of ham, sliced fresh and smoked sausage and a few slices of cheese. Cover each sandwich completely with the remaining cheese slices. Melt the cheese in the oven while you prepare 4 fried eggs.
- Remove the sandwiches from the oven, place them in soup plates, cover with the sauce and place a fried egg on each sandwich.
- Serve with French fries (as is often the case in Porto) and a cold Portuguese beer.
Suggestion
The francesinha can be presented at the table in a terracotta plate that has also been used to bake it au gratin.
This traditional terracotta gratin dish turns every recipe into a real pleasure: nothing sticks, flavors are perfectly preserved, and cooking is uniform whether using gas, oven or even embers.
Cozido à Portuguesa
A meat and vegetable stew prepared in a clay pot. This dish is usually made with pieces of beef, pork and chicken, sausages, carrots, cabbage and potatoes. It is often served with rice and white beans.
Cozido à Portuguesa - Credit Ekonomista
Ingrédients (8 people)
- 600g beef shank
- 600g ribs
- 600g bacon
- 2 pig's ears
- 1/2 chicken
- 1 sausage (Chouriço)
- 1 Portuguese black sausage
- 1 small Portuguese black sausage
- 1 farinheira sausage
- 1 large tin of kidney beans
- 400g rice
- 6 small potatoes
- 3 carrots
- 1 small white cabbage
- 1 small green cabbage
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 0.5dl olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper
Cooking
- The day before, salt the pork and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. The following day, rinse with water and cook with the remaining meat, chicken pieces, chouriço, black pudding and farinheira sausage in water seasoned with salt, bay leaves and peppercorns. Remove and set aside as you cook.
- Clean and wash cabbage, peel and wash carrots and potatoes. Boil all these ingredients in the meat cooking water and remove. Then use 8 dl of the stock, adjust the seasoning, boil the blood sausage and remove. Add the kidney beans to the same stock, heat through and remove.
- Peel and chop the onion and garlic, place in a saucepan, add the olive oil, bring to the boil and sauté for a few moments. Add the rice, mix well, pour in the stock from the blood sausage, stir, cover and cook over a very low heat for 15 minutes.
- Serve the meat and chopped sausages with the vegetables, rice and beans.
Suggestion
Having trouble finding the right clay pot to cook a Cozido? Red clay, known as "Olaria de barro vermelho", can be used to prepare spectacular stews: "In an earthenware pot, the meat becomes exceptionally tender".
Feijoada à Transmontana
A traditional dish from the Trás-os-Montes region in northeastern Portugal. It's a white bean stew (feijão branco) that's prepared with a variety of meats, such as pork, beef, chorizo, ham and sometimes even tripe.
The meat is usually cooked with garlic, onions, tomatoes, paprika and other spices. The dish is often accompanied by rice, cabbage or potatoes. It is generally considered a hearty and nourishing dish, perfect for the winter months.
Feijoada in Transmontana is often served at major parties and celebrations, such as weddings and birthdays. It is also popular in the region's restaurants and guesthouses.
Feijoada à Transmontana - Credit Teleculinaria
Ingrédients (4 people)
- 500g dried kidney beans
- 350g ribs
- 1 sausage
- 100g bacon
- 1 sausage
- 1 chouriço
- 2 onions
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 0.5 dl white wine
- 1/2 can peeled tomatoes
- 2 carrots
- 1 Portuguese cabbage
- salt and pepper
Cooking
- Soak the beans in water overnight. On the day of the recipe, cook them in salted water. Separately, cook the pork chops, bacon and chourço in a saucepan with water and one of the peeled, chopped onions. Remove the meat as it cooks.
- Peel the other onion and garlic, chop, place in a saucepan, add the bay leaf and olive oil, heat and sauté until the onion is tender. Add the white wine, chopped tomato, peeled and sliced carrots, sliced chouriço and grated cabbage. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Then add the beans with a little cooking stock and all the chopped meat, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook until everything is cooked.
- Serve immediately.
Arroz de cabidela
Another emblematic recipe from northern Portugal. This is chicken rice cooked in a broth made from chicken blood, vinegar and onions. This dish has a dark color and unique flavor, and is often served with French fries.
Arroz de Cabidela - Crédit SAPO
Ingrédients (4 people)
- 1 chicken
- 500g rice
- 1 large onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3dl white wine
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- Parsley
- Salt and pepper
Cooking
- Peel and wash the garlic cloves and chop finely. Clean chicken, cut into pieces and season with garlic cloves, paprika, white wine, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Mix well and marinate for 30 minutes.
- Peel, wash and finely chop the onion. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the drained chicken and sear on both sides until golden. Add the onion, mix well and fry until golden.
Add the marinade to the pan and cook for around 40 minutes until the chicken starts to become tender, adding water if necessary. - Make sure you have about 1 liter of stock and adjust the seasoning. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is cooked. Stir well and remove from heat. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.
Rojões
Another popular meat recipe in northern Portugal. These are pieces of pork marinated in white wine and fried with garlic, onions and bay leaves. Rojões are often served with rice and potatoes.
Rojõe - Crédit Ruralea
Ingredients (4 people)
- 700 g pork
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1.5dl white wine
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lard
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 sprig parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- Gherkins
- Olives
- Salt and pepper
Cooking
- Place the pork in a bowl and season with olive oil, white wine, paprika, bay leaf and minced garlic cloves. Mix well, cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Melt the lard in a frying pan, add the well-drained meat and cook over high heat for about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat, add the marinade, adjust the salt, season with a pinch of pepper, cover and cook for a further 35 minutes or until the sauce is very thick and the meat is tender. If necessary, add a little hot water halfway through, but make sure there's little sauce left at the end.
- Remove from the heat and serve garnished with gherkins and olives and diced French fries. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá
This is another of Porto's signature dishes. It's a codfish stew with potatoes, onions, garlic, olives and eggs.
Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá - Credit Cybercook
Ingrédients (4 people)
- 500g cod
- 400g potatoes
- 3 bay leaves
- 150ml olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 cloves
- 3 onions
- 1 teaspoon
- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- Pitted black olives
- Parsley
- Salt and pepper
Cooking
- Cook the cod with skin and potatoes, already washed and diced, for about 15 minutes in a saucepan containing about 3 liters of water, with a bay leaf and white pepper.
- Once the cod is cooked, remove the bones and skin, separate into thick crumbs and set aside.
- Sauté the chopped garlic, onions cut into half-moons and remaining bay leaves in olive oil for 5 minutes.
- Add the cod crumbs and potato cubes to the sauté and simmer, seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with a chopped hard-boiled egg, olives, chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.
Suggestion
Terracotta oven dishes provide excellent heat distribution during cooking. Terracotta is the ideal material for long cooking and simmering dishes, ensuring a very tender, flavorful texture.
Caldo Verde
A traditional soup from northern Portugal, Caldo Verde is made with potatoes, cabbage and slices of chorizo.
Caldo Verde - Credit Maria Receita
Ingrédients (4 people)
- 500g potatoes
- 200g kale, chopped for broth
- 1/2 chouriço
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1dl olive oil
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt
- 2 liters of water
- Corn bread
Cooking
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan with the chopped onion and garlic, and the peeled and chopped potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally.
- Add the water, salt and chorizo and leave to cook.
- When the potatoes are cooked, remove the chouriço and mash well. Add the cabbage and bring to the boil.
- Serve the caldo-verde with the slices of chouriço, accompanied by slices of corn bread.
Suggestion
Serve your Caldo Verde in a typical Portuguese terracotta bowl. Terracotta is a naturally insulating material that retains heat and keeps your Caldo Verde warm.
Arroz de Pato
This recipe is rice with duck, prepared with white beans, onions, garlic and red wine.
Arroz de Pato - Crédit Teleculinaria
Ingrédients (4 people)
- 4 duck breasts
- 1.5l water
- 100 ml red wine
- 150g sausage
- 150g smoked bacon
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- Tomato pulp
- 400g white rice
- paprika, salt, pepper
Cooking
- Place the liter and a half of water, red wine, half the chorizo, smoked bacon, bay leaves, duck breasts and salt in a saucepan. Cook for 40 minutes. Strain and reserve the duck stock.
- In a frying pan, sauté the chopped onion and garlic in the olive oil. Sauté for 3 minutes, then add the tomato pulp. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Allow the meat to cool, then shred the duck and dice the chorizo and smoked bacon. Add to the pan. Add a little stock and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the rice and mix well. Then add 400ml cooking stock, pepper and paprika. When it boils, lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes.
- Place the rice on a baking tray. Slice the remaining chorizo and place on top of the rice.
- Bake at 170°C for 15 minutes, until the rice is golden brown.
Papas de Sarrabulho
This dish is a meat and vegetable stew, often prepared with potatoes, carrots, onions, bacon and sausages. It is often served with corn bread.
Papas de Sarrabulho - Credit Visit Gondomar
Ingrédients (6 people)
- 1kg pork offal (heart, liver, etc.)
- 1 pork bone
- 250g beef
- 250g corn flour
- 250g chicken
- 250g boiled pork blood
- Salt and cumin
Cooking
- Place a pan of water on the stove and, when it boils, add the meat, season with salt and cook until the chicken falls apart.
- Once cooked, remove the meat and shred.
- Pour the flour into the meat broth, along with the blood and a little hand-crushed cooked liver, the shredded meat and cumin to taste.
- Mix all ingredients together and cook to a porridge that is not too thick.
- Serve in bowls, sprinkled with cumin.
Enchidos
You can't talk about the traditional cuisine of northern Portugal without mentioning "enchidos". These are dry sausages made from pork and a mixture of spices, such as paprika, garlic, cloves and salt.
There are many varieties of enchidos, each with its own recipe and method of manufacture. Among the most common are chouriço, linguiça, salpicão and paio. Enchidos are often served as aperitifs or starters, sliced into thin strips and accompanied by bread and cheese.
Enchidos - Credit Veja Rio
They are also a key ingredient in many traditional Portuguese dishes, such as feijoada à la portugaise, a white bean and pork stew, or cozido à portuguesa, a vegetable and meat stew.
Terracotta crockery
Traditional cooking in northern Portugal makes widespread use of low-temperature simmering, baking and even grilling. Terracotta dishes, pots, bowls and plates are a permanent feature of this cuisine.
Terracotta transforms every simmered recipe into a real pleasure: nothing sticks, flavors are perfectly preserved, cooking is uniform and the dish used for cooking is presented at the table.