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- Start Your Day with Gallo Pinto. Gallo pinto is one of the first dishes you’ll come across in Costa Rica. It’s a regional variation of white rice and black beans commonly served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Compare Mexican and Costa Rican Tamales. You’ve almost certainly had Mexican tamales at some point in your life. But have you ever tried Costa Rican tamales?
- Fill Up on Casado. It’s impossible to visit Costa Rica without trying casado. You’ll find this authentic Costa Rican dish available for lunch and dinner all over the place, from family-run sodas to fine-dining restaurants.
- Grab a Pati to Go. A pati in Costa Rica is similar to a beef patty in Jamaica, but it’s got a little extra spice. A local type of chili (usually ají chombo or panameño) is added for a delicious kick that really packs a punch.
Overview. Where to eat. Comments. Crema de pejibaye is a flavorful Costa Rican soup consisting of chicken stock, oil, milk or cream, chopped onions, garlic, sweet peppers, and pejibaye palm fruit, which is almost exclusively consumed in Costa Rica. The soup has a flavor reminiscent of chestnut purée and Japanese pumpkins.
Sopa de Pejibaye Recipe (Palm Fruit Soup) This dish may be more unique to Costa Rica than any other. Pejibaye’s are not commonly eaten anywhere except in Costa Rica. Pejibaye Fruit. 10-12 pejibayes. 3 cups chicken stock. 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil. 3 cups milk. 1 onion chopped.
Mar 16, 2017 · Pejibaye are a highly nutritious and loved snack in Costa Rica. During the season, they can be purchased at any fruit stand, farmer’s market, and in many grocery stores for around $2 a kilo (2.2 pounds).
- Costa Rica’s Best Food
- Where to Find Authentic Costa Rican Food
- The Classics
- Costa Rican Soups
- The Specialties
- Costa Rican Caribbean Food
- Desserts
Sadly, many tourists never taste Costa Rica’s best food. Expecting nachos, tacos and burritos, sunburnt gringos encounter chorreadas, patacones and chifrijo. Bewildered, they order a hamburger, which is always the worst thing on the menu. Thus the stereotype of bad Costa Rican food lives on. I adapted this page from my guidebook, Costa Rica: The Co...
Outside of grandma’s house, you’ll find the best authentic Costa Rican food at sodas— a local word loosely translated as “diner.” Sodas are never fancy. In fact, many appear rundown, which is why many tourists avoid them. Don’t make that mistake! If you want to eat like a local, visit a soda. In my guidebook, Costa Rica: The Complete Guide, I list ...
Gallo Pinto
Any discussion of Costa Rican food starts with gallo pinto — the national dish of Costa Rica. No matter where you go in Costa Rica, they’ll serve gallo pinto for breakfast every single day. Gallo pinto’s two main ingredients, rice and black beans, account for its name. Gallo pintomeans “painted rooster” — a reference to the black and white speckling found on some roosters. The beans and rice are spiced up with onions, celery, red peppers and cilantro. Gallo pinto is often served with eggs, to...
Casado
The casadois Costa Rica’s second most famous dish. This lunch/dinner favorite is essentially a mixed platter of beef, chicken or fish with rice, beans, cabbage salad, tortillas and sweet fried plantains. Casadoliterally means “married man.” It refers to the days when men working in the fields brought mixed lunches prepared by their wives, conveniently wrapped in a banana leaf. Casados are generally the best value on any menu. And at restaurants where quality is questionable, casados are alway...
Patacones
Say hello to the most delicious snack you’ve never heard of. These fried, mashed green plantains are popular throughout Central America and the Caribbean. But they are virtually unknown in Mexico — so they are largely unknown in the United States. One exception is Miami, where Cubans call them “tostones.” Patacones (pronounced “pah-tah-COE-nays“) go great with black bean dip or fresh guacamole.
Olla de Carne
Literally “pot of beef,” olla de carneis Costa Rica’s most popular soup. Large and filling, it’s often served as a main course. Ingredients include yucca, plantains, potatoes, carrots, corn, onion, garlic, cilantro, and — of course — a large hunk of beef. To be honest, I’m often underwhelmed by olla de carne. The meat is generally tough, and the flavor is rarely interesting. But I promise to keep searching for the perfect olla. It must be out there somewhere.
Sopa Negra
This black bean soup is hardly fancy, but on a cool afternoons in the cloudforest sopa negrahits the spot. Black beans form the base of the broth. Hard-boiled eggs provide a bit of heartiness. Sopa negra is then spiced up with onion, garlic and cilantro.
Sopa de Pejibaye
This is hands down my favorite Costa Rican soup. Sadly, few restaurants offer sopa de pejibayeon the menu. If you see it, order it. Made from the delicious pejibaye fruit (see below), sopa de pejibayeis a bit like squash soup, but richer, creamier, and more flavorful.
Chifrijo
Over the past three decades, chifrijo has taken Costa Rica by storm. The name is a combination of chicharrón and frijoles (“beans”) – its two main ingredients. Chifrijo also includes rice, pico de gallo(tomato, onion, cilantro), and add-ons such as avocado or jalapeños. The story of chifrijo began in Tibás, a working class suburb of San José. It was there that Miguel Cordero, owner of Cordero’s I bar, claims to have invented the tasty appetizer in the 1990s. After chifrijo started popping up...
Pejibaye
This starchy, fibrous fruit has been cultivated by indigenous groups for centuries. About the size of a small peach, pejibayegrows on tall palms in enormous bunches. Raw pejibaye is hard and slightly toxic due to calcium oxalate crystals. When cooked with salt, however, the crystals disappear and pejibaye becomes soft, nutritious and delicious. The mild, slightly sweet flavor falls somewhere between a chestnut and a sweet potato. When Spanish explorers arrived in Costa Rica, they found 30,000...
Chorreada
These sweet corn pancakes are a delicious alternative to gallo pinto for breakfast. The name comes from the Spanish verb chorrear (“to pour”). Chorreadas are mix of corn kernals, flour, milk, eggs and sugar. They are often served with a side of natilla(sour cream) and shredded cheese.
Rondón
This coconut milk soup is the Caribbean Coast’s most famous dish. A hearty medley of fresh fish, crab, yucca, plantain, yam, vegetables and Caribbean spices. Rondón is, in my opinion, the single best dish in Costa Rica. The very best rondón (which I reveal where to order in Costa Rica: The Complete Guide) can compete with the best dishes anywhere in Latin America. Yes, it’s thatgood. The name rondónderives from the English “run down.” As in, Caribbean cooks originally made rondón with whateve...
Rice & Beans
This is the most common dish on the Caribbean Coast. But unlike rice and beans served in the rest of Costa Rica, Caribbean rice and beans are slow-cooked with fresh coconut milk. The resulting flavor is sweet, savory and tropical. Rice and beans are made with either black beans or red beans, depending on the cook. Order it with fresh fried fish and patacones — preferably overlooking the turquoise Caribbean — and you’ll never want to go back home.
Patty
Also spelled pattí, this baked empanada is filled with spicy ground meat. A spicy kick is delivered via habanero chiles, locally known as chile panameño(Panamanian chiles). Locals sell patty in Puerto Viejo and Cahuita. You can also buy them from roadside vendors as you drive towards Limón.
Tres Leches
Popular throughout much of Latin America, tres lechesis by no means a Costa Rican specialty. But it’s often the tastiest dessert on the menu. Tres leches consists of moist sponge cake soaked in tres leches(“three milks”). Those three milks are whole milk, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk.
Pan Bon
This sweet, dark bread is a Caribbean specialty. It’s made with flour, unrefined sugarcane, butter, mild white cheese, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, raisins and candied fruits. The sweetness of pan bon falls somewhere between regular bread and cake, making it more of a light snack than a true dessert.
People also ask
Where to eat Sopa de Pejibaye in Costa Rica?
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What is crema de Pejibaye?
Mar 14, 2019 · We have one friend who likes to eat the pejibaye topped with something sweet to tame the deep savoury flavours, like a drizzle of organic honey or sweet maple syrup. I have found it prepared in different ways during the Foodie Tours in San Jose, like ceviche, churros, chips, puree, etc.
Nov 28, 2023 · Sopa de Pejibaye is a classic Costa Rican soup, a creamy concoction that showcases the rich, nutty flavor of pejibaye, a tropical fruit also known as peach palm. This hearty soup blends the unique taste of pejibaye with chicken stock, onions, garlic, and Costa Rican cream, creating a comforting and indulgent experience.
