Popular Brazilian Meals, Sides, and Desserts

Traditional feijoada with rice and other sides

Luisrftc/Getty Images 

This collection of Brazilian recipes is organized so that you can choose from the categories and plan your own Brazilian meal. Choose a main course, pair it with Brazilian cheese bread, and you have a simple supper. Or go all out and make a traditional feijoada—the Brazilian black bean stew feast with all the trimmings.

  • 01 of 04

    Appetizers, Snacks, and Street Food

    Coxinha Brazillian Chicken Croquettes

    The Spruce

    One of the most well-known Brazilian street foods is acarajé, which are fried balls of shrimp, black-eyed peas, and onions. Fried rice balls (bolinhas de arroz are similar to hush puppies made with rice instead of cornmeal. And be sure to try empadinhas de palmito, which are small empanadas with a hearts of palm filling. Coxinha and Risoles are chicken and cheese croquettes while Kibe is beef croquettes. Pastel Frito de Frango is also popular street food.

    Breakfast street foods are also popular in Brazil. One popular dish is Tapioca, a.k.a Brazilian crepes.

  • 02 of 04

    Main Courses

    Authentic Brazilian Feijoada

     Igor Alecsander / Getty Images

    Feijoada is probably the most famous and traditional of all Brazilian main courses. It's a black bean stew with smoked meats that takes a full day to prepare, so it's meant to enjoy over the weekend with friends. Not surprisingly there are also many delicious seafood dishes in Brazil. Vatapá is a delicious shrimp dish with a rich cashew peanut sauce. Moqueca de peixe is a coconut fish stew that is easy to make and amazingly tasty. Cururu de camarao is a shrimp and okra gumbo, which can be made with frozen shrimp for a quick weeknight supper. You can also try Brazilian-style pizza and Churrasco, which is Brazilian barbecue.

  • 03 of 04

    Sides

    Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread

    The Spruce / Christine Ma

    Pao de Queijo (cheese bread) is a common favorite of Brazilian recipes, and although these rolls are typically enjoyed for breakfast or as an afternoon snack in Brazil, you can serve them with dinner. Farofa (toasted manioc meal) is an essential condiment for many Brazilian stews, especially feijoada. And everything goes well with Brazilian-style rice, which is prepared with tomatoes, onions, and garlic. Couve a Mineira, garlicky collard greens, is a healthier side that also pairs well with feijoada.

  • 04 of 04

    Desserts

    alfajores cookies on a plate

    Getty Images / ElOjoTorpe

    There are so many amazing Brazilian desserts. This is just a partial list to get you started. A popular choice is passion fruit mousse cake. If you don't have time to make the cake, serve just the passion fruit mousse. Quindin are also delicious little coconut flans that are fairly simple to make, and children cannot resist bridgardeiros, candy treats named for a famous Brigadier General who loved chocolate. There is an assortment of cakes such as bolo formigueiro (chocolate bundt cake), bolo de cenouro (carrot cake), chocolate roll cake, and even Brazilian German Pie. If you want to try Brazilian cookies you can try Bem Casados.