Belizean Recipes
6 recipesBelizean cooking blends Creole, Garifuna, Maya, Mestizo and wider Caribbean traditions in a small country with a long coast. Rice and beans cooked in coconut milk is the everyday anchor, served with stewed chicken, fish or beef and often a scoop of potato salad or coleslaw. Corn tortillas, tamales and soups seasoned with allspice and sour orange reflect the Maya and Mestizo kitchens of the north and west, while Garifuna cooks on the southern coast make coconut-based fish stews with mashed plantain. Recado, a paste of annatto seeds and spices, gives stews and roasted meats their red color. Cassava, plantains, yams and coconut turn up all year, and fresh fish, lobster and conch are common on the cayes. Breakfast often means fry jacks or johnny cakes with eggs and beans, and a bottle of habanero hot sauce sits on most tables. Meals are generous, and the flavors are warm rather than fiery.
Staple ingredients
- rice and red kidney beans
- coconut milk
- recado (annatto paste)
- chicken and fish
- plantains and cassava
- corn
- habanero chili
- allspice
Breakfast
Soups
Main Dishes
Belizean Tamales (Chicken and Recado Masa in Banana Leaf)BZ3 h 5 minMedium
Hudut (Belizean Fish and Coconut Stew with Mashed Plantain)BZ1 h 15 minMedium
Stew Chicken with Rice and Beans (Belizean Sunday Plate)BZ1 h 50 minMedium
Breads
Common questions
What is Belizean food known for?
Rice and beans with stew chicken, fry jacks, johnny cakes, hudut and fresh seafood. Coconut milk, recado and habanero sauce give the cooking its character, and each cultural group adds its own dishes.
What is the national dish of Belize?
Rice and beans with stew chicken is generally called the national dish, though there is no official one. It is the usual Sunday lunch, often served with potato salad and fried plantain.
Is Belizean food spicy?
The food itself is usually mild. Heat comes from habanero hot sauce on the table, so each person decides how spicy a plate should be.