Nicaraguan Recipes

Nicaraguan cooking is built on corn, beans, rice, plantain and beef, with fresh cheese, cream and a lot of cabbage. Gallo pinto, red beans fried with rice, appears at breakfast and dinner, while the nacatamal, a large corn masa parcel filled with pork, is a weekend favorite. Street food is a big part of daily eating: vigorón with yuca and crisp pork, quesillo wrapped in a tortilla, and grilled meat plates called fritanga. Stews such as indio viejo and baho are slow-cooked family meals. Sour orange, mint, sweet pepper, onion and achiote give the food its character, and heat comes from a chile sauce on the side. Drinks made from roasted corn and cacao, such as pinolillo, are served cold, and cakes soaked in three milks are the standard for celebrations.

Staple ingredients

• corn and masa
• red beans
• rice
• green and ripe plantains
• beef and pork
• fresh cheese and cream
• cabbage
• sour orange and mint

• Breakfast 1
• Main Dishes 3
• Desserts 1
• Snacks 2
• Drinks 1

Breakfast

• Gallo Pinto (Nicaraguan Red Beans and Rice)NI1 h 45 minEasy

Main Dishes

• Indio Viejo (Nicaraguan Shredded Beef Stew Thickened with Masa)NI2 h 55 minMedium
• Nacatamales (Nicaraguan Pork Corn Masa Parcels in Banana Leaf)NI5 hChallenging
• Baho (Nicaraguan Beef, Plantain and Yuca Steamed in Banana Leaves)NI4 h 10 minMedium

Desserts

• Pastel de Tres Leches (Nicaraguan Three Milks Cake)NI1 hMedium

Snacks

• Quesillo (Nicaraguan Tortilla with Stretchy Cheese, Pickled Onion and Cream)NI23 minEasy
• Vigorón (Nicaraguan Yuca with Cabbage Salad and Crisp Pork)NI1 h 10 minEasy

Drinks

• Pinolillo (Nicaraguan Toasted Corn and Cocoa Drink)NI13 minEasy