What Are The Staples Of Argentinian Cuisine?

From bustling Buenos Aires to tiny little Salta, one thing that bands all of Argentina together is our love of great food. We bring the same vibrance we live our lives with to the kitchen, creating incredible dishes that are delicious, filling, and worth making over and over again. While the culinary landscape of Argentina is as big as the Andes mountains, you’re probably wondering whether there are certain things that we’d classify as Argentinian food.

And the answer is: of course we do! While our diet is varied and vibrant, there are some staples that every Argentinian would turn to when deciding what to eat that day. These dishes are quintessentially Argentinian, and if you were to visit Argentina, these are the foods that the locals would insist you have.

So today, join us on a little culinary trip to Argentina, and see the mouthwatering delights that we’re lucky enough to call the staples of our cuisine.

Asado

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind with Argentinian cuisine is our love for barbecue–what we call asado. The average Argentinian eats so much asado, we consider it our national dish.

Every kind of meat imaginable goes onto the grill, but beef is by far the most popular. And with good reason: there’s actually more cattle than people in Argentina!

Sirloin and flank steak is one popular grilling item, especially when served with a delicious chimichurri sauce–a tangy accompaniment made with olive oil, vinegar, and an array of herbs–and rich sweet potatoes on the side. You’ll also find morcilla, Argentina’s take on the blood sausage, on the grill to make a decadent appetizer.

For heartier fare, there’s always matambre arrollado. This dish is a type of roulade made from the bottom of a cow’s ribs (or flank steak, if you need a substitution). It’s stuffed with vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, herbs, and other delicious fillings before it’s rolled up and tossed on the parilla our special grill designed exclusively for asado. 

We also have our own take on the American hot dog in Argentina–the choripán! Made by combining the words chorizo (sausage) and pán (bread), this dish is exactly what it sounds like: a savory chorizo sausage sandwiched in a crusty bread roll. Instead of ketchup and mustard, though, we tend to top choripán with chimichurri or a tangy onion relish called salsa criolla. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can even try a version of choripán made with morcilla for a richer taste.

Trust us, no matter what you end up throwing on the grill, you won’t be hungry after an asado dinner!

Empanadas

The quintessential Argentinian street food! While you can find empanadas in many South American countries, there’s just a little something extra special about the ones you can find in Argentina. 

There’s no one way to make these little pillows of deliciousness. Deep fried or baked, savory or sweet – the only things that are a must for empanadas is to have puff pastries stuffed with some form of tasty filling.

You’ll find empanadas filled with dulce de leche–which is a rich caramel made from reducing condensed milk–or chocolate and fruit. You can grab a breakfast empanada with eggs and sausage or a lunch empanada with ham and cheese. No matter what’s inside this tasty, portable snack, you know it’s going to be delicioso.

Pizza

Bet you never thought Argentina had its own version of pizza, did you? But half of the Argentinian population is of Italian descent, and like in the US, their ancestors brought the easy, affordable dough with tomatoes and cheese to Argentina when they moved to South America from Europe. 

While asado is the national dish of Argentina, pizza is definitely the go-to meal for Buenos Aires. We put our own spin on this worldwide staple, with an emphasis on cheese, cheese, and more cheese! You can find pizzas with thick, soft dough, thin crispy dough, lots of tomato sauce, no tomato sauce, and, of course, pizzas that are cooked on the parilla along with our asado.

While there are a few different styles of pizza to choose from around the country, one of the most famous is the fugazzeta–a tomato-less pizza that’s stuffed with plenty of cheese and served with onions. These monster slices are a cheese-lover’s dream! 

Entrees and Side Dishes

Of course, what’s a meal without some sides for a little extra deliciousness? One of the tastiest sides you can get is a provoloneto, which takes grilled cheese to a whole new level. Rather than putting cheese between two pieces of bread, we put some provolone cheese into a small pot or skillet with some herbs and cook it on the parilla until it’s a bubby, gooey delight that’s perfect for sharing as a dip for bread.

Speaking of bread, a favorite street food is the chipa. These bread rolls were originally made by the indigenous Guarani people with cassava flour, but now, they’re filled with anything you can imagine–from ham and cheese to ground meat and vegetables. They’re so popular, you can find vendors selling them on the bus!

In the morning, though, you’ll see plenty of people grabbing a medialuna to go with their coffee. These buttery, flaky crescent moons are our version of the French croissant, and they’re an essential part of an Argentinian breakfast.

For a heartier dish, there’s always tamales salteños. Much like tamales you’d find in Mexico and other Central and South American countries, these are made with corn flour, minced meat, hard-boiled eggs, and a wide range of spices and chiles. Everything’s wrapped in a fresh corn husk, then dropped into boiling water to cook. 

And, of course, everyone loves a hearty stew to warm up. In Argentina, you’ll find nothing but comfort in a bowl of puchero. This stew is a variation of the Spanish cozido. Unsurprisingly, it’s typically made with beef, as well as medley of delicious additions like corn, potatoes, squash, chorizo, and even bacon! 

Desserts

We can’t forget Argentinian pastries! We love our sweets, with dulce de leche being one of our favorite toppings and fillings. Like we said earlier, dulce de leche is made from cooking down condensed milk with plenty of sugar, leaving you with a rich, decadent caramel that’s the perfect addition to any dessert you can imagine–or licked straight from the spoon if you just can’t help yourself.

Meanwhile, the best way to end a meal is with an alfajore…or three. These little sandwich cookies are different than what they sell in those blue boxes in an American grocery store. Tender shortbread is filled with dulce de leche, then either rolled in coconut or drizzled with chocolate for a truly decadent sweet treat.

Want something a little more complex for your dessert? The deceptively simple postre vigilante offers a complexity on the tongue that will make your tastebuds sing. All you do is take a slice of cheese and top it with a slice of dulce–a jelly-like paste made with fruit. Dulce can be made with any kind of fruit–quince, guava, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, raspberry, and even cactus! With so many different flavors to meld with the cheese, it’s always a new experience!

Drinks

And, of course, we can’t forget the drinks! Argentinian wine is some of the best you can find in the world, especially in South America. The Andes mountains give us the perfect terrain for growing wine grapes, and our Malbec is one of the most famous wines in the world. But beyond Malbec you’ll find a whole range of full bodied reds that pair perfectly with carne asada, or bright whites to go with fire-grilled chicken and fish–they’re all a perfect addition to any dinner.

And, if you prefer caffeine over alcohol, Argentinian coffee is second to none – dark and rich and often not even needing cream and sugar, though it could always benefit from an accompanying alfajore or medialuna! And we’re also the birthplace of yerba mate, a highly caffeinated, earthy tea that’s often drunk from a dried gourd with a metal straw. In Argentina, we’ll usually pass around one gourd to sip from at gatherings as we chat.

This is just the tiniest sampling of Argentina’s incredible culinary world. We pride ourselves in our vast culinary landscape, and it’s incredible to see the wide range of delicious, mouthwatering food that comes from our home country. If you have the chance to visit Argentina, be sure to try as many of our staples as you can. We can promise that they’re so delicious, you’ll miss them once you come home!

If you don’t have the time to take a little trip down to Argentina to try this wide range of culinary delights, you’re in luck! At Libertango, we’ve brought the delicious food of Argentina right to Utah in the United States. Come in for delicious asado, decadent Argentinian wines, and finish up a meal with a sweet alfajore. It’s all ready and waiting at Libertango. Make a reservation today!