Dessert empanadas are popular throughout Latin America, and Argentina and Chile are most well known for their sweet empanadas, but Costa Rican empanadas have a special place in my heart because…
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Costa Rican Recipes
We love traditional Costa Rican food here at Casa Pura Vida, and we’ve spent countless hours recreating our favorite Costa Rican recipes to share with you!
Not familiar with the food of Costa Rica? Don’t worry, here’s a quick overview! The main staples of the Costa Rican diet are white rice, black beans, and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Costa Rican food (or tico food as we also call it!) is generally flavored with salt, garlic, onion, cilantro and Salsa Lizano.
We’ve got all kinds of recipes in every category- Costa Rican main dishes, Costa Rican desserts, Costa Rican traditional foods, breakfast foods, and more. Here are some of our most popular posts:
- Costa Rican Gallo Pinto Recipe
- Costa Rican Arroz con Pollo Recipe
- Costa Rican Style Slow Cooker Black Beans Recipe
- Costa Rican White Rice Recipe
- Costa Rican Tres Leches Recipe
- Garbanzo Bean Soup Recipe
Don’t see a recipe here that you’re looking for? Contact me– I’ll add it to my list of recipes to post!
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Costa Rican cheese empanadas are half-moon shaped fried appetizers made from a corn-based dough. They are then filled with traditional white Costa Rican cheese and fried up until hot- and the…
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These crispy deep-fried half-moon shaped empanadas are filled with shredded beef and then fried to golden perfection. This beef empanada recipe uses a traditional Costa Rican shredded beef filling. While many…
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These Costa Rican pineapple empanadas (empanadas de piña) combine a homemade pastry dough and sweet pineapple preserves baked to perfection for a delightful baked dessert. With just a few ingredients- flour,…
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Costa Rican suspiros are little delicate meringue cookies popular year-round but especially at Christmas and Easter. With just three ingredients, they are easy to make with what you have on hand,…
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These yuca fries are made by boiling large chunks of yucca in saltwater, cutting the rounds into thick straw pieces, and then frying them in vegetable oil. The taste is very…
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This is a traditional Costa Rican chicharron recipe that uses pork belly or boneless pork ribs- known in Spanish as chicharrón de cerdo. In Costa Rica, chicharrones are generally either pan-fried…
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Boiled green plantains are a sort of a staple in Costa Rican cooking. We use the recipe either as a starting point to make patacones (thick round fried plantain chips served…
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Like many popular Costa Rican dishes, the Costa Rican vigorón is an easy to prepare mix of several popular Costa Rican recipes combined to make a unique dish. Made from chicharrones…
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Yuca roots are large tubers endemic to Central America and much of the world. It's one of the oldest foods around- it's filling and inexpensive. Many Latin American countries use yucca in…
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The Costa Rican chifrijo, much like its name, is a mix of several Costa Rican recipes, and it's a beloved dish throughout the country. The word chi-frijo is a combination of…
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This Costa Rican chimichurri sauce recipe is served with almost every meal possible in Costa Rica. It's made from ingredients readily available year-round in Costa Rica (tomato, onion, cilantro, lime and…
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So let's get one thing straight- salsa rosada is decidedly not just a Costa Rican thing. It's a Latin America thing- and I actually suspect that back in the day McDonald's…
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Lovingly called "pinto" for short, you can also find this dish on lunch and dinner menus alongside freshly braised meat. Sometimes we substitute gallo pinto for rice and beans in a…
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When you visit Costa Rica, you'll see a shrimp and rice recipe on almost every menu. It's one of the most beloved Costa Rican dishes- with all the amazing seafood in…
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This soup is a super popular dish in Costa Rica- but you will almost never find it on a menu. It's one of those recipes people make at home, but don't…
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You will never go to a Costa Rican home where there are no beans on the stove or in the fridge. Many Costa Rican moms even batch cook black beans for…
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It's Holy Week (Semana Santa), which means a unique type of tamal is traditionally made and served in Costa Rica. Depending on the region of Costa Rica, this sweet, vegetarian tamal…
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Every four years we gear up to celebrate the biggest soccer tournament in the world- and we are so excited to cheer on Costa Rica this year! We take game time…
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I earned my street cred with this recipe a few years back. We had gone to a party to celebrate Costa Rican Independence day. The party was a potluck, and I…
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A good white rice recipe is to Costa Rican cuisine what salt is to ocean water- essential. We eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Almost every main dish in Costa…
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Arroz con pollo is such a common dish that ticos have dubbed it arroz con siempre (rice with always). Because we literally have it at every party! I can't tell you how…
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If you are making our tamales ticos recipe- otherwise known as Costa Rican Tamales, then you need to know how to make the pork for the filling. This is one of the…
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White rice is one of the staple foods of Costa Rican cuisine- we eat it with literally everything. (No really, just go to a Costa Rican home where they are going to…
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Just imagine a bustling hot open-air kitchen- preferably in the cloud forest- full of people talking and laughing. There definitely has to be some Latin music, and a band of kids…
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Melcochas de natilla is the Spanish name for a traditional Costa Rican candy made from sour cream and sugar. How to make the two-ingredient homemade candy recipe unique to Costa Rica.…
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You guys, right now my kids are popsicle obsessed. It all started a few months ago when we moved to Costa Rica- where we call popsicles paletas. We have a Friday…
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It's Holy Week in Costa Rica, and that means we are cooking and eating all kinds of delicious food. Traditionally, Holy Week is one of the hottest weeks of the year…
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We’re celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with our favorite Costa Rican soup dish! This hearty Costa Rican vegetable beef soup is packed with healthy vegetables and super easy to prepare. Costa Rican…
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This traditional Costa Rican black bean soup recipe is a delicious, healthy, and simple vegetarian meal that everyone loves! Served with Costa Rican white rice and Salsa Lizano, you can find…
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If you’ve ever been to Costa Rica, then you have seen the Salsa Lizano bottles everywhere. They are on every restaurant table, in every souvenir store, every house, and every grocery…
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This low-calorie Costa Rican shrimp ceviche is the perfect appetizer or meal for meatless Monday! A typical Costa Rican cuisine recipe found on almost any menu and easily prepared at home!…
