Let me tell you a secret- Costa Rican chop suey is an actual thing. You can find it on almost any menu, and it's an insanely popular street food (along with…
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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 Rica is well known for its picadillos, and with good reason! Traditionally made with diced vegetables, meat, and spices, picadillos are a beloved staple of Costa Rican cuisine. …
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Let’s get passionate about this fruit! (Indulge me one pun, it was too easy to pass up!) Passion fruit hails from the tropics and can be recognized by its wrinkly exterior…
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Sweet, cold, and refreshing, this iconic drink is not only the hook to a Rupert Holmes track, but a summer staple in its own right!…
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“Salchipapa.” Yep, you read that correctly! Part salchicha (sausage) and part papa (potato) this french fry and hot dog medley is a favorite fast food all over Central and most South…
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Picadillo is one of Costa Rica's most popular recipes… and with good reason! Coming from the verb picar (to cut), picadillos consist of diced vegetables that have been sauteed together with…
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This recipe is a Costa Rican essential recipe. That means that once you know how to make this and keep in on hand, you can make all kinds of other recipes. To…
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This is one of my best and most requested recipes. Since chicken broth is a staple of Costa Rican cuisine, I have worked for years to perfect this recipe. …
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Pollo asado, or grilled chicken, is just one part of the great Costa Rican carne asada. Literally translating to “grilled meat,” the carne asada is an EVENT, and certainly not one…
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Tacos are a super controversial food! From the American-style "taco" with ground beef and taco seasoning to Native American tacos to the myriad of authentic Mexican tacos found in all regions…
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Homemade Costa Rican pineapple juice (jugo de piña) is so healthy and delicious- all you need is a pineapple and a blender! Table of contents Recipe About This Recipe Substitutions Variations…
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This three-ingredient Costa Rican jugo de mango (mango juice) recipe only requires two large mangos, water, and a bit of sugar. Naturally vegan and loaded with vitamins and minerals, this refreshing mango…
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Nothing says “summer” quite like a fresh popsicle! With its famously sunny climate and abundant tropical fruits, Costa Rica is a veritable popsicle paradise. Popsicles, or Paletas as they are known…
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For this recipe, I wanted to create a breakfast-friendly rendition of a Costa Rican paleta de mora, or blackberry popsicle. It can be hard to fit time in for eating a…
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I am obsessed with batido de mora en leche. Every single time I go to a restaurant in Costa Rica- even if it's not on the menu, I ask for this…
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Nothing says “summer” quite like a fresh popsicle, and sunny Costa Rica is officially a popsicle paradise! Popsicles, or Paletas as they are known in Costa Rica, are a year-round favorite…
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In an earlier post, I talked about my deep and abiding love for homemade blackberry juice, so you can probably guess as to my feelings about blackberry paletas! I’m a little…
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Ask any Costa Rican what food they most love to eat and most will rank ceviche in their top 5. There are many kinds of ceviche, and Costa Rica is definitely…
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Sometimes I just want a quick treat for the kids on a hot summer day - and that's how my Guava Ginger Paleta recipe was born. When I came across guava juice-and…
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Walking into my husband’s childhood home to reunite with his extended family we were hit with the smell of olla carne cooking on the gas stove in the kitchen. In all…
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One of our favorite recipes here at Casa Pura Vida is Sopa Azteca - it tastes like home for my husband, I LOVE anything with melted cheese, and the girls have…
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This traditional Costa Rican black bean soup recipe is a delicious, healthy, and simple vegetarian/vegan meal that everyone loves! Just black beans, veggies and water- too easy and too delicious! Table…
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For some reason, every single person that tries my guacamole immediately falls in love with it. And people- this is the most unfussy, unpretentious, EASY guacamole recipe you will ever find.…
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I have to have a huge disclaimer here- while this is the Carne Asada recipe that we use when we make meat in Costa Rica, I would be doing you a…
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This recipe is a very popular recipe in the Central Valley of Costa Rica as part of a casado. If you visit small restaurants or roadside buffets (called sodas in Costa…
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Full transparency here- this is my all-time favorite of all the Costa Rican fruit drinks ever. Literally any chance I have to drink this juice, I take it. Just call me…
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This shredded beef (carne mechada) is generally prepared in a pressure cooker, although I will include slow cooker instructions here too. This recipe is a staple in Costa Rica because it…
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Tamarind juice is made from tamarind pods that grow on the tamarind tree throughout Costa Rica. Because they are so commonly found throughout the country, the fruit is used for both…
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Bean and cheese empanadas (empanada de frijol con queso) are a popular vegetarian type of empanada. Most other empanadas just have a single filling, but the bean and cheese are a…
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Coconut empanadas (empanadas de coco) are a popular Costa Rican sweet treat. Obviously, there are tons of coconuts in Costa Rica, so the basic ingredient is easy to find and abundant…
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This Costa Rican black bean empanada recipe is great for vegans, vegetarians, and those who follow a gluten-free diet. Plus they are delicious little fried pockets of corn dough full of…
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Miel de coco literally translates to coconut honey in Spanish, but that is not exactly what this recipe is. In Costa Rica, "miel" refers to almost any sticky, sweet fruit concoction…
