Must-see
plato · Vegetarian
Sopa paraguaya
The “soup” you eat with a fork: a fluffy cornbread with cheese, onion and milk. An absolute must.
Flavors
Flavors of Paraguay
Three Guaraní words unlock the Paraguayan table: mandi'o, avati and kesu, that is, cassava, corn and cheese. From the meeting of Cario-Guaraní cooking with the meat and dairy brought by the Spanish came sopa paraguaya (a savory cornbread you cut with a knife), the chipa (cheese bread) sold on the street by chiperas, and the vori vori of cool days. Add to that the rivers and their surubí catfish, beef from the Chaco, the legacy of German, Italian and Japanese colonies, and a calendar packed with patron-saint festivals, town food fairs and chopp (draft beer) festivals. All of it washed down with tereré, iced yerba mate with fresh herbs, listed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2020.
Mains 14
Must-see
plato
Surubí
surubi
The great catfish of the Paraguay and Paraná rivers: firm white flesh and the star of the riverside table.
Must-see
plato · Vegetarian
Mandioca
mandi'o
The root that takes the place of bread on the Paraguayan table: boiled, fried or transformed.
plato
Bife koygua
bife koygua
Beef steak smothered in onion and tomato and topped with a fried egg: the quintessential home-style lunch.
plato · Vegetarian
Mbaipy
mbaipy
Paraguayan polenta of cornmeal with cheese, onion and milk; served plain, with meat or sweet.
plato · Vegetarian
Arroz kesu
arroz kesu («arroz con queso»)
Creamy rice with queso Paraguay, milk and onion: a comforting home-style side.
plato
Tallarín con pollo
Noodles cooked in the thick sauce of a chicken or beef stew: a hearty family lunch.
plato
Sopa so’o y sopa ryguasú
sopa so’o (carne) / sopa ryguasú (pollo)
Stuffed sopa paraguaya: a savoury maize cake with a meat or chicken filling, seasoned with red peppers.
plato · Vegetarian
Ka’i ku’a
ka’i ku’a («cintura de mono»)
Sweet corn, butter and cheese wrapped in husk and boiled: the Paraguayan “humita”, tied like a monkey’s waist.
plato · Vegetarian
Mandi’o chyryry y chororqui
mandi’o chyryry (mandioca frita) / chororqui (mandi’o chyryry kesu)
Boiled then fried cassava; with egg, onion and cheese it becomes chororqui, the scramble that uses up lunchtime leftovers.
plato
Cabeza guateada
vaka akangué yvyguy («cabeza de vaca bajo tierra»)
Beef head seasoned and cooked for hours underground among embers: a country barbecue made with patience.
plato
Ryguasu ka’e (pollo al horno)
ryguasu ka’e («pollo al horno»)
The oven-roasted chicken of festivals: a fixture at San Juan and on the Holy Thursday menu.
plato
Chicharõ hu’itĩ
chicharõ hu’itĩ
Crispy floured pork cracklings eaten at San Juan festivities alongside the braided chicharõ.
Chipas 10
Must-see
chipa · Vegetarian
Chipa almidón
chipa aramirõ
Paraguay’s daily bread: a ring or roll of cassava starch, cheese and anise, best eaten warm.
Must-see
chipa · Vegetarian
Chipa guasu
chipa guasu («chipa grande»)
A baked pie of fresh sweet corn, cheese and egg: moister and a little sweeter than sopa paraguaya.
Must-see
chipa · Vegetarian
Chipa Barrero
The chipa named after a town: it was born in Barrero Grande, today Eusebio Ayala (Cordillera).
Must-see
chipa
La chipa de Semana Santa
At Easter, chipa is baked in the tatakua oven and for many families it is the only food eaten on Good Friday.
chipa · Vegetarian
Chipa manduvi
chipa manduvi (manduvi = maní)
A rustic chipa made with cornmeal and ground peanuts, with a deep, toasty flavor.
chipa
Chipa so'o
chipa so'o (so'o = carne)
Starch chipa stuffed with ground beef and egg: a full meal you can hold in one hand.
chipa · Vegetarian
Chipa kavure (chipa asador)
chipa kavure
Chipa dough wrapped around a stick and roasted over embers: crisp, hollow and smoky.
chipa
Chipa mestiza
A “mestiza” chipa because it blends cassava starch with maize flour: the second most widespread variety in the country.
chipa
Chipa pirú (chipita)
chipa pirú (pirú = flaco, seco)
Tiny, very crunchy rings under two centimetres across: so dry that, people say, “you can’t stop eating them”.
chipa
Chipa avatí
chipa avatí (avatí = maíz)
The maize chipa: a variety in the big chipa family whose star is avatí, the Guaraní maize.
Snacks 9
Must-see
snack · Vegetarian
Mbeju
mbeju («torta aplastada»)
A flat cake of cassava starch and cheese browned in a skillet: crisp outside, chewy inside.
Must-see
snack
Pastel mandi'o
pastel mandi'o («empanada de mandioca»)
A fried cassava-dough empanada filled with beef: the star of the San Juan fairs.
snack · Vegetarian
Mbeju typyraty
typyraty (bagazo o afrecho de mandioca)
A rustic mbeju made with typyraty, the cassava pulp left over after the starch is extracted.
snack
Payagua mascada (lampreado)
payagua mascada
Fried patties of boiled cassava and ground beef: a country snack that keeps for days.
snack
Empanadas
Fried or baked empanadas filled with beef, chicken, sweet corn or ham and cheese: the city snack.
snack
Chicharõ trenzado
chicharõ trenzado
Three strips of beef braided together and fried in their own fat, served with cassava.
snack · Vegetarian
Tortilla paraguaya
A fritter of flour, cheese, egg and milk: nothing like the Spanish potato tortilla.
snack · Vegetarian
Reviro
A flour dough cooked and crumbled in the pot: the “bread” of the south and east, eaten with cocido.
snack · Vegetarian
Queso Paraguay
kesu
A fresh, white, lightly salted cow’s-milk cheese: the secret ingredient in chipas and sopa paraguaya.
Soups 4
Must-see
sopa
Vori vori (bori bori)
vori vori («bolitas»)
A thick chicken broth with little balls of cornmeal and cheese: winter comfort in a bowl.
Must-see
sopa
So'o josopy (soyo)
so'o josopy («carne apisonada»)
A thick soup of mortar-pounded beef with rice and vegetables, mellow and deeply Paraguayan.
Must-see
sopa
Pira caldo
pira caldo (pira = pescado)
A thick river-fish soup with sofrito, cheese and milk, with hot pepper on the side for the brave.
sopa
Caldo avá
caldo avá (avá = «hombre, indígena»)
A broth of beef offal for cold days: a communal dish served piping hot with cassava.
Stews 4
Must-see
guiso
Jopara (yopará)
jopara («mezcla»)
A stew of locro corn and beans eaten on October 1 to ward off Karai Octubre.
guiso
Batiburrillo
A stew of beef offal with green pepper and hot chili, the emblem of San Juan Bautista (Misiones).
guiso
Pirón (pirõ)
pirõ
A porridge of cassava flour (fariña) mixed with hot broth: the humble companion that thickens stews and fish.
Grill 4
Must-see
parrilla
Asado a la paraguaya
Flame-grilled meat with cassava, sopa paraguaya, chipa guasu and salad: the weekend social ritual.
parrilla
Asado a la estaca
Whole rib racks and large cuts skewered on stakes beside the fire: the Misiones tradition.
parrilla
Butifarra
A homemade pork sausage, grilled or fried, and a faithful companion to chipa at southern festivals.
Sweets 8
Must-see
dulce · Vegetarian
Kosereva
kosereva (de «conserva»)
Bitter-orange peel candied in dark cane molasses: sweet, tart, bitter and good for digestion.
dulce · Vegetarian
Kiveve
kiveve («rojizo»)
An orange cream of andai squash with cornmeal, milk and cheese, sweet and savory at once.
dulce · Vegetarian
Dulce de mamón
Papaya strips in a thick golden syrup, perfect with a slice of queso Paraguay.
dulce · Vegetarian
Dulce de guayaba
arasa (guayaba)
Guava paste or jam, the soul of the Paraguayan pastafrola.
dulce · Vegetarian
Kaguyjy (mazamorra)
kaguyjy
Locro corn cooked until soft, served with dark cane molasses or milk.
dulce · Vegetarian
Ka'i ladrillo
ka'i ladrillo («ladrillo de mono»)
A rustic brittle of toasted peanuts and dark cane molasses, cut into brick shapes.
dulce · Vegetarian
Dulce de batata y postre vigilante
A firm orange sweet-potato paste eaten with a slice of cheese: the classic “postre vigilante”.
dulce · Vegetarian
Miel negra de caña (eíra hũ)
eíra hũ
The thick sugarcane syrup that gives half of Paraguayan desserts their dark sweetness, from ka’i ladrillo to black kivevé.
Infusions 4
Must-see
infusion · Vegetarian
Cocido quemado
Yerba and sugar scorched with a live ember, then boiled: Paraguay’s hot breakfast drink.
Must-see
infusion · Vegetarian
Tereré
tereré
Yerba mate with ice-cold water and crushed herbs: the national drink and a UNESCO-listed heritage.
Must-see
infusion · Vegetarian
Pohã ñana (remedios yuyos)
pohã ñana («hierba medicinal»)
Fresh medicinal herbs crushed in a mortar and added to tereré or mate.
infusion · Vegetarian
Mate
ka'a (yerba)
The same yerba as tereré, with hot water: the companion of cool mornings and winter.
Drinks 11
Must-see
bebida · Vegetarian
Mosto helado
Freshly pressed sugarcane juice, served ice-cold at summer roadside stands.
Must-see
bebida · Vegetarian
Carrulim (karrulim)
karrulim
Caña, rue and lemon: three or seven sips on an empty stomach every August 1 to keep misfortune away.
Must-see
bebida · Vegetarian
Mate dulce (mate de coco)
Hot milk with burnt sugar and grated or crushed coconut in the flask: the drink of cool days.
bebida · Vegetarian
Caña paraguaya
A spirit distilled from fermented cane syrup, clear or aged: the base of carrulim.
bebida · Vegetarian
Cerveza paraguaya: la rubia popular y las artesanales
The country’s popular lager, and a craft scene that brews with native fruits and herbs.
bebida · Vegetarian
Vino de Colonia Independencia
Small-batch wines from the colony founded in 1919 by German winegrowers at the foot of the Ybytyruzú hills.
bebida · Vegetarian
Jugos de frutas nativas
Mburukuja, guavira, pakuri, aguai, yvapurũ: wild forest fruits in juices, ice creams and liqueurs.
bebida · Vegetarian
Clericó
Well-chilled white wine with chopped fruit: the Christmas and New Year toast.
bebida · Vegetarian
Siriki
syryky («trago largo»)
The aperitif of San Juan Bautista: white cane spirit, sutil lime, ice and soda, to whet the appetite before batiburrillo.
bebida · Vegetarian
Tereré ruso
Tereré with fruit juice instead of herbs: loved by some, regarded as heresy by purists.
entrada 2
Must-see
entrada
Chorizo sanjuanino
The homemade pork-and-beef sausage from San Juan Bautista (Misiones), made for the grill and eaten hot with cassava.
entrada
Tereré rupá
tereré rupá («la cama del tereré»)
The mid-morning snack that serves as the “bed” for tereré: empanada, tortilla, chipa guasu or croquette, best with something in the stomach.
pan 3
pan
Mbuyapé
mbuyape («pan»)
The “bread” of the Cario-Guaraní: maize or cassava cakes made with animal fat, a direct ancestor of chipa and sopa paraguaya.
pan · Vegetarian
Chipa cuerito (pireca)
chipa cuerito / chipá’í kuerito / chipa chyryry
A fried wheat-dough cake, round with a cut in the middle: the companion of rainy days and mate dulce.
pan · Vegetarian
Zwieback y faspa menonita
The two-ball bun of the Mennonite colonies, baked on Saturday and eaten at faspa, the Sunday afternoon meal.
fruta 1
fruta · Vegetarian
Frutilla de Areguá
frutilla (fresa)
Areguá’s strawberries, with their own exhibition from July to September: smoothies, tarts, ice cream and sweet empanadas.
postre 1
postre · Vegetarian
Pastafrola paraguaya (con dulce de guayaba)
The shortcrust tart that in Paraguay is filled with guava paste instead of quince: for coffee or mate dulce.