Central American gastronomy leads us to taste the typical delicious foods of El Salvador, extraordinary delicacies that summarize a whole history and culture from our ancestors.
Origin of the typical foods or dishes of El Salvador
The specific foods of El Salvador are marked by the traditions inherited from our ancestors, especially from the indigenous cultures of the Pipil and Lenca. With the arrival of the Spaniards, who brought tomatoes and onions, a new way of preparing and combining food products was born.
TYPICAL MEALS OF EL SALVADOR - Traditions. Photo by ElSalvadorViajar.
The star product since ancient times has been corn, which has always been part of the food tradition of Latin American countries.
Also, black or red beans, yucca, rice, fish, and seafood, among others, which, when prepared in different ways, broaden the spectrum of El Salvador’s delicious food. In addition to taking advantage of the delightful vegetation and the wealth of the country’s fruits and vegetables.
The union of cultures improved the natives’ cuisine notably because the Spaniards brought milk and cheeses. In contrast, the Italians brought pasta, and the Lebanese brought eggplant preparations.
Meet the 35 most popular and typical foods of El Salvador
As you can imagine, El Salvador’s cuisine offers simple dishes that are generally hot, in abundant portions, seasoned with different sauces, and served in restaurants or usually prepared at home on Sundays.
Here are 35 of the most famous preparations of El Salvador’s typical dishes, which are finger-licking good.
1. Pupusas
The most outstanding dish of El Salvador blends with this country’s history. It is made with corn flour until it takes the shape of a tortilla and is very similar to the traditional “Venezuelan arepa” or the “Mexican gorditas.” Pupusas are also made with rice flour.
They are filled with almost any ingredient, such as cheese, pork rinds, meat or chicken, beans, and fish. They also use native ingredients such as chipilín, anyone, or loroco, which give pupusas a unique and delicious flavor.
They accompany onion, cabbage, carrot sauce, vinegar pickles, and fresh tomato sauce.
2. Tamales
This is another typical food of El Salvador, prepared from corn with various ingredients to give it its characteristic flavor. We can enjoy tamales of corn, chipilín, piques, or chicken.
For the corn tamale, we use the tender corncob to which we add milk, cream, and lard, and then it is wrapped in the same corncob leaf. Make it with sugar or salt, giving it a different flavor. In addition, usually eaten with atol de elote.
The chipilín tamal is similar, only that the corn dough is salted, which makes it a salty tamal. Cheese and chipilín, a leaf that gives it a special touch, are added. Chicken tamales have the same procedure, but instead of chipilín, they have chicken.
Pisques tamales are made with corn and beans, usually accompanied by tomato sauce.
3. Paw Soup
Among the most popular Salvadoran dishes, Sopa de pata is one of the most recognized in the country since it has tripe and cow’s foot, green beans, corn, and yucca; plus parsley, cilantro, and mint, plus a few drops of lemon. It is accompanied by toasted tortillas and some natural refreshments such as barley, coconut, tamarind, horchata de morro, passion fruit, chan, pineapple, etc.
4. Roasted Meat
It is grilled beef seasoned with different spices and a little mustard. After it is grilled or charcoal, it is accompanied by other grilled vegetables, chimol (tomato, onion, cilantro, and lemon), rice or casamiento (rice with beans), avocado, and the famous cuajada (curd).
5. Indian Chicken Soup
The delicious soup prepared with “gallina Criolla or Indian hen” is cooked with garlic, onion, potatoes and carrots, cilantro, and mint and is served when the vegetables are cooking.
This soup is usually eaten at lunch and accompanied by warm tortillas and natural soda. Sometimes the soup and the chicken are served separately, and the chicken is served fried with cuajada, a typical cheese of El Salvador.
6. Boiled or fried yucca
This tuber, deeply rooted in Latin American cuisines, is part of Salvadoran lunches or snacks, and you can enjoy it if you visit the country.
After being cooked and parboiled, the yucca is served this traditional way and filled with pork, tomato, watercress, carrot, onion, and the typical and delicious tomato sauce.
Another way of consuming them within the typical meals of El Salvador is the fried yucca, accompanied by chicharrón (pork rinds). Once the yucca and fried pork are, the original “chimol” sauce is added, with tomato sauce, chili, and onion, plus vinegar and pepper, resulting in a distinctive dish.
7. Sopa de frijoles viejos or “Arroz negrito” (old bean soup)
It is one of the most effortless preparations regularly consumed at the Salvadoran table. It is cook rice to which only the broth from the cooking of black beans is added, and it usually accompanies any meat.
8. Bread with chicken
We have selected this dish as another typical food of El Salvador, and you will be surprised by its flavor. We take an elongated bread, fill it with cooked and well-marinated chicken, adding more seasoning with a salad of mayonnaise, lettuce, and watercress.
Then we bathe the bread with a spicy tomato sauce, which gives it a delicious final touch. You can also make it with an Indian hen instead of chicken; the flavor is different. Either way, it is delicious and a typical dish you can’t miss.
9. Mariscada or Crema de mariscos (seafood cream)
The famous Salvadoran mariscada is, as its name says, a soup with local seafood. Usually, lobster, crab, shrimp, fish, squid, octopus, or fish are added. Whatever your choice.
The famous chimol with lemon can accompany this; if you prefer it in cream, add cream and cilantro. You can also turn it into a pink cream, adding ketchup. This type of seafood is usually eaten on the beach, accompanied by a toasted tortilla and a few drops of jalapeño, to the sound of the ocean waves. But the truth is that it is ideal and delicious at any time.
10. Enchilada
It consists of a thin fried corn tortilla, on which meat or chicken, cheese, avocado, boiled egg (hard-boiled), and beans. You can eat it with tomato sauce.
This dish is eaten as a snack.
11. Fried plantain with beans is a typical breakfast.
In the typical foods of El Salvador, we cannot leave aside its standard breakfast, which consists of fried beans, either ground or whole, fried plantains accompanied by cream, hard or fresh cheese, and avocado.
In this breakfast, you can add curtido, cuajada, chorizo, egg, or whatever you prefer. It is accompanied by bread or freshly made tortillas. The typical Salvadoran breakfast drink is coffee or hot chocolate. The truth is that it is a delicious breakfast that will help you stay active all day long.
12. Crazy Corn (Elote loco)
Another way Salvadorans eat corn is to cook it until it is tender, then dip it in tomato sauce, mustard and mayonnaise and cover it with grated cheese.
These corns are also eaten grilled, and lemon and salt are added to taste when they are toasted.
13. Pastries (Pasteles)
Similar to the well-known “empanadas” in some South American countries, this preparation is made with corn dough seasoned with achiote. It is filled with meat or chicken, seasoned with vegetables, and then fried. It is a simple and unique way to get to know another typical food of El Salvador.
This meal is aeating with a special curtido and tomato sauce.
14. Salpicón
This delicious dish is composed of beef or rabbit, cooked in small pieces, adding onion, radishes, mint, lemon, and salt.
It is a salad to accompany different dishes.
15. Empanadas
This preparation serves as a snack and is made from mashed, very ripe plantains; Made in small balls filled with beans or milk, fried in abundant oil, and sprinkled with sugar at the end.
16. Atol
It is another delicacy that is part of the typical foods of El Salvador, made with a base of water and corn, which is thick and drunk very hotly at the end. There are different types of atol: Atol de elote, atol shuco and atol de piñuela.
The difference is that the atol de elote is usually sweeter, corn kernel, and it is taken with a compliment such as tamales or riguas. Atol shuco is made with corn, beans, and alguashte.
The alguashte is a powder made from ground ayote seeds, typical in Salvadoran food. Finally, atol de piñuela is made with piñitas, a fruit from El Salvador.
17. Stuffed with Pacaya
Pacaya is a typical vegetable of El Salvador wrapped with egg and stuffed with cheese or cream. The egg wraps the pacaya and gives it a unique touch.
They are usually accompanied by tomato sauce.
18. Grilled Chicken
Grilled chicken is typical for Salvadoran foods and lunches, and it is a grilled chicken accompanied by salad, rice, and tortillas. Often chimol is added, a tomato salad with cilantro, which is typical of the country and gives a delicious touch to the different foods.
19. Ceviche
El Salvador, a country with an enormous coastal capacity, enjoys and takes advantage of dishes from the sea. Ceviches are a very consumed food; shrimp ceviche, fish ceviche, squid ceviche, and crab ceviche. In this list, we can also add the shell cocktail, one of the dishes par excellence.
Ceviche is marinated with salt, lemon, and coriander and can be accompanied by different sea animals. But the most consumed of all is shrimp ceviche.
20. French fries or “papitas.”
French fries are a ubiquitous snack. Potatoes are cut into thin pieces and fried, like the typical potatoes that accompany hamburgers. The difference is that the french fries from El Salvador are accompanied by tomato sauce, mayonnaise, and grated cheese. It is a unique dish.
It is common to find this dish in the parks of the towns or the patron saint festivities.
21. Bistec encebollado (onion steak)
Bistec encebollado is beef marinated with Worcestershire sauce, cumin, and pepper. It is served with tomato, onion, and green bell pepper sauce.
It is acompanied by chimol, white rice, and delicious tortillas.
22. Chilaquilas
Salvadoran chilaquilas are tortillas with cheese inside, and you may ask yourself: “Are they like pupusas?” the answer is no. Although the ingredients are practically the same, the flavor is entirely different. Although the ingredients are almost the same, the taste is completely different.
They are wrapped in egg and accompanied by tomato sauce. Many people eat them with rice and salad, but if you prefer, you can eat them just with the sauce, you will love them for sure.
23. Güisquil Stuffing
Güisquil is a vegetable widely consumed in Central America. It is stuffed with cheese, wrapped in egg and fried, and served with a delicious tomato sauce, rice and tortillas.
24. Casamiento
Casamiento is a mixture of beans and rice. It is usually eaten for breakfast, accompanied by egg and plantain. But the truth is that it is an ideal accompaniment for any meal.
25. Chiles Rellenos
Chiles Rellenos are green peppers stuffed with quesillo, a type of cheese that melts, the same cheese used for pupusas. The chile is wrapped in egg and soaked in tomato sauce.
26. Beef Soup
Beef soup is a very typical dish on Salvadoran tables. It is a hot soup with vegetables such as yucca, plantain, corn, cabbage, chipilín, ayote, güisquil, potato, tomato, and onion. Sometimes a little rice is added.
The main ingredient is beef; some people enjoy it with a few drops of lime and jalapeño.
Desserts and Antojitos
For Salvadorans, the afternoon snack at 4 p.m. is part of a traditional ritual to which they add different sweet foods besides coffee or chocolate to resume the afternoon’s work with more strength and spirit. Here we show you in typical foods of El Salvador, some of the best desserts and snacks.
27. Chilate
Chilate is a hot and straightforward drink made from corn and ginger. It is usually accompanied by desserts such as cakes or banana candy to give it a sweeter flavor.
28. Nuégados
Nuégados are part of the sweets and are corn or yucca dumplings, fried and drizzled with panela honey. This dish is usually eaten with chilate, a corn-based drink that minimizes the sweetness of the nuégados or fritters.
29. Riguas
Riguas are a ubiquitous snack in El Salvador. They are corn pancakes, sometimes filled with cheese and others filled with beans, which are accompanied by the typical milk cream.
This dessert can be eaten with atol de elote and is accompanied by cuajada.
30. Minutas
Minutas is a delicacy prepared with crushed ice and seasoned with fruit syrup. Some prefer it with condensed milk.
These can also be prepared with lemon, salt, and a little jalapeño. Depending on what you prefer at the moment, you can eat it sweet or salty.y.
31. Quesadilla
The Salvadoran quesadilla is a cake prepared with flour and filled with lots of cheese, hence its name. It has a unique flavor that you can accompany a delicious coffee or hot chocolate.
32. Torrejas
Torrejas are a sweet dish. It is made with toasted bread wrapped in milk, and it is then topped with a bit of panela honey and can be accompanied by either chilate or hot chocolate.
33. Sorbet of Carretón
It is so called because it is usually sold in carts, in the towns and in some cities. This sorbet is an ice cream of different flavors, 100% homemade. It can be milk, tamarind or vanilla sorbet.
The idea is to eat it in a cone or wafer, which you can then consume and add a little honey—an ideal dessert to refresh the afternoon.
34. Natural drinks (soft drinks)
El Salvador has a natural richness that can reflect in its foods. You can make Fruits and vegetables into healthy and delicious smoothies and soft drinks, which are usually the companion of every lunch.
The most consumed soft drinks in the country are Barley, horchata, salad, myrtle, coconut, tamarind, and chan.
35. Chocolate, hot chocolate
Salvadoran chocolate is a delicacy. For many years cocoa has been a source of income and consumption in Latin America, but each country gives a different touch to the procedure and consumption.
In El Salvador, the consumption of hot chocolate is very typical for breakfast and dinner. For cold days or rainy days. You can’t miss the chocolate. Even people who don’t have a sweet tooth will fall in love with it.
The most traditional gastronomy of El Salvador results in a perfect fusion between its original products and those provided by other cultures, producing a comprehensive and ideal mixture of dishes that add up to a lot of history.
The typical foods of El Salvador have become an extraordinary gastronomic reference, with a set of recipes that surprises visitors and tourists when they try them for the first time.
