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Soup season · Porto, Portugal
The best bowl in Porto: Caldo verde
Potato and olive oil soup with ribbons of collard greens cut as fine as hair, and a coin of chouriço on top.
Caldo verde comes from the north, and Porto starts half its meals with it. CNN once named it one of the world's best soups; in Porto it costs a few euros.
Casa Expresso
Praça de Carlos Alberto 73, 4050-158 Porto
Get: Caldo verde, then a bifana or the daily plate
Um caldo verde, por favor.A caldo verde, please.
A small, always-busy local spot that Eating Europe's Porto guides say makes some of the finest caldo verde in Portugal.
Lunch; get there on time, it fills.
Make it at home
Caldo verde with chouriço
The greens must be cut as thin as you can manage, almost threads; roll the leaves up like a cigar and slice. They cook in two minutes and stay bright.
You need
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) Portuguese extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 lb (900 g) floury potatoes (russets), peeled and cut into chunks
- 8 cups (1.9 l) water
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 bunch (about 8 oz / 225 g) collard greens or Portuguese couve galega, stems removed
- 4 oz (115 g) Portuguese chouriço or dry Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced
- Broa (cornbread) or crusty bread, to serve
How to make it
- Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 8 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic for 1 minute.
- Add the potatoes, water and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes fall apart when pressed.
- Meanwhile, stack the greens, roll them tightly and slice as thinly as possible, 1/16 inch (2 mm). Rinse and drain.
- Puree the soup until completely smooth with an immersion blender. It should be like thin cream; add hot water if it's thicker.
- Bring back to a simmer, add the greens and cook 2 to 3 minutes, just until tender and bright green.
- Meanwhile, fry the chouriço slices in a dry pan for 1 to 2 minutes a side, until the edges crisp.
- Ladle into bowls, put two or three slices of chouriço on top with their red oil, and finish with a thread of olive oil. Serve with broa.
Pans and tools
- 6-quart pot
- immersion blender
- sharp chef's knife
Chef's tips
- Kale works if you can't find collards; slice it just as thin.
- In Porto it's eaten at midnight at festivals too, from clay bowls.
Four more bowls in Porto
Tripe with beans, Porto style
Tripe, white beans, chouriço and chicken in a thick, cumin-scented stew: the dish that gave Porto's people their nickname, tripeiros.
A Cozinha do Manel · Rua do Heroísmo 315, 4300-259 Porto
Get: Tripas à moda do Porto, with rice
Umas tripas à moda do Porto, por favor.The Porto-style tripe, please.
A family-run house since 1985, picked by a consumer magazine's critics as one of the city's three best for tripas.
Make it at home: Tripas à moda do Porto
In 1415 Porto gave its meat to the fleet sailing for Ceuta and kept the tripe. Six centuries later, it's the city's pride.
You need
- 1 1/2 lb (680 g) cleaned beef tripe (honeycomb and smooth mixed)
- 1 calf's foot or pig's trotter, split
- 12 oz (340 g) dried white butter beans, soaked overnight
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1 chouriço and 4 oz (115 g) presunto or bacon, sliced
- 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 onions, chopped, 2 carrots, sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 bay leaf
- Salt, pepper, chopped parsley
- White rice, to serve
How to make it
- Blanch the tripe and foot 5 minutes, drain, then simmer in fresh water 2 1/2 hours, until tender. Cut the tripe in squares and pick the foot meat. Keep 1 quart (950 ml) of the liquid.
- Meanwhile, cook the beans in fresh water 1 hour, until just tender. Drain, keeping their water.
- Brown the chicken in the oil, add the onions, carrots, chouriço and presunto and cook 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin and bay.
- Add the tripe, foot meat, beans and the tripe liquid. Simmer 40 minutes, until the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened, adding bean water if needed.
- Season, scatter parsley and serve with rice.
Chef's tips
- Porto cooks make it a day ahead.
Fish stew
Layers of fish, potatoes, onions, peppers and tomato steamed in their own juices with white wine and olive oil.
O Gaveto · Rua Roberto Ivens 826, 4450-250 Matosinhos
Get: Caldeirada for two, or grilled fish from the window
Uma caldeirada para dois, por favor.A fish stew for two, please.
One of the Matosinhos fish houses at the edge of Porto, best known for fish and seafood (and its Saturday tripas).
Make it at home: Portuguese fish stew (caldeirada)
Don't stir. Shake the pot so the layers keep their shape.
You need
- 2 lb (900 g) mixed firm fish (monkfish, hake, sea bass, eel), in thick pieces
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) olive oil
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 green and 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 4 ripe tomatoes, sliced
- 1 1/2 lb (680 g) waxy potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced, 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp sweet paprika, a pinch of saffron
- 1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine
- Salt, a big handful of parsley and coriander
How to make it
- Salt the fish and set aside 15 minutes.
- Pour half the oil into a wide pot. Layer half the onions, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes, season, then the fish, then the rest of the vegetables. Tuck in the garlic and bay.
- Mix the paprika and saffron into the wine with the remaining oil and pour over. Cover tightly.
- Cook over medium-low heat 35 to 40 minutes, shaking the pot now and then, until the potatoes are tender.
- Scatter the herbs and serve from the pot with bread.
Chef's tips
- Add a handful of clams on top for the last 8 minutes.
Pork and bread porridge
A thick, cumin-spiced winter porridge of pork, chicken and bread, from the Minho, eaten in Porto when it turns cold.
Abadia do Porto · Rua do Ateneu Comercial do Porto 22-24, 4000-380 Porto
Get: Papas de sarrabulho when it's on, or the tripas
Umas papas de sarrabulho, por favor.The pork and bread porridge, please.
A big old-style restaurant in the Baixa where Porto families and first-timers go for the northern classics.
A winter dish; ask.
Make it at home: Papas de sarrabulho (Minho pork porridge)
The traditional version is thickened with pig's blood; this one leaves it out and keeps the cumin and the comfort.
You need
- 1 lb (450 g) pork shoulder, 1 lb (450 g) pork belly
- 2 chicken legs
- 1 chouriço
- 3 quarts (2.8 l) water, 1 onion, 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 6 oz (170 g) stale bread, crumbled (or 1 cup / 120 g cornmeal)
- 2 tbsp lard or olive oil
- Salt, pepper, lemon wedges
How to make it
- Simmer the pork, chicken and chouriço in the water with the onion and bay for 1 1/2 hours.
- Lift out the meats. Shred the pork and chicken and slice the chouriço; strain the broth.
- Bring 2 quarts (1.9 l) of the broth back to a simmer with the cumin and lard. Whisk in the bread (or cornmeal) a little at a time and cook 20 minutes, stirring, until thick like porridge.
- Stir the meats back in, season with salt and pepper and serve with lemon.
Chef's tips
- It should be thick but pourable; add broth as you go.
Chicken soup
Chicken and rice broth with lemon and mint, Porto's cure for everything.
Café Majestic · Rua de Santa Catarina 112, 4000-442 Porto
Get: A canja at lunch under the Belle Époque mirrors
Uma canja, por favor.A chicken soup, please.
Porto's 1921 Belle Époque café on Santa Catarina; touristy, yes, but a bowl of canja in that room is a Porto ritual.
On the lunch menu; ask.
Make it at home: Canja de galinha (Portuguese chicken and rice soup)
Portuguese cooks put the chicken's giblets in for depth and finish with fresh mint.
You need
- 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 lb / 1.6 kg), with giblets
- 3 quarts (2.8 l) water
- 1 onion, halved, 1 carrot
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (150 g) short-grain rice
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- A handful of fresh mint leaves
How to make it
- Simmer the chicken and giblets with the water, onion, carrot and salt, skimming, for 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Lift out the chicken. Strain the broth back into the pot; chop the giblets and shred a good handful of meat.
- Bring the broth to a boil, add the rice and simmer 15 minutes, until soft.
- Add the shredded chicken and giblets, the lemon, and season. Serve each bowl with torn mint.
Chef's tips
- Use the rest of the chicken for a pie or sandwiches.
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No. 1 checked October 28, 2026; the other four picked the same day from local guides and menus. Places change; if one has, tell us at hello@chefamazing.com.
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