Chilean food deserves to be at the top of everyone’s list. Here, I’m sharing my absolute favorite recipes for you to try at home.
With these 20 easy recipes showcasing incredible flavors, you’ll have no trouble spicing up your meal rotation.
1. Chilean Thousand Layer Cake
It may not be comprised of thousands of layers, but this cake does have quite a few, and each level is more delicious than the last.
The overall effect of this dessert is crispy, flaky, and wildly sweet. Ultimately, the combination of chopped walnuts, powdered sugar, and dulce de leche can’t help but impart a sugary taste.
If you are someone who appreciates a dessert that walks the fine line of a sugar coma, this dessert is for you. I advise serving with hot tea or coffee to mitigate some of the sweetness.
2. Manjar
Even though Manjar is a bit labor-intensive, the extraordinary result makes it worthwhile. This exceptional sauce is akin to homemade caramel sauce, only it’s much creamier and has a more pronounced sweetness. This treat is so good that exercising restraint may prove challenging.
Although Manjar is typically enjoyed as a sauce or dip, resisting the urge to savor it by the spoonful directly from the bowl can be tough. I enjoy swirling in a bit of pretzel for the balance of sweet and salty.
3. Brazo de Reina (Chilean Dulce de Leche Cake)
If you’re familiar with crafting a pumpkin roll, then creating a brazo de reina should come naturally to you. While the ingredients may vary, the techniques involved in making it are virtually identical.
Initiate the process by preparing your batter and ensuring its uniform distribution over wax paper. Upon baking, anticipate a light, airy, and slightly spongy consistency in the cake. Impart a dusting of powdered sugar and envelop it with a powdered sugar-coated tea towel.
After it cools, incorporate your dulce de leche filling and delicately coil the cake into a circular log. Finally, garnish with additional powdered sugar, and seize your portion before anyone else devours it.
4. Choripan
The name “choripan” comes from its two key ingredients, chorizo (sausage) and pan (bread), but there’s more to it than that. This sandwich has fresh parsley, bay leaf, garlic, chimichurri sauce, oil, vinegar, and spices, making it one of the few authentically spicy dishes in Chile. You’ll love the thick and smoky sausage as well as the fresh toppings.
These are great for game day and are better with beer.
5. Pebre
I don’t know how I got this far without mentioning pebre. Chile’s version of salsa is incredible.
This is fresh, with a strong, clean flavor that comes from great, unprocessed garden ingredients. There are several recipes for pebre, each with slightly different ingredients.
However, standard pebre needs just onions, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, olive oil, and cilantro. It only takes 15 minutes to make.
It’s good with chips, bread, sopapillas, and salads. It tastes great on almost anything.
6. Completos (Chilean Hot Dogs)
Chilean hot dogs are more attractive than those at American baseball games because of their colorful toppings. Simply cook the hot dogs as usual. The toppings make the difference.
On Chilean hot dogs, you’ll find onions, tomatoes, and mashed avocados in addition to mustard and ketchup. You wouldn’t expect these things to work together, but they do.
7. Chilean Pumpkin Sopapillas
These five-ingredient sopapillas taste wonderful with sweet and savory toppings. For a sweet dessert, drizzle them with whipped cream, honey, or molasses sauce. For a savory appetizer, use Chile’s Chilean salsa pebre, which combines fresh herbs and vegetables.
I don’t understand how it works, but they taste great whether they’re sweet or savory.
8. Chilean Sea Bass
Everyone has heard of Chilean sea bass, even if they don’t know any other Chilean dishes. This dish is known worldwide for good reason. Chilean sea bass is heavenly.
The lemon beurre blanc sauce seasons each bite with a smooth, rich taste. It’s tender, and feels like it melts if left on your tongue. You barely need to chew this tasty fish.
Even seafood haters would like this Chilean treasure.
9. Country Chilean Bread
I didn’t trust this bread at first. It looked so flat.
I was happily surprised by its deliciousness. It seems like a dinner roll, but it’s more of a tiny, circular sandwich bread.
This bread may be used for any meal and with a variety of toppings, but it is best for breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and honey butter make them taste amazing.
10. Chilean Tomato and Onion Salad
Don’t be intimidated by the 55-minute cook time on this simple salad. It doesn’t take nearly that long to prepare.
The onions soak in saltwater for most of that time, making them sweeter and more tender. Lime juice and olive oil are also used to marinate the tomatoes. Then, you just arrange it all on a plate, add some cilantro, and season with salt and pepper.
It’s a tasty midday salad. It also pairs nicely with Chilean food like a basic rice dish or empanadas.
11. Pastel de Choclo
While there are different takes on pastel de choclo, this one is fantastic. All pastel de choclo recipes share one thing: they are corn pies (like shepherd’s pie). The fillings and toppings, however, can vary greatly.
For the filling, this one has seasoned beef, onions, raisins, olives, eggs, chicken breast, and a touch of sugar, along with a topping made of corn, cream, butter, salt, and basil.
There’s a lot going on under the creamy topping. It’s a sweet and savory casserole that everyone will enjoy.
12. Chacarero (Chilean Steak Sandwich)
Word of warning: after trying a juicy chacarero, a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder will pale in comparison. A chacarero has a pound of steak between a sliced frica roll with tomatoes, hot sauce, and crunchy green beans.
I’ve never had a similar burger anywhere. The green beans taste amazing and contribute the ideal amount of taste and texture. After a single bite, you’ll ask why you haven’t used green beans on a burger before.
13. Chilean Estofado Beef Stew
This dish comes together in about 40 minutes despite being so thick, hearty, and complex. It’s a hearty stew that includes beef, carrots, onions, and potatoes.
Cumin, oregano, paprika, and salt add to the flavor, and the tomato sauce base is thick and tasty. This is ideal for autumn and winter.
14. Tres Leches Cake
Tres leches cake, or “three milk” cake, is one of the creamiest, softest, and fluffiest cakes you can make. It’s also remarkably sweet, but not in a bad way. This dessert is simply exquisite, from the light vanilla cake to the puffy whipped cream topping.
Each bite is filled with contentment. It’s ridiculously good, and it can be jazzed up with your favorite toppings.
Add coconut flakes, bananas, and strawberries, or drizzle with chocolate and caramel.
15. Chilean Alfajores
These buttery, thin, wafer-like cookies take about 45 minutes to create, and each makes a tasty, single-bite treat. While the cookies can be served alone, authentic alfajores have a sweet dollop of dulce de leche in the middle. Some alternative filling ideas are honey, jam, whipped cream, and molasses sauce.
Some people dip the cookie sandwich in chocolate for even more sweetness.
16. Mote con Huesillos
If fruity, sugary drinks are your thing, then mote con huesillos is your drink. It’s the perfect drink for a warm summer day in Chile, just like lemonade in the United States.
This drink only needs sugar, dried peaches, water, a cinnamon stick, a citrus peel (lemon or orange), and cooked pearled barley or wheat berries. The drink is very sweet, and the barley (or wheat berries) makes it chunky and filling.
17. Marraqueta
Marraqueta, or “French bread,” is a delicious double roll that is soft and fluffy on the inside while being a little crispy on the outside. You can prepare them in under an hour with only five ingredients.
They are thick and yeasty, with a dash of sugar in each bite, making them great for sliders or mini sandwiches.
18. Empanadas de Pino (Chilean Beef Empanadas)
I can’t get enough of empanadas. Is there anything better than buttery pastry and a warm, flavorful beef filling?
Those who grew up with a strong Hispanic influence may know this food as a warm comfort. Eating this might feel like coming home. If you didn’t grow up eating empanadas, you can still enjoy these.
Picture savory filling in a warm apple pie. Yum.
19. Humitas
This vegan appetizer is an excellent way to kick off any large meal. It does require a significant amount of prep, which I find appealing. It can be a fun activity to make these with the whole family, and it is an excellent opportunity to learn about Chilean culture.
Plus, because they taste great, it is time well spent.
20. Chilean Chorrillana Fries
Looking at these fries, I can already feel the heartburn, but they are so appealing that I still want to eat them all. If you believe that chili cheese fries are as good as French fries can be, reconsider. These fries have tender caramelized onions, steak, and eggs.
It’s worth breaking out the antacids for these fries.