Buenos Aires, Argentina
Asado
Argentina's national barbecue: a social ritual of grilling beef ribs, sausages, offal, and other cuts over wood or charcoal. The asador seasons only with salt and serves with chimichurri and salsa criolla.
south-america
Uruguay
Explore 70 foods connected to Uruguay, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
70 foods12 leading categories1 Essentials guides
Start with Asado →
The local shortlist
Uruguay Essentials
12 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
Open the guide →
The full directory
Traditional foods from Uruguay.
70 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
Filters
Argentina
Asado de Tira
Beef short ribs cut crosswise into strips and grilled slowly over coals. The bone-in cut renders fat and develops a caramelized crust while the meat stays tender.
Uruguay
Bizcochos
Small flaky lard or butter pastries in a dozen shapes — vigilantes, cañoncitos, margaritas, medialunas — sold by weight.
Argentina
Bolas de Fraile
Argentine Berliners: risen dough balls fried or baked and filled with dulce de leche or crema pastelera, dusted with sugar. A classic factura for breakfast or merienda.
Montevideo, Uruguay
Buseca
Tripe stewed slowly with white beans, chorizo, tomato and paprika into a thick winter dish.
Montevideo, Uruguay
Capeletis a la Caruso
Meat-filled cappelletti under a hot cream sauce of onion, ham, mushroom and nutmeg invented in Montevideo in the 1950s.
Uruguay
Caña
Amber sugarcane spirit aged in oak, drunk neat or with honey and lemon.
Uruguay
Chajá
Postre Chajá
Sponge cake soaked in syrup, layered with peaches, whipped cream and dulce de leche and covered in crumbled meringue.
Argentina
Chimichurri
Argentina's signature sauce of finely chopped parsley, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Served with asado, sausages, and grilled meats.
Argentina
Chinchulines
Beef small intestines cleaned, boiled, and grilled until crispy and golden. A classic asado offal with a distinctive chewy texture and rich flavor.
Uruguay
Chivito
Thin grilled beef fillet in a bun with ham, mozzarella, bacon, lettuce, tomato, olives and a fried egg, served with chips.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Choripán
Choripán mariposa
The Argentine street-food icon: a grilled chorizo split down the middle and served in a crusty roll with chimichurri or salsa criolla. Sold at football matches, rallies, and asado starters.
Paraguay
Clericó
Fruit-loaded wine punch — chopped peaches, oranges, apples and grapes macerated in white wine with sugar — served ice-cold over Christmas and throughout the summer.
Uruguay
Damasquitos
Small apricot jelly sweets rolled in sugar, made in the town of Minas.
Argentina
Dulce de Batata
A firm, sliceable sweet-potato paste, similar to dulce de membrillo but milder. Eaten with cheese, in facturas, or as a filling for pastelitos and cañoncitios.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dulce de Leche
Argentina's national sweet: a thick, creamy caramel of milk and sugar slow-cooked for hours. Eaten by the spoonful, spread on toast, or used in alfajores, cakes, and ice cream.
Andorra
Dulce de Membrillo
A firm, sliceable quince paste of quinces and sugar, slow-cooked until deep red. Eaten with cheese, in facturas, or as a filling for pastelitos and pasta frola.
Argentina
Empanada Criolla
The classic Argentine empanada: a wheat-flour pastry folded around seasoned ground beef, onions, boiled egg, olives, and cumin, then baked or fried. Each region has its own repulgue (crimp) to mark the filling.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Fainá
Fainá con queso
A thin, crispy chickpea-flour flatbread of Genoese origin, served on top of a pizza slice in Buenos Aires. The 'a caballo' pairing of fainá on pizza is a uniquely porteño tradition.
Argentina
Flan Casero
A homemade Argentine baked custard flan with caramel, made with milk, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Simpler than the flan mixto, served plain or with a little cream.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Fugazza
Figazza
An Argentine pizza of Genoese origin with a thick, focaccia-like crust topped with caramelized onions, oregano, and olive oil—no tomato sauce, no cheese. A Buenos Aires specialty.
Uruguay
Garrapiñada
Peanuts cooked in a copper pan with sugar until the syrup crystallises into a rough sweet crust.
Uruguay
Grappamiel
Grape marc spirit softened with honey into a sweet, warming liqueur drunk in winter.
Argentina
Grilled Chorizo
Chorizo a la parrilla
A fresh pork and beef sausage seasoned with paprika, garlic, and oregano, grilled until charred outside and juicy inside. The backbone of the asado and the choripán.
Argentina
Guiso Carrero
A traditional Argentine stew of browned meat, vegetables, and pasta or rice, slow-cooked until thick and comforting. A working-class staple, especially in the countryside.
Uruguay
Húngara
A spicy paprika-red sausage grilled and served in a bread roll with mustard or mayonnaise.
Uruguay
Lengua a la Vinagreta
Beef tongue boiled, peeled, sliced thin and dressed cold with a vinegar, oil, onion and parsley sauce.
Uruguay
Marsellés
Twin-lobed Vienna-style roll dusted in maize flour, split and filled for sandwiches.
Argentina
Martín Fierro
Postre vigilante
A slab of quince or sweet potato paste served with a matching slab of fresh white cheese.
Montevideo, Uruguay
Massini
Layers of thin sponge with whipped cream, finished with a caramelised sabayon glaze scorched on top.
Argentina
Matambre Relleno
A flank steak butterflied and rolled around diced vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, herbs, and sometimes olives, then grilled or boiled. A traditional gaucho dish served hot or cold.
Argentina
Mate
Argentina's daily ritual: a caffeinated infusion of yerba mate steeped in hot (not boiling) water in a gourd, sipped through a metal bombilla and shared in a circle.
Argentina
Mate Cocido
A brewed yerba mate tea, served in a cup with milk and sugar, like a tea bag. A school and breakfast drink, milder and less ritualized than the gourd mate.
Argentina
Medialunas de Grasa
A smaller, thinner, savory version of medialunas made with lard instead of butter. Crisp and slightly salty, they are a traditional breakfast item, especially in bakeries.
Montevideo, Uruguay
Medio y Medio
Half sparkling wine and half sweet white wine, poured cold and drunk with a picada or with grilled meat.
Argentina
Milanesa
A thin beef or chicken cutlet breaded with breadcrumbs and pan-fried or baked until golden. Argentina's everyday national dish, served with mashed potatoes, fries, or in a sandwich.