country Essentials · 8 foods
El Salvador Essentials
A considered first route through El Salvador: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all El Salvador foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
8 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
El Salvador
Pupusas
Pupusa de Queso con Loroco
Thick corn cakes filled with cheese, beans or meat, served with curtido and salsa.
El Salvador
Horchata Salvadoreña
Cold Salvadoran morro-seed horchata with sesame, pumpkin seeds and cinnamon.
El Salvador
Tamales Salvadoreños
Tamales
Banana-leaf-wrapped Salvadoran corn tamales with pork or chicken, a festive family food.
El Salvador
Yuca Frita con Chicharrón
Fried cassava with chicharrón, curtido and salsa, a Salvadoran market/street staple.
El Salvador
Curtido
Cabbage condiment for pupusas, sharpened with vinegar, carrot and chile.
El Salvador
Empanadas de Plátano
Empanadas de Leche
Sweet ripe-plantain empanada filled with beans or milk custard, fried and dusted with sugar, a Salvadoran street sweet.
El Salvador
Casamiento
Rice and beans cooked together, a Salvadoran everyday staple.
El Salvador
Sopa de Gallina
Salvadoran chicken-and-vegetable soup, a hearty family kitchen classic.