Food in Argentina: Must-Try Dishes You Can’t Miss! – Updated 2024

Welcome to our post about food in Argentina, enjoy reading….

According to the name of our blog FunFOODtravelling, we decided to dedicate significant space to talk about food and different cuisines we find around the world.

As we spent significant time in Argentina, we wanted to share with you our complete food guide to Argentinian gastronomy from traditional dishes to a bit bizarre food which is typical to eat in different regions in Argentina.

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Food around the World

The fact of eating besides being very important for life also unites people and makes you knowledgeable about different customs and habits which you can find around the world.

During our world trip, we visit many different countries and most likely the first thing we do is to visit the local food market.

Local food markets offer the unique opportunity to feel the true essence of the town, get to know the customs and their local products.

In addition to that, there is another very important factor, in general, they are the best places to try local food at affordable prices.

We strongly encourage you to visit local food markets instead of going to the touristic restaurants and eat something unusual you wouldn’t eat at home.

Travelling offers a great opportunity to know gastronomic cultures, different and unusual products and also the local people and their customs.

Our tip: When we travel we always make sure to have travel insurance. Our personal recommendation is Truetraveller as they have great support and health coverage around the world. And don’t worry if you forget about it, you can purchase the insurance during your trip!

As we are foodies, we will try to introduce you to different cuisines around the world and we hope that with a little curiosity you will have a chance to try something spectacular.

So get ready, here is our first introduction to the food in Argentina where we will share traditional dishes and food you should definitely try when you get there.

Food in Argentina

We have travelled around Argentina for almost two and a half months, from the South to the North and from the East to the West part of the country.

We spent one month in Patagonia and you can read our unique Backpacking guide with all the information and tips.

Food in Argentina has several similarities throughout the country as you can find the typical Argentinian dishes almost everywhere.

On the other hand, you will find differences due to the diversity of climate and its specific environment, proximity to sea, mountains or other nations and cultures.

For this reason, we divided the post into two different parts: Typical food in Argentina and Traditional food per region.

To explain better, by typical food in Argentina we mean the dishes you can find in every corner of the country regardless of where you go.

Traditional food per region would be the regional dishes that you can find exclusively (or most likely) only in that specific part of Argentina.

OUR TIP: We use Revolut and Wise cards when traveling to a country with a different currency to ours. We use these online banks during our travels and have never had any problems, even in remote places around the world.

Typical food in Argentina

As Argentina is a huge country, we will divide it into three parts, the North of Argentina, the Central part and the South of Argentina.

Before we deep dive into the typical dishes in Argentina, we would like to ask you a question:

Which product is the star product of Argentina?

The answer is: MEAT

People in Argentina are one of the biggest eaters and exporters of meat and we can assure you that wherever you go you will appreciate the smell of meat.

We are sorry, vegetarian friends, in this country you will have it more difficult to eat but nothing is impossible.

Asado in Argentina

As we are already talking about the meat we will start with the first typical food in Argentina: Asado.

Asado is one of the traditional Argentinian dishes and it is mainly about cooking meat on a grill. It is basically a grill, fire, and meat, very important it cannot be a gas-fuelled grill.

Asado mostly consists of beef meat but you can also find pork, chicken or other meats. We saw that the event is usually done in family gatherings or among friends every week on Sunday.

In another post (food in Uruguay) we have written a bit more about the competition for the best Asado between these two countries so if you are a little curious you will have to wait to read it as well.

Locro

Locro is one of the national dishes in Argentina. It is a delicious hearty thick stew with meat which is something you must try when travelling to Argentina.

The basis of this dish is in general corn, beans, potatoes, and meat. In each region, there is a different way of preparing Locro as they add different types of meat or other vegetables. In any case, eating this traditional dish fills your mouth with an incredible amount of flavours, just delicious.

Milanesa

Another typical dish of Argentinian cuisine is the Veal Milanesa. It is a basically breaded and fried beef tenderloin.

Many times you can see it covered with other ingredients on top such as tomato sauce (Napolitana) or with a fried egg (A Caballo). Throughout Argentina, you can find other Milanesas with pork, chicken or llama in the North of Argentina.

For our Vegetarian readers, we have good news, you can also find cheese, eggplant, soy meat or other types of Milanesa in Argentina.

Pasta and Pizza in Argentina

We could say that you can find pasta and pizza anywhere in this country.

There are many Italians who emigrated to Argentina during the period of war and who have also brought their customs and traditional dishes with them.

On the other hand, we have to mention that even though the preparations are made with the same ingredients, it is far from real Italian pasta and pizza.

We are not saying that there are bad, just different than we are used to in Europe.

Pizza in Argentina looks more like focaccia with its high and crunchy base and lot of mozzarella cheese.

OUR TIP: How to find the best accommodation when you travel? We use Booking.com as we always find great deals and discounts with lot of variety. For example when we want a kitchen so Simone can cook, we filter the right accommodation for us. 

Street food in Argentina

Empanadas

You can find empanadas at any corner of Argentina with all kinds of fillings.

In general, it is a very tasty and affordable meal which is popular everywhere in Argentina.

We love empanadas and our favourites are with meat, cheese and quinoa or mozzarella and ham. We have tried empanadas more or less in every corner of the country and everywhere they were very tasty.

We have heard from the locals that some of the best places to eat empanadas are in the province of Tucumán and Salta.

Choripan

Probably the Street food par excellence in Argentina.

As the name says Choripan is a sausage cooked on the grill with bread. You can eat it without anything or accompanied by mustard, sauces or other ingredients.

We found out that in Córdoba, near the Sarmiento park you can find Choripan accompanied by different types of pickles.

Other Street food in Argentina

We just named probably the most popular street food in Argentina like Empanadas and Choripan.

Of course, there is more!

In Argentina, you can find hot dogs, beef sandwiches called lomitos, hamburgers or Milanesa sandwiches which is another super cheap and tasty preparation that you can find in every corner.

Just to mention that not in all parts of the Argentina street vendors are accepted. In fact in some cities such as Mendoza, for example, it is prohibited. But for sure it will not be difficult to find street food in Argentina because there are still many people who sell anything on the street.

Dulce de Leche

As you already might know in Argentina there are many cows, homemade products and milk, and it is precisely thanks to this last ingredient that a delicious cream called Dulce de leche is prepared.

We could say that it would be like Nutella for the Italians since it is always present everywhere. For breakfasts, snacks or desserts, Dulce de leche is just delicious and if you visit this country you cannot miss this delight.

Probably if you are Italian you are going to continue with beloved Nutella, but this could be a tasty alternative in Argentina.

Alfajores

There are as many alfajores as houses in Argentina.

In fact, you can find this cake anywhere in the country with different tastes and brands.

Alfajores are two round biscuits with cream in the middle (generally Dulce de Leche or chocolate). It is usually bathed with chocolate sugar and you can find them of many tastes or colours.

We found out that the Alfajores of La Plata, Córdoba and Mendoza are outstanding.

Torta Frita (Fried cake)

Another product which comes from popular Argentinian tradition (also consumed in Uruguay) is fried cake.

It is a crunchy dough that is stretched in a circular shape and fried at the moment. Locals usually put sugar on top or salt depending on the taste you want to have.

Mate

Even if Mate is not food, we could not write a post about food in Argentina without mentioning Mate.

Yerba Mate is without a doubt the national drink par excellence.

It is practically impossible that you go to Argentina and someone does not invite you to taste this drink.

Mate is basically a wild plant that grows in the area between Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay where is cut, treated and shredded to be suitable for use. It is known that the Jesuit missionaries were able to domesticate the plant and get it to plant and grow on a large scale.

Mate is a kind of infusion which is drunk by adding hot water to the matte herbs in a special cup (originally made from pumpkin) and is often sweetened with sugar and/or derivatives.

It is known to be diuretic, to eliminate hunger and to help you with concentration. We like its bitter taste and in fact, we also have our Mate on our trip.

Food in Argentina: South part – Patagonia

We were backpacking for over month throughout the whole Argentinean Patagonia and we ate and tried a little bit of everything.

Here you can read the whole one-month itinerary for Backpacking in Patagonia.

Among all the food you can find in Patagonia, we can definitely highlight the Patagonian lamb, which is super tasty and probably the main dish in this part of Argentina.

Other tasty dishes can be found on the Patagonian coast which offers delicious fish and seafood. For example, Ushuaia is popular for Patagonian crab and we also could not miss it. On the coast, you also find the Chilean sea bass, which is super tasty because it lives in very cold water.

If you love chocolate you absolutely have to visit San Carlos de Bariloche. There is an incredible amount of different flavors and you can also opt-in for hot chocolate, delicious in cold weather.

And while you are visiting Bariloche, we have to mention the craft beer which you can drink almost at every corner. In fact, not only in Bariloche but in the whole Patagonia you can find different types of craft beers prepared in micro-breweries so something for beer lovers.

Another dish which you most likely find in all Patagonian Menus is Trout. It is a typical Patagonian dish since its easy to find them due to an infinite number of lakes and rivers. We were told that the Rio Grande in Tierra del Fuego stands out to be one of the best fishing sites for trouts.

Food in Argentina: Central part (Buenos Aires, Misiones, Córdoba, Mendoza)

This area has many climate differences since it goes from a tropical Iguazu climate to the desert climate of Mendoza.

We should also mention that this division per food areas in Argentina has been entirely personal based on our experience.

In the Eastern part of this area – Misiones, Iguazú we could mainly highlight the presence of tropical fruit among others mango which you can find everywhere on the trees.

You can also find river fish such as Dorado or Surubí which surprisingly turned out to be very tasty.

Delicious for breakfast or quick snack is Chipa, small, baked, cheese-flavored rolls. Try them freshly made when they are still warm, incredible!

In the province of Córdoba, you can find typical German dishes such as goulash or pork with sauerkraut due to the presence of many colonies of German origin like in Villa General Belgrano or La Cumbrecita.

Passing through Mendoza you will find almost desert lands that are perfect for growing grapes. In fact, not only Mendoza but the whole area is very famous for its wines. You can also find here delicious raisins and a very good quality olive oil and olives.

We included Buenos Aires in this food section as you can really find all these dishes everywhere in the city plus all kinds of international food you can imagine.

Food in Argentina – North part (Jujuy, Salta)

The North of Argentina was a pleasant surprise for us because in addition to incredible places the food has been quite different and usually very tasty.

In this part of Argentina, you can definitely see the influence of neighboring countries Bolivia and Chile.

The corn is the king of all meals since you can find it in many Argentinian dishes.

The example is delicious corn cake made with freshly ground corn and usually baked with egg, cheese and sometimes with meat. We can assure you that it is super tasty, and it can also be served in a sweet version.

As we are mentioning corn, we have to highlight humitas, which are steamed fresh corn cakes cooked inside the corn husk. They are usually boiled for about an hour and they can be prepared to be sweet or salty.

Another Argentinian delight is tamales which are prepared with cornflour instead of fresh corn wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaves. There is an interesting fact that humitas, unlike tamales, are never stuffed with meat.

In addition to the corn, you can find Quinoa in almost all restaurants in this area, prepared as salads, with goat cheese, quinoa croquettes or other dishes.

When you go to any restaurant before the meal they will serve you Yasgua which is a delicious spicy sauce made with fresh tomato and chili to accompany your meal.

In this part, we also wanted to mention the great taste of all vegetables in this area since there are several indigenous communities that continue to produce with traditional methods and without pesticides.

If you travel on a budget you can find small sandwiches (pan de miga) at every bar in the area. The advantage is that you get something very tasty for a cheap price. In Italy, this preparation is called tramezzini.

Bizarre food in Argentina

When we travel, we usually ask local people about bizarre food in the area and sometimes we have a unique opportunity to try something unusual which cannot be found in the restaurants.

Most likely the food is not suitable for everyone and mainly for those who have a strong stomach.

So what kind of bizarre food we found in Argentina?

In Patagonia, in rural areas, you can find Guanaco meat. It is a jungle animal and one of the four types of South American camelids. In some areas like Peninsula Valdes, Guanaco is a protected animal and it is difficult to find a place where you could see them.

In the area of Misiones, especially in Concordia, you will be able to find Capybara. It is the largest rodent in the world and it can be also found in Uruguay and Brazil. The locals told us that the meat tastes like a pig and is usually cooked for many hours to be tender.

The last bizarre food in Argentina for us was the meat of the Llama. Probably the most famous animal from the Guanaco family which has very tender and low cholesterol meat. Unlike the other two animals above, Llama is very common meat and easy to find in most of the restaurants in Argentina since it is a domestic animal.

To our list of bizarre food in Argentina, we also added Coca leaves for its particularity and use.

You can find Coca leaves in Argentina without a problem because of the height in the Northern area and the proximity to Bolivia. Coca leaves are often used as a relief for altitude sickness or to avoid anxiety or headache. You can either prepare coca tea with hot water or directly putting the leaves in your mouth to absorb the liquid.

This is our complete guide to food in Argentina. In the future, we plan to create more posts like this so our readers can have a whole overview of each country.

By the way, if you see that we forgot something or you want to add something else, do not hesitate to contact us. You can do it here in the comments or by mail, we will answer you as soon as possible.

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