As you know, the most important meal of the day is breakfast. But Portuguese people do not consider breakfast as an essential meal. Portuguese breakfast time is around 7- 8.30 am, they take coffee and toast as their breakfast. Sometimes they take milky coffee or juice and bread with cheese or ham. It is basic and simple.
Portuguese people always take light breakfast. They give priority to their lunch more than breakfast. In the morning, they take coffee or juice and toast or sandwich. They love coffee. Sometimes they have coffee with their breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Portuguese eat their morning meal to get enough to 11 am. Kids take cereal. Teens and young generation try to follow the western culture for breakfast.
Coffee is an important drink for Portuguese people. They have different types of coffee to order (like standard black espresso, Double espresso, espresso with a spot of milk, weak, watery espresso, weak milky espresso, a cup of coffee with milk).
They also take different types of bread items, cheese, ham, butter, jam. Some people like to have their breakfast at home. Some people like to have breakfast at ‘pastelaria.’ It is rare to see bacon/ sausages, eggs, beans as a Portuguese breakfast food.
Types of Portuguese Breakfast
So what are the traditional breakfast item in Portugal? We only know about a sandwich or toasted bread. Let me introduce with another Portuguese breakfast recipe what they have.
- Rabanadas: This is a French adopted recipe, and in Portugal, they made it with their own style. Break, egg, milk, honey, and sugar is the primary ingredient of this item.
- Bifana: it is a type of street food which is a type of burger. This is made from pork, cheese garlic, white wine, and other items.
- Leitão: One of the food item which is prepared without bread. But there is used pork, garlic, sea salt, parsley, and other things. As it is a spicy item, it has different acceptance of Portuguese people.
- Broa: this thing is the most favourite bread item in Portugal, USA, and Angola. Broa is prepared from corn and rye, which is very healthy.
After passing a couple of hours of breakfast, they take another meal. It belongs at the middle time of lunch and breakfast and considers as morning snacks. Grilled fish, pork sandwich, Francesinha, Sardinha’s or codfish can be the part of this meal. Fresh juice or a bottle of cola is added with this meal.
5 Portuguese breakfast recipes
There are different types of breakfast that Portuguese breakfast recipes that very few people like to have them.
1. Porridge
This porridge’s main ingredients are oats, milk, and fruits. Here we are showing you the process of making it.
Ingredients:
- Oats
- Milk
- Salt
- Sugar
- Apple
- Cinnamon
How to make:
- First, boil the milk in a saucepan nicely.
- Then add oats.
- Add a pinch of salt and two tablespoon sugar. You can also use honey, as well.
- Peel the apple and cut them nicely and add them in oats.
- Make sure to stir all the time. Otherwise, the oats will stick around.
- Sprinkle cinnamon powder as you like to have.
- Serve it hot.
2. Toast in Portuguese style
Ingredients:
- Eggs
- Loaf bread
- Milk
- Cinnamon
- Vegetable oil
How to make:
- Take the loaf bread and cut slices as you want
- Take a bowl and whisk eggs.
- Dippin the slices of bread in milk and soaking them in eggs
- Take a frying pan and heat it at medium heat.
- Add a little of vegetable oil and fry the slices in medium heat.
- Place the absorbent paper in a tray and put the fried toast on it.
- Sprinkle cinnamon powder. And eat it when it is warm.
3. Braised peas with eggs (Portuguese style)
Ingredients:
- Peas (2 cups)
- Two plum tomatoes
- One cup sliced sausage
- One tablespoon olive oil
- One onion
- Minced hot chili
- Two cloves garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Four eggs
- Dry sherry
- One bay leaf
- Chopped fresh parsley
How to make:
- At medium heat, fry sausage until they turned brown.
- Now add olive oil, onion, chili, and garlic. Cook until the onion becomes soft.
- Add sherry and make a gravy texture.
- Add tomatoes, bay leaf, salt, and pepper according to your taste.
- Reduce the heat of cooking from medium to low and add peas.
- Cover them. When the peas almost cooked, stir the gravy.
- Take a spoon and make four hollows. Break an egg in each hallow carefully.
- Cover the skillet or pan and cook them for 5-7 minutes at low heat.
- Take toast and serve some braised peas onto it. Now place the egg on top of it.
- Sprinkle fresh parsley and enjoy.
4. Portuguese egg tarts (pastel de nata):
Ingredients:
- Three egg yolks
- 2 ounces sugar
- One tablespoon cornstarch
- Full fat milk
- 2 ounces heavy cream
- Butter
- One teaspoon vanilla extract
- One sheet puff pastry
How to make it:
- Cut the puff pastry and place them in pastry shells. Keep them in the freezer.
- Whisk egg yolks nicely. Add milk, sugar, cornstarch, and heavy cream and whisk them together.
- Cook the mixture at low heat until it became creamy. Add vanilla and mix it well. Cool the mixture at normal temperature.
- Preheat your oven at 2000C.
- Pour the egg mixture in each pastry shell (half).
- Bake them for 15 minutes at the same heat. Till the top gets burn spots.
- Serve them warm.
5. Cassoulet Portuguese:
Ingredients:
- Six chicken legs
- Two Portuguese sliced chorizo
- Smoked paprika
- Salt
- Pepper
- Onion
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- One cup chicken broth
- One cup diced tomatoes
- White beans
- Bay leafs
- Basil leafs
- Fresh oregano leafs
How to make it:
- Fry the chorizo until they turned brown in little oil. Keep them aside on a paper towel.
- Take a bowl: mix salt, pepper, and paprika. Season the chicken pieces with it.
- Fry them in olive oil until they turned brown and keep aside
- Fry onion and garlic until the onion becomes soft.
- Pour wine and boil for 3 minutes till it becomes thick.
- Add chicken broth, bay leaf, oregano leaf, basil leaf, tomatoes, beans, and chorizo. Cook them for ten minutes
- Now take a tajine. Place the fried chicken at the bottom and pour the sauce over it.
- Preheat the oven at 400F
- Cover the chicken and bake them for 40 minutes at 400F.
- Remove the cover and bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve them and enjoy them.
Those are my favorite five recipes that the Portuguese had at their breakfast.
Portuguese cuisine is popular for seafood. Portuguese are among those countries where people eat a lot of fishes. They also use different types of spices for cooking. They use olive oil, parsley, garlic, pepper, bay leaf, saffron.
Portuguese don’t give attention to their breakfast. They care about their lunch. So, their breakfast is always light. Very few people have their homemade foods. But most of them have breakfast at the café. Here we showed you some information about Portuguese breakfast. We hope this will help you to know about their morning meal.
Your Most Burning Questions About “Portuguese Breakfast”
FAQ 1: What is a typical Portuguese breakfast?
A typical Portuguese breakfast is a milky coffee with bread items.
FAQ 2: What time is breakfast in Portugal?
Around 7-8.30 am, people take breakfast in Portugal.
FAQ 3: Is Portuguese food spicy?
Yes, Portuguese food is spicy. They use different types of spicy ingredients in their food.
