Typical Costa Rican Dishes

by Karl Kahler

arroz con pollo — rice with chicken

by Karl Kahler

olla de carne — beef stew with potatoes, corn, carrots and other vegetables casado — a varied dish consisting of chicken, beef, pork or fish with rice, beans, salad, picadillo and sweet plantains chifrijo — pork rind (chicharrón) with beans, rice, chimichurri and tortilla chips chimichurri — a common dip for tortilla chips, typically made with tomatoes, onions, cilantro, avocado, lime and salt frijoles molidos — mashed beans, a popular dip gallo pinto — rice and beans served for breakfast, often with eggs, tortillas, fruit and sour cream (natilla) guacamole — mashed avocados with tomato, lime, salt and sometimes chili natural — a fruit drink made with milk or water and blended pineapple, tamarind, watermelon, cantaloupe, banana, strawberry, blackberry or other fruits patacones — mashed, fried plantains picadillo — chopped vegetables, which may include pumpkin, chayote (vegetable pear), potatoes, green plantains, arracache (a tuber), heart of palm, green papaya, garlic, onion, cilantro, bell pepper and/or celery, and may contain beef, pork, chicken or bacon plátano maduro/maduro — sweet, fried plantain rice and beans — Caribbean rice and beans, made with coconut milk rondón — a Caribbean stew of seafood, vegetables, coconut milk and whatever the cook can “run down” sopa de mondongo — tripe soup tamales — tamales, a Christmas favorite made of corn meal filled with beef or pork and sometimes vegetables, wrapped in a plantain leaf