22 Famous Chilean Food Dishes to Try

Locos is a type of abalone that used to be abundant in Chile. Nowadays, you can only find it during its season between March and May.

Just a heads up, the cooking method of this traditional food is quite time-consuming, requiring the fresh abalone to be softened by pounding over ashes, then boiled slowly to bland.

For serving, the most common way to pair it with mayonnaise.

Chancho en piedra is a typical Chilean sauce utilizing tomatoes and spices that are ground in a stone mortar. This combination produces a tangy sauce best served with bread, empanadas, or grilled meats.

In fact, ‘chancho en piedra’ means ‘pig in a stone’, but there is no pork here. Ideally, locals will prepare and serve the sauce immediately to preserve the flavor of tomatoes.

Furthermore, the sauce rarely makes any appearance at restaurants due to the difficulty in the preparation process.

Macha a la parmesana is a Chilean dish revolving around saltwater clams called macha and Parmesan cheese. Chileans make the dish by splitting the clams and baking them on one half of the shell.

As for the cheese, the Parmesan is best joined with butter, white wine, or lemon to enhance the flavors. Aside from Parmesan, this baked clam specialty also adapts well with other cheese options along with cream and garlic.

Humitas is a corn cake in Chile that comes from the Andes region. It was believed to first appeared in Chile during the 19th century.

Traditionally, humitas were made of mashed corn, mixed with basil, onion, and butter, then wrapped in corn husks. Plus, the outer wrapper is further secured with threads or twine.

The basic flavor is meant to be sweet; however, the Chilean also created other flavors for humitas, including savory, spicy, or sour, by adding salt, Chilean green chili pepper, or tomato.

Ceviche is raw seafood fish making an impact in Chile that is actually a traditional dish of Peru. It’s mostly made of raw fish, lemon juice, coriander, and onion in Chile.

The primary fish in this dish is halibut or Patagonian toothfish, which is widely commercialized in Chile. However, sometimes it is also substituted with salmon or shrimp and served in a small cup.

Caldillo de congrio is a beloved soup in central Chile, known for its light yet revitalizing qualities. Ideal for lunch, the soup’s fame peaks in Isla Negra, celebrated by Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda in a dedicated poem.

This dish typically features carrots, onions, garlic, laurel, tomatoes, and its key ingredient, congrio. Contrary to common belief, ‘congrio’ is not an eel but a type of fish, accurately referred to as kingklip in English.

Valdiviano is a hearty soup originating from the late 16th century in Valdivia, one of the last Chilean provinces under Spanish control.

Typically served as a late dinner, especially after a night of drinking, the soup, with its key ingredient ‘charqui’ (jerky), offers a warming and satisfying meal with other vegetables.

Pastel de choclo, a signature Chilean dish since the Spanish conquest, is a corn cake bringing together ground beef and mashed corn with ‘pino’, a mixture similar to empanada filling.

This combination is heated with milk and lard or butter in a clay pot before being slowly baked. Variations include substituting beef with chicken, or adding fruits like raisins to the mixture.

Pollo arvejado is a popular Chilean lunch dish, originally from the Mapuche region, featuring chicken and peas as its core ingredients.

Accompanied by carrots, onions, garlic, white wine, and various Chilean herbs and spices, this thick stew is particularly popular in the countryside and is commonly served with rice or potatoes.

Porotos granados is a robust summer bean stew originating from Chile’s central and southern regions. The savory stew is now a common dinner item, typically containing white or cranberry beans, carrots, maize kernels, and squash.

In the winter, people add pumpkins to make use of the produce at its peak flavor. Plus, there’s even a variant called ‘porotos con riendas,’ which includes strips of pork skin or spaghetti.

Cazuela is another stew dish that stems from Mapuche indigenous living in Chile. Surprisingly, the name ‘cazuela’ actually stands for the pot that stews the food.

Commonly, chicken or beef will be stewed in the ‘cazuela’ pot along with carrots and potatoes. Other ingredients, such as beans, corn, and squash, will be cooked separately in another pot.

For serving, locals will bring together the mentioned elements in a bowl to create cazuela. In Chile, the population tends to have the broth of cazuela first before consuming the meat and vegetables.

Charquicán is a stew delicacy popular among Chile and the Andes nations. The term “charqui” actually means llama jerky; however, you can rarely find an “authentic” charquican since most modern dishes are made with ground beef.

Along with the beef broth are pumpkin, potato, corn, onion, and other Chilean spices. Many local restaurants served charquican with a fried egg on top for a nutritious breakfast.

Alfajores is a dessert or sweet snack, consumed year-round in Central Chile. Though you can find these small sandwiches at anytime, it’s most abundant in September, when the traditional Patriotic festivities occur.

What made the beautiful alfajor is simply two pieces of Chilean sponge cake adhered with confectioners cream, or majar, known as ‘dulce de leche’, a Latin America caramel.

Nowadays, alfajores are often garnished with ground coconut or chocolate, sometimes both. And there’s also another version of it which is covered in meringue, called ‘chilenitos’.

Sopaipilla is a well-known fried pastry among Chileans. It’s been a part of the country’s diet since the 18th century.

Nowadays, sopaipilla is mostly served as street food or a homemade treat on heavy rain days. The dough comprises ground pumpkin, wheat flour, and butter or vegetable shortening.

After being deep-fried, sopaipillas puff up and look like pillows. Sopaipilla is not only served as a sweet snack, but it also can be combined with pebre salsa, mashed avocado, or other sauces to form a savory dish.

Cuchuflí is a traditional Chilean dessert featuring a wafer tube cookie filled with manjar, or dulce de leche.

Originating from Spanish tube cookies, the Chilean version has altered the wafer’s texture and incorporated a sweet filling. Today, cuchuflí is widely available in markets and supermarkets, with numerous variations.

Pan de pascua is a traditional Chilean holiday cake with its name stemming from an old confusion between ‘pascua’ (Easter) and ‘Navidad’ (Christmas).

Influenced by German stollen and Italian panettone, its texture is closer to a sponge cake than bread, flavored with ginger and honey. The dough is enriched with nuts, dried fruits, brandy or rum, and Chilean spices.

Chilean families typically prepare it just before Christmas, often accompanied by ‘cola de mono,’ a traditional cocktail.

Empanada is one of the patties that was created during the establishment of Chilean culture. On special holidays, Chileans consume a huge quantity of empanadas.

Traditionally, the empanada in Chile is a deep-fried or baked patty stuffed with ‘pino’. The pastry is usually served in a small size as a snack or appetizer.

However, empanada is sometimes served bigger for the main meal or alternatively stuffed with yummy Chilean fruits such as pineapple or apple for a sweet serving.

Pan con palta is a traditional Chilean dish, drawing influence from Spanish cuisine. The delicacy is all about a thin slice of bread topped with mashed avocado.

This simple offering is a delightful option for a Chilean breakfast made easily at home. In Chile, it serves not only as an appetizer or snack but also as a beloved treat for children.

Churrasco is a popularized sandwich in Chile that comes from Brazil. In Chile, the churrasco sandwich includes mashed avocado, thin steaks, mayonnaise, and tomato, all nestled within a Chilean bun.

It even has a popular variation, the chacarero, which swaps out the mashed avocado for green beans, tomatoes, and Chilean green chili pepper.

Completos is a Chilean fast food featuring a hot dog or sausage sandwich in a soft oblong bun. This variation typically includes a Vienna sausage and is widely available throughout Chile.

In addition, completos also feature mashed avocado in its toppings, earning them the “Italiano” moniker.

Choripan is a well-known type of small hotdog in Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, and other Spanish-speaking countries. It’s sometimes added with different toppings.

However, the traditional ingredients are just chorizo, a Spanish sausage, and pan, a local bun.

In Chile, choripan is also a portion of famous street food and is often served with ‘pebre’. The Chileans also substitute chorizo with longaniza, another Spanish sausage with a strong flavor profile.

Chochoca is a Chilean flatbread that originated in Chilóe island, where it is famous for multiple types of potato. This bread dough is made of mashed potatoes with wheat flour.

It is usually wrapped over a long spit, rotating on an ember fire. Once done, the flatbread is folded over until it fits a dish for serving.

Nowadays, chochoca is usually served on its own, but for a traditional lunch, it is stuffed with chicharrones, a Spanish fried pork.