Foodie Vs. Vegan: Portuguese cuisine & the Porto food scene

Foodie Vs. Vegan: Portuguese cuisine & the Porto food scene, as it is evolving today, with roots in traditional Portuguese dishes but also an ability to adapt to meet the diverse dietary needs of today, in places.

I have personally gone from being a New Yorker visiting Portugal to an American moving to Portugal to an expat living in Portugal in just a few short years.

One common fact has remained throughout this experience:

The Portuguese food here in Porto is sooooo good!

I am lucky that my wife, my daughter, and I have few dietary restrictions; I am admittedly a meat and potatoes, bread and sugar addict.

But if I have learned anything it is to be open to try new things, especially food-wise, and especially in Portugal.

I would say New York has almost everything you can imagine in terms of type of food, especially in New York City, but I have been nothing but floored by the traditional cuisine in Portugal, as well as the myriad variations of fusion and other types or renditions of dishes in and around the city of Porto.

When Kalie and Josh of Expats Everywhere recently took a deep dive into just what makes up traditional Portuguese dishes and also what options there were for vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free friends living in Porto.

So looking from the roots of tradition to how foodies and restaurants in Porto are evolving reveals a vibrant, shifting food scene.

Speaking to Portuguese chefs and restaurant owners reveals five key traditional Portuguese dishes that you can easily find in northern Portugal.

1. Francesinha – this delicious amalgam of layered meats, cheeses, and a custom sauce in between bread with an egg on top is a Porto favorite.

And as Josh and Kalie find out: there are gluten-free cafes serving francesinhas with all of the flavor but none of the gluten.

Check out the new Expats Everywhere video to see exactly what restaurants and cafes are knocking it out of the park.

2. Pastel de nata – this has become my favorite food in the world and is a small, custard (egg-based) pastry with its own intricacies in the crispy, buttery layered outside.

I was recently at a coffee tasting event and there were actually vegan pastel de nata, sans egg, but I was not brave enough to try it (being enamored with the egg myself); but the option is there.

3. Carne de Porco à Alentejana – is a pleasant mix of clams, pork, and a stew or sauce.

4. Bread – freshly baked bread is at the heart of the Portuguese culture and every meal is accompanied by it.

5. Codfish – there are at least 100 recipes for cod in Portugal.

While the long-standing traditional Portuguese restaurants in Porto rarely offer vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, or sugar-free dietary options, I can take my friends to a plethora of newer cafes and eateries that fit some or all of these categories.

Despite being a sweet-toothed cookie monster, I recently endeavored to try a gluten-free, vegan chocolate chip cookie that felt like it weighed half a kilo, and it was incredibly tasty.

My taste buds had no idea that it was vegan.

Back in New York, there are tons of places serving food for special dietary needs, but I would say half the time I ventured to try something like a gluten-free cookie it not only did not taste the same but it did not taste good.

That has not been my experience in Portugal and maybe that is just the probability dipping in my favor here, or I am out of my mind (that is very possible), but not all, but most of the food I come across here in Porto is not only good but exceptionally so.

Josh and Kalie spoke to the founder of the first vegan Facebook group in Porto, and there are now nearly 1000 members.

Porto is now ranked #14 in the world for best vegan cities.

This is indicative of the shifting foodie winds.

Porto is evolving as both the popularity in diverse dietary methods is rising, as well the number of expats and immigrants from all over the world moving to Portugal has grown in recent years.

There a bevy of options to eat here, and they are growing by the day.

Many new places open up, like 100 Culpa whose owner is vegan, that are 100% gluten-free and lactose-free and the vegetarian options are plentiful and delicious.

So, the near innumerable options for food lovers in Portugal continue to increase and there are pleasant options for all foodie types in Porto.

Hear more about the traditional vs. the diverse dining experience in Porto with the Expats Everywhere video here:

Thinking of moving to Portugal?

Kalie is available for one-on-one consultations, or you can bundle a course and a consult.