Brazilian Sides & Breads: Farofa, Pão de Queijo & More

🇧🇷 Brazil

Brazilian Side Dish & Bread Recipes

Brazilian tables build around rice and beans, but it's the sides that steal the show — toasted farofa, crispy cheese bread, and fried cassava all find their way onto every plate.

9 breads & sides to explore ↓

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Brazilian tables build around rice and beans, but it's the sides that steal the show — toasted farofa, crispy cheese bread, and fried cassava all find their way onto every plate.

Brazil's National Side Dish

Farofa

Brazil's national side dish — toasted cassava flour tossed with butter, bacon, or herbs, sprinkled over rice, beans, and barbecue alike.

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More Brazilian Breads & Sides to Try

Pão Francês

The crisp-crusted 50-gram roll Brazil buys fresh by weight every morning, and the base of almost every sandwich.

Pão de Queijo

Brazil's beloved cheese bread — crisp outside, chewy inside, made with tapioca flour and no gluten at all.

Mandioca Frita

Cassava root fried until golden and crisp — Brazil's answer to French fries.

Batata Palha

Thin, crunchy shoestring potato sticks, scattered over rice, salads, and stroganoff.

Brazilian Black Beans

Three ways to cook the daily pot of black beans: stovetop, pressure cooker and slow cooker.

Maionese de Batata

Brazilian potato salad with carrots and mayonnaise, at every churrasco and family lunch.

Vinagrete

Tomato, onion, pepper and cilantro in vinegar, the fresh salsa for grilled meat and beans.

Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá

A Portuguese-style salt cod salad with potatoes, peppers and olives.

A Guide to Brazilian Sides & Breads

No Brazilian plate is complete without farofa, toasted cassava flour that soaks up everything on the plate. Pão de queijo is the chewy cheese bread served at every breakfast, feijão tropeiro is beans with farofa, sausage and egg from Minas Gerais, and mandioca frita is the cassava fry that beats potatoes. Bolinho de bacalhau comes from the Portuguese side, and batata palha, shoestring potatoes, tops stroganoff and hot dogs alike.

Start with the recipes above, then see all Brazilian side dishes, or explore all Brazilian food and Latin American and Spanish breads and sides.

Craving more Brazilian flavors?

Explore our complete roundup, or browse all Brazilian food guides and recipes.

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