Cuban Main Dishes

🇨🇺 Cuba

Cuban Main Dish Recipes

From shredded beef simmered in tomato sofrito to rice-and-beans classics, explore the entrées that anchor Cuba's home-style cooking.

Picadillo Moros y Cristianos Yuca con Mojo +13
16 main dishes, each with a recipe ↓
📖 See the Full Roundup: Cuban Food: 36 Traditional Cuban Dishes →
Cuban main dishes build on a base of sofrito, citrus, and slow-cooked meat, always served alongside rice and beans. The result is comforting, deeply savory food shaped by generations of home cooks.
Ropa Vieja
Cuba's National Dish

Ropa Vieja

Cuba's national dish, ropa vieja slow-braises shredded beef in a garlicky tomato sofrito with peppers and onions until fall-apart tender — rich, comforting, and full of island flavor.

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More Cuban Main Dishes to Try

Picadillo
Picadillo
Cuban-style ground beef with olives & raisins
Moros y Cristianos
Moros y Cristianos
Classic Cuban black beans & rice
Yuca con Mojo
Yuca con Mojo
Cassava topped with garlic-citrus sauce
Cuban arroz con pollo
Arroz con Pollo
One-pot yellow rice and chicken with sofrito, beer and peas, the Sunday dish.
Cuban vaca frita crispy shredded beef
Vaca Frita
Shredded flank steak fried crisp with lime, garlic and onions.
Cuban lechón asado roast pork
Lechón Asado
Mojo-marinated roast pork, the centerpiece of every Cuban celebration.
Pressed Cuban sandwich
Cuban Sandwich
Roast pork, ham, Swiss, pickles and mustard pressed on Cuban bread.
Medianoche sandwich
Medianoche
The Cuban sandwich’s sweeter late-night cousin on soft egg bread.
Cuban bistec empanizado breaded steak
Bistec Empanizado
Thin steak breaded in cracker crumbs and fried, served with rice and a lime.
Cuban fricasé de pollo
Fricasé de Pollo
Chicken stewed with potatoes, olives and raisins in tomato sofrito.
Cuban enchilado de camarones shrimp creole
Enchilado de Camarones
Shrimp in a tomato, pepper and wine sauce over white rice.
Cuban garlic shrimp
Camarones al Ajillo
Shrimp sautéed in lots of garlic, olive oil and a splash of wine.
Cuban boliche stuffed pot roast
Boliche
Eye of round stuffed with chorizo and braised in wine and tomato.
Cuban pulpeta meatloaf
Pulpeta
Cuban meatloaf with a hard-boiled egg center, simmered in tomato sauce.
Pan con lechón sandwich
Pan con Lechón
Leftover roast pork and onions piled on Cuban bread with mojo.

A Guide to Cuban Main Dishes

Cuban mains are slow, savory and served with rice. Ropa vieja, shredded beef in a tomato and pepper sauce, is the national dish; picadillo is its ground-beef cousin with olives and raisins. Moros y cristianos, black beans cooked into the rice, comes alongside almost everything, and yuca con mojo, cassava under garlic-citrus sauce, is the side that can stand in for a main.

Start with the recipes above, then see the full roundup of 36 traditional Cuban dishes, or explore all Cuban food and recipes from across Latin America and Spain.

Craving more Cuban comfort food?

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

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