Food in Chile

On this page you will find information on food in Chile for Kids. Often we are asked which food to try when in Chile or which Chilean food is really popular also with kids. So here we share information on typical Food in Chile.

In Chile you can choose between lots of different and delicious foods. Did you know that empanadas are Chile's national food?

In Chile we also enjoy eating meat, here meat is really popular! Some examples of food that have meat in them are Choripan, Costillar, Cazuela and Empanadas de Pino which are empanadas that contain ground beef, olives and onions.

Here our favourite ten Chilean dishes:

Sopaipilla

Sopaipilla is a typical Chilean snack. This crispy pastry is sometimes topped with sugar, marshmallows or chancaca, which is a sweet sugarcane sauce or a savoury sauce such as pebre.

Food in Chile - Sopaipilla

Sopaipillas are traditionally made with pumpkin, squash, and are deep fried.

They are really easy to make: Take 1 cup of cooked squash, mash it, add 2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of butter and shape the dough into circles, then fry them until they have a brownish colour. That's all!

Pebre - Food in Chile

Pebre is a very spicy sauce. This pebre sauce is made of tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil herbs and peppers and lots of cilantro (coriander).

Pebre

Empanada

Empanadas are another popular snack in Latin American countries. They are probably one of the most typical food in Chile.

Empanadas

An Empanada is made with fried bread dough that is filled. The filling can consist of cheese and olives or cheese and ham or meat and hard-boiled egg or many other fillings.

Choripan

Choripan is a common street food in Chile. Choripan is similar to a hot dog and as such a piece of bread or roll filled with a chorizo (sausage).

Chilean 'hot dog': Choripan

You can put pebre or avocado on top.

The name of this typical Chilean snack comes from the two Spanish words chorizo and pan (crusty bread).

Marraqueta

The Chilean crispy bread rolls are called Marraqueta. These rolls are usually toasted and spread with avocado or with pebre, the hot spicy sauce.

Marraqueta are soft rolls made with wheat flour, water and yeast.

Cazuela - Food in Chile

Cazuela is a typical homemade stew made with beef or chicken or lamb and also includes potatoes, pumpkin and corn on the cob.

Cazuela

Often there are also bell peppers and carrots in the stew and lots of cilantro (which is the herb 'coriander' or as we call it in South Africa dhania)

Pastel de Choclo

Pastel de choclo is a typical Chilean casserole made with corn and meat, beef or bacon.

Pastel de Choclo

This casserole or stew is traditionally baked in a clay pot.

Did you know that corn is referred to as choclo in Chile?

Dulce de Leche or Manjar

Dulce de Leche is a very sweet dessert that tastes like a golden caramel sauce.

Dulce de Leche

This caramel cream is such a treat! Not only children love dulce de leche spread on their breakfast rolls. This tasty cream is also used in many desserts and baked goodies such as alfajores, see below.

Alfajores

Dainty little coconut treats are always welcome! Alfajores are sandwich cookies with dried coconut flakes and dulce de leche filling.

Alfajores

Here you see the cookies dusted with shredded coconut flakes.

And another sweet delicacy is cuchufli, which are caramel cream filled tubes with waffle-textured crusts. Mmmmmhhh!

Mote con huesillo

Mote con huesillo is a syrupy drink made from peach juice, honey and husked wheat or other grains and seeds.

Mote con Huesillo

Often the fruit nectar is quite thick, so one can use a dessert spoon to eat the sweet and delicious soaked wheat. By the way, mote is the Spanish word for wheat and huesillo is the Spanish word for a sun-dried peach. Thus the drink's name simply means 'peach with wheat'.

Popular pages

Chile Facts

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Food in Chile
Resources for further research

Find more information on Chilean food on these excellent websites:

Image credits on Food in Chile: shutterstock.com and own

Text credits: Chile facts page. This info was researched and collected by the Grade 4 students of the International school in Santiago/Chile 'Nido de Aguilas'. Find here more about the International School Nido de Aguilas, where the young authors of our Chile travel guide go to school.

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