Costa Rican Food

What food is costa rica known for?

What is Costa Rican food known for? Fresh fruit is plentiful in Costa Rica, passionfruit, guava, papaya, jocotes, and mango are some of the common fruits found in Costa Rica. Bananas are actually not native to Costa Rica, but they grow abundantly there now. If you eat traditional Costa Rican food, be ready to eat rice and beans! I think I ate more rice and beans than anything else. A typical Tico breakfast is plantain, rice and beans, egg, and a side of fruit.

If you go to any markets in Costa Rica, not big stores, but outdoor produce markets the fruits and vegetables are typically very cheap. I made some of my meals while at the farm to save money and $30 of food carried me through the week. I bought vegetables, oats, eggs, beans, lentils, corn tortillas, potatoes, cheese, yogurt, and fruit. I always had a protein, vegetable, and starch in my meals. The beans and lentils are $1 for a large bag of dried and are full of fiber, protein, and carbohydrates so they fill you up quick. If I needed a cheap and quick meal to make for dinner, I made tacos with bagged refried beans, lettuce, sauteed bell peppers, and cheese. Eggs are also a cheap protein to buy and easy to make for breakfast, as well as oatmeal. Most of the yogurt is liquid so a glass of yogurt with your oatmeal with added nut/dried fruit mix will be a more filing breakfast than oatmeal alone. This is if you have a little kitchen and are eating out some of the time and cooking some of the time.

A fun fact! - You will see restaurants with soda in their name quite often in Costa Rica, at first I thought they just really loved their pop! However, I found out that soda means it is a local family-owned small restaurant. It is generally traditional food and cheaper.

Traditional meals:  

• Casado contains rice and beans, salad, plantain, a protein (beef, chicken, egg, pork), cheese, and bread or a tortilla
• Empanadas
• Ceviche
• Various soups, especially bean based
• Rice and meats
• Tamales wrapped in a banana leaf instead of a corn husk.
• Patacones, fried and flattened plantains with various sauces.

My favorite breakfast was the baked corn empanadas stuffed with cheese. It was pan seared without a lot of oil not baked in an oven. It is a great gluten free option, and you can also stuff it with refried beans and have vegetables on the side of it to increase the nutritional value.

Overall, the casados, soups, and ceviche tend to be the healthier options out of traditional food. There are also a lot of fresh fruit smoothies to have with breakfast or as a snack. It was fairly easy to be gluten free in Costa Rica since the primary carbohydrates are corn tortillas, beans, plantains, and rice. Double check if something has wheat flour added and always ask about the empanadas because some might be made with wheat instead of masa (corn).

If you are interested in making a gluten free Costa Rican corn empanada here is a recipe!

Ingredients:

• Maseca corn tortilla flour 2 cups
• Cold water                                                 1 ½ cups
• Goat cheese 2 cups
• Black beans, canned or fresh 1 can
• Red bell pepper ½ large or 1 small, diced
• Jalapeno 1 small, diced
• Garlic 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Red onion 1 small or ½ large diced  
• Salt To taste
• Cilantro ¼ cup, chopped
• Avocado oil 3 Tbsp.                                                                       

For salsa:

• Avocado 1 medium, diced
• Tomato 1 medium, diced
• Lime juice ½ lime, juiced
• Red onion ¼ large
• Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:

1. Place 1 Tbsp. of oil in a saute pan and put over medium heat. Place diced onion, diced jalapeno and minced garlic in the pan and cook until the onions are translucent, then add diced bell pepper. Once bell pepper is soft, add black beans with a little bit of their liquid. Let cook for a few minutes then mash black beans with a potato masher. Mash until about half are smooth and some are whole. Add cilantro and salt to taste. Let cool slightly.
2. Mix the Maseca flour, 1 tsp. of salt, and cold water into a bowl
3. Divide the dough into 8-10 smaller balls
4. Place a piece of wax paper above and below the dough ball, press between two plates to flatten the dough ball, or If you have a tortilla press you can use that
5. If you are not using a tortilla press, once flattened roll out slightly with a rolling pan to thin out the dough without breaking
6. Once thinned, fill on one side with the cheese and a spoon of the bean mixture. Fold the wax paper with dough over so it is in the half moon shape. Press the ends together to close the empanada.
7. Carefully peel off the empanada from the wax paper and place into the sauté pan with 2 Tbsp. of hot oil
8. Keep heat at a medium, not too hot or else the outside will cook fast and inside will remain raw.

For avocado salsa:

9. Mix diced avocado, red onion, tomato, lime juice, and salt to taste in a bowl.
10. Serve on top of the empanada. Enjoy!