10 Argentine Foods You Should Try at Least Once

Argentine food is often reduced to one thing: steak.

And yes, Argentina is famous for its beef. But spend a little time around an Argentine table and you'll discover that there is much more to the country's food than a perfectly cooked piece of meat.

Argentina's cuisine is shaped by its enormous geography, its Indigenous heritage, its European immigration and, above all, its culture of eating together. From the streets of Buenos Aires to the northern provinces, food is generous, social and rarely rushed.

Here are ten Argentine foods worth discovering.

1. Empanadas

You can't talk about Argentine food without starting with empanadas.

These small parcels of pastry are filled with everything from seasoned beef and chicken to cheese, spinach, corn and other regional combinations. They can be baked or fried, and the way they are folded often reveals their filling.

There isn't one definitive Argentine empanada. Salta has its style, Tucumán has another, Córdoba another, while Buenos Aires has developed an enormous variety.

They are everyday food in Argentina: eaten at home, bought from a bakery, shared at a party or enjoyed as street food.

2. Asado

Asado is Argentina's great culinary ritual.

It is often translated simply as "barbecue", but that doesn't really explain it. Asado is about the fire, the meat, the parrilla and, most importantly, the people gathered around it.

Beef is at the centre, with cuts such as asado de tira, vacío and entraña, often accompanied by chorizo, morcilla and provoleta.

There is no need to hurry. The fire takes its time, and so does everyone else.

3. Choripán

Take a grilled Argentine chorizo, put it inside fresh crusty bread and add chimichurri. That's a choripán.

Simple? Absolutely.

But it is also one of Argentina's most recognisable street foods.

You'll find it outside football stadiums, at festivals, markets, roadside grills and family asados. The name itself tells you exactly what it is: chori from chorizo and pan from bread.

The secret is in the balance between the smoky, juicy sausage, fresh bread and sharp, herb-filled chimichurri.

4. Milanesa

Milanesa is one of those dishes that feels completely at home in Argentina.

A thin slice of beef, coated in breadcrumbs and fried or baked until golden, it is commonly served with chips, mashed potatoes or salad.

The Argentine version has its roots in European cooking, particularly the Italian cotoletta alla milanese, but over generations it became part of everyday Argentine cuisine.

Then there is Milanesa a la Napolitana: tomato sauce, ham and melted cheese added on top before the whole thing goes back into the oven.

Despite its name, this dish was created in Buenos Aires—not Naples.

5. Provoleta

If you love cheese, don't leave Argentina without trying provoleta.

A thick slice of provolone cheese is placed directly on the grill until the outside develops a golden crust while the centre becomes soft and almost molten.

It is traditionally seasoned with oregano and sometimes chilli or other herbs.

Provoleta is usually served at the beginning of an asado, shared straight from the grill while everyone waits for the meat.

It is a small dish, but it has a big presence.

6. Locro

Locro takes us away from the grill and towards Argentina's Andean and Indigenous culinary heritage.

This thick, hearty stew is traditionally made with ingredients such as white corn, beans, pumpkin and potatoes, together with different cuts of meat.

Locro has a particularly strong place in Argentina's national celebrations and is traditionally associated with dates such as 25 May, when Argentina commemorates the May Revolution.

It is the kind of food that makes sense when shared from a large pot with a table full of people.

7. Humita

Humita is one of the foods that reveals Argentina's connection with the Andes.

Made primarily from fresh corn, onion and spices, it can be prepared as a creamy dish or wrapped in corn husks and steamed.

It is particularly associated with the northwestern provinces of Argentina, including Salta and Jujuy, where corn has been an important ingredient for centuries.

Unlike the meat-heavy image often associated with Argentine cuisine, humita shows another side of the country's food traditions.

8. Dulce de Leche

Few Argentine foods are as instantly recognisable as dulce de leche.

Made by slowly heating milk and sugar until they transform into a thick, smooth caramel-coloured cream, it appears everywhere in Argentine life.

Spread on toast. Filled into pastries. Layered into cakes. Spoonfuls straight from the jar.

It is also an essential ingredient in many alfajores.

Argentina and Uruguay have long debated the origins of dulce de leche, but in Argentina it has become deeply embedded in everyday food culture.

9. Alfajores

Two soft biscuits, a generous layer of dulce de leche and sometimes a coating of chocolate or coconut.

That's the basic idea behind an alfajor.

But there are countless variations across Argentina, from the famous cornstarch alfajores dusted with coconut to chocolate-covered versions and regional recipes.

They are found in cafés, bakeries, supermarkets and kiosks throughout the country and are one of Argentina's most popular sweet treats.

For many Argentinians, an alfajor is also a taste of childhood.

10. Yerba Mate

Mate isn't really a dish. It is something different: a ritual.

Yerba mate is a drink made by steeping dried leaves of the yerba mate plant in hot water and drinking it through a metal straw called a bombilla.

But describing mate simply as a drink misses the point.

Mate is passed from person to person. People sit together, talk, work, relax and share it. It can happen in a family kitchen, in a park, at work or on the road.

It is one of the clearest examples of how Argentine food culture is about connection as much as flavour.

A Country Best Discovered Through Its Food

These ten foods only scratch the surface of Argentine cuisine.

There are tortas fritas eaten on rainy afternoons, facturas with afternoon mate, pastel de papa, fugazzeta, morcilla, matambre and countless regional dishes that vary from one province to the next.

What connects them is not a single ingredient or cooking technique. It is a way of eating.

Argentine food is generous. It is influenced by many cultures but has developed its own unmistakable identity. And whether you're sitting around an asado in Buenos Aires or eating an empanada on a London street, the idea remains the same:

Good food brings people together.

At PORTENA, we bring that spirit from Buenos Aires to London, celebrating the flavours, traditions and food culture of Argentina through Argentine street food.

From Buenos Aires to the Streets of London.The Art of Flavour Unfolding.

References

Aguirre, P. (2017). Una Historia Social de la Comida. Lugar Editorial, Buenos Aires.

Barsky, O. & Barsky, M. (2017). La Cocina Argentina: Historia y Tradición. Editorial Catálogos, Buenos Aires.

Archetti, E. P. (1997). Guerreros y Campesinos: El Fútbol y el Asado en la Argentina. Editorial Sudamericana, Buenos Aires.

Ministerio de Turismo y Deportes de la Nación Argentina. Publications and resources on Argentine gastronomy and regional culinary traditions.

Academia Argentina de Gastronomía. Publications on Argentine gastronomic heritage.

Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Publications concerning Argentine regional food traditions and agricultural heritage.

Rock, D. (1987). Argentina 1516–1987: From Spanish Colonization to Alfonsín. University of California Press.