Moqueca Baiana
A rich and flavorful Brazilian seafood stew with coconut milk.
23 recipes using tomatoes — Feijoada, churrasco, brigadeiros — bold, tropical and communal.
These 23 brazilian tomatoes recipes are ready in about 59 minutes on average, with 70–680 kcal per serving, and 22% are rated easy enough for a weeknight. Every recipe includes exact ingredient quantities, step-by-step instructions and full nutrition per serving.
Brazilian food is bold and communal, from smoky churrasco to coconut-rich seafood moquecas and the slow-cooked comfort of feijoada. When Brazilian cooks work with tomatoes, they reach for garlic, lime, coriander, dendê (palm) oil, coconut and malagueta chilli, and the techniques that come up most across these recipes are simmering, sautéing, marinating and boiling.
Sweet-acidic fruit that forms the backbone of sauces, stews and salads across nearly every cuisine. In this collection it's most often cooked with onion, olive oil, garlic, coconut milk, lime juice and red bell pepper. The dishes here span brazilian classics ready in as little as 15 minutes to slower, more involved cooking that rewards a relaxed afternoon.
Reader favourite: Brazilian Churrasco (Gaucho-Style Grilled Beef) is the highest-rated dish in this collection at 4.9★ from 3,150 ratings.
A rich and flavorful Brazilian seafood stew with coconut milk.
A vibrant Bahian fish stew cooked in coconut milk and dendê palm oil with tomatoes, peppers and coriander.
Brazil's signature BBQ — prime picanha beef salted and grilled over charcoal, carved tableside in the rodízio style.
Brazil's iconic fish stew from Bahia — firm white fish simmered with coconut milk, dendê palm oil, tomatoes, peppers, and coriander into a rich, aromatic broth.
The shining centerpiece of Afro-Brazilian Bahia cooking — firm white fish and shrimp simmered in coconut milk, palm oil, tomato and pepper, finished with cilantro and lime over white rice.
Bahian creamy shrimp stew with peanuts, coconut milk, and dendê oil — Afro-Brazilian masterpiece.
Rich Bahian fish stew with coconut milk, dendê oil, peppers and lime — a treasure of Afro-Brazilian cuisine.
Sacred street food of Bahia: crispy black-eyed pea fritters deep-fried in dendê palm oil, split and filled with vatapá, camarão seco and caruru.
The legendary Brazilian gaucho barbecue — large cuts of beef seasoned only with coarse rock salt, grilled over live charcoal and carved tableside.
Coconut, tomato and dendê fish stew from Bahia, bright with lime and cilantro.
Coconut fish stew with peppers, tomatoes, lime and cilantro.
White fish simmered in a vibrant coconut milk and palm oil sauce with peppers and tomato, a Bahian coastal classic.
Sliced hearts of palm tossed with tomato, onion and a light vinaigrette, a refreshing Brazilian salad found at nearly every churrasco.
Chicken braised with okra until the stew turns naturally thick and silky, a Minas Gerais countryside specialty.
A whole squash hollowed and filled with seasoned ground beef, rice and vegetables, then baked until tender, a comforting Brazilian family dinner.
A light, protein-rich Brazilian-style salad of chickpeas, tomato and fresh basil in a simple lime vinaigrette.
Beef chuck slow-braised with tomato, onion and root vegetables until fall-apart tender, a comforting everyday Brazilian family stew.
Tender Brazilian beef meatballs simmered in a garlicky tomato sauce with bell pepper, served over rice with black beans.
White fish fillets simmered in a light coconut milk and tomato sauce with peppers and cilantro, a coastal Brazilian favorite.
A tangy Brazilian relish of finely diced tomato, onion, and bell pepper in a red wine vinegar dressing, a classic churrasco side.
A layered Brazilian bake of sauteed mixed vegetables topped with creamy mashed cassava or potato and melted cheese.
Smoky paprika shrimp simmered in coconut milk over rice, inspired by Bahia's seafood cooking.
Bell peppers filled with smoky tomato rice and melted cheese, a classic Brazilian family dinner.
Ripe tomatoes smell fragrant at the stem and give slightly to a gentle squeeze. For cooking out of season, good-quality tinned tomatoes often beat pale fresh ones.
Store at room temperature, never the fridge, which kills their flavour and texture. Score and blanch to slip off skins; salting slices draws out excess water for salads.
A low-calorie source of vitamin C, potassium and the antioxidant lycopene — which actually becomes more available when tomatoes are cooked.
Most of these 23 Brazilian tomatoes recipes are ready in around 59 minutes from start to finish. The quickest, Salada de Palmito (Brazilian Hearts of Palm Salad), takes about 15 minutes, while the slower-cooked dishes run up to 140 minutes.
Across this collection they range from about 70 to 680 kcal per serving, averaging 404 kcal — Vinagrete (Brazilian Tomato and Onion Relish Salad) is the lightest option at 70 kcal.
Moqueca Baiana (Bahian Coconut Fish Stew) is a great place to start — it's rated easy and comes together in about 50 minutes. 22% of the recipes here are beginner-friendly.
In these recipes, tomatoes is most often paired with onion, olive oil, garlic, coconut milk, lime juice and red bell pepper. Brazilian kitchens also lean on garlic, lime, coriander, dendê (palm) oil, coconut and malagueta chilli.
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