The national dish of Cabo Verde is Cachupa

🍲 Cachupa

Cachupa is a slow-cooked stew of corn (maize), beans, and vegetables, enriched with:

  • Fish (cachupa rica) or
  • Meat and sausages (also cachupa rica; the simpler version is cachupa pobre)

Common ingredients include sweet potato, cassava, pumpkin, cabbage, and onions. Leftover cachupa is often fried the next day as cachupa refogada, usually topped with a fried egg.

Cachupa reflects Cabo Verde’s 🇨🇻 island history, drought resilience, and Creole identity, blending African and Portuguese influences.

Other notable Cabo Verdean dishes

  • Lagosta grelhada – grilled lobster
  • Caldo de peixe – fish soup
  • Búzio – stewed sea snail
  • Pastel com diablo dentro – spicy tuna pastry