Characteristic products
Starters, main courses, desserts and even drinks, corn is found on every plate, touching every aspect of Honduran cuisine. Before being eaten, this essential food is generally subjected to nixtamalization, a practice also found in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Nixtamalization consists in immersing the corn kernels in lime water, making them more digestible. This is how many different tortillas are prepared.
As in other Latin American countries, rice, potatoes, yuca (a type of manioc), plantains and quequisque are among the most widely consumed foods. Honduran vegetables are varied: carrots, cabbage, squash, tomatoes, beans and peppers are commonplace. Preserved in vinegar, the vegetables can be used to makeencurtido, the region's flagship aperitif. Coconut is cooked in its liquid form in many dishes. A fresh cheese called cuajada and a mature cheese known as queso duro blando are also available.
The spices and herbs most commonly used in Honduran cuisine are achiote (which tastes like nutmeg), cinnamon, ginger, pepper, garlic, oregano, coriander and yerbe buena (a mint-like herb). The most popular meats and fish are common to the whole region: beef, pork, chicken, as well as seafood such as shrimp, clams and lobster delight Hondurans and Nicaraguans alike.
Dining hours are the same throughout Central America. Breakfast is taken between 6am and 9am. Then comes lunch, between 11am and 3pm, before dinner, the lightest meal, between 6pm and 11pm. Large cities mix traditional restaurants with foreign cuisine, notably Italian, Chinese and Indian.
The region's great classics
Some recipes are shared with Honduras' neighbors Nicaragua and El Salvador. The nacatamal is a tamale of mashed corn and meat wrapped in a corn or banana leaf. Tamales come in different types: tamales de frijoles, made with mashed beans, tamugas, made with rice paste, and montucas, made with sweet corn paste.
Plantain chips, known as tajadas or tostones, are another popular Honduran dish. Pastelitos, or meat-filled turnovers, are a Latin American specialty. Gallo pinto,arroz con frijoles and casamiento are rice-based dishes sautéed with beans and onions. If you add chicken colored with achiote to the rice, you getarroz con pollo, another typical Latin American dish. Black beans, or frijoles, are also found in many Honduran dishes. These include sopa de frijoles, a soup of these dried beans served with rice, vegetables and cream. But also frijoles refritos, a black bean purée. Another Latin American dish is sopa mondongo, a tripe and vegetable soup. Guacamole is another typical dish, now world-famous.
On the meat side, grilled meats are very popular. Carne asada (grilled meat), chorizo (a famous spicy sausage that differs from Spanish chorizo), carnitas (marinated minced pork) and chicharrones (pork belly or bacon) are among the most popular cooked meats. Barbecued together, the meats are known as churrasco. Churrasco is accompanied by chimichurri sauce (olive oil and vinegar flavored with herbs) and salsa chimol (spicy sauce with radishes, tomatoes, onions, coriander and lemon).
On the seaside, rondon, a fish stew cooked with coconut milk, plantains, yams, tomatoes and onions, is served. Shrimps are used in ceviche de camarones (cooked with tomatoes and coriander in lemon juice) and camarones al jillo (sautéed with garlic).
Among the recipes specific to Honduras, street vendors offer baleadas, tortillas stuffed with mashed beans, sour cream, queso fresco, omelette, marinated meat and/or onions. Closely related, catrachitas are small triangles of fried tortillas, covered with bean purée, cheese and hot sauce. Chilindrinas are rectangles of fried tortillas with hot tomato sauce and cheese. Chilaquiles are tortillas placed in several layers in a container and topped with cheese, cooked chicken and hot tomato sauce. The whole thing is baked lasagne-style.
Similar to tamales, ticucos are garnished with whole black beans, chipilín leaves and loroco flowers. Sopa de caracol is a soup made with conch - a huge Caribbean shellfish - cooked in coconut milk with spices, manioc, coriander and green bananas. Other variations include crab, fish or shrimp. Pescado frito al estilo Lago de Yojoa is a spicy, fried white fish, usually served with pickled red cabbage, pickled onions and fried plantains.
Desserts and drinks
Common to the entire region, the majority of desserts enjoyed in Honduras are also served in neighboring countries. These include tres leches (a moist cake made with condensed milk and whipped cream),arroz con leche (rice pudding), egg flan, torrejas (cinnamon French toast) and rosquillas (fritters). Typical Honduran desserts include macheteadas (sugar doughnuts),ayote en miel (candied squash in syrup) and pan de coco (coconut milk brioche).
Honduras is the world's sixth-largest coffee producer, with some 400,674 tonnes produced in 2023. The country's many humid mountains are ideal for growing the famous beans, which need coolness and humidity to grow optimally. The origins of this widely consumed beverage lie in Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula. Coffee circulated thanks to Arab and then Ottoman merchants, who brought it to the Venetians and then to the rest of Europe. The coffee plant was then imported by Spanish colonists to the West Indies, then Mexico, and finally throughout Central America in the 18th century. Today, it's possible to learn more about coffee production by visiting plantations. You can buy coffee directly from the growers in their stores. Arabica, a variety of coffee, is widely produced in the region. Honduras' Marcala coffee is one of Central America's most famous coffees. It plays a major economic and cultural role in these countries, where it is highly prized. A breakfast drink par excellence, coffee is mainly drunk black with sugar. Sometimes it is served with a sweet treat for an afternoon snack.
Central America grows many fruits, including pineapple, papaya, passion fruit, avocado, banana and mango. There are also fruits with which we are less familiar, such as sapote, jacote and tamarind (often made into a drink).
Agua fresca refers to infused water.Agua de Jamaica is made with hibiscus roselle flowers, andagua de ensalada with pieces of various fruits. Corn and atole can also be used to make drinks. For example, chilate de maíz in Honduras (made with sweet corn, star anise and Jamaican pepper). Or chicha (a sweet drink made from corn, sometimes fermented, and fruit).
As for spirits, beer is popular in Central America. In Honduras, you'll find Port Royal and Imperial. Rum is also very popular. Honduras is home to the Roatan Rum Company, located on the island of Roatan.
