What to Eat in Paraguay
A guide to Paraguayan food: solid soup, ice-cold herbal tereré, cassava pastries, and hearty river fish from Asunción to the Chaco.

[ ] Try sopa paraguaya
    The world's only solid soup: a moist, rich baked square made from cornmeal, local fresh cheese, eggs, milk, lard, and slow-cooked onions. It is served warm or room temperature as an essential side dish for barbecues.
[ ] Try chipa almidón
    Gluten-free ring breads baked from cassava starch, corn flour, lard, local cheese, and anise seeds. They feature a crisp outer shell and a pleasantly chewy, savoury crumb.
[ ] Try chipa guasú
    A moist, creamy sweetcorn soufflé-cake prepared with fresh corn kernels, onions sauteed in lard, eggs, milk, and plenty of Paraguayan farm cheese. It bridges the line between savoury pudding and casserole.
[ ] Order vorí vorí
    A comforting, golden-yellow chicken soup filled with small, tender dumplings made of cornmeal and grated cheese. The dumplings slowly release starch into the broth, creating a velvety, deeply savoury texture.
[ ] Try mbejú
    A pan-fried griddle cake made from moist cassava starch, crumbled farmer's cheese, pork fat, and salt. Cooked quickly over high heat, it develops crispy charred edges while keeping a chewy, molten cheese core.
[ ] Experience Paraguayan asado
    The defining communal feast: huge cuts of local beef ribs, flank steak, and artisanal pork sausages slow-grilled over hardwood charcoal. It is always served with bottomless bowls of tender boiled cassava rather than bread.
[ ] Try pastel mandi'o
    Crescent-shaped fried pastries whose dough is crafted from mashed boiled cassava, cornmeal, and lard instead of wheat. The filling consists of seasoned minced beef, hard-boiled eggs, scallions, and cumin.
[ ] Try pajagua mascada
    Deep-fried croquettes made from a paste of boiled cassava and shredded beef seasoned with garlic, cumin, and scallions. They fry up into crunchy patties with an earthy, savoury filling.
[ ] Order pira caldo
    A rich river-fish chowder prepared with local catches like surubí (spotted catfish) or pacú, simmered with sweet peppers, onions, tomatoes, and finished with fresh milk and chunks of melting cheese.
[ ] Try soyo (so'o yosopy)
    A traditional nourishing soup made from ground lean beef pulverized with cold water and stirred into a simmering vegetable and rice broth until thick and velvety. The Guaraní name translates directly to 'meat juice'.
[ ] Taste chicharõ trenzado
    Strips of beef flank or pork belly braided into tight plaits, boiled in salted water with sour orange juice, and then fried crisp in their own rendered fat.
[ ] Eat a sándwich de empanada
    A legendary mid-morning snack consisting of a whole, deep-fried beef or cheese empanada tucked inside a soft white bread roll (*pan felipe*). It is the classic carb-heavy fuel for early laborers.
[ ] Try dulce de mamón
    Green unripe papaya sliced and simmered for hours in rich unrefined cane syrup with cloves until translucent and deeply amber. It is customarily served with a slice of fresh, salty cow's milk cheese.
[ ] Try mazamorra (kaguyjy)
    One of the oldest Guaraní desserts: white locro corn simmered in water with wood-ash lye until the kernels burst and soften. It is served chilled, drowned in whole milk or dark sugarcane molasses.
[ ] Taste kosereva
    An artisanal preserve made from the thick peel of bitter wild oranges (*apepú*), soaked in water to reduce astringency and slow-cooked in black sugarcane molasses. It has a complex bitter-sweet, caramelized tang.
[ ] Try kamby arró
    The Paraguayan interpretation of rice pudding, slow-cooked with creamy unpasteurized farm milk, sugar, cinnamon sticks, and lemon or bitter orange zest until thick, custardy, and aromatic.
[ ] Drink authentic tereré
    Paraguay's official national beverage: cured yerba mate steeped in ice-cold water, sipped through a metal straw (*bombilla*) from a hollowed bull's horn (*guampa*). The water pitcher is packed with freshly crushed medicinal herbs (*yuyos*).
[ ] Order mate cocido quemado
    A smoky breakfast drink prepared by caramelizing dry yerba mate leaves with sugar over live embers before quenching them with boiling water. Strained and topped with milk, it tastes like roasted, sweet herbal tea.
[ ] Drink fresh mosto helado
    Raw sugarcane stalks crushed through iron rollers (*trapiche*) on the sidewalk and served over cracked ice with a squeeze of bitter lime to temper the dense natural sweetness.
[ ] Sip caña paraguaya
    Paraguay's distinctive national spirit, distilled from concentrated, caramelized sugarcane molasses rather than raw juice, then aged in toasted oak or indigenous *incienso* wood barrels.
[ ] Drink traditional carrulim
    A ritual herbal drink whose name is an acronym for its three components: **Ca**ña (rum), **Ru**da (rue herb), and **Lim**ón (lime). By fierce tradition, seven sips are drunk on the morning of August 1st to ward off bad luck and sickness.

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/food-paraguay