[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":440},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:francesinha":3,"recipe:country:portugal":222},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":43,"serveWith":53,"storage":55,"faq":56,"equipment":72,"baseServings":79,"prepMinutes":80,"cookMinutes":81,"difficulty":82,"course":83,"diet":85,"mainIngredients":86,"ingredients":91,"instructions":166,"nutrition":196,"images":204,"keywords":214,"publishedAt":220,"updatedAt":220,"authorSlug":221},"francesinha","Francesinha (Porto Sandwich in Beer Sauce)","Francesinha","fran-seh-ZEEN-ya","portugal","Porto","🥪","Porto's heavyweight sandwich: steak, fresh sausage and ham stacked between white bread, sealed under melted cheese and flooded with a spiced tomato-and-beer sauce.","A francesinha is a sandwich only in the sense that bread is involved. Between two slices of plain white loaf go a thin steak, a fresh sausage split lengthways, cured chouriço and ham; the whole stack is then blanketed in mild melting cheese, run under fierce heat until the cheese slumps over the sides, and drowned in a hot, brick-red sauce built from tomato, beer and stock with a piri-piri edge. The taste is savory and faintly sweet, with the beer giving a bitter backbone that keeps all that meat and cheese from turning heavy. Fries go around the edge to mop up, and a fried egg on top is standard rather than showing off. It is eaten with a knife and fork and a cold beer, and one is enough for anybody.","The francesinha belongs entirely to Porto — it is not a Portuguese national dish that happens to be popular in the north, it is a city dish that the rest of the country visits Porto to eat. The account usually given credits Daniel David da Silva, a Portuguese emigrant who returned from France and Belgium in the mid twentieth century and rebuilt the croque-monsieur for a colder, hungrier, more carnivorous audience. The name means \"little Frenchwoman\", which fits that story neatly; how much of the detail is documented and how much is repeated restaurant lore is genuinely unclear, and Porto is not especially interested in settling it.\n\nWhat is beyond dispute is the sauce, and the sauce is the whole argument. Every house that takes francesinha seriously guards its own recipe, and the variables are real: how much beer, whether port or brandy goes in, whether the base is tomato or a darker meat stock, how much piri-piri, whether it is thickened with flour or reduced down. Locals rank cafés by sauce alone, argue about them at length, and will tell you that a francesinha with weak sauce is just an expensive toasted sandwich. Some places serve the sauce so hot it keeps bubbling at the table; others deliver a jug of extra on the side, which is understood as generosity rather than a shortcut.\n\nIn Porto it is lunch, it is dinner, and above all it is what you eat after a long night, in a bright café with paper napkins and a bottle of cold lager. The cheese is deliberately mild — queijo flamengo, a soft Edam-type — because the point is a smooth melt that binds the layers, not a flavour that competes. The recipe below is a home version: the sauce takes half an hour, which is nothing next to the secrecy it inspires, and it is close enough to the real thing to start an argument.",[15,16,17,18],"The sauce is built properly — roux, aromatics, beer, stock and tomato simmered and blended — rather than thinned ketchup with chili flakes.","Layer order matters, and this recipe gives it: steak against the bread, fat sausage in the middle, cheese sealing the top so the sauce sits on the outside.","Honest about the cheese: names the real one, tells you what to buy when you cannot get it, and explains why sharp cheddar is the wrong instinct.","The whole build works in a home oven with a grill setting — no salamander, no restaurant kit.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Use bread with structure — a plain white sandwich loaf cut thick, or lightly toasted pain de mie. Soft supermarket bread collapses into paste under the sauce.","Choose a mild melting cheese. Sharp cheddar fights the sauce and turns greasy; flamengo, Edam, young Gouda or low-moisture mozzarella all melt smoothly and stay quiet.","Blend the sauce and pass it through a sieve. Restaurant francesinha sauce is glossy and completely smooth, and a stick blender plus thirty seconds of straining gets you there.","Sauce consistency should coat the back of a spoon but still pour freely — thicker than soup, thinner than gravy. It thickens again as it cools on the plate.","Assemble on the plate you will serve on, or on an ovenproof dish with a rim. Sauce belongs in a pool around the sandwich, and a flat plate loses half of it to the table.","Cook the fries separately and add them at the last second so they stay crisp for at least the first few forkfuls.",[27,31,35,39],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Queijo flamengo","Edam, young Gouda, mild cheddar or low-moisture mozzarella","You want stretch and mildness. Avoid anything aged or sharp — it will overpower the sauce and split into oil under the grill.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Linguiça \u002F fresh Portuguese sausage","A mild fresh pork sausage, split lengthways, or a good frankfurter","The middle layer needs a soft, fatty sausage for juiciness. The cured chouriço is a separate layer and does a different job.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Lager beer in the sauce","Alcohol-free lager, or replace with extra beef stock plus a teaspoon of tomato paste","You lose some of the bitter edge that cuts the richness; add a small splash of vinegar at the end to compensate.",{"original":40,"swap":41,"note":42},"Port wine","Brandy, medium sherry, or leave it out","Optional in most home versions. It adds a sweet, slightly raisiny depth rather than anything you would identify as wine.",[44,47,50],{"name":45,"description":46},"Francesinha com ovo","The standard upgrade: a fried egg slid on top just before the sauce goes over, so the yolk breaks into it. Most Porto cafés assume you want this.",{"name":48,"description":49},"Francesinha do mar","A seafood version built with shrimp and white fish instead of the meat layers, with the same cheese blanket and sauce. Less common, and a genuine local option rather than a tourist invention.",{"name":51,"description":52},"Francesinha vegetariana","Grilled mushrooms, roasted peppers and a thick slab of cheese in place of the meats, with the sauce made on vegetable stock. Increasingly easy to find in Porto.",[54],"Thick-cut fries around the plate, a fried egg on top, and cold lager. Nothing else is needed and nothing else fits.","The sauce is the part worth making ahead — it keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes well for 3 months, and it improves on the second day as the beer bitterness settles. Reheat it gently, whisking, and thin with a splash of stock if it has set too firm. An assembled francesinha does not keep: the bread turns to pulp within minutes and reheating a sauced sandwich is a lost cause. Build and grill only what you are about to eat.",[57,60,63,66,69],{"question":58,"answer":59},"What cheese is actually used in a francesinha?","Queijo flamengo, a mild Portuguese semi-soft cheese of the Edam family. It is chosen for a smooth, even melt and a deliberately quiet flavour so it binds the layers without competing with the sauce. Edam, young Gouda, mild cheddar or low-moisture mozzarella all substitute well; aged or sharp cheeses are the wrong choice because they separate into oil under high heat.",{"question":61,"answer":62},"Why is my sauce bitter?","Usually too much beer, or beer that was too hoppy to begin with. A plain lager or pilsner is the right choice; IPAs and strong ales carry far more bitterness and it concentrates as the sauce reduces. If you have already overshot, balance it with a pinch of sugar, a splash of port, and a little extra tomato, then simmer a few minutes more.",{"question":64,"answer":65},"Can I make the sauce ahead?","Yes, and it is the sensible way to cook this at home. The sauce refrigerates for 4 days and freezes for 3 months, and most cooks find the flavour rounder on day two. Warm it gently before serving and loosen it with stock if it has thickened in the fridge. Assemble and grill the sandwich itself only at the last minute.",{"question":67,"answer":68},"How do I stop the bread going soggy?","Toast the bread lightly before you build the stack, put the steak directly against the bottom slice as a barrier, and pour the sauce around and over only at the moment of serving. A francesinha is meant to be a little sodden by the end, but the first few bites should still have structure.",{"question":70,"answer":71},"Is a francesinha the same as a croque-monsieur?","It descends from one, but the two are no longer close relatives. A croque-monsieur is ham and cheese with béchamel; a francesinha adds steak, fresh sausage and cured chouriço, swaps the béchamel for a hot tomato-beer sauce, and is served swimming in it with fries. It is roughly three times the meal.",[73,74,75,76,77,78],"Heavy frying pan","Saucepan","Stick blender","Fine sieve","Ovenproof plates or a shallow baking dish","Oven with a grill\u002Fbroiler setting",4,25,45,"medium",[84],"main",[],[87,88,89,90],"ham","cheddar","tomato","chorizo",[92,97,102,107,110,115,117,120,124,126,130,134,136,139,143,147,149,151,154,156,158,162],{"ref":93,"qty":94,"unit":95,"name":93,"group":96},"butter",40,"g","For the sauce",{"ref":98,"qty":99,"unit":100,"name":101,"group":96},"onion",1,"piece","onion, finely chopped",{"ref":103,"qty":104,"unit":105,"name":106,"group":96},"garlic",3,"clove","garlic, sliced",{"ref":108,"qty":99,"unit":100,"name":109,"group":96},"bay-leaf","bay leaf",{"ref":111,"qty":112,"unit":113,"name":114,"group":96},"flour",2,"tbsp","plain flour",{"qty":112,"unit":113,"name":116,"group":96},"tomato paste",{"ref":89,"qty":118,"unit":95,"name":119,"group":96},400,"chopped tomatoes or passata",{"qty":121,"unit":122,"name":123,"group":96},330,"ml","lager beer",{"qty":118,"unit":122,"name":125,"group":96},"beef stock",{"qty":127,"unit":122,"name":128,"optional":129,"group":96},50,"port wine",true,{"qty":99,"unit":131,"name":132,"note":133,"group":96},"tsp","piri-piri sauce or hot chili sauce","more to taste — the sauce should have a clear warm edge",{"qty":99,"unit":131,"name":135,"optional":129,"group":96},"Worcestershire sauce",{"ref":137,"qty":99,"unit":131,"name":138,"group":96},"smoked-paprika","sweet or smoked paprika",{"qty":140,"unit":141,"name":142,"group":96},null,"to taste","salt, black pepper and a pinch of sugar",{"qty":144,"unit":100,"name":145,"group":146},8,"thick slices of plain white sandwich loaf","For the sandwiches",{"qty":118,"unit":95,"name":148,"group":146},"thin beef steaks (sirloin or rump), beaten to 5 mm",{"qty":79,"unit":100,"name":150,"group":146},"fresh pork sausages (linguiça or mild fresh sausage), split lengthways",{"ref":90,"qty":152,"unit":95,"name":153,"group":146},100,"cured chouriço, thinly sliced",{"ref":87,"qty":144,"unit":100,"name":155,"group":146},"slices of cooked ham",{"ref":88,"qty":118,"unit":95,"name":157,"group":146},"mild melting cheese (queijo flamengo, Edam, young Gouda or mild cheddar), sliced",{"ref":159,"qty":79,"unit":100,"name":160,"optional":129,"group":161},"eggs","eggs, for frying","To serve",{"ref":163,"qty":164,"unit":95,"name":165,"group":161},"potato",800,"potatoes, cut for chips, or ready-made frozen fries",[167,171,176,179,182,185,189,193],{"title":168,"text":169,"timerSeconds":170},"Start the sauce base","Melt the butter in a saucepan and cook the onion, garlic and bay leaf over medium-low heat for 8 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent with no colour at the edges. Stir in the flour and paprika and cook for a full minute, until the raw flour smell is gone and the mixture smells nutty and toasted.",480,{"title":172,"text":173,"timerSeconds":174,"tip":175},"Build and simmer","Stir in the tomato paste and cook for another minute, then pour in the beer in three additions, whisking smooth each time before adding more. Add the chopped tomatoes, stock, port if using, piri-piri and Worcestershire, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.",1500,"The sauce should reduce by about a quarter and darken from orange-red to a deep brick colour.",{"title":177,"text":178},"Blend and season","Fish out the bay leaf, then blitz the sauce smooth with a stick blender and push it through a fine sieve back into the pan. Taste hard: it wants salt, a pinch of sugar to answer the beer, and more piri-piri until you feel warmth at the back of the throat. Keep it hot over the lowest heat.",{"title":180,"text":181},"Cook the meats","Fry the sausages in a hot dry pan until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes, then set aside. Season the steaks and sear them in the same pan for 60–90 seconds a side, just until browned — they will get more heat under the grill. Warm the chouriço slices briefly in the pan fat.",{"title":183,"text":184},"Fry the potatoes","Cook the chips to your usual method — deep-fried, air-fried or oven-baked — and keep them hot and crisp. Time them to be ready as the sandwiches come out from under the grill, because they go soft fast once the sauce is on the plate.",{"title":186,"text":187,"tip":188},"Stack the sandwiches","Toast the bread lightly. On each bottom slice lay a steak, then the split sausage, then chouriço and two slices of ham, and close with the second slice of bread. Drape the cheese over the top and down both long sides so it will seal the stack completely.","Keep the layers within the footprint of the bread — anything hanging over the edge burns under the grill.",{"title":190,"text":191,"timerSeconds":192},"Grill until the cheese slumps","Heat the oven grill to its highest setting. Grill the sandwiches on ovenproof plates for 4–6 minutes, until the cheese has melted right down the sides and is blistered gold in patches. Meanwhile fry the eggs, if using, keeping the yolks soft.",300,{"title":194,"text":195},"Flood and serve","Slide a fried egg onto each sandwich, pile the chips around the edge of the plate, and ladle the hot sauce generously over the top so it pools around the base. Serve immediately, with a jug of extra sauce and a very cold beer.",{"calories":197,"protein":198,"carbs":199,"fat":200,"fiber":201,"sugar":202,"sodium":203,"estimated":129},1080,58,74,60,6,12,2300,[205,208,210,212],{"src":206,"alt":207},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffrancesinha\u002Fhero.jpg","Francesinha sandwich under melted cheese, flooded with red beer sauce and ringed with fries",{"src":209,"alt":207},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffrancesinha\u002Fhero-16x9.jpg",{"src":211,"alt":207},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffrancesinha\u002Fhero-4x3.jpg",{"src":213,"alt":207},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffrancesinha\u002Fhero-1x1.jpg",[4,215,216,217,218,219],"porto","portuguese sandwich","beer sauce","melted cheese","steak 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rice",{"slug":250,"title":251,"nativeName":252,"countrySlug":8,"region":253,"baseServings":79,"prepMinutes":229,"cookMinutes":229,"restMinutes":254,"difficulty":82,"course":255,"diet":256,"mainIngredients":257,"images":259,"keywords":263,"publishedAt":270,"updatedAt":270,"authorSlug":221},"bacalhau-a-bras","Bacalhau à Brás (Salt Cod with Eggs and Potatoes)","Bacalhau à Brás","Lisbon",1440,[84],[232],[258,159,163,98],"white-fish",[260],{"src":261,"alt":262},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fbacalhau-a-bras\u002Fhero.jpg","Plate of bacalhau à Brás — creamy eggs with flaked salt cod and shoestring potatoes, topped with parsley and black olives",[264,265,266,267,268,159,269],"bacalhau","salt cod","portuguese cod","bacalhau à brás","lisbon","batata palha","2026-08-18",{"slug":272,"title":273,"nativeName":274,"countrySlug":8,"region":275,"baseServings":79,"prepMinutes":276,"cookMinutes":276,"restMinutes":170,"difficulty":277,"course":278,"diet":280,"mainIngredients":281,"images":284,"keywords":288,"publishedAt":220,"updatedAt":220,"authorSlug":221},"bifana","Bifana (Portuguese Marinated Pork Sandwich)","Bifana","Lisbon and the Alentejo",20,"easy",[279,84],"street-food",[233],[282,103,108,283],"pork-shoulder","paprika",[285],{"src":286,"alt":287},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fbifana\u002Fhero.jpg","Crusty roll filled with thin slices of marinated pork, sauce soaking into the bread",[272,289,290,291,292,293],"pork sandwich","portuguese street food","garlic white wine marinade","papo seco","vendas 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bread",{"slug":322,"title":323,"nativeName":324,"countrySlug":8,"region":325,"baseServings":79,"prepMinutes":276,"cookMinutes":326,"difficulty":277,"course":327,"diet":329,"mainIngredients":331,"images":334,"keywords":338,"publishedAt":270,"updatedAt":270,"authorSlug":221},"caldo-verde","Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup)","Caldo verde","Minho",35,[328],"soup",[233,330],"nut-free",[163,332,103,333],"cabbage","olive-oil",[335],{"src":336,"alt":337},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fcaldo-verde\u002Fhero.jpg","Bowl of caldo verde with thin ribbons of greens, creamy potato broth and seared chouriço coins",[339,340,341,342,343,319],"caldo verde","portuguese soup","kale soup","potato soup","chouriço",{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":79,"prepMinutes":80,"cookMinutes":81,"difficulty":82,"course":345,"diet":346,"mainIngredients":347,"images":348,"keywords":350,"publishedAt":220,"updatedAt":220,"authorSlug":221},[84],[],[87,88,89,90],[349],{"src":206,"alt":207},[4,215,216,217,218,219],{"slug":352,"title":353,"nativeName":354,"countrySlug":8,"region":253,"baseServings":202,"prepMinutes":200,"cookMinutes":355,"restMinutes":300,"difficulty":356,"course":357,"diet":359,"mainIngredients":361,"images":363,"keywords":367,"publishedAt":220,"updatedAt":220,"authorSlug":221},"pastel-de-nata","Pastel de Nata (Lisbon Custard Tart)","Pastel de nata",15,"hard",[358],"dessert",[360],"vegetarian",[111,93,362,159],"milk",[364],{"src":365,"alt":366},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fpastel-de-nata\u002Fhero.jpg","Portuguese custard tarts with blistered dark caramelised tops and flaky spiralled pastry shells, dusted with cinnamon",[368,369,370,371,268,372],"pastel de nata","portuguese custard tart","pasteis de belem","laminated pastry","egg tart",{"slug":374,"title":375,"nativeName":376,"countrySlug":8,"region":377,"baseServings":79,"prepMinutes":276,"cookMinutes":355,"restMinutes":229,"difficulty":277,"course":378,"diet":381,"mainIngredients":382,"images":383,"keywords":387,"publishedAt":220,"updatedAt":220,"authorSlug":221},"peixinhos-da-horta","Peixinhos da Horta (Portuguese Battered Green Beans)","Peixinhos da horta","Lisbon and central Portugal",[379,380],"appetizer","snack",[360,233,330],[111,159,333],[384],{"src":385,"alt":386},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fpeixinhos-da-horta\u002Fhero.jpg","Pile of crisp battered flat green beans with blistered golden coating and lemon wedges",[388,389,390,391,392,393],"peixinhos da horta","battered green beans","portuguese appetizer","tempura origin","petiscos","fried vegetables",{"slug":395,"title":396,"nativeName":397,"countrySlug":8,"baseServings":79,"prepMinutes":80,"cookMinutes":127,"restMinutes":398,"difficulty":82,"course":399,"diet":400,"mainIngredients":402,"images":405,"keywords":409,"publishedAt":270,"updatedAt":270,"authorSlug":221},"piri-piri-chicken","Piri-Piri Chicken (Frango Piri-Piri)","Frango piri-piri",240,[84],[233,401,330],"gluten-free",[403,103,404,283],"chicken","lemon",[406],{"src":407,"alt":408},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fpiri-piri-chicken\u002Fhero.jpg","Spatchcocked piri-piri chicken with blistered charred skin, brushed with red chile sauce and lemon wedges",[410,411,412,413,414,415,416],"piri piri","frango piri-piri","portuguese chicken","grilled chicken","churrasqueira","spatchcock","bird's eye chile",{"slug":418,"title":419,"nativeName":420,"countrySlug":8,"region":421,"baseServings":79,"prepMinutes":355,"cookMinutes":202,"restMinutes":200,"difficulty":277,"course":422,"diet":423,"mainIngredients":424,"images":427,"keywords":431,"publishedAt":220,"updatedAt":220,"authorSlug":221},"sardinhas-assadas","Sardinhas Assadas (Charcoal-Grilled Sardines)","Sardinhas assadas","Lisbon and the Atlantic coast",[84],[232,233],[425,333,426],"sardines","bell-pepper",[428],{"src":429,"alt":430},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsardinhas-assadas\u002Fhero.jpg","Whole sardines with blistered skin grilling over glowing charcoal, served on thick slices of bread",[432,433,434,435,436,437],"sardinhas assadas","grilled sardines","charcoal grill","santo antonio","portuguese fish","street festival",24,false,1787360068266]