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Traveling to beautiful Portugal and looking for “Must do’s in Portugal“? You’ve likely heard about the legendary Pastel de nata (Portuguese egg tart). And yes, they are nice! But after living in Portugal for over a year, I’ve discovered sooooo many lesser-known Portuguese desserts that nobody talks about. In fact, there are so many incredible, and overlooked, Portuguese food desserts out there that are just as AMAZING as the beloved Pastel de nata! (P.s. Will be revealing a secret Pastel de nata if you’re visiting Lisbon during the summer)

🤓I have tried plenty of Portuguese pastries to really “blend in”, and below are the ones that I highly recommend you to give it a go

Pastel de feijão

Talking about Portuguese desserts beyond pastel de nata, Pastel de feijão is the first one that comes into my mind!

This is a pastry made from white pea bean. I know there might be some controversial opinions about beans in desserts, but I personally love them sweet, especially green beans! This Pastel de feijão reminded me of one of my favorite green bean pastry back in Taiwan. It tastes not only similar, but even better because it got some crunchy texture🤭

➤Where to get it

📍Lidl
You’ll be surprised to find how good the pastries are here in Lidl! They are fresh and of amazing quality! I’ll show you my favorites as you read further

Natas do Céu (Cream from Heaven)

Natas do céu, translated as “cream from heaven” is a Portuguese dessert that combines layers of crumbled Maria biscuit, fresh cream, meringue and egg yolk cream. It’s a very light dessert, with different layers of texture, offering a taste far beyond a simple “cream”.

➤Where to get it

📍Auchan supermarket
You will find that we discovered many desserts in supermarkets😂Yes, and they taste not worse than pastelerias!

Ovos moles

If you are planning to travel to Aveiro, often called the “Venice of Portugal”, during your research you might have come across this must-try Portuguese pastry from that region. If you are an egg yolk lover, like my partner, you will LOVE it! It’s kind of a permanent fixture on our kitchen table.

While these may be harder to find in pastry shops outside of Aveiro, the good news is that you can try this classic pastry in any city! You can find them in almost all supermarkets.

➤Shout out to egg yolk lovers

If you are a big fan of egg yolk, you will love this too. This is just egg yolk itself in a chewy dessert form covered with almond powder (They also got one those without almond powder, pure yellow, you’ll spot it!).

Broas de mel

Broas de mel is originally from the Portuguese island-Madeira, it has a dense texture with some touch of honey flavour.

➤Where to get it

You can find them in Portuguese pastry shops easily(their shape is pretty recognizable), my favorite would be the one in Auchan supermarket with additional Lemon flavor.

📍Auchan supermarket

📌Keep this Handy for your travel, Screenshot or Pin it for later

Queijada

This Portuguese dessert is another favorite of mine, it’s like a Portuguese style cheese cake, but lighter and less dense than the traditional ones. Definitely on my Portuguese desserts recommendation list.

➤Where to get it

📍Lidl

This Queijada pastry originated from Sintra, I haven’t tried it there but the one I particularly like is the one from Lidl, made in Serpa.

Sao Marcos Bolo

Ok, now comes my last favorite one! Sao Marcos Bolo. Sponge cake with cream in the middle and with a layer of glossy brown sugar syrup on top. It’s so tasty and so lightweight, absolutely one of my favorite treats in Portugal.

Landeau chocolate cake

If you’re a chocolate lover, you will cry if you miss this in Lisbon. This is like “Sacher” but a Lisbon version, I can’t praise it enough.

It’s a mix of different layers of chocolate, chocolate mousse, cocoa powder, a tiny bit of spongy texture but not really because the moment you put into your mouth it melts🥹It’s pricy comparing to other traditional pastries but it is 100% worth it.

📍Locations

Lisbon hidden secret summer dessert

A friend who have been living in Portugal for years told me this Hidden secret 3 minutes walk from the Magnificent Lisbon Rossio station-Ice cream version of Pastel de nata!!!

This is a summer only pastel de nata, topped with the same delicious custard—but in the form of ice cream! It doesn’t get better than this when it comes to Pastel de Nata! Definitely a 200% recommend

📍Fábrica da Nata

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