I created BrazilEats to share the authentic flavors of Brazilian home cooking with the world — one recipe, one story at a time.
My name is Camila Santos, and food has been the center of my world for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching my grandmother cook in a small kitchen filled with the smells of toasted garlic, simmering black beans, and fresh cinnamon. She never used a recipe book. Everything she made came from memory — passed down from her mother, and from her mother before that.
That is the kind of cooking I want to share on BrazilEats. Not the kind you find in fancy restaurants or food magazines, but the honest, everyday Brazilian cooking that happens in real homes — the kind that makes you feel full in ways that go beyond food.
I spent years learning these dishes properly, cooking them over and over, failing and adjusting, until I understood not just the "how" but the "why" behind every step. Every recipe I publish on this site has gone through that same process.
I had been cooking Brazilian food for years, mostly for myself and close friends who wanted to try something different. Whenever someone asked me how to make a dish, I would write it out for them — ingredient by ingredient, step by step. After a while, I had a growing collection of recipes that I had carefully tested and refined.
At the same time, I kept noticing a gap online. Most Brazilian recipes in English were either oversimplified to the point of losing their character, or written assuming the reader already had experience with the cuisine. Neither was helpful for someone genuinely trying to discover Brazilian cooking for the first time.
So in 2024, I launched BrazilEats — a space where I could share recipes the right way. Not rushed, not simplified beyond recognition, but properly explained with the context and care that these dishes deserve. Every post I write is an attempt to bring a little piece of a Brazilian kitchen into yours, wherever you are in the world.
My recipe writing focuses on the three pillars of Brazilian home cooking — the dishes that appear on real tables every day across Brazil.
From the iconic feijoada to everyday rice-and-bean combinations, I focus on the hearty, flavorful mains that are the backbone of Brazilian meals.
Brazilian side dishes are far more than an afterthought — farofa, vinagrete, couve refogada. I cover the companions that complete a proper Brazilian plate.
Brigadeiro, beijinho, pudim — Brazilian sweets are rich, indulgent, and deeply loved. I specialize in making these traditional treats accessible for home cooks.
Behind every recipe is a story. I write about the history, traditions, and regional variations that give Brazilian cuisine its extraordinary depth and character.
I cook each dish multiple times before it goes live on BrazilEats. If a recipe does not produce consistently good results in a home kitchen, it does not get published. There are no shortcuts here.
My recipes are based on how Brazilian dishes are actually made — not adapted versions designed to use trendy ingredients or save five minutes of cooking time. Authenticity always comes first.
I write with a clear understanding that most people cooking these recipes are not trained chefs. Every instruction is written to be clear, practical, and achievable with standard kitchen equipment.
Not every ingredient is easy to find outside Brazil. I am always transparent about what can be substituted, what will change if you do, and which ingredients truly cannot be replaced.
Authentic recipes published
Recipe categories covered
Kitchen-tested & verified
I believe that cooking is one of the most meaningful ways we connect with culture, family, and memory. When you cook a traditional Brazilian dish properly — when you take the time to do it right — you are participating in something that goes back generations.
That is what drives everything I do on BrazilEats. I am not just sharing recipes. I am sharing a piece of Brazilian culture, with all the care and respect that deserves. My hope is that every person who cooks from this site feels a genuine connection to the food, the tradition, and the story behind it.
Browse the full recipe collection or get in touch — I love hearing from people who are discovering Brazilian food for the first time.
There’s a special kind of heartbreak that happens when you buy a beautiful piece of picanha and it turns out dry, chewy, or bland. The cut looks simple, but a great grilled picanha recipe really comes down to a handful of choices: how you treat the fat cap, how you salt it, and how you slice against the grain so every bite stays tender.
A good Brazilian churrasco recipe comes down to three things: the right cut, real heat, and cutting it correctly once it’s off the grill. Churrasco — the word simply means “barbecue” across much of South America — is built around fast, high-heat grilling rather than long, slow cooking, which makes it one of the most approachable ways to get real steakhouse flavor at home.
A good Brazilian garlic steak recipe solves a very specific weeknight problem: you want steak that tastes like a steakhouse, but you don’t want a long marinade, a pile of dishes, or a smoky kitchen for an hour. This method gets you there in about 15 minutes — sear skirt steak hard in a hot skillet, rest it properly, then spoon on a glossy garlic butter sauce that tastes rich and a little addictive.
If you’ve ever cooked ribs that looked great but ate like a workout, you’re not alone. Beef ribs can swing from tender and falling off the bone to tough and chewy with one mistake: heat that’s too hot, too fast. This Brazilian beef rib recipe avoids that by treating the ribs the way South American barbecue traditionally does — slow, steady heat, a salty crust, and real patience.
If you’ve ever bought linguica and thought it needed more garlic and more punch, this linguica recipe fixes that. Making it at home means you control the salt, the fat ratio, and the seasoning blend — so it comes out smoky and bold instead of bland.
A good vatapá recipe hits in two waves. First the aroma — onion and garlic cooking down in dendê (red palm oil) until they smell sweet and nutty.
A baked casserole of seasoned meat hidden under a layer of mashed cassava or potato. The name means “little hidden one” — the dish is comfort food shaped like a shepherd’s pie, made Brazilian.
A pot of Brazilian chicken and rice — galinhada, as it’s called at home — fills the kitchen with the smell of sautéed onion, garlic, and warm spices long before it’s ready to eat. It’s a true one-pot meal: chicken and rice cook together in the same broth, so every grain ends up seasoned rather than just sitting next to flavor.
Some fish stews taste fine but forgettable. A good Brazilian fish stew recipe — moqueca, as it’s known in Brazil — does the opposite: it smells like the coast, tastes rich without feeling heavy, and still comes across bright and clean by the last spoonful. The difference isn’t fancy technique. It’s a handful of small choices that protect the fish, build real flavor into the base, and finish with lime at exactly the right moment.
Brazilian cheese bread made with tapioca starch instead of wheat flour, naturally gluten-free. The interior should be hollow and chewy; a dense center almost always means the dough was too dry or the oven wasn’t hot enough when it went in.