Chef Margarida
Bifana
Alentejo's gift to late nights and hungry workers: thin pork bathed in garlic and white wine, stuffed into a crusty roll. Mustard or piri-piri, that's the only question.
Culinary Explorer
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Francesinha
Created by
Porto's magnificent beast of a sandwich, layers of meat under molten cheese and a secret spicy sauce that every restaurant guards like family treasure. This is not diet food. This is glory.
Sandwiches & Wraps
Portuguese
Comfort Food
Special Occasion
45 min
Active Time
1 hr cook•1 hr 45 min total
Yield4 servings
Ineed to be honest with you. This is not a sandwich you eat. This is a sandwich that happens to you.
The first time I had a proper francesinha was in Porto, at a tiny place near Ribeira where the tables were plastic and the walls were covered with football scarves. The waiter brought this thing swimming in sauce, cheese still bubbling, and I understood immediately why tripeiros (that's what we call people from Porto) get into actual arguments about whose francesinha is best. Every restaurant has their secret sauce. Every cook swears theirs is the original. They're all lying and they're all right.
This isn't traditional grandmother food in the way my açorda is. The francesinha was invented in the 1950s or 60s, depending on who you ask, by a man who'd worked in France and came home missing the croque-monsieur. What he created was something entirely Portuguese: more meat, more cheese, more sauce, more everything. It's excess made edible, and I mean that as the highest compliment.
At Mesa da Avó, I don't serve francesinha because it's not my story to tell. But when friends from Porto come to Lisbon and get homesick, this is what they ask me to make. The sauce is the soul. Get the sauce right and everything else follows.
The francesinha was created in Porto in the 1950s or early 1960s by Daniel da Silva, a returned emigrant who had worked in France and wanted to adapt the croque-monsieur for Portuguese tastes. He added more meats, covered it in cheese, and invented the spicy beer sauce that defines the dish. Within a decade, it became Porto's signature food, and today the city has hundreds of restaurants competing for the title of best francesinha.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
thick-cut white bread
Quantity
8 slices
thin beef steaks
Quantity
4 (about 120g each)
presunto or cured ham
Quantity
4 slices
linguiça sausages
Quantity
4
sliced lengthwise
fresh pork sausages
Quantity
4
queijo flamengo
Quantity
8 slices
butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons
salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
butter (for sauce)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
onion
Quantity
1 medium
finely diced
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
minced
tomato paste
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Portuguese beer
Quantity
330ml
beef stock
Quantity
1 cup
bay leaf
Quantity
1
Worcestershire sauce
Quantity
1 tablespoon
whisky (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
piri-piri sauce
Quantity
1 teaspoon, or to taste
sweet paprika
Quantity
1 teaspoon
batatas fritas
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| thick-cut white bread | 8 slices |
| thin beef steaks | 4 (about 120g each) |
| presunto or cured ham | 4 slices |
| linguiça sausagessliced lengthwise | 4 |
| fresh pork sausages | 4 |
| queijo flamengo | 8 slices |
| butter | 2 tablespoons |
| salt and black pepper | to taste |
| butter (for sauce) | 2 tablespoons |
| onionfinely diced | 1 medium |
| garlicminced | 2 cloves |
| tomato paste | 1 tablespoon |
| Portuguese beer | 330ml |
| beef stock | 1 cup |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| Worcestershire sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| whisky (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| piri-piri sauce | 1 teaspoon, or to taste |
| sweet paprika | 1 teaspoon |
| batatas fritas | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Large skillet for cooking meats
- •Saucepan for the sauce
- •4 individual oven-safe dishes or 1 large baking dish
- •Oven-safe serving plates (traditional)
Instructions
- 1
Build the sauce foundation
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until soft and golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the tomato paste and let it toast for 30 seconds, until it darkens slightly and smells sweet.
Every restaurant in Porto guards their sauce recipe like state secrets. This version is a composite of what I've pieced together from cooks who let things slip after too much vinho verde. - 2
Finish the sauce
Pour in the beer and let it bubble for a minute. Add the beef stock, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce, whisky if using, piri-piri, and paprika. Bring to a simmer and let it cook for 20 to 25 minutes until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust the salt and heat. The sauce should be savory, slightly spicy, and complex. Remove the bay leaf. Keep warm.
The sauce should coat a spoon but still be pourable. Too thick and it won't soak properly into everything. Too thin and it just slides off. - 3
Cook the meats
Season the beef steaks with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over high heat, cook them quickly, about 2 minutes per side for medium. Set aside. In the same pan, cook the fresh sausages until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Cook the linguiça slices until the edges crisp and the fat renders, about 3 minutes per side. Everything should be slightly charred and deeply savory.
- 4
Toast the bread
Melt butter in a clean pan or on a griddle. Toast the bread slices until golden on both sides. You want structure here. This bread is about to bear a lot of weight and a lot of sauce.
- 5
Assemble the sandwiches
Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F). Place four bread slices in individual oven-safe dishes or one large baking dish. Layer on each: a slice of presunto, a steak, a fresh sausage, the linguiça slices. Top with the second slice of bread. Cover each sandwich completely with two slices of queijo flamengo, draping over the sides.
- 6
Melt and serve
Place the dishes in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes until the cheese is fully melted, bubbling, and starting to brown in spots. Remove from oven. Immediately ladle the warm sauce around and over each sandwich. The cheese should still be bubbling when it hits the table. Serve with batatas fritas on the side or, in true Porto fashion, with the fries swimming in the sauce alongside the sandwich.
In Porto, they often crack a raw egg on top before the final bake. If you want the full experience, do it. The egg cooks in the oven and adds richness. But it's optional.
Chef Tips
- •The beer matters. Use a Portuguese lager like Super Bock or Sagres. Other beers work, but they taste like other beers, not like Porto.
- •Queijo flamengo is a mild, semi-soft cheese that melts beautifully. If you can't find it, use a mild Gouda or Edam. Never use cheddar. Não mexas nisso.
- •Some versions include roast beef or mortadela. I've seen shrimp. I've seen versions that made me weep for the soul of the dish. Keep it to the four meats: ham, steak, fresh sausage, cured sausage. This is enough.
- •The whisky is not universal but it's traditional in many recipes. It adds depth without being identifiable. A tablespoon disappears into the sauce but you'd miss it if it wasn't there.
- •Leftover sauce keeps for 3 days refrigerated. It's also excellent on eggs, on rice, on anything that needs to be improved dramatically.
Advance Preparation
- •The sauce can and should be made ahead. Make it up to 2 days before and refrigerate. The flavors deepen overnight. Reheat gently before serving.
- •The meats can be cooked a few hours ahead and kept covered at room temperature. Reheat briefly before assembling.
- •Do not assemble until ready to serve. Once the cheese goes on and the sauce goes over, this dish waits for no one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 650g)
Calories
1820 calories
Total Fat
105 g
Saturated Fat
40 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
58 g
Cholesterol
285 mg
Sodium
3350 mg
Total Carbohydrates
112 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
86 g
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