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Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone)
A thick disc of provolone seared on the grill or in a hot cast-iron pan until crusted outside and molten within, sprinkled with oregano and chili flakes and eaten with bread.
Argentine · easy · serves 4
prep 5 min · cook 10 min · plus 15 min hands-off time
~273 cal · 20g protein · 2g carbs · 21g fat · 0g fiber · 0g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Provoleta is the first thing off the grill at an Argentine asado. While the beef and sausages cook slowly over the embers, a thick round of cheese goes onto the parrilla, or into a small cast-iron pan set on the coals, and it is shared straight from the pan with bread while everyone waits for the meat.
It is an Italian-Argentine invention. In the 1940s Natalio Alba, a cheesemaker who had emigrated from Calabria to Córdoba, developed a small, dense disc of provolone-style cheese, inspired by southern Italian cheeses such as caciocavallo, that could stand up to the heat of a grill without collapsing. He registered the name in 1963, and today provoleta means both the cheese and the dish.
The trick is a hot surface and patience. The cheese is left alone until a golden crust forms underneath, turned once, then finished with dried oregano and ají molido, Argentine crushed red chili. Some cooks spoon chimichurri over it. It has to be eaten at once, while the middle is still soft and stretchy.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 300 g provoleta cheese or aged provolone (provolone piccante), one disc about 2 cm thick, young provolone melts into a puddle; ask the deli to cut one thick round. Provolone is traditionally made with animal rennet; strict vegetarians should use a vegetarian-rennet provolone
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes (ají molido)
- to taste chimichurri, to serve, optional
- 1 small baguette crusty white bread, sliced
Instructions
- 1Take the cheese out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking and pat both sides dry with paper towel.✎ Chef’s noteA dry surface browns; a wet, cold one sticks and weeps. Some asadores leave it out for longer so the rind dries further.
- 2Set a small cast-iron pan (about 15 to 20 cm) over hot embers or over high heat on the stove for 2 to 3 minutes until very hot, then add the oil and swirl it round.
- 3Lay the cheese in the pan and leave it alone for 2 to 3 minutes, until the underside is deep golden and crisp and the edges start to soften.✎ Chef’s noteDo not move it. The crust has to form before it will release from the pan.
- 4Slide a thin spatula under it and turn it in one movement. Cook the second side for 2 to 3 minutes until golden, then sprinkle over the oregano and chili flakes.
- 5Bring the pan to the table and eat at once, spooned onto bread, with chimichurri if you like. It firms up within a few minutes of leaving the heat.
Argentine asado tradition (Italian-Argentine, from Córdoba).
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Mendoza. Mendoza is a desert that receives about two hundred millimetres of rain a year, and everything green in it is irrigated. The acequia canals that carry Andean snowmelt were built by the Huarpe before the Spanish arrived in 1561 and were simply adopted and extended; the irrigated oases cover a few per cent of the province and hold nearly all its people and all its agriculture.
🗺️
Argentina. Argentina lives for the asado, the ritual slow grill of grass-fed beef served with chimichurri, a legacy of the pampas and Italian and Spanish immigration. Empanadas, mate, and dulce de leche round out a meat-loving, sociable food culture.
🌍
South America. Migration reworked the plate within living memory. Japanese arrivals in Peru and Brazil produced Nikkei cooking, Italians made pasta and pizza entirely ordinary in Argentina, Uruguay and Sao Paulo, and West African cooking carried into Bahia by the slave trade gave Brazil dende palm oil, okra and a whole ritual repertoire.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Argentina
Empanadas MendocinasBaked empanadas the Mendoza way: a juicy beef and olive filling heavy on onion, sealed with a braided edge.
LocroThe thick national stew of white hominy, beans, and squash slow simmered with beef, pork, and chorizo, finished with a spicy paprika oil.
ChoripánA grilled fresh chorizo split and tucked into crusty bread with a generous spoon of garlicky chimichurri, the opening act of every asado.
Browse all Argentina recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it an Argentina meal
Yerba MateDrink
Alfajores de MaicenaDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone)?
A thick disc of provolone seared on the grill or in a hot cast-iron pan until crusted outside and molten within, sprinkled with oregano and chili flakes and eaten with bread.
Where does Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone) come from?
Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone) is an Argentine dish from Mendoza, Argentina.
Can Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone) take to make?
About 30 min in all: 5 minutes prep and 10 minutes cooking, plus 15 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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