Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Caldo de Peixe
A Guinea-Bissau fish-and-rice pot simmered with palm oil, tomato, and greens in one dish.
Bissau-Guinean · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 45 min
~762 cal · 47g protein · 91g carbs · 22g fat · 4g fiber · 4g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Caldo de peixe is a one-pot fish-and-rice dish of Guinea-Bissau, fish simmered with , tomato, and leafy greens until rich and savory, with the flavors mingling into one savory meal. The Portuguese name reflects the country's colonial history, but the and technique are thoroughly West African.
Guinea-Bissau's Atlantic coast and rivers make fish central to the diet, and cooking it together with rice in a flavored broth is both economical and deeply satisfying. The gives the pot its color and earthy richness.
In Bissau, caldo de peixe is everyday sustenance, a nourishing combination of the country's staple grain and its abundant seafood. It reflects a Creole coastal cuisine where Portuguese and African traditions meet in a single fragrant pot.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- 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
1.5 lb firm fish, cut in steaks
2 cups rice
3 tomatoes
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch greens (spinach)
3 tbsp red
1 lime
1 chili
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Build a tomato-onion-garlic base in the palm oil.
2
Add water and the rice and cook until nearly tender.
3
Lay the fish (or hearts of palm and mushrooms) on top and steam until cooked.
4
Fold in the greens and a squeeze of lime.
5
Rest a few minutes and serve from the pot.
Bissau tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bissau. Rice is grown here rather than only imported, in tidal paddies worked along the coastal creeks and out in the Bijagos islands, and it is the base of nearly every meal. The Portuguese left bread and the habit of a caldo; the cassava, okra and smoked fish keep it firmly West African.
🗺️
Guinea-Bissau. The cashew figure is startling: the nut has accounted for something like two thirds of merchandise exports and, by central-bank measures, the great majority of export revenue, with more than half of farming households growing it. The apple is eaten and fermented locally rather than exported, which is the half of the crop outsiders never see.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Guinea-Bissau
FidjósBissau breakfast fritters: a mashed-banana and flour batter fried into small golden puffs, sold in paper cones on the morning streets.
ChabéuFish simmered in a thick red palm-nut sauce with onion, tomato, and chili, served over rice, a signature dish of Guinea-Bissau.
Papa de ArrozGuinea-Bissau's gentle rice porridge, the national grain simmered soft and loose, sweetened and served with a pour of milk.
Browse all Guinea-Bissau recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Steamer.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Guinea-Bissau meal
Doce de Papaia (Papaya Sweet)Dessert
ChabéuLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Caldo de Peixe?
A Guinea-Bissau fish-and-rice pot simmered with palm oil, tomato, and greens in one dish.
Where does Caldo de Peixe come from?
Caldo de Peixe is a Bissau-Guinean dish from Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Can Caldo de Peixe be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Caldo de Peixe recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Caldo de Peixe 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 count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), 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 Caldo de Peixe take to make?
About 65 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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