Best Guatemalan lunch ideas

Having a local lunch is always something we are looking for. Eat and relax in a place where local people spend their time, where you can observe their daily life, customs and all that happens during the week long. It is a great possibility of seeing these young and old people with their colleagues, friends, spouses, children and other relatives. This also gives you a chance to see how the real life looks like. To see all that is beautiful but also to see all that is sad and pushing to a reflection.

And lunch is a good moment for that. For you that would be a relaxing time and a short break during your sightseeing, but for them, it would probably be just a short break in their work and in their daily tasks. This moment is also a good time to have something local and hearty. Guatemalan cuisine offers a lot of different meals for lunches and many of them are really worth trying.

Although the most popular main set includes some kind of a meat, vegetarian options are still available. They are definitively much more difficult to get as they are less common, but still, they do exist. For example there are vegetarian stews, noodles, fried vegetables or even different tubbers (Read more about tubers in Costa Rica in the post Tropical tubers in Costa Rica).

All lunches (as it is also in other countries in this part of the world like in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica or Mexico) are served with some vegetables, rice or noodles, fried beans or guacamole (here you will find an Easy Mexican Guacamole recipe) and, of course, they come with a couple of warm corn tortillas.

Here I prepared a list of lunch ideas that are popular in Guatemala and that have a great taste and are really worth trying.

So, go through the list and select your favorites. 

Best Guatemalan Soups

Most Guatemalan soups base on a meat broth. They include some light vegetables like leek, onion or carrot, meat parts and, very often tubers, zucchinis, pumpkin, corn and potatoes. These soups are very nutritive and thirst quenching. Apart from that, they are slightly salty and spicy but in a moderation. Usually there is no excessive hotness in them unless you choose stews with a lot of extra hot peppers.

Vegetarian soups are definitively rarer but still many menus have them. For example bean or leek soups are common. Less common is a pumpkin cream and an asparagus soup. 

1. Asparagus soup

A popular vegetable stew that is common in other countries too. This pale green stew has a slightly starchy texture and a moderate density. Apart from asparagus that is the main ingredient, this stew contains shallots, leek and onion. Very often it basis on a meat broth. It is relatively light and served mainly with toasts, bread or tortillas.

2. Caldo de pollo - chicken soup

Caldo de pollo that is a regular chicken stew is usually a light soup with some boiled chicken parts and with softly boiled classic vegetables like potatoes, carrots, onion and leek. Caldo de pollo is a mild soup that is similar to a regular broth. It is mainly served with rice.

3. Sancocho stew

Sancocho is a broth like stew with boiled vegetables and meat chunks. This stew is one of staples in the Guatemalan cuisine. It is especially popular during the lunch time in many cantinas and smaller bars. It basis on a meat broth and starchy vegetables like potatoes, squashes and corn. Apart from that, carrots and onions are added. Sancocho is mainly prepared with a pork or a beef meat. Usually meat parts include bones, ribs and fat. 

4. Hilachas

Hilachas is another very popular stew in Guatemala. It is served usually with rice and tortillas. This stew bases on vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkin and carrots and shredded meat. Hilachas is a red, beef stew with a semi-spicy taste.

Best Guatemalan lunch ideas with chicken

1. Deep fried breaded chicken fajitas

Crispy and well-fried chicken fajitas are usually prepared from a chicken breast what guarantees obtaining a serving of a good quality meat with no bones and no chicken skin. Fajitas are served with rice or noodles, some salad and refried red beans or potatoes. Aside come a set of tortillas. 

2. Chicken in a BBQ sauce

Chicken BBQ is known in Guatemala as ‘pollo a la Barbacoa’. The Barbacue sauce is completely different from the one that is popular in the United States of America or in Europe. Although it has a brownish color, it is not so bright and has a starchier texture. It still has a slightly sweet taste but the saltiness dominates in it. Chicken barbeque is served mainly with rice, some vegetables or salad and very often with potatoes and guacamole.

3. Pollo guisado – chicken stew

Chicken guisado is another staple dish in Guatemala. Pollo guisado is a stew like meal that consists of a different part of chicken that is cooked in a reddish sauce. Meat parts include bones and skin. The sauce is mild, has a thick texture but not starchy and is moderately seasoned. Pollo guisado comes with fried red beans, noodles or rice, guacamole and cooked vegetables or some salad. Additionally, tortillas are served aside.

4. Fried chicken

Fried chicken in a crispy skin is something what you will definitively like. Thighs, legs, quarters or breasts are slightly breaded and deep-fried. Chicken elements come with skin and bones, that very often can be chopped and separated. It is usually served with fries, potatoes, noodles or rice. Aside come a serving of vegetables, red beans, tortillas and guacamole.

5. Chicken nuggets – fajitas

Chicken fajitas – chicken narrow stripes with some vegetables like sweet pepper, onion and sometimes with green shallots. Fajitas are well fried but tender and full of aromas from vegetables. Guatemalan chicken fajitas come usually with noodles, guacamole or refried red beans. Apart comes a basket with a couple of warm tortillas. Fajitas are served with a spicy chili sauce.

6. Crispy chicken

Chicken quarter with a crispy skin is served with rice and boiled julienned vegetables. Usually the set of vegetables include carrots, broccoli, onions, sweet pepper, green beans and some squashes. Aside comes a red unspicy tomato sauce.

The chicken meat is delicate, juicy and crispy in the same time. Unfortunately, the chicken part comes with bones.

7. Chicken in a broth sauce

This way of serving chicken is one of the most popular in Guatemala. It is slightly similar to the Pollo guisado dish. Chicken is boiled with vegetables in a meat and vegetable broth. The sauce is delicate, salty, not spicy but with a delicate meaty aroma. Chicken is cooked with bones and skin, that gets tender during the boiling process. The dish is served with rice, tortillas and some boiled vegetables from the broth.  

Best Guatemalan lunch ideas with beef

1. Beef steak

Beef meat is also popular in Guatemala. Usually it is prepared as a thin, well done steak. The meat is seasoned either with a chimichurri or chirmol sauce. Chimichurri is a green sauce and the second one - chirmol is a red one. None of them is spicy. They have a nice herbal aromas and ideally go with a grilled or fried beef steak.

Steaks are usually served with rice or pasta and a salad or vegetables. Obligatory, a set of tortillas is served too.

2. Churrasco

Beef churrasco is a great option for all BBQ lovers. A thin beef slice is well grilled and served with a set of fresh salad, crispy potatoes and with a red chirmol sauce. Beef is usually a little bit hard and chewy but is aromatic and has a nice meaty texture. Apart from that, well fried or grilled potatoes are a nice side dish that are a nice substitute of fries. Add to that a fresh salad and you will get a Guatemalan style BBQ meal. 

3. Beef with chimichurri

If only you had a chance to try Guatemalan beef with chimichurri, you should definitively do that. It is wonderful! Well grilled marinated beef has a great aroma. Herbal, grilling and meaty aromas are well balanced and create an interesting form of preparing beef. Although beef is not very tender and has a slightly stringy texture, the whole composition is really good. Chimichurri is a green herbal salsa that adds a nice spiciness to the grilled meat but at the same time is not too hot.

When served with grilled potatoes, fresh salad and toast, it makes this Guatemalan dish a little bit Western-style. Often as a side dish a small bowl of guacamole and chirmol salsa are served apart making it even more traditional and local.

4. Beef ribs

Beef ribs served in a BBQ sauce are another very popular Guatemalan dish. You might think that ribs usually do not have a lot to offer, but nothing more wrong. These ribs served in Guatemala are usually prepared with a reasonable amount of meat around bones. The meat close to bones is softer, more delicate and has a nice texture. When cooked with so loved by Guatemalan BBQ sauce they create a nice dish with a slightly sweety note. Beef ribs are usually served with rice and some vegetables – boiled, stewed, grilled or fresh. 

Best Guatemalan lunch ideas with pork

1. Chuleta de cerdo – pork chop

Chuleta de cerdo is one of the most popular pork meal in Guatemala. Pork meat is thinly sliced, very soft and extremely juicy. Meat has a slightly pinky color and the only well and darkly cooked part of the it is on the ridge. Pork is prepared with no bones so you get a pure slice of meat. It is neither marinated or seasoned in any way. Pork chop is usually served with potatoes or pasta and some vegetables aside. Boiled or stewed veggies are the most popular, however a portion of a fresh salad is common too.

2. Pork with a chirmol sauce

A red chirmol sauce is usually served aside or over a slice of meat. When prepared with pork, it nicely seasons it without giving some spiciness to the meal too. A composition of tomatoes, onions, herbs, some chilis and coriander that create the chirmol salsa gives the meal a refreshing note.

This time the pork meat is usually paired with rice or noodles and with some fresh radish salad. 

3. Chuleta frita – deep fried pork chop

Deep fried pork chop is prepared on a pan and fried with a rich amount of oil. Firstly, pork is slightly breaded and then fried. Thanks to that, the meat becomes crispy and has a nice crunchy wrapping.

Fried pork is served boneless or with bone what makes it sometimes more difficult to eat easily. As side dishes a combination of pasta and rice is served and a small portion of fresh or boiled vegetables.

4. Pork with onion

This dish is one of our favorites. Pork is prepared in a nice way so that all juices are kept in the meat and its tenderness is also surprising. Apart from that, fried onion rings topped on the meat add a wonderful aroma to the composition. This dish is served with boiled, delicate vegetables, rice and boiled potatoes. These potatoes are sometimes garnished with a thin slice of a melted cheese. All that create a super tasty lunch set.

5. Pan fried pork

Crispy, very well fried and with this characteristic frying taste. Almost burnt, with a dark color, that is almost black, this pork slice is more like a meat chips and not like a steak or chop. Served with rice, noodles, some potato or platan chips and fresh salad, this dish reminds teenage parties or scouts’ suppers close to the fireplace in the forest or at the campsite. 

6. Pork BBQ

Pork BBQ is a nice option to enjoy a juicy piece of meat and to skip fried proteins. This way of serving pork is very popular and very liked in Guatemala. The BBQ sauce that is so full of aromas is slightly different from the one you probably know from your grilling parties. Although it still has these acidic, sweet and salty notes, its color is paler and the flavor is not so intense. However, when combined with pork, it underlines all meat tastes without killing its natural aroma.

Guatemalan pork BBQ is usually served with rice or noodles and with a mix of boiled vegetables like carrots, broccolis, green narrow beans and squashes.

7. Pork steak with bone

If you like steaks, try a pork one in Guatemala. Enjoy a thin, marinated piece of meat in a delicate dark salsa. Pork is usually either well done or medium fried. Unfortunately, the meat becomes slightly tough during the preparation process. However, it still keeps all aromas that are delicately tunned thanks to the marinating phase. A thin pork steak is prepared with bone thanks to which the meat loses less taste and has a delicate flavor.

Grilled meat is usually served with fries or mashed potatoes and with a raw salad mix that gives some freshness to the whole lunch set.

8. Pork steak

Staying with steak pork lunch ideas another one would be a regular pork steak. This meal set is usually served with rice, fried and mashed red beans and vegetables. Pork loin is moderately fried on both sides and has a nice crispy ridges. The meat is juicy and despite its thinness, it is slightly tough.

Pork steak is a good piece of meat that is served without bones and tendons.

9. Grilled chuleta – grilled pork

Grilling, frying and stewing meats are the most popular ways of preparing pork, chicken or beef in Guatemala. The first, grilling option, allows you skipping unhealthy fats used during the frying process. It also allows you to get a nicely crispy piece of meat with a delicate grilling flame aroma.

Grilled pork served in Guatemala can include different meat parts and sizes. Also the grilling level varies from place to place. It can both be very pale as the pork meat is, and also almost black. No matter which way of grilling the cook adopts, the meat is without herbs and with no condiments. It is only shortly marinated in a light brine.

Grilled pork is usually served with boiled or grilled potatoes, rice and vegetables or mashed red beans.

Best Guatemalan lunch ideas with fish

1. Fried mojarra fish

Grilled or fried mojarra fish is something you must try at least once in Guatemala. This so popular fish has a pale, delicate and soft meat that is nicely covered with a crispy skin. The size depends as always on the size of the fish but generally speaking, mojarra is about 30 centimeters long and about 20 centimeters in its widest point.

Mojarra is fried in whole with head, tail and fins. It is usually served with noodles and/or rice and with green salad mix that adds a nice freshness to the lunch. On top of it comes a small piece of lime for squeezing it over the well fried or grilled fish.

Best Guatemalan lunch ideas without meat

1. Pacaya with vegetables

Immature male inflorescence from the Pacaya palm tree is edible and is a wonderful option for all vegans and vegetarians. Although the palm grows in the area from Mexico till Colombia, only in Guatemala and in neighborhood countries it is so common.

Pacaya has a delicate taste and texture. It is usually prepared with crushed pumpkin seeds and some pepper. It has a mild flavor that is nicely tunned by tiny seeds. When served with other grilled or boiled vegetables, especially with squashes, it composes a valuable meal.

Pacaya is mainly served with a piece of bread, some rice or refried red beans. It is definitively something you should try if you have not done it yet!

Author: Beti – A passionate traveler and lover of Asian cuisine, especially Thai and Japanese dishes, Bernadeta brings her culinary and cultural experiences to life in her writing. Beyond her travels, she’s an avid technology enthusiast with a deep interest in data processing, merging her love for exploration with analytical insights.

Photographer: Adalbert – An aficionado of computers and photography, Adalbert captures the essence of diverse cuisines with a discerning eye. A connoisseur of rich flavors and particularly fond of meat-based dishes, he combines his technical skills with his passion for the culinary arts in every shot.

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