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FijiFlavors · Santarém
Hearty bean soup with pork and beef cuts, sausages and vegetables, served with a stone at the bottom of the pot. It is a traditional specialty guaranteed by the European Union and associated with Almeirim, in the district of Santarém.
Traditional dish from Santarém
Also known as: sopa da pedra, sopa de pedra
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Sopa da pedra de Almeirim — Santarém, Portugal
Sopa da pedra is a thick soup, almost a main course, made with beans, potato, onion, garlic and cilantro, and enriched with pork cuts such as trotter, cheek and bacon, and sausages. It simmers slowly until the broth thickens. The stone in the name refers to the legend told about the soup.
The legend says a mendicant friar, hungry and unable to get alms, told a farmer he would make stone soup. He asked for a pot, put water and a stone on the fire and, to enrich the broth, began asking for a little of everything: fat, potatoes, seasonings, meats. In the end he ate the soup and kept the stone to make another in another house. The tale is told as a legend.
Almeirim, in the Lezíria do Tejo region, opposite Santarém, is called the capital of sopa da pedra. The recipe spread across the country, but the town keeps the tradition alive: several restaurants near the bullring serve the soup, and the city organizes a festival dedicated to it.
Since 2022, Almeirim’s sopa da pedra is a Traditional Specialty Guaranteed by the European Union, which protects the recipe and method of preparation. The application was promoted by the association of sopa da pedra restaurants, by regional tourism and by the Almeirim municipal council.
It is served in a bowl or deep plate, piping hot, as a complete meal. The thick broth brings together beans, potato, meat and sausages.
Beans, potato, onion, garlic, cilantro, pork (trotter, cheek and bacon), chouriço and morcela.
Very hot, in a bowl or deep plate, as a complete meal, with bread.
All year round. Almeirim holds a festival dedicated to sopa da pedra.
Your questions
Yes, a smooth, well‑washed stone is placed in the pot or on the plate. It does not add flavor: it recalls the legend of the friar who made soup from a stone.
Beans, potato, onion, garlic and cilantro, with pork and beef cuts, ear, chouriço, morcela and bacon. It is a thick soup that serves as a complete meal.
In the Lezíria do Tejo, in the district of Santarém, on the opposite side of the river from the city of Santarém. It is called the capital of sopa da pedra.
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