The Bifana and the Prego: Portugal's Classic Sandwiches

The bifana and the prego are Portugal’s classic sandwiches: cheap, quick and delicious, and eaten standing at the counter with a cold beer. The bifana is marinated pork and the prego is steak. Here’s what they are and how to order them.

Quick answer: a bifana is thin slices of pork cooked in a garlicky, wine-and-paprika sauce in a soft bread roll, with mustard. A prego is a thin steak with garlic in a roll. You can also have a prego no prato, a steak on a plate with egg and chips. Find them in snack bars and cafés everywhere.

Why try them

Portugal is famous for seafood and pastries, but ask a local for a quick lunch and you’ll often get a bifana or a prego. They cost a few euros, arrive in minutes and taste far better than they look. They are everyday food, eaten at the counter of a busy café, at football matches and at summer festivals.

The bifana

The name means “little steak”. The sandwich is said to come from Vendas Novas in the Alentejo, but it’s now served all over the country.

• The meat: thin pork slices marinated in garlic, white wine and paprika, then simmered in the sauce. Some places keep a pot of sliced pork simmering all day.
• The bread: a soft papo-seco roll that soaks up the juices.
• Toppings: yellow mustard and piri-piri, to taste. Some places add fried onions.
• Regional styles: Vendas Novas, on the road from Lisbon to Évora, is still famous for its bifanas, usually a lighter style with less sauce. In Porto and the north, the pork is usually soaked in a richer, often spicier sauce.

The prego

Prego means “nail”. One story says the name comes from the way garlic is pounded into the steak, like a nail. Another links it to Manuel Dias Prego, who ran a tavern at Praia das Maçãs, near Sintra, in the late 19th century and served beef in bread.

• Prego no pão: a thin beef steak cooked with garlic in a roll, sometimes with ham or cheese.
• Prego no prato: the steak on a plate with a fried egg, chips and rice.
• Prego no bolo do caco: in Madeira, the steak comes in the island’s round flatbread, often with garlic butter. See the Madeira travel guide.
• The end of a meal: in seafood beer halls, locals often order a prego at the end of a shellfish feast, almost like a dessert.

Bifana or prego?

• Bifana: pork, saucy and messy. Cheaper, and the classic quick snack.
• Prego: beef, drier and more garlicky. A little more filling.
• Can’t decide? Order one of each and share.

How to order

• Uma bifana, por favor: one bifana, please.
• Um prego no pão: a steak sandwich.
• Com mostarda: with mustard.
• And a drink: an imperial (in Lisbon) or fino (in Porto), both small draught beers. See the Portuguese beer guide.

Pay at the counter when you finish, as locals do. For more useful words, see Portuguese phrases.

Where to eat them

Look for busy snack bars, tascas and stalls at the Time Out Market or on food tours. A crowd of locals at the counter around lunchtime is the best sign. You’ll also find bifanas at festival stalls in June, during the Santo António and São João street parties. See the Time Out Market and food tours in Portugal.

Tips

• Napkins: a good bifana drips. Eat it over the plate.
• Timing: snack bars are busiest at lunch, and some close early in the evening.
• Vegetarians: there’s no traditional meat-free version. Try a tosta de queijo (cheese toastie) instead.

More: the francesinha, Lisbon on a budget and what to eat in Portugal.

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