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Brazilian

Vatapá

Non-vegetarian

A rich, velvety Bahian purée of bread, coconut milk, ground peanuts and cashews and shrimp, coloured gold with dendê oil. Eaten with rice or spooned into acarajé.

Vatapá is a Brazilian main course, ready in about 50 minutes and made with white bread, coconut milk and red palm oil. It serves 6 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Creamy yellow vatapá with shrimp, garnished with herbs and red pepper
Photo: Elingunnur / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-3.0
Prep
20 min
Cook
30 min
Total
50 min
Serves
6
Level
Easy
Calories
450

Ingredients

6 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Soak the bread in the coconut milk (opens in a new tab) and water for 10 minutes.

    • 10 min

  2. Step 2

    Blend the soaked bread with its liquid, the peanuts, cashews (opens in a new tab), onion (opens in a new tab), garlic (opens in a new tab), ginger, tomato (opens in a new tab) and half the shrimp (opens in a new tab) until completely smooth.

  3. Step 3

    Pour into a heavy pan with the dendê and salt. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it thickens to a soft, glossy paste that leaves the base of the pan, about 15–20 minutes. Add a splash of water if it catches.

    Food safety: Thick purées spit; use a long spoon.

  4. Step 4

    Stir in the remaining shrimp (opens in a new tab) and chilli and cook 3–4 minutes until the shrimp are just done. Finish with lime juice (opens in a new tab) and cilantro (opens in a new tab).

    • 4 min
    • low heat

    Food safety: Cook shrimp until opaque throughout.

  5. Step 5

    Serve warm with white rice (opens in a new tab), or cool slightly and use as a filling for acarajé.

    • 1 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Bahia, Brazil · Well documentedAfro-Brazilian dish of Bahia; a different, drier vatapá is made in Pará.More food from Brazil
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Main courses · Side dishes
Cooking method
Simmered, Blended
Taste
creamy, nutty, rich, savoury
Diet
Pescatarian · Dairy-free
All labelsPescatarian · Non-vegetarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Calorie-conscious
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Make-ahead · Festive & celebration
Cook more with
White bread · Coconut milk · Red palm oil · Roasted peanuts · Cashews · Prawns / shrimp
Techniques
Simmering · Wet grinding · Emulsification

Allergens

  • May contain: Milkfrom white bread
  • May contain: Eggsfrom white bread
  • Contains: Crustaceansfrom prawns / shrimp
  • Contains, can be adapted: Peanutsfrom roasted peanuts
  • Contains: Tree nutsfrom cashews
  • Contains: Wheatfrom white bread
  • Contains: Glutenfrom white bread
  • May contain: Soyfrom white bread
  • May contain: Sesamefrom white bread

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

450 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 264 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 16%
  • Carbohydrate 23%
  • Fat 60%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy450 kcal170 kcal
Protein19.1 g7.3 g
Carbohydrate27.3 g10.3 g
Net carbohydrate——
Sugars——
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre——
Fat31.5 g11.9 g
Saturated fat17.5 g6.6 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol81 mg30 mg
Sodium625 mg237 mg
Salt equivalent1.6 g0.6 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
545 mg
Calcium
117 mg
Iron
4.6 mg
Magnesium
109 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
—
Vitamin C
—
Vitamin D
—
Vitamin B12
—
Folate (DFE)
—

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: fresh red chilli, long-grain white rice.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Toast the nuts lightly before blending for a deeper flavour.

Common mistakes

  • Walking away from the pan — vatapá sticks and scorches quickly as it thickens.

Serve with

  • Serve with white rice, or as the classic filling for acarajé.

Food safety

  • Cool shrimp dishes quickly and refrigerate within 2 hours; reheat until steaming.

Storage

  • Refrigerate up to 2 days.

Reheating

  • Reheat gently with a splash of coconut milk or water, stirring.

Variations

  • Vatapá de frango (Brazil): Made with shredded chicken instead of shrimp.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 4, 5

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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