Although much of the Costa Rican diet has meat as farming is a huge industry, it is not terribly difficult to visit Costa Rican as a vegetarian.
We’ll share with you the best vegetarian dishes in Costa Rica, how to stay useful phrases in Spanish and what to look out for if you’re vegan or vegetarian in Costa Rica.
Furthermore, we will talk about how to travel with food allergies and being gluten free in Costa Rica.
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Where to Eat in Costa Rica as a Vegetarian/Vegan
Many tourist restaurants will have gluten free and vegetarian options on the menu.
We highly recommend visiting a couple of local restaurants to try Cosat Rican food. Luckily, it is not difficult to turn those dishes vegetarian.
I personally prefer to eat vegetarian or pescatarian (fish only) when we travel around Costa Rica.
Sodas (Traditional Restaurants)
Sodas are what the Costa Ricans call their local restaurants. They are usually small, open air places that serve traditional Costa Rican food.
Sodas work two different ways: by menu or by buffet style. If they are buffet style, they will have many different dishes ready and you pick and choose what you want.
They usually have several salad and veggie options available.
An average lunch plate at a soda can be around 4500-6000 CRC (~$10-13 USD).
What to Order at a Soda for Vegetarian Food
Most sodas do not have a specific vegetarian section on the menu. However, there are a couple of traditional Costa Rican dishes that you can easily turn vegetarian.
I will say that it is a little bit more difficult to eat vegan in Costa Rica since many traditional restaurants use butter and milk. It’s much easier to eat vegetarian.
Gallo Pinto
The most local Costa Rican dish is gallo pinto, or rice and beans. Gallo Pinto is eaten as breakfast as the main dish, normally accompanied by eggs, tortilla, cheese, fried plantains and natilla (sour cream).
As you can see, it is easy to eat a traditional Costa Rican breakfast that is vegetarian, like the plate pictured below.
To make it vegan, don’t order eggs and sour cream.
Casado
Another vegetarian dish you can try in Costa Rica is a casado. This is a typical Costa Rican lunch and dinner dish.
The casado is a dish made up of rice, beans, salad and a protein.
You can ask for a vegetarian casado even if it’s not on the menu. They will normally give you another salad or more veggies. Sometimes I’ve received cheese or an egg.
To make it a vegan casasdo, tell them you do not want an egg or cheese. No animal products at all.
Other Vegetarian Costa Rican Dishes
Other yummy Costa Rican vegetarian dishes are sopa negra (black bean soup), arroz con palmito (heart of palm rice), chorreada (corn pancakes), crema de pejibaye (peach palm soup), chips and salsa and patacones (smashed fried plantains).
My favorite vegetarian food to eat in Costa Rica is the patacones with guacamole, refried beans and pico de gallo. I could eat it every day, yum!
Tourist Restaurants
Touristy restaurants in popular tourist destinations usually have a specific vegetarian/vegan options on their menu or they will mark which dishes are veg/gluten friendly.
Since they are used to tourists, they are more familiar with the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, gluten free diet and food allergies.
There are way more options for vegan/vegetarian food in touristic destinations and it is also easier to communicate your needs, since most waiters in touristic destinations speak a degree of English.
Prices are usually more expensive than traditional sodas, but they are touristic restaurants for a reason.
Seasonings and Sauces
It’s very important to note if you visit a soda in a non-touristic area, the food may not have meat but the stock, sauce, fat, or seasoning may contain animal products.
Some places use chicken bouillon cubes or chicken stock to make their rice and soups and some salads have mayonnaise so make sure you ask first before ordering.
Likewise, some restaurants use butter instead of oil so even though you order gallo pinto, they may have cooked it using butter or lard.
Another popular side dish are sauteed veggies (broccoli, carrots, squash, green beans) which is usually cooked in butter.
If you are vegan, you will need to ask what is used to cook.
How to ask in Spanish? Butter is mantequilla, oil is aceite, manteca is lard.
Chicken bouillon cubes in Costa Rica are called consome de pollo. Mayonnaise is mayonesa in Spanish.
Spanish Words to Know
It is extremely helpful to know important words in Spanish, especially if you have severe food allergies.
Do not expect all the places you go to speak English, especially if you visit local restaurants or small towns.
We recommend to write down any food allergies in Spanish on paper and carry it with you wherever you go.
Here are some important Spanish words and phrases to know.
Helpful Spanish words and Phrases
- I’m vegetarian – Soy vegetariano/a
- No meat/without meat – Sin carne
- Vegan – Vegano
- No cheese – Sin queso
- No egg – Sin huevo
- In water – En agua. If you order a fruit smoothie (batido), they will ask you “en agua o leche?” (in water or milk?) and you want to say en agua.
- No milk – Sin leche
- I don’t eat meat – Yo no como carne
- I am vegan – Soy vegano/a
- No animal products – Sin productos de animales
- No gluten – Sin gluten. But we recommend to say Sin trigo (no wheat). Some rural areas may not be familiar with the word “gluten” so to make it as clear as possible, you can say Que la comida no tenga gluten o trigo (no wheat or gluten in the food).
Vegetarian Restaurants in Costa Rica
There is a good handful of dedicated vegetarian and vegan places are popping up in Costa Rica. There is even a vegan hotel in Tamarindo called Mother Earth Luxury Vegan Hotel.
You will find more veg friendly places in destinations like Nosara, Samara, San Isidro de Perez Zeledon, Santa Teresa, Uvita, Dominical and Puerto Viejo. There are big expat/immigrant veg communities with a large focus on wellness in those areas.
Here are some excellent vegetarian restaurants in Costa Rica.
- Casa Planta: Plant based restaurant inside the Igloo Beach Lodge in Manuel Antonio.
- Organico Fortuna: Focus on organic food with vegetarian and vegan options. In La Fortuna
- Mother Earth Vegan Restaurant: The vegan hotel in Tamarindo also has a restaurant.
- Indomitos Cafe in Uvita: Vegan/Vegetarian cafe with breakfast and lunch, fruit bowls, salads, etc.
- Orchid Coffee & Restaurant in Monteverde: This cafe not only has delicious coffee and dessert, but excellent food with lots of vegetarian options.
- Restaurante Shakti in San Jose: Below Hostel Shakti. Has a great variety of vegetarian/vegan options.
- Como en mi Casa Art Cafe in Puerto Viejo: A great place to get delicious vegan pancakes, vegetarian wraps, salads and more. Also hasg luten free options.
- The Bakery Cafe and Organico in Montezuma: Both have lots of veg options
- Arbol de Seda: Vegetarian restaurant in Barrio Escalante, San Jose
- Drift: A fantastic veg restaurant in Santa Teresa.
Eating Pescatarian in Costa Rica
If you’re pescatarian, there are lots of seafood options in Costa Rica. You can order ceviche, arroz con camarones (rice with shrimp), seafood soup, fish fingers or a fish casado.
Most of the time, the fish is tilapia. It’s not my favorite fish since tilapia tends to have a dirt flavor.
If it’s tilapia, I prefer a vegetarian casado. If you like tilapia, it is usually pan fried in garlic and oil or breaded and fried.
If they have corvina (sea bass), try it. I really like it. If you go to a nicer seafood restaurant, they will probably have dorado (mahi mahi) or red snapper.
Gluten Free in Costa Rica
If you’re gluten free, you’re also in luck. The traditional dishes in Costa Rica are very gluten free friendly as their staples are rice, beans, salad and fruit.
Most of the tortillas are made from corn but always ask since some serve the flour ones.
I have a couple of friends who has Celiac disease and she was so happy she could eat most of the Costa Rican food.
One thing to note for those with Celiac disease, some sauces may have gluten in them. To avoid any sort of damage, inflammation, or reaction, the safest option is to pack your own food or specifically ask for your food not to have any sauces or seasonings.
If you rented an Airbnb with a kitchen, you can easily cook instead of always eating out. May supermarkets have a dedicated gluten free aisle.
The one in the Auto Mercado supermarket is quite good with lots of different options for gluten free food to cook and snacks.
Remember, no gluten in Spanish is Sin gluten o sin trigo.
Visiting Costa Rica With Food Allergies
Food allergies are not quite as common in Costa Rica, though people are becoming more aware of them.
If you or anyone in your group has food allergies, write it down in Spanish or use Google Translate and download the Spanish language to use offline.
In Spanish, you need to say… I am allergic to – Soy alergico a (X food).
Read more about visiting Costa Rica with food allergies in our post.
The most important thing is that you always bring your medicine with you every time you go out.
We recommend to bring at least 4 EpiPens per person who needs it because EpiPens are not available in Costa Rica.
Many rural areas, even in the touristic towns like Tamarindo and Santa Teresa, are not close to any major hospital, only small private clinics. There may not be any emergency rooms or 24 hour clinics open, so never go out without your medicine.
Tours: Many tours include a meal. It may be a good idea to pack your own to avoid any risk if the tour operator cannot guarantee a meal with your dietary restrictions/food allergies.
Farmer’s Market and Supermarkets in Costa Rica – What Fruits and Veggies You Can Find
If you are booking Airbnbs or staying at hostels and have access to a kitchen, you can easily cook fresh vegetarian food that you buy from the supermarket or Costa Rican farmers market.
The farmer’s market, or feria is usually open only on weekends but you can also find produce markets open every day.
It’s usually pretty cheap to buy produce at the ferias and it’s all local grown. You can find basics like lettuce, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, green peppers, cabbage and garlic.
However, if you’re looking for veggies such as kale, arugula, artichokes, brussel sprouts, okra, or Asian veggies (bok choy, napa cabbage, gai lan, daikon, lotus root, Chinese broccoli, mustard greens, bitter melon), your best option is to go to a higher end supermarket like Auto Mercado or a farmer’s market geared towards foreigners.
The farmer’s market in Tinamastes is a good one that is run largely by foreigners and they are known to have a huge variety of produce.
For more articles on food in Costa Rica, check out these posts below!
What to eat and drink in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Vacation Checklist
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