Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Nicaraguan recipes, part of Central America. This page provides links to all the Nicaraguan recipes presented on this site, with 10 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Nicaraguan recipes added to this site.

Nicaragua (República de Nicaragua in Spanish) is a country in Central America bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean and shares maritime borders with El Salvador to the west and Colombia to the east. Nicaragua's largest city and national capital is Managua. The official language is Spanish and recognised regional languages are: English, Miskito, Rama, Sumo, Moskitian Creole, Garifuna and Rama Cay Creole.

Nicaraguan cuisine is a mixture of Spanish food and dishes of a pre-Columbian origin. Traditional cuisine changes from the Pacific to the Caribbean coast. The Pacific coast's main staple revolves around local fruits and corn, the Caribbean coast cuisine makes use of seafood and the coconut. As in many other Latin American countries, maize is a staple food and is used in many of the widely consumed dishes, such as the nacatamal, güirila, and indio viejo. Maize is also an ingredient for drinks such as pinolillo and chicha as well as sweets and desserts. In addition to corn, rice and beans are eaten very often

Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising 130,370 km2 (50,340 sq mi). With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and Honduras.

Nicaragua is bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean and shares maritime borders with El Salvador to the west and Colombia to the east. Nicaragua's largest city and national capital is Managua, the fourth-largest city in Central America, with a population of 1,055,247 in 2020. Nicaragua is known as 'the breadbasket of Central America' due to having the most fertile soil and arable land in all of Central America. Nicaragua's multiethnic population includes people of mestizo, indigenous, European, and African heritage. The country's most spoken language is Spanish, though indigenous tribes on the Mosquito Coast speak their own languages and English. The mixture of cultural traditions has generated substantial diversity in folklore, cuisine, music, and literature, including contributions by Nicaraguan poets and writers such as Rubén Darío.

Originally inhabited by various indigenous cultures since ancient times, the region was conquered by the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821. The Mosquito Coast followed a different historical path, being colonized by the English in the 17th century and later coming under British rule. It became an autonomous territory of Nicaragua in 1860 and its northernmost part was transferred to Honduras in 1960. Since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, dictatorship, American occupation and fiscal crisis, as well as the Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and the Contra War of the 1980s.

Though nominally a unitary presidential republic, Nicaragua has experienced significant democratic backsliding since 2007 under the presidency of Daniel Ortega, resulting in large protests in 2018 and a subsequent crackdown. Following the 2021 election, it has been widely described as an authoritarian dictatorship. It is a developing country and has the second lowest GDP per capita (nominal) and fourth lowest GDP per capita (PPP) among Latin American and Caribbean countries. In 2024, Nicaragua was ranked as the second most corrupt country in Latin America, after Venezuela, by the Corruption Perceptions Index.

Known as the 'land of lakes and volcanoes', Nicaragua is also home to the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, the second-largest rainforest of the Americas. The biological diversity, warm tropical climate and active volcanoes have made Nicaragua an increasingly popular tourist destination.

Etymology: It was previously believed that the name Nicaragua was coined by Spanish colonists based on the name Nicarao, who was a cacique of a powerful Nahua tribe encountered by the Spanish conquistador Gil González Dávila during his entry into southwestern Nicaragua in 1522. This theory held that the etymology of Nicaragua was formed from Nicarao and agua (Spanish for 'water'), referring to the two large lakes that are found, Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua. There are also several other bodies of water within the country, such as the Río Coco and San Juan River.

This etymology is considered to be outdated by most historians. In 2002, it was discovered that the real name of the cacique was Macuilmiquiztli and not Nicarao. Western Nicaragua was known as Nicānāhuac by the Nicaraos, which most historians now believe is the true etymology of 'Nicaragua'. It means 'here lies Anahuac' in Nahuatl and is a combination of the words 'Nican' (here), and 'Ānāhuac', which is a combination of the words 'atl' (water) and 'nahuac', a locative meaning 'surrounded'. Therefore the literal translation of Nicanahuac is 'here surrounded by water', fitting the theory that the etymology refers to the large bodies of water in and around the country, the Pacific Ocean, lakes Nicaragua and Xolotlan, and the rivers and lagoons.

Honduran Cuisine:

Nicaraguan cuisine includes a mixture of Mesoamerican, Chibcha, Spanish, Caribbean, and African cuisine. Despite the blending and incorporation of pre-Columbian, Spanish and African influences, traditional cuisine differs from the western half of Nicaragua to the eastern half. Western Nicaraguan cuisine revolves around the Mesoamerican diet of the Chorotega and Nicarao people such as maize, tomatoes, avocados, turkey, squash, beans, chilli, and chocolate, in addition to potatoes which were cultivated by the Chibcha people originating from South America and introduced meats like pork and chicken. Eastern Nicaraguan cuisine consists mostly of seafood and coconut. The national dish of Nicaragua is Gallo pinto.

As in many other Latin American countries, corn is a staple. It is used in many widely consumed dishes such as nacatamal and indio viejo. Corn is not only used in food; it is also an ingredient for drinks such as pinolillo and chicha as well as in sweets and desserts. Other staples are rice and beans. Rice is eaten when corn is not, and beans are consumed as a cheap protein by the majority of Nicaraguans. It is common for rice and beans to be eaten as a breakfast dish. There are many meals including these two staples; one popular dish, gallo pinto, is often served as lunch, sometimes with eggs. Nicaraguans do not limit their diet solely to corn, rice, and beans. Many Nicaraguans have small gardens of their own full of vegetables and sometimes incorporate flowers into their meals.