Portuguese Recipes
Portuguese Salt Cod Braised in a Rich Tomato Sauce
Last updated: November 12, 2026
Bacalhau com tomate is Portugal’s love letter to salt cod: thick flakes of desalted fish folded into a deep, garlicky tomato sauce, with sliced potato soaking up every drop. It is weeknight cooking and Sunday cooking at once, humble in its parts yet rich and glossy on the plate. One forkful tells you why cod has anchored the Portuguese table for centuries.
The method is unfussy. You soften onions and garlic in olive oil, build a sauce with tomato paste and crushed tomatoes scented with bay, then nestle in potato and the desalted cod to braise gently until the fish is tender and the sauce is thick. Finish with parsley, put bread on the table, and let the sauce do the talking.
Why This Bacalhau com Tomate Works
Great bacalhau com tomate is really two things done well: salt cod desalted to the perfect point of seasoning, and a tomato sauce cooked long enough to turn sweet and deep. Get those two right and the dish almost makes itself. The recipe here walks you through soaking the cod properly, then building a sauce with real body so the fish has something worthy to braise in.
The sauce starts the way most good Portuguese tomato cooking does, with onions and a generous amount of garlic softened slowly in olive oil, then tomato paste stirred in and toasted for a minute to concentrate its sweetness. Crushed tomatoes and a couple of bay leaves join to build a thick, glossy sauce rather than a thin broth, because the cod and potato need a sauce that clings.
Timing protects the cod. Salt cod is lean and firm, but it still turns stringy if it boils hard, so it goes in to braise gently and is just folded through the sauce near the end. The potato goes in earlier to soften and thicken the dish, drinking up the tomato and holding everything together on the plate.
It is also forgiving and generous. Bacalhau com tomate was built to stretch an expensive, precious ingredient across a whole table, so a modest amount of cod feeds a crowd once potato and sauce join it. Keep the tomato and garlic constant, and you get a pot that tastes of the Portuguese coast every single time.
Pro observation: Bacalhau com tomate is fully halal as written, with no forbidden ingredients. The sauce gets all of its depth from tomato, garlic, bay, sweet paprika, and the savory flakes of cod, so you never miss a thing.
Ingredients
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Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Salt Cod (Bacalhau)
Look for thick, pale, firm fillets or loins of salt cod. It must be desalted before cooking, which means soaking in cold water in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours with several water changes. If you cannot find salt cod, fresh cod or another firm white fish works; simply skip the soaking and salt the sauce normally.
Tomatoes & Paste
Crushed tomatoes give a smooth, clingy sauce, while tomato paste deepens the color and savory flavor. In summer, a pound of very ripe fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped, is wonderful in place of the can. A pinch of sugar balances the acidity if your tomatoes taste sharp.
Potatoes & Peppers
Use a waxy or all-purpose potato that holds its shape when braised, sliced about a quarter inch thick so it cooks through evenly. The red bell pepper adds sweetness and color; a roasted pepper from a jar works too. Leave the potato out for a lighter, saucier version.
Onions, Garlic & Bay
Onions cooked slowly until soft are the backbone of the sauce, so do not rush them. Plenty of garlic is traditional and welcome. Bay leaves add a quiet, resinous depth; sweet paprika rounds it out. Remove the bay before serving so no one bites into a leaf.
Equipment
- Large wide pan or Dutch oven
- Lid for the pan
- Large bowl for soaking the cod
- Sharp knife and board
- Wooden spoon
- Ladle or serving spoon
Before You Start
1. Desalt the cod fully, starting a day or two ahead. Soak the salt cod in a bowl of cold water in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours, changing the water three or four times. Taste a small flake before cooking; if it is still sharply salty, the finished braise will be inedible and cannot be fixed.
2. Slice the potatoes to an even quarter inch. Thick-and-thin slices cook at different speeds, leaving some pieces raw and crunchy while others fall apart into the sauce. Even slices soften together and thicken the dish instead of muddying it.
3. Season the tomato sauce, then taste before the cod goes in. Even desalted cod carries salt that leaches into the sauce as it braises, so season the tomato base lightly at first; a fully salted sauce plus the cod turns the whole dish harsh.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Bacalhau com tomate comes together smoothly once the cod is desalted, so do that soaking a day or two ahead. On cooking day, slice the vegetables, drain and cut the cod, and warm the bread while the sauce simmers so the whole meal reaches the table together.
Prep the Cod and Vegetables
Drain the desalted cod, pat it dry, remove any stray bones or skin, and cut it into large pieces. Thinly slice the onions, mince the garlic, slice the red bell pepper, and peel and slice the potatoes a quarter inch thick. Keep everything in separate piles so you can add each at the right moment.
Build the Tomato Base
Warm the olive oil in a large wide pan over medium heat. Add the onions with a small pinch of salt and cook 6 to 8 minutes until soft and golden, then stir in the garlic and the sliced pepper and cook for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and stir it around the pan for a minute so it darkens and loses its raw edge.
Simmer the Tomato Sauce
Pour in the crushed tomatoes, tuck in the bay leaves, and stir in the sweet paprika, black pepper, and only a light pinch of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes so the sauce thickens and turns glossy. Add a splash of water if it gets too dry; you want a sauce that coats a spoon.
Add the Potatoes and Cod
Lay the potato slices into the sauce in an even layer, then nestle the pieces of cod on top. Spoon some sauce over the fish, cover the pan, and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced. Spoon sauce over the cod once or twice so it braises evenly without needing to stir.
Braise Until Tender
Keep the heat low so the sauce barely bubbles and let the cod finish braising for a few more minutes, until it flakes easily when pressed with a fork. Resist the urge to stir hard; a gentle shake of the pan is enough to keep things from sticking, so the cod stays in handsome pieces rather than shredding into the sauce.
Finish and Serve
Take the pan off the heat as soon as the cod is tender and the sauce is thick. Remove the bay leaves, scatter the chopped parsley over the top, and taste for salt, adding a little only if it needs it. Drizzle with a thread of olive oil and serve right away, straight from the pan, with plenty of crusty bread for the sauce.
Chef’s Tips From Real Kitchen Testing
Taste a flake of the cod before you cook. The right level of saltiness makes or breaks the dish, so if the soaked cod is still sharp, give it a few more hours and another water change.
Season the sauce lightly and correct at the very end. The cod gives up its own salt as it braises, so a sauce that tasted perfect before the fish went in can turn harsh afterward.
Braise, do not boil, and barely stir. Keep the heat low and shake the pan instead of stirring, so the cod stays in generous flakes rather than shredding into the sauce.
Recipe Variations
Serving Suggestions
- Thick slices of warm, crusty Portuguese bread for the sauce
- Plain white rice to soak up the extra tomato
- A simple green salad with olive oil and vinegar
- A bowl of olives and a drizzle of good olive oil on top
Nutrition Facts
| Nutrient | Amount per serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 360 |
| Protein | 38 g |
| Carbohydrates | 34 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1.8 g |
| Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Sodium | 850 mg |
Values are estimates per serving and vary with how fully the cod is desalted and the brands you use.
Make-Ahead Tips
The tomato sauce is even better made a day ahead. Cook it through the simmer stage, cool, and refrigerate. The cod can be desalted and kept covered in the fridge for a day too. When you are ready to eat, reheat the sauce, add the potato and cod, and braise fresh so the fish is never overcooked.
Storage, Freezing & Reheating
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Troubleshooting
Dish too salty? The cod was not soaked long enough. Add a few more potato slices and a splash of water to soak up some salt, then serve with extra bread and rice to balance it.
Cod tough or dry? It cooked too long or too hot. Braise the fish only until it flakes, keep the heat low, and pull the pan off the moment it is just done.
Sauce too thin? Simmer it a few minutes longer with the lid off before adding the cod, or stir in an extra spoonful of tomato paste to thicken and deepen it.
A Note on Portuguese Cooking
Bacalhau com tomate belongs to the deepest tradition in Portuguese cooking: bacalhau, which simply means salt cod. Though the fish is caught in the cold North Atlantic, the Portuguese turned salting and drying it into a national art, and the cured cod became so central to the table that it is often said there are 365 recipes for bacalhau, one for every day of the year. This tomato braise is among the homeliest and most beloved of them.
It sits in a wide family of Portuguese and Iberian tomato-and-fish dishes. The one it is most often confused with is cataplana: where cataplana is a mixed-shellfish stew sealed and steamed in a domed copper clam-shell pot, bacalhau com tomate is salt cod braised openly in tomato sauce. It shares a soul with the tomato rice of arroz de tomate, the layered Portuguese cataplana, a brothy Italian acqua pazza, a Brazilian moqueca, and the Basque marmitako, all pots that turn fish and tomato into something generous.
What has kept bacalhau com tomate on the Portuguese table for generations is exactly what created it: it stretches a precious, expensive fish across a whole family with humble potato and a rich tomato sauce. Desalt the cod with care, keep the tomato and garlic constant, and put a loaf of bread on the table, and you have a meal that still tastes of the Portuguese coast.