Even the most dedicated steak lover might be surprised to learn about picanha. This steak cut is hugely popular in Brazil, but has yet to gain the international recognition it deserves.
If you’re looking for a steak with a big meaty flavor that’s perfect on the barbecue, give picanha a try.
Picanha is taken from the top of the rump, and is traditionally quite small. If you see a big picanha steak, it likely contains other cuts!
Look for a sizable fat cap, to ensure a tender finish. In Brazil, picanha is often folded and skewered, then grilled over the barbecue.
So you’re interested in trying picanha? Then you probably want the right side to go with it! In Brazil, people eat picanha at a churrascaria, or barbecue, with a huge range of sides.
At home, we recommend looking for Brazilian flavors, to complement this powerful cut of beef!
Why Serve A Side With Picanha?
Juicy and delicious, you might think you can serve picanha all on its own. And while the meaty taste does hold up well when enjoyed solo, you’re likely to want something extra to contrast the heavy taste of the steak.
Picanha has a bold and powerful flavor, with that rich umami taste you can expect from sirloin, so a sharp sauce with a mild carb is often the best pairing for picanha.
So, whether you’re planning a romantic dinner, a celebratory barbecue, or you’re just curious about a new cut of meat, picanha read on to see the best side dishes to pair it with. Let’s get into it.
8 Amazing Side Dishes To Serve With Picanha
Here are some of the most delicious side dishes to serve with picanha.
In Brazil, rice isn’t a plain side dish that’s used to soak up the flavor of your main meal. Instead, Brazilian rice brings its own tastes to the plate!
Seasoned with onion, garlic, and salt, Arroz Brasileiro helps enhance the flavors of your picanha steak and is one of the easiest side dishes to prepare. You begin by sautéing onion and garlic, before adding your washed rice to the same pan.
Pour on the water, add some salt, cover, and cook. The rice simmers over a low heat, absorbing the flavors surrounding it. Here is an easy to follow recipe.
We also LOVE making rice in our Instant Pot…so easy! We make a small commission from each sale if you use our link. This helps us continue bringing helpful content to you and helps our young family. We appreciate you!
No trip to the steakhouse is complete without a basket of bread, and if you want to recreate the restaurant experience, you need something to mop up the juices.
Pao de queijo is the perfect accompaniment to a perfectly cooked picanha steak, and this Brazilian dish adds to your South American feast!
This Brazilian bread is essentially a pate a choux, but if you aren’t a confident pâtisserie chef, don’t worry, the soft cheese bread is surprisingly easy to throw together. Here’s a recipe we love and another one here that also comes out great!
Farofa is going to sound strange when you first hear about it, but this Brazilian side dish is a must at any churrascaria.
Farofa is made using cassava flour, sometimes known as yuca flour. It’s really quick and easy to throw together. Start by frying bacon in a cold skillet, using lots of butter.
Add some onions, then some garlic, and when fragrant, stir in the flour. Let this toast for around two minutes, allowing the flour to absorb all those flavors in the pan.
Sprinkled over your picanha, farofa brings a mild taste and an incredible texture. Once you’ve started eating food with farofa, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without this quintessential Brazilian side.
Fries are always a traditional pairing with steak, but if you want to enhance your Brazilian feast, try making polenta fries instead.
Made using cooked and set polenta, these fries require a bit of advance planning, but the end result is worth the effort.
Polenta is a type of ground cornmeal that, when cooked in water, turns into a creamy porridge. So, you might be wondering, how does a soft mush ever become fries?
Spread thin and left to cool overnight, polenta sets to a firm texture. This can then be sliced, and fried in hot oil. Finish the fries with a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and enjoy with picanha and Brazilian salsa, like the one below.
While many of us associate Brazilian sides and sauces with chili, molho a campanha is a little different. You can add some spice if you want, but this dish is traditionally served with zing and aroma, rather than heat.
Molho a campanha is similar to Mexican pico de gallo — a chopped salsa made from onions and tomato. But molho a campanha uses white wine vinegar instead of lime juice, and avoids any chili.
To make molho a campanha, dice equal amounts of tomato, red onion, and green bell pepper (or bell pepper substitute). Add olive oil and white wine vinegar, finely chopped cilantro, and finish with salt and pepper.
Mix everything together, and leave your salsa to sit in the fridge before serving.
The final product has a gentle aroma and a zing of acidity. The crunch perfectly balances the tender meat of picanha. Pile the salsa on top of your steak to your liking and enjoy!
If you’re planning a romantic evening, couve a mineira is the ideal side for your picanha steak. It adds freshness and crunch to the table, balancing the steak while leaving plenty of room for dessert.
You only need one more side dish to make this meal complete — a fresh pour of Burgundy or something similar!
Couve a mineira is a Brazilian collard greens recipe. The collard greens are washed and sliced into strips (with the ribs removed), then boiled until their brilliant green appears.
Next, fry bacon in a skillet until brown. Add your drained collard greens to the skillet, along with onion, sea salt, and garlic.
Within 10 minutes, the flavors will have combined to create an enticing aroma, and a delicious accompaniment to steak.
Chimichurri actually hails from Argentina and Uruguay, but you’re likely to find it on the menu at any Brazilian barbecue.
This sauce packs a lot of zing and a heavy punch of flavor, cutting through the savory meat and leaving you wanting more.
Olive oil is the base of chimichurri, and it gives it a rich and oily texture that’s delicious with a heavy steak. Then, add plenty of finely chopped parsley.
Olive oil and parsley are added in roughly equal amounts, creating this aromatic flavor profile.
Throw in some sliced garlic, chili for heat, a dash of salt and pepper, and a glug of red wine vinegar (lemon juice will do, in a pinch).
Now for the hard part — leave it to sit. In time, the flavors will develop, and you can decide if your chimichurri needs a touch more of anything.
When you’re happy with the taste, you can leave it chunky, or blend it to a purée.
Brazilian potato salad is the perfect side dish for a barbecue or potluck where picanha is being served. It’s simple, filling, and a real crowd pleaser.
On a hot day, a scoop of Brazilian potato salad will cool you down as you wait eagerly at the grill for a freshly cooked picanha steak!
So, what makes Brazilian potato salad so good? Brazilian potato salad has one (not so) secret ingredient that make it different from its international counterparts — cooked carrots!
Chopped into chunks, the carrots are cooked alongside the potatoes. As the potatoes go soft, the carrots maintain some give. It plays with the textures, adding a new dimension to your steak and potatoes.
Once everything has cooled, you can stir through your mayonnaise and add a handful of chopped, fresh parsley.
Final Thoughts
Picanha is a classic steak dish, which means there are plenty of side dishes that act as an excellent pairing.
If you’re planning a Brazilian barbecue feast, we recommend trying as many sides as possible! Look for traditional Brazilian flavors, to accentuate this meaty and tender cut of beef. Check out our smoked chicken side guide to accompany other meats at your cookout.
Hi, I’m Aubrey, and I have been a chef for close to 8 years. Cooking has always been a passion of mine, as long as I can remember. I loved my play kitchen when I was a kid, and would offer my parents my own (albeit gross) cookie recipes to taste!
Here at ButterandSaltGatherings, I want to offer a wide range of ingredients, flavors, meals and recipes so that you can start living each day to the fullest, and enjoy only the best food.
