It’s something of a cliché to say that Patagonia is a destination for carnivores. If you think of Argentinian food, then the first thing you might have in mind is a big steak washed down with a glass of red wine. This is the land of the gaucho after all, where men on horseback have raised sheep and cows for centuries. So how do you navigate Patagonia if meat is firmly off your menu, or if you just want to eat a few more vegetarian meals to lower your personal carbon footprint? How does vegetarian travel work in Patagonia? And what about vegan travel?
I recently spent six months travelling around Patagonia, working remotely and enjoying some of the best outdoor experiences that the region has to offer. I don’t eat meat or dairy, so while I was excited about planning my trip, I was also a little apprehensive about what I would find on my plate. But my concerns were completely misplaced. I ate like a queen! So here’s my guide to being a vegetarian or vegan traveller to Argentina or Chile.
Travel essentials for vegetarians and vegans
The first thing for anyone planning a trip to Patagonia who is a vegetarian or vegan is not to be afraid. You really won’t go hungry. Even a relatively short time ago, either option was seen as an odd choice in the region, but that’s not the case today. While meat remains firmly the default meal choice for the majority of people in Patagonia, one Argentinian in 12 is vegetarian or vegan today.
Before you even think of eating, you’ll want to be able to serve up a short food-friendly vocabulary in Spanish. Soy vegetariana or soy vegana is the easiest way to tell someone ‘I am a vegetarian/vegan’ (or soy vegeteriano/ soy vegano if you’re male). Sin carne (‘without meat’) is another useful phrase to have up your sleeve.
In tourist destinations – whether that was Puerto Natales or Puerto Varas in Chile, or El Chaltén in Argentina – it was usually straightforward to get non-dairy milk in cafes, though you shouldn’t necessarily expect it (ask for leche vegetal or leche sin lactosa). Soy intolerante a la lactosa (I am lactose intolerant) is the quickest way of getting a dairy-free option.
Another thing you should be aware of is making assumptions about foods that you’d expect to automatically be vegetarian or vegan. The best example of this is that some bread or pastry (like empanadas) can contain lard (grasa blanca). Likewise, although dairy products are big business here, cheese is regularly made with rennet.
Like many vegan travellers, before hitting the road I downloaded the Happy Cow app to my phone. It’s an incredibly useful worldwide guide to vegan (and vegetarian) restaurants, with more than 1200 places to eat in both Argentina and Chile. It’s a great way of browsing for dinner – and uploading your own reviews and photos after you’ve eaten.
Vegetarian and vegan travel in Argentina
Of the two countries, Argentina probably required slightly more effort to eat well as a vegan traveller. Vegetarians had it easier, as they always seem to! But this is the country where the term restaurant is frequently interchangeable with a parilla (a grill restaurant of the very carnivorous kind), so it was a pleasant surprise to always find somewhere good to eat without any stress.
In Buenos Aires of course, there is plenty of choice for dedicated vegetarian and vegan places to eat. And likewise, in El Chaltén – the home of Argentinian trekking in the heart of Los Glaciares National Park – I had nearly as many choices of places to eat as I do in Vancouver! El Calafate also has a great restaurant scene for non-meat eaters. Even when I ranged further afield to Mendoza – hardly Patagonia but a great side trip for wine lovers – I was surprised to have one of the best vegan meals of my life in a city where malbec and steak are such traditional partners.
Ushuaia has a number of vegetarian restaurants now – no mean feat for a town that’s so demonstrably in love with seafood. In Bariloche up in the Lake District and the home of Argentinian chocolate, I was delighted to find that vegan chocolate was widely available, as well as vegan beer from the many local microbreweries.
The majority of ‘regular’ restaurants that I visited always had a choice of several vegetarian dishes on the menu. It’s worth remembering that over 60% of all Argentinians claim some sort of Italian descent, so wherever you go you are going to be able to get great pizza and pasta without meat. In the tourist areas, that also frequently meant that vegan cheese was on the menu. Ñoquis (gnocchi) is particularly popular in Argentina. Pizzerias also often offer faina, which is a little like a thick pancake made from chickpea flour, often topped with onion. They’re 100% vegan and 100% delicious.
If you find yourself eating with friends at a parilla, you’ll always have the option of grilled veggies, plus the great salsa-like dips that usually get served up for the table along with fresh bread. Traditional Argentinian dishes you might also find on the menu here might include guiso de lentejas (a hearty lentil stew), or Milanesa de berenjena (eggplant schnitzel).
To start the day, hotels and cafes typically offer a croissant (medialuna), but watch out for the savoury rather than sweet option, as these are the ones that often contain animal fat. For street food, vegetarian empanadas are available everywhere, and vegan options increasingly so.
As someone who was also living as well as travelling, I naturally did a lot of self-catering. Regular grocery stores were usually pretty good for plant milks and soy-based meat substitutes like veggie burgers, but for more specialist items like vegan yoghurt I found myself heading to a health food stores (dietéticas). These are usually brilliantly stocked, and you can find them on almost every street.
Vegetarian and vegan travel in Chile
While Argentina can feel like the spiritual home of the meat-loving gaucho, Chile feels slightly less beholden to the steak, with vegetarian and vegan food substitutes are far more readily available in regular grocery stores. There are plenty of Chilean vegan food brands that produce plant-based food, catering to a growing domestic vegetarian and vegan market. Tofu however was hard to find anywhere, unless there was an Asian grocery store in town.
The same applies when you’re out on the trail. Staying in a refugio (mountain hostel) is the classic way to experience somewhere like Torres del Paine. Knowing their international market, they never fail to serve up plenty of vegetarian and vegan friendly options to fuel their hikers. Refugios also sell supplies for self-caterers and campers, and while supplies can never be guaranteed, I usually found it possible to pick up items like vegan cheese.
A classic Chilean breakfast is pan con palta, which is essentially avocado toast, so lots of people unwittingly begin their day with a vegan dish. Vegetarian empanadas are widespread, and vegan options unexpectedly easy to find on the street. I also ate an awful lot of sopapillas, a tasty street food of fried bread served up with a pico de gallo salsa. They’re cheap, super delicious and 100% vegan.
As you’d might hope for, Santiago has a thriving vegetarian and vegan scene, and you won’t find too many problems finding meat-free options on the menu. Puerto Natales – the gateway to Torres del Paine, Puerto Varas and the country’s adventure sports capital at Pucón all abounded in vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Even if you’re doing a side trip to the Atacama Desert, the tiny oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama you won’t have any trouble finding a dedicated vegan restaurant or cafe.
In regular restaurants in the main town and cities you can always find a reasonable choice of vegetarian (and increasingly vegan) options on the menu. Like Argentina, Chile has a large population that trace their roots back to Italy, so meat-free pasta and pizza is always an option. One of the national dishes is pastel de choclo (maize casserole), and although it traditionally contains meat, I often saw non-meat options on menus.
In terms of drinks, plant-based milks are a lot more widespread in Chile than in Argentina. It’s also worth noting that unlike in neighbouring Peru, the classic pisco sour cocktail that’s so beloved in both countries doesn’t get served up with egg white in Chile. Puerto Varas, home of Chile’s microbrewery scene also has some great vegan beers.
For general eating, it’s really important to note that in Chile (and Argentina as well), the fashion is to eat late at night. Many restaurants don’t open until perhaps 8pm, so you might need to adjust your eating hours. This can take a bit of getting used to if you’re happier with eating earlier, especially if you’ve come off a hike and are looking to refuel. Happily however, cafes tend to stay open late (often past midnight), so you can find options there – or at least be able to grab a coffee and a treat to keep you going until dinner.
My favourite vegetarian and vegan places to eat in Argentina and Chile
So, where were the best places I ate in my six months on the road? Here are my top ten places for vegetarian and vegan food in Patagonia:
Puentes Amarillos Tienda Natural (El Chaltén) This is actually an organic health food store, but they make incredible vegan boxed lunches to take on a hike. They have the best vegan ham and cheese sandwiches and vegan alfajores (cookies) to ensure you have plenty of energy to reach Laguna de los Tres. The fresh fruit is also amazing, with peaches that taste like sunshine and joy!
Inefable Libros y Cafe (Bariloche) This gorgeous cafe-restaurant is on the lakefront of Playa Bonita beachfront. It’s a spacious, light vegetarian-vegan restaurant with spectacular views that’s very digital nomad friendly, and I spent many hours here working and eating my way through the menu. My favourite here was their Buddha bowls, and ‘Slug Club’ – the best kombucha I had in Argentina, brewed locally in Bariloche.
La Paz (Cocina San Martín de los Andes) This entirely vegan bakery was one of the best places I found to load up on sweet and savoury treats for the day. Everything here is delicious, but I was dreaming about their sourdough cinnamon rolls long after I left town.
Viva la Pepa (El Calafate) This creperie in the centre of town won my heart with its entirely vegan menu. My go-to choice here were the peanut butter and banana crepes, but they also won top marks for their divine vegan dulce de leche – that sweetly rich caramel-like spread that every Argentinian is in love with.
Paloma Bakery and Cafe (Mendoza) OK, this isn’t in Patagonia, but it’s a great side trip if you love your wine. I came here almost every day because they served incredible tempeh tacos that were perhaps one of the best things I’ve ever eaten anywhere. They’re more of an open wrap than a true taco, but when they’re this good they can call them what they like.
The Coffee Maker (Puerto Natales) For my money (and they certainly had plenty of it), this is the best brunch place in town. Their caramelised mushroom hummus toast is to die for, and they have a selection of incredible vegan (and vegetarian) cakes.
La Fabrika (Pucón) This is a very cool cafe and restaurant in the centre of town, that knows its clientele are going to be hungry after a day of adventure sports and serves accordingly massive plates of food. I highly recommend the seitan sandwich for any post-adventure meals – they make the seitan in-house. They also have a great selection of vegan cakes for dessert.
El Huerto (Santiago) This is a gorgeous vegetarian restaurant on a cobbled street in the city’s Providencia neighbourhood. The food here is healthy, tasty and incredibly filling. I was a particular fan of their tofu noodle bowls.
Eco Camp (Torres del Paine) If you’re vegetarian or vegan, I highly recommend staying at Ecocamp. While you can eat well in other places, here you feel like it’s a real priority: they even have homemade tempeh! They also have a fantastic system in which you pack your own boxed lunch with many vegan and veggie options, which ensures you’ll get immense pleasure from what you’re eating and not just fuelling your body with hiking calories.
Jardin Meraki (San Pedro de Atacama) Another great side trip for a traditional Patagonia itinerary, this served up better vegan (and vegetarian) than you might ever hope to find in a desert – all served up in a gorgeous outdoor setting with rooftop views to enjoy the sunset. They have a huge menu of options, including terrific dirty fries and risotto. And yes, I ate both in one sitting!
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