Latin America & Caribbean

Chivito: Uruguay's Towering Steak Sandwich

Name: Chivito: Uruguay's Towering Steak Sandwich
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Uruguayan
Ingredients: 300 g (2 pieces) Beef round (thin steak cut); 2 Buns (hamburger buns); 2 Eggs; 4 slices Ham (loin ham); 4 slices Bacon; 100 g (sliced) Mozzarella; 1 (5 mm slices) Tomato; 2 leaves Lettuce; 2 tbsp Mayonnaise; 6 Olives (pitted, green); 2 pieces Red bell pepper (roasted); 1/2 tsp Salt; 1/4 tsp Black pepper; 1 tbsp Olive oil; 2 Potatoes; as needed Frying oil; as needed Salt

A full chivito recipe, Uruguay's national sandwich: thin beef steak layered with a fried egg, ham, mozzarella, and olives, the most generous sandwich in South America. Covers its history from the seaside of Punta del Este and how to make it in a home kitchen, based on primary sources in English.

Published: October 24, 2026Total: 35 minLevel: Beginner

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 6

Pound the beef and season it

10 min

Beef round sandwiched in plastic wrap and being pounded with a mallet — Sandwich the beef round in plastic wrap and pound to an even 5 mm or less. The thinness is the life of a chivito

Sandwich the beef round between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin until it is an even 5 mm or thinner. Be careful not to pound so hard that holes appear. Sprinkle both sides of the pounded meat with salt and black pepper.

This "pounding" decides the success of the chivito. Thin meat cooks quickly over high heat, so the surface is crisp and the inside juicy. The common rule at every bar in Montevideo that serves chivito is to pound the meat thin and cook it fast over high heat.

STEP 22 / 6

Cook the bacon crisp

5 min

Bacon crisping in a skillet — Cook the bacon crisp. Drain the excess fat, and use the fat left in the skillet to cook the meat

Heat a skillet over medium heat and lay in the bacon with no oil. Cook 2 minutes per side, until crisp with the edges lightly curling and browned. Lift out onto paper towels to absorb the excess fat.

Leave the bacon fat in the skillet. You will cook the meat in it next, which greatly improves the flavor. In Uruguayan bars the bacon is cooked first, and it's common sense to cook the meat in the fat on the same griddle (Sampedro 2023).

STEP 33 / 6

Cook the steak

3 min

Thin beef steak cooking in a skillet with cheese melting on top — Cook the thin steak quickly over high heat, then lay on the cheese and cover. The melted cheese merges with the meat

Add the olive oil to the skillet with the bacon fat. Turn the heat to high. When it begins to smoke, add the beef. Cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side. When it browns, flip it.

Immediately lay a slice of mozzarella (or provolone) on the cooked meat, cover, and steam for 30 seconds. The residual heat melts the cheese until it merges with the meat. Incidentally, "a caballo" is a Spanish-speaking expression for a dish with a fried egg on top.

Don't overcook the meat

Meat 5 mm thick is done in 3 minutes in total or less. It does not need to be well done; in Uruguay it is rather preferred a little medium-rare. Overcooked, the meat gets tough and dry and half the appeal of the chivito is lost. In Uruguay, the land of asado (charcoal-grilled meat), people are very particular about doneness, and avoiding overcooking is the basic rule.

STEP 44 / 6

Fry the eggs

2 min

A soft fried egg cooking in a skillet — Turn off the heat while the yolk is still soft. The yolk running out when you bite is the best part of a chivito

Add a little olive oil to another skillet and crack the eggs in over medium heat. Turn off the heat when the whites have set and the yolks are still soft.

It is extremely important that the chivito's egg has a soft yolk. The best moment is when you bite into the sandwich and the yolk runs out and coats the meat and cheese. In Uruguay this soft fried egg is called "huevo frito a caballo" (a fried egg on horseback), picturing it "riding" the meat.

STEP 55 / 6

Warm the buns and assemble

5 min

A step photo showing the chivito being assembled layer by layer — Assembling the chivito. Stack lettuce, tomato, cheese-topped steak, ham, bacon, fried egg, and roasted pepper in that order and finish with an olive

Halve the buns and lightly toast them cut side down in a toaster or skillet. When they have taken some color, remove them and spread mayonnaise on the bottom bun.

Layer the fillings in this order. This order is the Uruguayan standard.

First spread mayonnaise on the bottom bun and lay lettuce on top. The lettuce acts as a moisture barrier for the bun. Next arrange the tomato slices, and on top place the beef steak with cheese.

On the meat, put 2 slices of ham, and then the crisp bacon. The salty cured meats bring out the savoriness of the beef and are warmed by the heat of the cheese. Add the soft fried egg on top and set the roasted pepper beside it. Finally, fix green olives onto the bun with a toothpick and press the top bun down lightly to finish.

For the finishing touch, skewer green olives with a toothpick to decorate the top of the bun. This is the chivito's signature look.

The secret of assembly

The principle of assembling a chivito is "heavy things at the bottom, light things on top," but the Uruguayan way is to place the ham and bacon on top of the meat. The salty cured meats bring out the beef's savoriness and are warmed by the cheese's heat at the same time. Lettuce and tomato go at the very bottom as a moisture barrier for the bun. Montevideo food writer Soledad Saavedra writes, "Assembling a chivito is like architecture. If the foundation is weak, the whole thing collapses."

STEP 66 / 6

Finish with french fries

10 min

A finished chivito and french fries on a wooden board — A finished chivito. The green olive on top of the bun is the signature. A heap of crisp fries sits alongside. A scene from the Uruguayan table

Cut the potatoes into 1 cm sticks and soak in water to remove the starch. Wipe well with paper towels and fry in 170 degree C oil for 5 minutes. Take them out, raise the oil to 190 degrees C, and double fry until crisp. Sprinkle with salt and serve with the chivito.

In Uruguay, a chivito without french fries is unthinkable. There is even a saying, "Papas fritas sin chivito no es chivito," a chivito without fries is not a chivito. The Uruguayan way is to pile the fries high on the same plate (or wooden board) as the chivito, not on a separate dish.

0 / 0

Ingredients

1 / 2

Main ingredients

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Beef round (thin steak cut)	300 g (2 pieces)	Rump or sirloin also works. Pound to 5 mm or less
Buns (hamburger buns)	2	Brioche buns recommended. Ciabatta also works
Eggs	2	For fried eggs
Ham (loin ham)	4 slices	Thick-cut recommended
Bacon	4 slices	Cooked crisp
Mozzarella	100 g (sliced)	Provolone also works (more Uruguayan)
Tomato	1 (5 mm slices)	Fully ripe
Lettuce	2 leaves	—
Mayonnaise	2 tbsp	—
Olives (pitted, green)	6	Classic chivito topping
Red bell pepper (roasted)	2 pieces	Jarred is fine. Morrones asados
Salt	1/2 tsp	—
Black pepper	1/4 tsp	—
Olive oil	1 tbsp	For cooking the steak

2 / 2

French fries (the side, a must)

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Potatoes	2	A waxy variety recommended
Frying oil	as needed	—
Salt	as needed	—

0 / 0

Named for a "Little Goat," the Most Lavish Sandwich in the World

Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. Walk the cobblestones of the old city and small bars and parrilladas (grill restaurants) line every corner. Sit at the counter and ask for "chivito, uno," and before long a sandwich so enormous you have to hold it with both hands is carried out. That is the chivito.

The chivito is Uruguay's proud national sandwich: thin pounded beef steak in a bun, with layers of fried egg, ham, bacon, mozzarella, tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise on top. It is the "enjoy the meat to the fullest" spirit of South and Central American cooking (in Japanese) realized in sandwich form. "Chivito" is a Spanish diminutive of "chivo," a goat, yet no goat meat is used in the modern chivito. Behind this odd name is an anecdote every Uruguayan knows.

What is a chivito?

The chivito is a sandwich said to have been born in the late 1940s in the Uruguayan seaside resort of Punta del Este. The name means "little goat," but it actually uses beef. According to the story, a traveler from Argentina ordered "chivito (kid goat meat)," and the bar owner, who had no goat, improvised a lavish sandwich of beef steak instead. After that a "culture of addition," piling on one filling after another, took root, giving the sandwich its present form. It is a candidate for Uruguayan intangible cultural heritage.

Search for "chivito" in Japanese and you'll find only a few lines of notes in South American travel writing and a very small number of blog posts. In English, detailed recipes and cultural background are published as "Chivito Uruguayo," but specific tips for making it delicious, such as the cut of meat and how to pound it, the order of layering the fillings, and choosing the bun, are still scarce outside the region. Although it is a soul food representative of South America, alongside Argentine empanadas (in Japanese) and Cuban ropa vieja (in Japanese), awareness of it elsewhere is surprisingly low. Here is a complete guide based on primary sources in English.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Choosing and pounding the meat

In Uruguay, "lomo" (tenderloin) or "nalga" (inside round) is traditionally used. The most reproducible method is to cut a block of beef round into 5 mm slices, then pound them thin with a meat mallet, or with a rolling pin over plastic wrap. You can also pound sirloin steak thin, but if there's too much fat it gets greasy once it's in the bun. Food blogger Laura Sampedro (Paulina Cocina) declares, "The thinner the meat for a chivito, the better. Hamburger-patty thickness is out of the question."

Cooking Tips

If you can get provolone

In Uruguay, provolone is traditional rather than mozzarella. Provolone stretches in strings when heated, and its smoky flavor matches beef and bacon perfectly. Look for Argentine or Italian provolone at a good cheese counter or specialty grocer. Without it, mozzarella still makes a delicious chivito.

Choosing the bread

In Uruguay a soft white bread called "pan de miga" is traditional (Puglia 2018). Ordinary hamburger buns are fine too. Brioche buns bring out the meat with the flavor of butter. Avoid hard breads such as baguette and focaccia, as the layers of filling collapse easily. Ciabatta is borderline. As the name "chivito al pan" suggests, soft bread is the orthodox choice.

Upgrading the mayonnaise

Some bars in Montevideo use an "aioli-style sauce." Add 1/4 tsp tube garlic to store-bought mayonnaise. Mix in 1 tsp lemon juice too. This alone raises the level considerably. Still, ordinary neighborhood bars in Montevideo use plain mayonnaise as is (Sampedro 2023).

Cross-section of a chivito, showing layers of meat, cheese, fried egg, ham, and bacon — A cutaway of the chivito. The layers of beef steak, melted cheese, soft fried egg, ham, crisp bacon, and roasted pepper make a beautiful cross-section

Variations

Chivito al plato (the plated version)

Besides the "chivito al pan" sandwiched in a bun, there is the "chivito al plato," served on a plate without bread. The exact same fillings are laid out on a large plate without a bun and eaten with a knife and fork. It suits people who want to cut carbohydrates or enjoy the flavor of meat and egg directly. In Uruguayan restaurants both always appear on the menu, and the al plato version typically costs 100–150 pesos more.

Chivito canadiense (Canadian style)

Some bars in Uruguay have a "canadiense" variation that uses Canadian bacon (back bacon) in place of bacon and swaps the cheese for cheddar. It is characterized by lighter fat and bright orange cheese, and is said to have spread from the Canadian community living in Montevideo in the 1960s.

Vegetarian chivito

In Montevideo in recent years a vegetarian version has appeared that grills thick slices of portobello mushroom instead of beef. The portobello's meaty texture and earthy flavor surprisingly suit the fried egg and cheese. Traditionalists in Uruguay, however, dislike it: "A country without meat is not Uruguay. A chivito without meat is not a chivito."

Chicken version (chivito de pollo)

Use chicken breast pounded thin instead of beef. It has a lighter taste. The flavors of tomato and mayonnaise come more to the front. It is popular at Uruguayan school cafeterias and cafés. On bar menus it appears as a separate item, "chivito de pollo" (Puglia 2018).

Chivito al plato: the fillings served on a large plate without a bun — Chivito al plato. The same fillings are plated without bread and eaten with a knife and fork, served with french fries and salad

Background of the Dish

From an improvisation in Punta del Este to national dish

There is a story about the origin of the chivito that is the most widely told in Uruguay. In the late 1940s, at a small bar in the Atlantic resort of Punta del Este, a traveler from Argentina ordered "chivito" (grilled kid goat). The bar had no goat meat in stock, so it served toasted bread with butter, ham, and beef steak instead.

This early chivito was not the lavish sandwich of today but a simple composition. Fillings such as lettuce, tomato, egg, and bacon were added to reach the present form, which is thought to be the result of Montevideo's bars competing to add ingredients from the 1960s onward (see BBC Travel 2019 and the Uruguayan Ministry of Tourism's official "Chivito Week" page).

Another meat culture born in the country of asado

Uruguay is a country with one of the highest per-capita beef consumptions in the world. Along with Argentina, "asado" (charcoal-grilled meat) is at the center of the food culture, but the chivito has a lineage different from asado.

According to the Uruguay entry in the Oxford Companion to Food (2014 edition), the chivito is described as "a dish on the border between fast food and slow food." The country's emblematic ingredient, beef, is cooked quickly and eaten casually. At the same time, the composition of the layers follows established rules, and each bar's pride in "our chivito" rivals that for a traditional dish.

In Uruguay it is sometimes put this way: "If asado is what you gather around with family on Sunday, the chivito is what you bite into with friends on Saturday night." A BBC feature (2019) also presents the chivito as a symbol of Uruguayans' casual enjoyment of food.

The peak of South American sandwich culture

South America has sandwich cultures that represent each country. Colombia's bandeja paisa (in Japanese) is an overwhelming profusion of quantity and variety, and the Cuban sandwich (medianoche) is a pressed sandwich of pork, ham, and cheese. Chile has the "barros luco" (a hot sandwich of beef and cheese), and Argentina has the "lomito" (a steak sandwich).

But in the thickness of its layers, the complexity of flavor, and its open spirit of "you can add anything," the chivito surpasses them all. A 2019 BBC ranking named the chivito one of "the world's most underrated sandwiches," and it was also ranked in CNN's "World's 50 best sandwiches" (2023).

The economics of the chivito

At an ordinary neighborhood bar in Montevideo a chivito costs about 450–650 Uruguayan pesos (about 1,500–2,200 yen as of 2024). At a high-end restaurant it can exceed 1,000 pesos. Given the average monthly income of Uruguayans (about 45,000 pesos), the chivito is a "small luxury," not something eaten every day but a "weekend reward." In student districts and around football stadiums, however, smaller chivitos ("chivitito") are sold for around 300 pesos.

The atmosphere of a street-corner bar in Montevideo serving chivito — A bar in Montevideo's old city. Behind the counter, the fillings for chivito are laid out on a griddle. A scene of Uruguayan food culture on a Saturday night crowded with locals

Also Worth Reading

The chivito is the crystallization of South America's meat-eating culture. Try dishes from neighboring countries too.

Empanadas (Argentina) (in Japanese): fried pies of beef and onion
Ropa vieja (Cuba) (in Japanese): Cuba's national dish, where the beef fibers shred like "old rags"
Bandeja paisa (Colombia) (in Japanese): Colombia's "everything on top" platter
Feijoada (Brazil): a stew of black beans and pork

Please enjoy meat dishes of the Caribbean as well.

Jerk chicken (Jamaica): an art of spice and smoke
Griot (Haiti) (in Japanese): fried pork marinated in citrus

More to Cook Alongside

How to make chimichurri (in Japanese) - uses ingredients and aromas from the same region.
How to make empanadas (in Japanese) - uses ingredients and aromas from the same region.

FAQ

Can I make it with cuts other than beef round?

Yes. Sirloin, rump, or tenderloin all make a delicious chivito. But pounding thin is the most important point, so always pound thick cuts to 5 mm or less. Tenderloin is tender and refined, but at ordinary bars in Montevideo the majority opinion is that "a chivito of round is wilder and tastier."

Do I have to put in all the fillings?

Using all of them is orthodox, but even at Uruguayan bars orders for "sin bacon" (no bacon) or "sin huevo" (no egg) are not unusual. But if meat, cheese, and ham are not all there at a minimum, Uruguayans will say "that's not a chivito." On the other hand, adding avocado, mushrooms, or hot sauce is normal in Montevideo.

Why do they put an olive on it?

The green olive skewered on a toothpick is a classic chivito topping and at the same time has a practical role of "holding the bun in place." Many bars serve it with an olive, but it is a matter of preference rather than a requirement. The saltiness and acidity of the olive are liked as an accent that tightens the rich flavor of meat and cheese.

Can I eat chivito outside Uruguay?

Buenos Aires, Argentina, has many Uruguayan restaurants that serve chivito. You also see it in southern Brazil and Paraguay, though the fillings and names may differ slightly. Restaurants that always serve chivito are rare in many places outside the region, but you may find it at South American food festivals and events held by Uruguayan communities abroad.

Nutrition (per serving, of 2 servings)

The chivito is high in calories and fat, but rich in good-quality protein and iron from the beef. Like Brazilian feijoada, "substantial eating" is part of the cultural value of South American meat dishes.

Nutrient	Amount
Energy	920 kcal
Protein	58 g
Fat	48 g
Carbohydrates	52 g
Fiber	4 g
Sodium	1,280 mg
Iron	6.8 mg
Vitamin B12	4.2 μg

Sources

Puglia, S. (2018). Cocina Uruguaya: Historias y Recetas. Montevideo: Ediciones de la Banda Oriental.
Davidson, A. (2014). "Uruguay." Oxford Companion to Food, 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
BBC Travel (2019). "Is this the world's most underrated sandwich?" BBC Travel.
CNN Travel (2023). "World's 50 best sandwiches." CNN Travel.
Sampedro, L. (2023). "Chivito Uruguayo: receta original." Paulina Cocina.
My Latina Table (2024). "Authentic Uruguayan Chivito." My Latina Table.