In Argentina, food plays a central role in social gatherings. The Asado, a traditional barbecue, is more than just a cooking technique—it’s a social event that brings people together. As New Year’s Eve approaches, families and friends typically gather around the grill, sharing meals that are as much about connection as they are about cuisine. Here are some of my personal New Year’s recipes I believe you need to try this year. 

The Heart of Argentinian Asado: Grilled Meats

The meats of an Argentine Asado are the protagonists of a story about tradition, skills, and passion. Find here more info about each cut to decide the ones that are best for your New Year’s Eve: 

Beef Ribs

Beef ribs, slow-cooked over embers, can become the protagonist of your New Year’s dinner. They can be prepared ahead of time, allowing the host to spend more time with guests rather than being stuck in the kitchen. 

The meat is forgiving—even if cooking times vary slightly, it remains delicious. Their substantial nature makes them perfect for a festive dinner that needs to satisfy a hungry crowd, and they pair beautifully with traditional New Year’s side dishes and celebratory drinks.

Vacío

Flank steak, or vacio, is representative of the Argentine way of grilling: simplistic yet deep. Seasoned mainly with coarse salt, the flavor depends a lot on the quality of the meat and the expertise of the asador. The meat is usually prepared slowly over wood or charcoal (but you can also prepare it indoors) so that its outside achieves a perfect crust while the inside is tender and juicy.

Short Ribs

Short ribs bring a different dimension to the Asado. Slower to cook, they require patience and attention. The process of slowly rendering the fat, creating a crisp exterior while maintaining a succulent interior, is an art form passed down through generations.

Chorizo 

To complement the meats, you should have chorizo at hand and bring to your asado quite a different note. More than just sausage, Argentine chorizo is ground beef and pork, a festival of meat, seasoned with a delicate blend of spices. 

Unlike its spicy Spanish cousin, Argentine chorizo has a mild taste, allowing for the quality of the meat itself to shine through. It acquires a burnished exterior when grilled slowly, crackling under the knife to reveal a juicy and tender interior.

Extra: Chimichurri

Don’t forget to prepare chimichurri sauce, which is wonderful for meat: an exuberant, herby sauce with a bright color that consists of fresh parsley, garlic, oregano, vinegar, and olive oil. Every region of Argentina has its subtle twist on the chimichurri, reflecting the country’s diverse culinary landscape.

New Year’s Traditional Side Dishes

In addition to meat, here I want to present you a couple of side dishes you can try during New Year’s dinner:  

• Provoleta brings an Italian flavor to the Argentine technique of barbecuing. The most common way is it made by: melting a piece of provolone on a grill until it is golden brown and bubbly then seasoning it with dried oregano and possibly red pepper flakes. 
• Ensalada Rusa or Potato salad in principle, although it betrays the name, it is essentially of Argentine origin. This salad is a prime example of how different cultures have come together to influence Argentine cooking and still maintain a sobriety of grilled meat. The basic ingredients are boiled potatoes, carrots, peas, and in some cases hard-boiled eggs, combined with mayonnaise. 
• Grilled vegetables play a crucial role in the Asado, offering lighter, more delicate flavors. Bell peppers, zucchini, and eggplant are often brushed with olive oil and herbs, then grilled alongside the meats, absorbing the smoky essence of the fire while maintaining their individual character.

Sweet Endings: Desserts that Celebrate New Beginnings

Desserts are also essential parts of a true Argentine culinary experience during New Year’s. Here I’m mentioning a couple of essentials: 

Flan 

Flan is a silky custard with deep caramel notes has its origins in European immigrants, usually Spanish and Italian ones, who settled in Argentina and shaped this cuisine with their cooking methods. A perfect flan requires time and preciseness to strike a delicate balance of eggs, milk, sugar, and the signature dulce de leche. 

Chocotorta

We also need to talk about chocotorta, an unbaked cake with a multi-layer filling of chocolate cookies, soaked in coffee, with generous dulce de leche and cream cheese. One bite is a reminder of family gatherings, of grandmothers and mothers passing down recipes that are much more than mere instructions, it’s love made edible. 

The beauty of chocotorta lies in its great simplicity and the added personal touch every family adds in its making. Some families swear by a specific brand of chocolate cookie, others have some formula of their own, like soaking cookies in liqueur. 

Other desserts you need to try: 

• Panqueques con dulce de leche
• Torta rogel
• Budín de pan con crema
• Alfajores de maicena

Drinks to Complete the New Year’s Feast

Argentine wines are known all over the world because they do deserve that fame. For example, Malbec is bold and robust, grown at home more in the high altitudes of Mendoza and embodies the Argentinian gifting ability to grab hold of something beautiful and make it their own. 

French agronomist Michel Pouget brought the Malbec vine to Argentina during the mid-1800s and then people started growing in the dry, high-altitude settings of the Andes. Here, the grape develops a deeper color, more intense flavors, and a remarkable complexity that has made Argentine Malbec a global wine phenomenon.

Torrontés

Torrontés offers a different experience—a white wine with distinctive floral aromas that dance between sweetness and acidity. It’s a wine that surprises, that challenges expectations, much like Argentina itself. Exclusively Argentine, Torrontés is a grape variety that cannot be found with such purity anywhere else in the world. Its aromatic profile is unlike any other wine.

The wine’s unique character comes from its cultivation in the high-altitude vineyards of Salta, where cool temperatures and intense sunlight create a perfect environment for developing its distinctive aromatics. 

Fernet & Cola

For those seeking something beyond wine, drinking Fernet and Cola represents a beloved Argentine tradition. This bitter herbal liqueur mixed with sweet cola creates a drink as complex and surprising as the culture itself. There’s a specific technique to mixing the two elements, with passionate debates about the perfect ratio of Fernet to cola. Some prefer a more herbal, intense experience with less cola, while others seek a smoother, more balanced combination.

Conclusion

The New Year’s Eve dinner in Argentina is not only a great feast but a great moment to share with your loved ones. It is not about being perfect; it is about making memories, remembering the past, and bringing the future closer.

Remember that you are doing much more than cooking a meal as you prepare these dishes. You are actively living the very soul of the hospitality that is characteristic in Argentina— turning simple holiday food into a display of love, community, and celebration.