The Brazilian Comfort Food Camila Mendes (31) Keeps Coming Back to

Camila Mendes may be best known for playing the sharp-tongued Veronica Lodge in ‘Riverdale,’ but off-screen, her identity is deeply rooted in something far more grounding: food. The Brazilian-American actress has a genuine, personal connection to what ends up on her plate, and it goes well beyond a celebrity’s curated wellness routine. What does she actually eat, and does she know her way around a kitchen?

It All Starts With Brazil

For Mendes, the most comforting meals are the ones that bring her closest to her roots. During a Latina magazine interview while promoting her film ‘Música,’ she sat down to a spread of her absolute favorites: white rice and black beans (arroz com feijão), sausages, pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread), and yucca fries.

She described the combination as a staple of Brazilian cuisine and something she holds close as a way of staying connected to her culture. For Mendes, it’s not just food. It’s identity on a plate.

She Will Eat Anything (Yes, Anything)

One of the most revealing things about Mendes as a food lover is just how adventurous she is outside her comfort zone. During a trip to Mexico, she posted a video on Instagram of herself casually munching on ants, crickets, and grasshoppers, while her dining companion screamed in horror.

Her verdict? The insects tasted like chips. It’s the kind of fearlessness around food that suggests someone who genuinely loves eating, not just performing wellness for the camera.

A Hard-Won Relationship With Food

Mendes has been publicly candid about the fact that her relationship with food wasn’t always this free. She opened up in Shape magazine about struggling with bulimia during high school and college, a battle that resurfaced when she started filming ‘Riverdale.’

The turning point came when a nutritionist helped her reintroduce foods she had been avoiding, especially carbs like bread and rice. Today, she follows a balanced approach with no restrictions, publicly declaring herself done with dieting for good.

What a Typical Day Looks Like

The day-to-day reality of what Mendes eats is refreshingly straightforward. Her meals tend to lean toward whole, nourishing foods without tipping into obsession. A typical day might include an omelet with avocado and a green smoothie for breakfast, a barbecue chicken quinoa bowl at lunch, and a grilled shrimp salad for dinner.

She also swears by kombucha as a daily staple. And when she wants dessert, she eats it. Chocolate cake included, no guilt attached.

So, Can She Actually Cook?

Here’s where it gets interesting. Unlike some celebrities who’ve turned their kitchen into a full-blown content series, Mendes keeps things quieter when it comes to cooking. What’s clear is that she knows what she loves and stays close to it. Brazilian home cooking, simple proteins, fresh vegetables, and the kind of food that feels like a hug.

She might not be hosting cooking tutorials for millions of followers just yet, but her instincts around flavor and tradition suggest there’s a lot more going on in that kitchen than she lets on. Sometimes the best cooks are the ones who cook only for themselves, and cook it exactly right.