South American Vegetable-led Recipes
A tour of South America through vegetable-led: 48 authentic dishes, each tied to a real country and region, each with its cultural story and dietary swaps built in.
48 recipes
Arepas con Quesito & HogaoAntioquia, Colombia · easy · 45 minGriddled corn cakes split and filled with fresh cheese, spooned over with a warm tomato-scallion sauce.
Arepas con Quesito & Hogao Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Puffs)Minas Gerais, Brazil · easy · 40 minChewy-crisp little cheese breads made from tapioca starch, naturally gluten-free and dangerously poppable.
Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Puffs) Porotos GranadosCentral Valley, Chile · easy · 1 hSummer stew of fresh beans, corn, squash, and basil, Chile’s pre-Columbian trinity in one pot.
Porotos Granados LlapingachosPichincha (Andes), Ecuador · medium · 1 hGolden potato patties with melting cheese centers, griddled and served with peanut sauce and pickled onions.
Llapingachos Cachapas con QuesoCaracas, Venezuela · easy · 35 minSweet fresh-corn pancakes griddled golden and folded over melting salty cheese, roadside Venezuela at its best.
Cachapas con Queso BrigadeiroMinas Gerais, Brazil · easy · 25 minFudgy chocolate truffles of condensed milk cooked with cocoa and butter, rolled in sprinkles. No Brazilian party exists without them.
Cuscuz NordestinoBahia, Brazil · easy · 30 minA fluffy steamed cornmeal cake from Brazil's northeast, moistened and finished with butter or coconut, naturally gluten-free morning fuel.
Tortas FritasMendoza, Argentina · easy · 35 minSimple fried dough discs, crisp-edged and dusted with sugar, that Argentines make on rainy mornings to eat with mate.
Tortas Fritas SopaipillasCentral Valley, Chile · medium · 40 minGolden pumpkin-dough fritters, soft and faintly sweet, fried up on cold Chilean mornings and eaten with pebre or chancaca syrup.
Bolón de VerdePichincha (Andes), Ecuador · medium · 35 minA ball of mashed green plantain stuffed with cheese, pan-crisped golden, the filling coastal breakfast of Ecuador.
Arepas con PericoCaracas, Venezuela · easy · 35 minGriddled corn arepas split and filled with perico, soft scrambled eggs cooked down with tomato, onion, and pepper.
Api con PastelLa Paz, Bolivia · medium · 45 minA hot, spiced purple-corn drink thick with cinnamon and clove, served with a crisp fried cheese pastry dusted in sugar.
Api con Pastel MbejúAsunción, Paraguay · easy · 25 minA chewy, crisp-edged starch-and-cheese griddle cake, gluten-free and pan-cooked to order, eaten with cocido at daybreak.
Mbejú Torta FritaMontevideo, Uruguay · easy · 35 minGolden discs of fried dough with a slit in the middle, crisp-edged and pillowy, the treat Uruguayans make whenever it rains, dusted with sugar and dunked in mate.
Torta Frita Sada Roti with Tomato ChokaDemerara (Georgetown), Guyana · medium · 40 minSoft griddled flatbread torn and dipped into smoky fire-roasted tomato choka sharpened with garlic and onion, a vegan Guyanese classic.
Sada Roti with Tomato Choka BaraParamaribo, Suriname · medium · 1 h 50 minLittle savory fried rings of ground urdi and flour, green with chopped tajer leaf and heavy with masala, eaten hot with chutney or sambal.
Bara Suspiro a la LimeñaLima, Peru · medium · 50 minA layer of thick caramel dulce de leche under a cloud of port-scented meringue, Lima's most romantic dessert.
Suspiro a la Limeña Natilla ColombianaAntioquia, Colombia · easy · 35 minA firm, sliceable cinnamon custard set with cornstarch and sweetened with raw-cane panela, Colombia's Christmas sweet.
Alfajores de MaicenaMendoza, Argentina · medium · 42 minTwo tender cornstarch shortbreads sandwiching dulce de leche, edges rolled in coconut, Argentina's national cookie.
Leche AsadaCentral Valley, Chile · easy · 55 minA rustic baked milk custard with a scorched, caramelised top, Chile's homelier cousin of crème caramel.
Higos con QuesoPichincha (Andes), Ecuador · easy · 1 h 45 minWhole figs slow-cooked in dark panela syrup and served with a slice of fresh cheese, an Ecuadorian classic.
QuesilloCaracas, Venezuela · easy · 6 h 25 minA dense caramel-topped custard set with whole eggs and condensed milk, the Venezuelan flan of every celebration.
Dulce de MamónAsunción, Paraguay · easy · 5 h 30 minGreen papaya slow-cooked in clove-and-cinnamon syrup until translucent and jammy, a Paraguayan pantry sweet.
Tarta PascualinaMontevideo, Uruguay · medium · 1 h 15 minA flaky double-crust pie of chard and ricotta with whole eggs baked inside, an everyday River Plate lunch.
ChajáMontevideo, Uruguay · medium · 1 h 5 minAiry sponge layered with whipped cream, peaches, and crushed meringue, Uruguay's cloud-light celebration cake.
Cassava PoneDemerara (Georgetown), Guyana · easy · 1 h 35 minA dense, chewy bake of grated cassava, coconut, and warm spice, a much-loved Guyanese teatime slice.
Bojo CakeParamaribo, Suriname · medium · 3 h 40 minA dense, moist cake of cassava and coconut spiked with rum and raisins, Suriname's Creole celebration bake.
Thayacha (Andean Frozen Oca)La Paz, Bolivia · easy · 8 h 40 minAn ancient Bolivian altiplano treat: sweet oca tubers boiled with cinnamon, then frozen overnight into a natural ice, sold in the winter markets of La Paz and El Alto.
Locro de Papa (Potato and Cheese Soup)Pichincha (Andes), Ecuador · easy · 50 minA thick, golden Andean potato soup enriched with milk and fresh cheese, served with avocado and cilantro.
Sopa ParaguayaAsunción, Paraguay · easy · 1 h 5 minThe famous "soup you can slice": a rich cornbread of onions, cheese, and corn flour, born of a happy kitchen accident.
Chipa GuasúAsunción, Paraguay · easy · 1 h 10 minA soft, savoury Paraguayan casserole of fresh sweet corn, eggs and fresh cheese, baked until golden, the juicier cousin of sopa paraguaya.
Papa a la Huancaína (Potatoes in Spicy Cheese Sauce)Lima, Peru · easy · 45 minCold slices of boiled yellow potato on lettuce, blanketed in a smooth sauce of ají amarillo, queso fresco and evaporated milk, garnished with egg and black olives.
Provoleta (Argentine Grilled Provolone)Mendoza, Argentina · easy · 30 minA thick disc of provolone seared on the grill or in a hot cast-iron pan until crusted outside and molten within, sprinkled with oregano and chili flakes and eaten with bread.
Ensalada Chilena (Chilean Tomato and Onion Salad)Central Valley, Chile · easy · 27 minWedges of ripe tomato and paper-thin onion, soaked to tame its bite, dressed with oil and salt and scattered with cilantro, the salad beside every Chilean asado.
Fainá (Uruguayan Chickpea Flour Flatbread)Montevideo, Uruguay · easy · 1 h 5 minA thin batter of chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt baked in a very hot, oiled pan until golden with crisp edges, cut in wedges and eaten with pizza.
Empanadas de Viento (Ecuadorian Fried Cheese Empanadas)Pichincha (Andes), Ecuador · medium · 1 h 30 minPuffy fried half-moons of buttery dough filled with fresh cheese and chopped white onion, dusted with sugar while hot so every bite is salty and sweet.
Tequeños (Venezuelan Cheese Sticks)Caracas, Venezuela · medium · 1 h 25 minBatons of firm, salty white cheese wrapped in a spiral of buttery wheat dough and fried until crisp and golden, the snack no Venezuelan party is without.
Pholourie (Guyanese Split Pea Fritters)Demerara (Georgetown), Guyana · medium · 9 h 40 minAiry, golden fried balls of soaked yellow split peas blended with garlic and hot pepper, spiced with turmeric and cumin, dipped in sour mango or tamarind chutney.
Bakabana (Surinamese Plantain Fritters with Peanut Sauce)Paramaribo, Suriname · easy · 40 minLong slices of ripe plantain dipped in a light, crisp batter and fried golden, served with a warm Javanese-style peanut sauce spiked with garlic, chili, sweet soy and galangal.
Salsa Criolla (Peruvian Red Onion Relish)Lima, Peru · easy · 45 minPaper-thin red onion rinsed until mild, tossed with slivers of ají amarillo, lime juice, cilantro and a little oil, the sharp, crunchy relish that goes on the side of half the plates in Peru.
Arroz con Coco Titoté (Colombian Caramelized Coconut Rice)Antioquia, Colombia · easy · 1 h 5 minCoconut milk boiled down until its solids fry and caramelize into brown titoté, then cooked with rice, raisins and a little sugar into a sweet-salty, toffee-coloured rice for fried fish.
Garrapiñada (Argentine Candied Peanuts)Mendoza, Argentina · easy · 25 minPeanuts cooked in sugar syrup until the sugar turns to a white crust and then melts again into a crackly, vanilla-scented caramel shell, the warm paper cone of the city street cart.
Papas a la Provenzal (Argentine Garlic and Parsley Fries)Mendoza, Argentina · easy · 50 minGolden fried potato batons tossed while still hot with raw chopped garlic and parsley, the provenzal mix Argentines put beside milanesas and grilled steak.
Calzones Rotos (Chilean Twisted Fried Pastries)Central Valley, Chile · medium · 50 minStrips of orange-scented dough slit and pulled through themselves into little knots, fried golden and buried in icing sugar, a Chilean treat for tea time and rainy afternoons.
Menestra de Lentejas (Ecuadorian Lentil Stew)Pichincha (Andes), Ecuador · easy · 1 hLentils simmered thick in a refrito of onion, pepper, tomato, garlic, cumin and achiote, the menestra that sits beside rice, grilled beef and patacones on Ecuador's everyday lunch plate.
Llajua (Bolivian Locoto and Tomato Salsa)La Paz, Bolivia · easy · 10 minRaw tomato and fiery locoto chili ground to a rough red salsa with salt and a green Andean herb, the table sauce that goes with almost every Bolivian meal.
Chipa (Paraguayan Cassava and Cheese Bread)Asunción, Paraguay · medium · 50 minSmall rings of cassava-starch dough rich with cheese, egg and lard and scented with anise, baked until golden and sold warm by street vendors all over Paraguay.
Guasacaca (Venezuelan Avocado and Herb Sauce)Caracas, Venezuela · easy · 15 minRipe avocado blended with onion, green pepper, garlic, cilantro, parsley, vinegar and oil into a pourable green sauce for grilled meat, roast chicken, arepas and empanadas.
← Browse all collections