Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Ajiaco Santafereño
Bogotá’s three-potato chicken soup thickened by the potatoes themselves, perfumed with guascas, finished with cream and capers.
Colombian (Bogotano) · easy · serves 5
prep 20 min · cook 60 min
~450 cal · 38g protein · 33g carbs · 17g fat · 4g fiber · 2g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Ajiaco santafereno is the signature dish of Bogota, a chicken and potato soup perfectly suited to the cool, high-altitude capital. It is Sunday food, family food, and a source of real pride for Bogotanos.
Its magic is in the potatoes: three different Andean varieties, including the tiny, quick-dissolving papa criolla, which melt into the broth and thicken it without any flour. Whole ears of corn and the herb guascas, which gives the soup its distinctive earthy aroma, complete it.
At the table each bowl is finished with cream, capers, and slices of avocado stirred in to taste, with rice alongside. Creamy, comforting, and unmistakably of the Andes, ajiaco is Bogota in a bowl.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 5
1.5 lbs chicken breasts or thighs
1 lb russet potatoes
1 lb yukon potatoes
1 lb papa criolla (or fingerlings)
2 corn on the cob, cut in thirds
3 tbsp guascas (dried, from Latin markets, or oregano and bay as a shadow)
Hard to find? 2 tbsp total dried oregano with two extra bay leaves and a little dried thyme - a shadow rather than a match. Guascas is Galinsoga parviflora, a weed almost everywhere outside the Andes and sold dried in Latin shops or online; without it you have a good potato soup, but not quite ajiaco
4
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup heavy cream, to serve
to taste capers, to serve
to taste avocado, to serve
for the table rice, to serve
Instructions
1
Simmer the chicken (or beans) with the scallions, garlic, and salt in 10 cups water for 25 minutes, then shred the chicken and set aside.
2
Add the russet potatoes and half the papas criollas and simmer 20 minutes, until they start to dissolve and thicken the broth.
✎ Chef’s note
The three potato types each do a job: the starchy criollas melt to thicken the soup, while the others hold their shape. Do not swap them all for one kind.
3
Add the yukon potatoes, remaining criollas, corn, and guascas, and simmer 15 minutes more, until the soup is creamy from the potatoes alone.
4
Return the shredded chicken to the pot and season to taste.
5
Serve with cream and capers stirred in at the table, and avocado and rice alongside.
Bogotá Sunday tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bogotá. The local formula is sin guascas no hay ajiaco, no guascas no ajiaco. The herb is the whole point, and so is using three different potatoes: papa criolla, which dissolves and thickens the broth, alongside pastusa and sabanera, which hold their shape. Corn on the cob and avocado come with it.
🗺️
Colombia. Colombia's food varies by altitude and coast, hearty Andean stews like ajiaco, corn arepas eaten everywhere, and a lavish bandeja paisa platter. Tropical fruits, plantain, and fresh cheeses run through a warm, regionally diverse cuisine.
🌍
South America. The Andes are the potato's homeland and still hold something like four thousand native varieties, selected over thousands of years for altitude, colour and texture. The high plateau also worked out how to keep them: frozen overnight in the cold, trodden to press the water out, then dried in the sun into chuno, which stores for years.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Colombia
Arepas con Quesito & HogaoGriddled corn cakes split and filled with fresh cheese, spooned over with a warm tomato-scallion sauce.
Empanadas ColombianasCrisp golden corn-dough turnovers stuffed with shredded beef and potato, fried until they shatter and dipped in a bright cilantro ají.
Bandeja PaisaA groaning platter of red beans, rice, chicharrón, beef, chorizo, fried egg, plantain, and arepa.
Browse all Colombia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Soup keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes well. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water or stock if needed.
Make it a Colombia meal
AguapanelaDrink
Natilla ColombianaDessert
Empanadas ColombianasLunch
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Ajiaco Santafereño?
Bogotá’s three-potato chicken soup thickened by the potatoes themselves, perfumed with guascas, finished with cream and capers.
Where does Ajiaco Santafereño come from?
Ajiaco Santafereño is a Colombian (Bogotano) dish from Bogotá, Colombia.
Can Ajiaco Santafereño be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ajiaco Santafereño recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ajiaco Santafereño safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Ajiaco Santafereño take to make?
About 80 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 5.
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