Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Completo
A hot dog buried under diced tomato, mashed avocado, sauerkraut, and mayonnaise, Chile's overloaded snack-lunch.
Chilean · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 10 min
~606 cal · 12g protein · 13g carbs · 58g fat · 6g fiber · 3g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The completo is Chile's answer to the hot dog, and Chileans eat more of them per head than almost anyone. The name means complete, and that is the whole idea: a sausage in a soft bun, then piled so high with toppings that eating it neatly is impossible.
The classic italiano is a patriotic accident of colour: green mashed avocado, red diced tomato, and white mayonnaise, the shades of the Italian flag, hence the name. Others add sauerkraut, a Chilean-German legacy, and a fierce green chili sauce.
Sold from fuentes de soda and street carts across the country, it is fast, cheap, and gloriously messy, eaten leaning forward so the avalanche of toppings lands on the plate rather than your shirt.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy- and nut-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 4
4 frankfurter sausages
4 hot dog buns
2 ripe avocados, mashed
2 tomatoes, finely diced
1 cup sauerkraut, drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Boil or steam the sausages until hot through, and warm the buns. (Chilean vienesas are always poached, never grilled.)
2
Mash the avocado with a little salt, and season the diced tomato.
3
Settle a sausage in each bun, then layer on sauerkraut, tomato, and a thick band of avocado.
✎ Chef’s note
Warm the bun but do not toast it hard. A completo bun should be soft enough to fold around the mountain of toppings without cracking.
4
Finish with a generous zigzag of mayonnaise and eat leaning over the plate.
Chilean fuente de soda tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Central Valley. Chilean wine kept a secret in these vineyards for a century. In November 1994 a visiting French ampelographer looked at a Maipo plot labelled merlot and identified it instead as carmenere, a Bordeaux variety all but wiped out at home by phylloxera, which had been growing here unrecognised the whole time.
🗺️
Chile. Chile's long coastline delivers extraordinary seafood, from ceviche to hearty fish stews, while its central valley yields corn, beans, and wine. Pastel de choclo and empanadas anchor a comforting, produce-rich table.
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South America. Migration reworked the plate within living memory. Japanese arrivals in Peru and Brazil produced Nikkei cooking, Italians made pasta and pizza entirely ordinary in Argentina, Uruguay and Sao Paulo, and West African cooking carried into Bahia by the slave trade gave Brazil dende palm oil, okra and a whole ritual repertoire.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Chile
Porotos GranadosSummer stew of fresh beans, corn, squash, and basil, Chile’s pre-Columbian trinity in one pot.
SopaipillasGolden pumpkin-dough fritters, soft and faintly sweet, fried up on cold Chilean mornings and eaten with pebre or chancaca syrup.
Leche AsadaA rustic baked milk custard with a scorched, caramelised top, Chile's homelier cousin of crème caramel.
Browse all Chile recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Chile meal
Mote con HuesilloDrink
Leche AsadaDessert
Pastel de Choclo (Corn and Beef Pie)Dinner
Similar dishes from around the world
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Fricasé PaceñoBolivia
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Completo?
A hot dog buried under diced tomato, mashed avocado, sauerkraut, and mayonnaise, Chile's overloaded snack-lunch.
Where does Completo come from?
Completo is a Chilean dish from Central Valley, Chile.
Can Completo be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Completo 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 Completo 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 Completo take to make?
About 25 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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