Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Llapingachos
Golden potato patties with melting cheese centers, griddled and served with peanut sauce and pickled onions.
Ecuadorian (Andean) · medium · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 30 min
~866 cal · 47g protein · 65g carbs · 48g fat · 9g fiber · 11g sugars · 16g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Llapingachos are the stuffed potato patties of Ecuador's Andean highlands, especially around Ambato and the central sierra, where potatoes have been cultivated for thousands of years. They are street food, market food, and celebration food all at once.
Mashed potato, tinted gold with , is formed around a core of cheese, then griddled until a deep, crusty golden skin forms while the centre turns molten. The classic accompaniment is a warm peanut sauce (salsa de mani), a taste of the region's love of ground peanuts.
Served with pickled red onions, avocado, chorizo, or a fried egg, they make a full and satisfying plate. Crisp, creamy, and cheesy, llapingachos are a proud fixture of Ecuadorian home cooking.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten- 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 4
2.5 lbs floury potatoes, boiled and riced
3 tbsp () oil, or oil and 1 tsp sweet paprika
1.5 cups queso fresco or mozzarella, crumbled
4 , minced
1/2 cup peanut butter (for salsa de maní)
1 cup milk (for the sauce)
1 red onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 fried eggs (optional topper)
Instructions
1
Quick-pickle the red onion in the lime juice and salt while you prepare everything else.
2
Season the riced potatoes with half the achiote oil, the scallions, and salt.
3
Form the potato into thick patties around a core of cheese, then chill them 15 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Chilling the patties firms them up so they hold together on the griddle and the cheese centre stays sealed inside.
4
Make the salsa de mani: warm the peanut butter with milk, cumin, and salt into a pourable sauce.
5
Griddle the patties in the rest of the achiote oil for 4 to 5 minutes per side, flipping only once, until deeply crusted.
6
Plate with peanut sauce spooned over, pickled onions on top, and a fried egg or avocado alongside.
Pichincha highland markets.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Pichincha (Andes). Ecuador's Andean Pichincha, around Quito, cooks highland food, hearty potato-and-cheese locro soup, hominy, and hornado roast pork. Altitude and Indigenous roots define its table.
🗺️
Ecuador. Ecuadorian food shifts from coast to Andes, bright ceviches and plantain on the coast, hearty potato and hominy soups in the highlands. Llapingachos, encebollado, and aji sauces define its regional variety.
🌍
South America. South America's cooking follows its dramatic geography, potatoes and quinoa in the high Andes, cassava and river fish in the Amazon basin, and grass-fed beef on the pampas. Indigenous ingredients like maize, ají peppers, and cacao meet Spanish, Portuguese, African, Italian, and Japanese influences brought by five centuries of migration. Ceviche, feijoada, arepas, and the smoke of the asado are its most beloved icons.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Ecuador
Bolón de VerdeA ball of mashed green plantain stuffed with cheese, pan-crisped golden, the filling coastal breakfast of Ecuador.
EncebolladoA brothy tuna-and-cassava soup topped with a tangle of pickled red onion, Ecuador's midday cure-all.
Higos con QuesoWhole figs slow-cooked in dark panela syrup and served with a slice of fresh cheese, an Ecuadorian classic.
Browse all Ecuador recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Griddle or flat pan.
Storing it: Best fresh and hot. Keep batter covered in the fridge for up to a day, and rewarm cooked ones in a dry pan.
Make it a Ecuador meal
Colada MoradaDrink
Higos con QuesoDessert
EncebolladoLunch
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Llapingachos?
Golden potato patties with melting cheese centers, griddled and served with peanut sauce and pickled onions.
Where does Llapingachos come from?
Llapingachos is a Ecuadorian (Andean) dish from Pichincha (Andes), Ecuador.
Can Llapingachos be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Llapingachos 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 Llapingachos 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 Llapingachos take to make?
About 60 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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