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?

Yes. This Llapingachos recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Llapingachos take to make?

About 60 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.

Recipe

Name: Llapingachos
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Ecuadorian (Andean)
Ingredients: 2.5 lbs floury potatoes, boiled and riced; 3 tbsp achiote (annatto) oil; 1.5 cups queso fresco or mozzarella, crumbled; 4 scallions, minced; 1/2 cup peanut butter (for salsa de maní); 1 cup milk (for the sauce); 1 + 3 tbsp red onion, thinly sliced + lime juice; 1/2 tsp ground cumin; 4 fried eggs (optional topper)

South America → 🇪🇨 Ecuador → Pichincha (Andes)

Llapingachos

Ecuadorian (Andean) · medium · serves 4

prep 30 min · cook 30 min

~852 cal · 47g protein · 61g carbs · 48g fat (estimated, per serving)

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Griddled potato patties with peanut sauce and pickled red onions

🇪🇨 Pichincha (Andes)

Llapingachos rule the highland markets around Quito: potato cakes hiding cheese, crisped on a flat-top and drenched in salsa de maní — the Andean peanut sauce that ties Ecuador’s mountains to its fields. Market ladies judge each other by the crust.

Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 4 —

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2.5 lbs floury potatoes, boiled and riced

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3 tbsp achiote (annatto) oil — or oil + 1 tsp sweet paprika

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1.5 cups queso fresco or mozzarella, crumbled

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4 scallions, minced

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1/2 cup peanut butter (for salsa de maní)

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1 cup milk (for the sauce)

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1 + 3 tbsp red onion, thinly sliced + lime juice

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1/2 tsp ground cumin

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4 fried eggs (optional topper)

Instructions

Quick-pickle the red onion in lime juice and salt while everything else happens.

Season the riced potatoes with half the achiote oil, scallions, and salt. Form thick patties around a core of cheese; chill 15 minutes.

Make the salsa de maní: warm the peanut butter with milk, cumin, and salt into a pourable sauce.

Griddle the patties in the rest of the achiote oil, 4–5 minutes per side, until deeply crusted — flip only once.

Plate with peanut sauce over, pickled onions on top, and the fried egg (or avocado) if you’re going full market-style.

Pichincha highland markets.

Ratings & reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Pichincha (Andes). Quito’s highlands, where potatoes meet peanut sauce.

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Ecuador. Andean markets and equatorial abundance.

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South America. Andes, Amazon, and Atlantic all on one plate.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →