South America → Paraguay → Asunción
🥙 LUNCH
Bife Koygua (Paraguayan "Hidden" Steak with Eggs)
Thin beef steaks braised in one pan with onion, peppers, tomato, potatoes and oregano, then hidden under eggs cracked on top and steamed until just set, served with boiled mandioca.
Paraguayan · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 35 min
~942 cal · 52g protein · 94g carbs · 38g fat · 9g fiber · 11g sugars · 12g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Bife koygua is everyday Paraguayan home cooking, a one-pan of beef that ends with eggs cracked over the top. Koygua is Guaraní and is usually translated as "hidden" or "shy": by the time the dish reaches the table the steak has disappeared under the eggs and the vegetables, a hidden steak.
Thin steaks are pounded, browned and with the building blocks of the Paraguayan kitchen: onion, garlic, locote (bell pepper), tomato and oregano, usually with sliced potatoes layered in and a little hot water to make a sauce. When the potatoes are tender the eggs go on, the lid goes back, and three minutes later the whites are set and the yolks still soft.
Paraguay is landlocked cattle country, and beef turns up at most family tables. Bife koygua is the weekday version: quick, filling and cooked in one pan, served hot at lunch with boiled mandioca () or rice.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut- 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
- 600 g thin beef steaks (sirloin or round), pounded thin
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onions, sliced into thin strips
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 green bell pepper (locote), sliced into strips
- 1 red bell pepper (locote), sliced into strips
- 3 tomatoes, sliced
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced 5 mm thick
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 250 ml hot water
- 4 eggs
- 3 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- to taste salt and black pepper
- 600 g (mandioca), peeled and boiled, to serve
Instructions
- 1Season the pounded steaks with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a wide, deep frying pan with a lid and sear the steaks briefly on both sides over high heat. Lift them out.
- 2Lower the heat, add the onion and cook 3 minutes until soft, then the garlic and peppers for 2 minutes more.
- 3Return the steaks, then layer the potato and tomato slices over them. Add the oregano, bay leaf, a little more salt and the hot water.
- 4Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the meat has softened. Uncover and move things around gently so the flavours mix, adding a splash of water if the pan is dry.✎ Chef’s noteThere should be a little sauce left in the pan when the eggs go in; that is what steams them.
- 5Crack the eggs one by one over the top, spacing them out. Cover again and cook about 3 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still soft.
- 6Scatter with parsley and serve straight from the pan with boiled mandioca (or rice).
Paraguayan home cooking, Asunción.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Asunción. Asuncion is the home of sopa paraguaya, a dense cornbread of cheese, onion, and milk that is famously a soup you can slice. Cassava is the daily starch, mate is drunk cold as terere through the heat, and beef from the surrounding grasslands is grilled at every gathering.
🗺️
Paraguay. Paraguay's cuisine leans on corn, cassava, and cheese, with Guaraní roots in dishes like chipa bread and the cornbread sopa paraguaya. Terere (iced yerba mate) is drunk all day in the subtropical heat.
🌍
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 Paraguay
MbejúA chewy, crisp-edged starch-and-cheese griddle cake, gluten-free and pan-cooked to order, eaten with cocido at daybreak.
Vori VoriA golden chicken broth thick with little cornmeal-and-cheese dumplings, Paraguay's warming everyday soup.
Dulce de MamónGreen papaya slow-cooked in clove-and-cinnamon syrup until translucent and jammy, a Paraguayan pantry sweet.
Browse all Paraguay recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Paraguay meal
TereréDrink
Dulce de MamónDessert
Pira Caldo (Paraguayan River Fish Soup)Dinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Bife Koygua (Paraguayan "Hidden" Steak with Eggs)?
Thin beef steaks braised in one pan with onion, peppers, tomato, potatoes and oregano, then hidden under eggs cracked on top and steamed until just set, served with boiled mandioca.
Where does Bife Koygua (Paraguayan "Hidden" Steak with Eggs) come from?
Bife Koygua (Paraguayan "Hidden" Steak with Eggs) is a Paraguayan dish from Asunción, Paraguay.
Can Bife Koygua (Paraguayan "Hidden" Steak with Eggs) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Bife Koygua (Paraguayan "Hidden" Steak with Eggs) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Bife Koygua (Paraguayan "Hidden" Steak with Eggs) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Bife Koygua (Paraguayan "Hidden" Steak with Eggs) take to make?
About 55 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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