Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Pan con Chicharrón
Crisp fried pork and sweet camote layered in a soft roll with tangy salsa criolla, the definitive Lima weekend breakfast sandwich.
Peruvian · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 40 min
~751 cal · 53g protein · 46g carbs · 38g fat · 4g fiber · 7g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Pan con chicharron is the definitive Lima weekend breakfast sandwich, the reward for a slow Sunday morning and a fixture of the city's traditional sangucherias. It is proud, unfussy street food elevated to an art.
Pork is first simmered until tender, then fried in its own fat until the outside turns deeply crisp, the two-stage method that gives true chicharron its contrast of soft interior and shattering crust. It is layered into a crusty roll with slices of fried sweet potato (camote).
The finishing touch is salsa criolla, a sharp raw salad of red onion, lime, and chili that cuts the richness perfectly. Rich, crunchy, and bright, pan con chicharron is Lima's way to start a weekend, ideally with a cup of coffee or purple corn drink.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and egg-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
1.5 lbs pork belly or shoulder, in chunks
1 large sweet potato (camote), sliced
4 French rolls
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 lime, juiced
1 aji amarillo or chili, sliced
1 tbsp (or sweet paprika)
a few sprigs hierbabuena (mint) or cilantro
1, 1 clove, 1 tsp bay leaf, garlic and cumin
3 cups , for frying
to taste salt
to taste pepper
Instructions
1
Brine the pork in heavily salted water for at least an hour.
✎ Chef’s note
The brine is not optional if you want the meat juicy. An hour is the minimum; longer is better.
2
Drain it and simmer it 45 minutes with the achiote, half an onion, the garlic, bay, cumin and a few sprigs of hierbabuena, until completely tender, then lift it out and let it dry and cool a little.
✎ Chef’s note
Simmering the pork first, then frying it, is the two-stage trick: the meat turns meltingly tender inside while the outside crisps to golden chicharron. Let it sit and dry off before it goes near the oil, or it spits violently.
3
Fry the pork in hot oil, or lard if you have it, until deeply crisp and golden on all sides.
✎ Chef’s note
Lard is the traditional fat, and chicharron began precisely as a way of using up the pig fat.
4
In the same oil, fry the sweet potato slices until tender.
5
For the salsa criolla, slice the red onion into fine feathers, rinse them under cold water and drain them well, then dress with lime juice, salt, chopped chili and cilantro or hierbabuena.
✎ Chef’s note
Rinsing the sliced onion under cold water takes the harsh bite out of it while leaving the crunch. This fresh sharp salsa is what balances the whole sandwich against the fat.
6
Split a crusty French roll, lay the camote on the base, then the chicharron, then the salsa criolla, and eat it at once with coffee or a glass of hot emoliente.
✎ Chef’s note
Use a crusty roll with a real crumb, pan frances or ciabatta. A brioche or burger bun collapses under the juices.
Lima sanguchería weekend tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Lima. Lima is the culinary capital of South America, where Pacific ceviche meets Japanese and Chinese immigration in nikkei and chifa cooking. Native potatoes, ají peppers, and pisco define a world-celebrated food city.
🗺️
Peru. Peru's cuisine spans coast, mountain, and jungle, elevated by waves of Japanese and Chinese immigration into ceviche, lomo saltado, and a world of native potatoes and ajíes. Recognized globally, it turns Andean staples and Pacific seafood into some of the world's most celebrated food.
🌍
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 Peru
Lomo SaltadoBeef flash-fried in a smoking wok with soy, vinegar, tomatoes, and fries, Lima's Chinese-Peruvian icon.
Rocoto RellenoArequipa’s fiery rocoto peppers stuffed with spiced beef, olives, and raisins, capped with melting cheese.
CevicheFresh white fish cured in lime "leche de tigre" with red onion, chili, and cilantro, Peru's national dish.
Browse all Peru recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best made to order. Prep the fillings ahead and assemble just before eating so nothing turns soggy.
Make it a Peru meal
Pisco SourDrink
Suspiro a la LimeñaDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Pan con Chicharrón?
Crisp fried pork and sweet camote layered in a soft roll with tangy salsa criolla, the definitive Lima weekend breakfast sandwich.
Where does Pan con Chicharrón come from?
Pan con Chicharrón is a Peruvian dish from Lima, Peru.
Can Pan con Chicharrón be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Pan con Chicharrón 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 Pan con Chicharrón 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 Pan con Chicharrón take to make?
About 60 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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