Each region of Colombia has it own specialties and characteristic dishes. For example, in the capital of the country Bogotá; Ajiaco is a very popular dish. There are different versions of Ajiaco, but it’s usually made with chicken and three kinds of potatoes, corn and an herb called guascas. This herb gives the soup a wonderful flavor. It is very important to use guascas and papa criolla as they are the key ingredients in this dish. For me, Ajiaco is a feel-good comfort food.
Ingredients:
(6-8 SERVINGS)
3 Chicken breast, skin removed
12 cups water
3 ears fresh corn, cuted into 2 pieces
¼ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
2 chicken bouillon cubes
3 scallions
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 cups papa criolla (Andean Potato)
3 medium white potatoes, peeled and sliced
3 medium red potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup guascas
1 cup heavy cream for serving
1 cup capers for serving
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large pot, place the chicken, corn, chicken bouillon, cilantro, scallions, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for about 35 to 40 minutes, until chicken is cooked and tender. Remove the chicken and set aside.
2. Continue cooking the corn for 30 more minutes. Discard green onion and add red potatoes, white potatoes, and the guacas. Cook for 30 more minutes.
3. Uncover and add the frozen papa criolla and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
4. Cut the chicken meat into small pieces and return to the pot. Serve the Ajiaco hot with capers and heavy cream on the side.
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
I love ajiaco! Great Recipe.
Oh this looks delicious – great comfort food as you say. I’ll have to try this recipe soon
I have never eaten Columbian food but that soup looks and sounds absolutely delicious. I must look out a good Columbian restaurant here in London.
La Bodeguita Elephant and Castle London Colombian restaurant absolutely delicious
Andrea, do you know colombians restaurants in Manchester?
Thank you every one for all your great comments.I love Ajiaco too.
TonyM, I hope you can find a nice Colombian Restaurant in London, it is fun to try different recipes and ingredients.
How wonderful to learn more about Columbian food from your blog! This soup looks soooo good!
This sounds delicious! I have to be on the lookout to see if I can find guascas.
Maggie you can find guascas online.
http://www.amigofoods.com/kigu10gr.html
Thanks for this recipe! I have craved a good ajiaco recipe since my first trip to Bogota. The links are incredibly helpful also! Please keep adding recipes. I love Colombian food!
Scott,
Thank you for your comment.
Is there anything I can subtitute for guascas…im in canada and cant
get that here
Hi Gina,
I don’t think so! Sorry!
I am preparing this dish for my son’s girlfriend, who is Colombian, for her birthday. What do you serve with the Ajiaco? I heard that it is typically served with avocado, capers, heavy cream and rice on the side. Is there a specific type of rice? What else? Thank you for this wonderful web site. I have truly enjoyed browsing through the recipes.
Hi Jamie,
We serve ajiaco with plain white rice, avocado, capers and heavy cream! Thank you for the wonderful comment!
Guascas are “galinsoga parviflora,” a weed in North America that’s sometimes called Gallant Soldier. It is a nuisance around corn fields, and if you want to make an agricultural extension agent laugh, tell him (or her) that you *want* it because they’re accustomed to farmers who want to destroy it. But you shouldn’t gather it next to a corn field because it’s probably been sprayed. (That helpful advice is from the extension agent!) You can buy it dried at amigofoods.com and in Colombian stores in NY or Washington. Some people say that oregano is a good substitute but I don’t think so.
The frozen papa criolla work well for me, but the jarred ones (La Fe) have a chemical taste. When I don’t have papa criolla, I boil yukon gold potatos and then food-process them into a slurry that I add to the soup; I also use a packet of El Rey ajiaco seasoning.
erica, thank you so much for all of these recipes! my husband is colombian (i’m not) and he dearly, dearly, misses all of his favorite foods. these are wonderful, authentic recipes that i can’t wait to try out. i have read through many ajiaco recipes, and yours seems to be the closest to what we’re used to here in colombia. question: do the potatoes break down to thicken the soup, or do you mash them up a bit. (the ajiaco we eat seems to be thick and stew-like…)
thanks!
Traci- You don’t have to mashed the potatoes. They usually break during the cooking process.
The papa criolla helps the soup to thick the soup, mine was pretty thick and delicious. Try it!
Thanks, Erica,
I definitely will try it and report back here. (Along with many of the other recipes!) We’re in Colombia right now, but when we get back, I’ll get to cooking!!
hi erica – i’m making the ajiaco today! i noticed that the red potatoes are listed twice on the recipe… are there a total of 3 red potatoes? thanks!
Traci- 3 potatoes. Thank you for the comment! I fixed it
Erica, Thanks for all the great recipes. I made your Ajiaco yesterday. It was so good! Capers are a must!
Torie- Thank you for your feedback! Glad you liked it and you are right about the capers.
Hi, I prepared this soup last night. It turned out delicious with a couple of tweaks. First, 1/3 cup of guascas was too much for our taste. We put all the potatoes together to cook. This allowed the papa criolla to break down and give the ajiaco that cloudy, thick texture. I served it with white rice, but the rice gets combined with the soup. Finally, we added aguacate to the soup after it was served. Yummy and we have lunch today! Thank you for the recipe!
This soup was wonderful! You are amazing. Thank you very much.
One thing I would add to this recipe is fresh avocado as a side in the serving. The wonderful thing about Ajiaco is how it is prepared to be personally garnished at the table by each guest. In our family, we would remove the chicken and corn after cooking and put in a serving dish along with the capers, cream and fresh avocado. What is left is a flavorful chicken/potato soup. Then each person adds ingredients according to taste.
I am born in the USA but my family is originally from Bogota and this is definitely our signature dish. Thanks Erica for a great website. I have already sent my mom the recipe to make homemade almojabanas!
I made this ajiaco for my Colombian husband last weekend and He kissed me for a long time
He loved it. It was delicious.
Erica,
thanks so much for sharing this recipe! I LOOOOOVE ajiaco, in fact if it was up to me I’d make a huge pot of it every sunday and eat it 2 or 3 times a day for the whole week!! Sadly my husband likes variety so I end up only making it 4 or 5 times a year. I think this is one of those dishes that each family makes just a little differently so my mom’s recipe is a little different than yours. I’m going to make it your way next time, that way I can have my favorite and hubby can have his variety!
BTW–For those who live somewhere that it is hard to find papa criolla sometimes I cheat a little bit and just add some mashed potato flakes close to the end of the cooking time to thicken up the soup.
And guascas definitely grow here as a weed I remember my grandmother coming for a visit to NYC and shouting with glee when she found a patch of guascas growing wild amongst the weeds. She’d send us out there every couple of weeks to pick them so she could make us some ajiaco
I am a vegetarian so my best friend’s mother would make this for me without the chicken. I love this soup!!! It is true without the guascas and papa criolla it is not “proper” ajiaco.
My biological parents were both from Colombia and I was lucky enough to be adopted when I was 6. Anyway, my adopted parents are German so I never got to eat this soup after I left Colombia but I never forgot it. I searched all over the internet for this recipe and finally I have found that this recipe is the closest to the soup I remember.
Thank you!
I’m Colombian living in usa, yet I have no idea what guascas is, I eat ajiaco many times but never new what that guascas was, I thought it was the leave of the salary, we call it Apio, but I’m not sure, I’m also from Bogota so I don’t know if the recipe change which probably it does…. I’m trying to make it in a totally different way trying to adapt the dish as much as I can. this page was very helpful tho.
TIA
El verdadero ajiaco bogotano trae las papas completamente desechas. no se ven pero se siente el sabor
Thank you for your wonderful recipes!! My husband is Colombian and I love surprising him with a traditional dish of his! He gets so excited
So many to choose from and all so delicious!
Aguien sabe si puedo conseguir guascas en Inglaterra?
Las puedes conseguir si estas en London en seven sisters market
en la estacion que lleva el mismo nombre seven sisters arriba apenas salgas de la estacion veras un local que se llama el parador rojo entras al market a mano derecha encontarras el lugar de que te hablo
What do people in colombia eat for breakfast lunch and dinner? How big is each meal?
Where can I get “Papa Criolla”?? I am in Maryland!!
At Trader Joe’s
i have had this before, love it..