Bandeja Paisa is probably the most popular Colombian dish, originally from the Andean region of the country where the people are called “Paisas” and the area where I was born and raised.
Bandeja paisa is something I’ve eaten all of my life and if I have to choose my last meal on this earth, this is the one. Tradionally, bandeja paisa includes beans, white rice, chicharrón, carne en polvo, chorizo, fried egg, ripe plantain, avocado and arepa, but you can substitute the powdered beef for grilled beef or pork. I usually make the beans and powdered beef the day before to make it easier.
Other Popular and All-Time Favorite Traditional Colombian Dishes: Empanadas Colombianas (Colombian Empanadas), Sancocho de Gallina (Chicken Sancocho), Ajiaco Bogotano (Chichen and Potato Soup), Pandebono (Cheese Bread), Buñuelos (Cheese Balls) and Arepas Rellenas de Queso.
Ingredients
(4 Servings)
1 Recipe Paisa Pinto Beans (Frijoles Paisas)
1 Recipe white Rice (Arroz Blanco)
1 Recipe Powdered Beef (Carne en Polvo)
4 Fried Pork Belly (Chicharrones)
4 Cooked Chorizos
4 Fried eggs sunny side up
4 baked plantainsor Tajadas de Plátano
1 Recipe Hogao
Lime and Avocado for Serving
Directions
1. Prepare the beans, hogao and powdered beef one day ahead and keep in the refrigerator.
2. When you are going to serve the bandeja paisa, heat the beans and powdered beefand hogao. Make the chicharrones.
3. Cook the white rice and plantains.
4. Fry the eggs and chorizos.
5. To serve, place the rice in a tray or platter and place the rest of the ingredients as you like. I prefer the beans in a separate bowl, but you can ladle the beans next to the rice if you like.
6. Bring the hogaoin a serving dish to the table, so people can place it on top of the beans if they like. Enjoy!
{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }
Un plato muy variado y sabroso!
Además de muy energetico.
Un beso.
Gracias Empar por todos tus comentarios!!!
I think this would be my last meal as well, its got everything. What s sampler plate!
Oh, that is one beautiful looking platter of food… delicious!
Love this recipe! This is a once in a few months type dish for me! It’s a lot of work, but well worth it!!
LouAnn, Karen and Felisha,
Thank you very much for your comments!
Y la arepa? Ja ja ja. I can’t wait to make this and make it look just like your picture….Bandeja Paisa!!! mmmmm, unas de las comidas que mas extrano de nuestro pais. Erica, you’re the best…
Gracias Carolina. La arepa me la comi antes con quesito jajaja!
what a great meal, and i love the picture
Excellent platter of delicious food!
Thank you all so much for your nice comments!
I never can control myself when I see this on the menu in a Columbian restaurant. I’ve nicknamed it ‘the belly buster’. I imagine the paisas worked it off climbing up and down the mountains.
Joan, I don’t mean to be mean to you or anybody, but everyone that is not from Colombia must learn that when you refer to our food, our cities , our people, etc…it is not ColUmbian, it is ColOmbian with two Os…Columbia is the Univeristy od ColUmbia, etc.. Not the Country.
I hope I didn’t hurt anybody’s feelings here, I am just trying to teach you and the rest of the people that love our food, our culture, our country….We ColOmbians appreciate it very much!! And this website is the pride of us ColOmbians!!
I meant University OF Columbia.
That looks truly delicious.Chicharron is my husband new favorite, he discovered that with some friends and came back home accusing me of try to hide a national treasure from him. I didn’t know what chicharron was until I googled a picture. Then I told him, the name in portuguese is “torresmo”. He ask me for chicharron every day. I have to hide your site from him now.
Oh my! that looks delish! I haven’t had breakfast yet and now I’m REALLY hungry
Thank you everyone for reading my post!
wow!! vat a delicious looking food platter.. great work erica!!
esto es una bomba! pero aun asi me gustaria probarla
Wow! What a feast this is!
Wow! What a gorgeous plate of food…I can see how it would be your favorite
Thank you all for the comments
Amiga te felicito…te deseo todo lo mejor y este plato es el mejor te envio un fuerte abrazo desde La Madre Patria
:)
Gracias Natty,
Un abrazo.
Wow, what an amazing looking spread of food!
This looks so appetizing. A very satisfying and comforting platter of delicious foods.
Thank you, thank you and thank you. I truly appreciate all the comments
I can see why this is such a wonderful meal–just told my boyfriend about it and he said he loved it too. I am a foodie and have had an effect on him–he is spicing it up a bit. The stuffed plantains with cheese and guava I plan to make soon. I love plantains every way.
Wow!! Gorgeous looking plate of foods!! Nicely presented…
Hola erica !
Te sobraste con esta pagina;Estoy lejos de Colombia,vivi 11 años en Aruba y ahora llevo 8 viviendo en Holanda y sobra decir que igual extraño mi familia,amigos y la comida,hay que ver que tenemos una cultura muy rica y variada,en los paises bajos es muy diferente ademas que no se encuenttran gran mayoria de los productos,son costosos y el sabor es mediocre.
mi plato favorito siempre ha sido y sera la Bandeja Paisa;Oh como extraño mi tierra,su gente y la comidita,de verdad que es deprimente !
Te felicito por tu pagina,me dejaste con hambre,
Un abrazo desde Holanda,
S.Jaramillo R
Sergio- Gracias por tu mensaje! Me alegra mucho que te guste la pagina.
my kind of food! looks so delicious!!
Hi Erica – I stopped by to wish you the happiest of holidays.
LL
Que bueno encontrar a esta embajadora colombiana…espero encontrar mas publicaciones de nuestra variada gastronomía.
Siempre que viajo para Antioquia es imperdonable no probar su típico montañero…o bandeja paisa
I just came back from a visit to Colombia in December. The food was absolutely amazing! I absolutely LOVE bandeja paisa!! Most of my pictures are of the food! Thanks for the recipes!
This Paisa plate looks delicious. I have enjoyed most of your recipes. I look forward into learning how to do good arepas. I love them.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
I’m so excited that you posted this Erica! I tried it at a Columbian restaurant a while back!
Thankyou for the recipe!
We made bandeja paisa on Sunday for my family and we loved it.
Wow que blog mas chevere tienes.
Toda la vida me ha fascinado la comida de colombia y venezuela pues me parece bien completa y saben aprovechar al maximo los alimentos.
Yo soy de Ecuador y tambien vivo aca en Estados Unidos en Washington DC concretamente.
La bandeja paisa es lo mas rico para mi de la comida colombiana seguido de las arepas y el arequipe.
Saludos
Olga.
This recipe was perfect……we made bandeja paisas for my parents and they were really happy. thanks!
Wow, what a nice dish…everything in it looks do yummie, great combination
Why oh why is your husband vegetarian with you cooking these gems in the house, I’ll never know….. I used to be vegetarian for 5-6 years in my early 20s but then realized me not eating meat isn’t going to save any animals, because they will die anyway, but at least I will be respectful of the sacrifice the animal has given in order to give me food. I’ve seen some that argue that eating meat is bad because you kill animals, but to eat a plant you have to kill it too, just because it’s a plant doesnt make it any less alive than a horse, or human. You still have to kill something to eat.
But this reminds me of my childhood, on sundays we’d go to my aunts house and she’d make this for us, there was never a plate with anything left on it. LOL Bellisima! (Yea I’m italian too lol)
this is one of my favorite colombian dish,this is a huge mixture of food on more of a platter than a plate, it consists of grilled steak, fried pork rind, chorizo sausages, on a bed of rice and red beans that is then topped with a fried egg and a side of sliced avocado and sweet banana (chips). It is one of the most delicious national dish of Colombia.
Hey Erica,
I just added the recipe and a link to the Discover Colombia website along with some history about the bandeja paisa in Colombia. Keep up the good work!
Hello Erica,
Thanks for visiting my blog. I am glad you did because now I get to discover yours. There are so many recipes that I would love to try. Our local Colombian restaurant also adds arepas to the Bandeja Paisa. We love their food.
Saludos,
Mely
Hi Erika, i just wanted to say that im soooo thankful that you took the time to wirte this blog…
I am colombian too, living in Austria. Sometimes i just wake up feeling like cooking something colombian, and one of those days i cam by accident into your blog and i loved it…
I love bandeja paisa and now my husbend does too, he hates the fact that its absolutelly unhealthy but once he started eating he forgot about it….
Anyway i just wanted to thank you…
Greetings from Austria, and smilies
Sorry to tell you but it is not ABSOLUTELY unhealthy…here are some facts to take into consideration:
-The egg has about 6 grams of protein, a bit of vitamin B12, folic acid etc..
- the beans are filled! Filled with fiber! Iron, potassium, vitamin B, etc..
- avocado is filled with vitamin E, B, potassium, etc..
- rice is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins,contains all eight of the essential amino acids, which help to build and maintain muscle tissue and make up enzymes, antibodies and hormones, etc
- the chicharron, oh well….not AS healthy, but this is a plate you don’t need to eat every day or every week! So please! Just go ahead and enjoy it when you can!
This is a heart attack waiting to happen!
I agree this would definitely be my last meal too! With one addition una arepa con quesito! LOL!
so bad, but so good!
That is going to be the lunch today!!
Pero falta el chicharroncito…imposible de conseguir! Donde lo compras tu?
Aqui traen los productos internacionales desde chicago pero toca pedirlas desde mucho antes y llegan al mayor..entonces es dificil.
Gracias
Caroll- ShopRite or a Latin market.
RECETAS DE LA COCINA COLOMBIANA FACILES DE ENTENDER, ES COMIDA DE COLOMBIA FÁCIL Y DELICIOSA.
Erica, just wanted to thank you for this website. My boyfriend is Colombian and your blog has made our relationship ten times better(:
Nicole-Thank you ….:)
Hi Erica, I just came back from an incredible 2-weeks trip in Colombia and Medellin was by far my favorite city. I fell in love with the crisp air, the beautiful valley and especially its welcoming Paisa people and culture. I’m so happy to have found a recipe for Bandeja Paisa and will be trying to make this this weekend. Luckily I’m from Toronto, Canada where it’s very multicultural and I can find most ingredients. Thanks again for sharing and making this possible!
Una receta deliciosa. La comida aquí en Inglaterra es pésima.