Bandeja Paisa is a traditional Colombian dish from the Andean region of the country. It is a filling and delicious recipe that contains beans, rice, arepa, chorizo, plantain, chicharrón, avocado and beef.
What is Bandeja Paisa?
It 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.
Tradionally, Bandeja paisa includes Colombian style 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.
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. It's filling, hearty and comforting.
How to Make Bandeja Paisa
- Prepare the beans, hogao and powdered beef one day ahead and keep in the refrigerator.
- When you are going to serve the bandeja paisa, heat the beans and powdered beef and hogao. Make the chicharrones.
- Cook the white rice and plantains.
- Fry the eggs and chorizos.
- 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.
- Bring the hogao in a serving dish to the table, so people can place it on top of the beans if they like.
More Popular and Traditional Colombian Dishes:
Empanadas Colombianas (Colombian Empanadas), Sancocho de Gallina (Chicken Sancocho), Ajiaco Bogotano (Chicken and Potato Soup), Pandebono (Cheese Bread), Buñuelos (Cheese Balls) and Arepas Rellenas de Queso.
Bandeja Paisa Recipe (Paisa Platter)
Ingredients
- 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 plantains or Tajadas de Plátano
- 1 recipe Hogao
- Lime and Avocado for Serving
Instructions
- Prepare the beans, hogao and powdered beef one day ahead and keep in the refrigerator.
- When you are going to serve the bandeja paisa, heat the beans and powdered beef and hogao. Make the chicharrones.
- Cook the white rice and plantains.
- Fry the eggs and chorizos.
- 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.
- Bring the hogao in a serving dish to the table, so people can place it on top of the beans if they like.
Lina
RECETAS DE LA COCINA COLOMBIANA FACILES DE ENTENDER, ES COMIDA DE COLOMBIA FÁCIL Y DELICIOSA.
Caroll Buitrago-Long
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
Erica
Caroll- ShopRite or a Latin market.
b
so bad, but so good!
Liz
I agree this would definitely be my last meal too! With one addition una arepa con quesito! LOL!
Fred
This is a heart attack waiting to happen!
Lina
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 🙂
VEZ
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!
The Lou
So how to make the whole dish healthy ? Let's say you skip the chorizo (processed/salty/fatty meat). Then eat half the chicharron (salty) and plaintain (fried)? Is that a fix...
Mely (Mexico in my Kitchen)
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
Marcus
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!
paola
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.
Chris
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)
Juliana
Wow, what a nice dish...everything in it looks do yummie, great combination 🙂
Carolina
This recipe was perfect......we made bandeja paisas for my parents and they were really happy. thanks!
OLGA
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.
Anonymous
We made bandeja paisa on Sunday for my family and we loved it.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
I'm so excited that you posted this Erica! I tried it at a Columbian restaurant a while back! 😀
Thankyou for the recipe!
Mari
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.