🇨🇴 Colombia · Bogotá and the Cundiboyacense highlands
Ajiaco santafereñoColombian chicken and potato soup
The chicken and potato soup of Bogotá: chicken and corn on the cob simmered with three kinds of potato (sabanera, pastusa and criolla, which dissolves into the broth) and guascas, served with cream, capers and avocado.
Origin and history
Ajiaco santafereño is the emblematic dish of Bogotá. It is attributed to the Muisca of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, whose soup of maize, potato and onion was later enriched with chicken after the Spanish brought it. The earliest references to capers date to 1923 and to cream to 1937. Bogotá's tourism institute holds an annual ajiaco contest.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 1 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 800 g1.8 lb chicken breasts or thighs, bone-in
- 3 l3 quarts water
- 3 ears of corn, tender, each cut in 3 pieces
- 6 scallions (cebolla larga), white and green parts, 3 left whole, 3 chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 bunch cilantro, tied in a bundle
- 3 tbsp dried guascas (gallant soldier herb), divided; available in Latin markets and online
- 700 g1.5 lb papa sabanera (or any large floury white or red potato), peeled, sliced about 5 mm (1/4 in) thick
- 700 g1.5 lb papa pastusa (or a waxy yellow potato), peeled, sliced
- 500 g1.1 lb papa criolla (small yellow potatoes), peeled, halved or whole if tiny
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 250 ml1 cup heavy cream, to serve
- 3 tbsp capers, drained, to serve
- 2 ripe avocados, sliced, to serve
Method
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1. Put the chicken, corn, the 3 whole scallions, the garlic, the cilantro bundle and half the guascas in a large pot with the water. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.
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2. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and keep them in cold water so they do not darken.
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3. Lift out the chicken, the cilantro and the scallions. Shred the chicken, discarding skin and bones, and keep the corn in the pot.
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4. Add the sabanera and pastusa potatoes to the broth and simmer for 15 minutes.
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5. Add half the criolla potatoes; they fall apart and thicken the soup and turn it yellow. Season with salt and pepper and cook 15 minutes, stirring gently.
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6. Add the remaining criolla potatoes and the rest of the guascas, and simmer on low for 10 to 15 minutes, until the remaining potatoes are tender and the soup is creamy.
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7. Return the shredded chicken to the pot and bring back to a boil for a minute.
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8. Serve in deep bowls, one piece of corn each, with cream, capers and avocado at the table.
Notes
- Use three kinds of potato, as the Bogotá tourism institute advises: sabanera (from the Sabana), pastusa (from the páramo) and criolla, the small yellow one that breaks down quickly and gives the soup body and colour. If you cannot find them, use a floury potato (Russet), a waxy one (Yukon Gold) and baby Yukon Golds or fingerlings, and expect a slightly different thickness.
- Guascas gives ajiaco its flavour, an herb used since pre-Hispanic times. Dried is the only form most cooks outside Colombia can find; there is no true substitute.
- Cream, capers and avocado are accompaniments served at the table, not cooked in. Capers and cream are later additions to a dish that goes back to a Muisca soup of potato, maize and onion.
- Arracacha is listed among the ingredients of the most traditional ajiaco in some accounts, but many home recipes leave it out.
- Chopped ají can be served on the side for heat. The Cuban ajiaco, which has its own page, is an unrelated dish of salted meats and root vegetables.
- The Cuban ajiaco, which has its own page, is an unrelated dish of salted meats and root vegetables.
Adapted from El Tiempo, Ajiaco, el plato más representativo de la capital and Canal Trece, El ajiaco: un plato con historia.
At the festivals
Served at 1 festival in Colombia.
Earlier editions
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August 06, 2026 – August 09, 2026
🇨🇴 Bogotá, Colombia
Días de Ajiaco Santafereño
By competing teams (family category and gastronomy schools) and competing teams; 41 restaurants in the market squares