The 20 most famous dishes of Colombia
Colombian cooking ranges from the Andes to the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, built on corn, beans, plantain and potatoes, and led by arepas and bandeja paisa.
1Bandeja Paisa
Antioquia's mighty platter: red beans, rice, ground beef, sausage, fried egg, plantain, avocado and arepa on…
2Ajiaco Santafereño
Bogotá's soup of three kinds of potato with chicken, corn and guascas herb, served with cream, capers and…
3Arepas
Discs of pre-cooked corn flour grilled on a griddle and eaten with butter and cheese or stuffed — Colombia's…
4Sancocho de Gallina
A hearty country soup of chicken, cassava, green plantain, corn and potatoes, cooked over wood at family…
5Empanadas Colombianas
Crisp yellow-cornmeal empanadas filled with beef and potato, fried and served with spicy ají sauce.
6Tamales Tolimenses
Corn and rice dough filled with chicken, meat, egg, peas and carrots, wrapped in banana leaves and boiled —…
7Changua
A breakfast soup of milk and spring onion with eggs poached in it, served with stale bread and coriander —…
8Arroz con Coco
Caribbean sweet-savoury rice turned brown by caramelised coconut, served with fried fish and plantain.
9Posta Negra Cartagenera
Cartagena beef braised in a dark glossy sauce of caramelised sugar, soy and spices, served with coconut rice.
10Mondongo
Colombian tripe soup with vegetables, potatoes, cassava and hogao, served with rice and avocado.
11Patacones
Green plantain slices fried twice after flattening, crisp and salty, served with hogao or guacamole.
12Buñuelos Colombianos
Fried balls of costeño cheese and cassava starch, golden and puffy, eaten at Christmas with natilla.
13Natilla Colombiana
A Christmas pudding of milk, panela, cornflour and cinnamon that sets and is cut into squares.
14Obleas con Arequipe
Two large thin wafers filled with arequipe (dulce de leche), jam and cheese — a street sweet.
15Arepa de Huevo
A fried arepa opened up with an egg cracked inside, then fried again — from the Caribbean coast.
16Cazuela de Mariscos
A creamy seafood stew with coconut milk, mixed seafood and hogao, from San Andrés and the Caribbean.
17Sobrebarriga
Flank steak simmered slowly then browned in the oven with tomato sauce, served with potatoes and rice.
18Pandebono
Small rolls of cassava starch, corn flour and cheese, soft and chewy, from Valle del Cauca.
19Aborrajados
Ripe fried plantain stuffed with cheese, dipped in a sweet batter and fried again — from Cali.
20Almojábanas
Small soft cheese breads of corn flour and fresh cheese, served with coffee or hot chocolate — of…