Encebollado: Ecuador’s National Fish Soup (Authentic Recipe)

Encebollado is an Ecuadorian coastal soup with tender tuna and yuca in a tomato-and-cumin broth. A generous topping of lime-pickled red onion gives each bowl its bright finish; serve it with chifles, toasted corn and extra lime.

Encebollado at a Glance

What Is Encebollado?

Encebollado (en-seh-boh-YAH-doh) is a fish soup from Ecuador’s Pacific coast and the dish most Ecuadorians name when you ask for their national dish. The base is a refrito of onion, tomato, garlic and cumin, simmered with water and fresh fish into a light orange broth. Boiled yuca goes in for body, and the bowl is finished with a big handful of red onion pickled in lime juice. That onion topping is where the name comes from: encebollado means “onioned,” or cooked with onions.

It tastes bright, savory and comforting at the same time. The broth is earthy from cumin and fish, the yuca is soft and slightly sweet, and the sharp lime-and-onion curtido cuts through everything. It is not spicy on its own; heat comes from the ají each person adds at the table.

Where Encebollado Comes From

Most historians trace encebollado to Guayaquil and the Guayas River. Between roughly 1840 and 1940, steamboats carried passengers between Guayaquil and river towns such as Daule and Babahoyo. Encebollado was not served to the passengers. It was a strong, filling pot cooked for the crews working overnight and before dawn, made with whatever sea or river fish was at hand.

By the 1950s it had moved onto the streets. Vendors carried it through Guayaquil in buckets and ladled it out on sidewalks, and it was known for decades as a sopa de balde (“bucket soup”), the food of dock workers and people coming home from a long night. Manabí province tells its own origin story, and some food writers see a relative in marmitako, the Basque tuna and potato stew, though that link has never been proven.

Today encebollado is anything but humble. In 2023 the food guide TasteAtlas ranked it the second-best-rated fish soup in the world, behind Finland’s salmon soup, and in July 2024 Ecuador declared Guayaquil’s encebollado part of the country’s intangible cultural heritage. Whole restaurants, called encebolladerías, open early in the morning to sell nothing else.

Encebollado Ingredients

A good encebollado needs only a handful of things. Each one matters:

• Albacore tunaFirm, mild and meaty. In Ecuador it is albacora; buy fresh or frozen loins and keep the pieces large so they flake into chunks, not threads.
• YucaCassava root, boiled in the fish broth until it starts to fall apart. Frozen peeled yuca from Latin grocers is fine. More on yuca and how to cook it.
• The refritoOnion, garlic, bell pepper and tomato cooked down with ground cumin and a little achiote, which gives the broth its orange color.
• CilantroThe stems go into the broth and the leaves go on top. Don’t skip it.
• Curtido de cebollaPaper-thin red onion and tomato soaked in lime juice and salt. It is half the dish.
• The crunchChifles (plantain chips), tostado (toasted corn) or canguil (popcorn), added at the table.

Many of these, including achiote, plantain chips and toasted corn, are on our Ecuadorian pantry list on Amazon. For the rest of the pantry, see our guide to Ecuadorian ingredients.

How to Make Encebollado

The method is one pot and three stages: make the onion curtido, cook the fish in a seasoned broth, then cook the yuca in that same broth so nothing is wasted. Here’s the overview; the full recipe with amounts is in the card below.

1. Pickle the onions first. Slice the red onion as thin as you can, rinse it, then toss it with lime juice, salt, diced tomato and cilantro. It needs at least 30 minutes.
2. Cook the refrito. Soften onion, bell pepper and garlic in oil, then add tomato, cumin and achiote and cook until jammy.
3. Poach the fish. Add water and cilantro stems, bring to a boil, add the tuna and simmer 12 to 15 minutes. Lift the fish out and break it into large chunks.
4. Cook the yuca in the broth. Simmer until very tender, 25 to 35 minutes. Remove the woody core and cut into bite-size pieces.
5. Give the broth body. Blend 1½ cups of broth with a piece of yuca and the soft vegetables, then stir it back in. This is the Guayaquil trick for a broth that coats the spoon.
6. Finish and serve. Return fish and yuca to the pot, adjust the salt, and serve hot under a big pile of curtido, with chifles, tostado and lime.

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Encebollado (Ecuadorian Tuna and Yuca Fish Soup)

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Ecuador's national fish soup: albacore tuna and soft yuca in a tomato-and-cumin broth, finished with a big pile of lime-pickled red onion and served with chifles, toasted corn and lime.

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Ingredients

For the soup

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• 2 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground achiote (annatto), or 1 tablespoon achiote oil
• ½ teaspoon mild chili powder
• 10 cups water
• 1 bunch cilantro, stems and leaves separated
• 2 pounds fresh or frozen albacore tuna loin, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 2 pounds yuca (cassava), fresh or frozen, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces
• Salt and black pepper to taste

For the curtido (pickled onion)

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• 2 medium red onions, very thinly sliced
• Juice of 4 to 5 limes (about ½ cup)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium tomato, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves

To serve

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• Chifles (plantain chips)
• Tostado (toasted corn) or canguil (popcorn)
• Lime wedges
• Ají or hot sauce

Instructions

1. Make the curtido. Soak the sliced red onions in cold salted water for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse. Toss with the lime juice, salt, diced tomato and chopped cilantro. Set aside for at least 30 minutes while you make the soup.
2. Cook the refrito. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes, cumin, achiote and chili powder and cook 5 more minutes, until the tomato breaks down.
3. Make the broth. Add the water, the cilantro stems and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil.
4. Poach the fish. Add the tuna pieces, lower the heat and simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes, until cooked through. Lift the fish out with a slotted spoon, let it cool slightly, then break it into large chunks, removing any skin, bones and dark bloodline. Discard the cilantro stems.
5. Cook the yuca. Add the yuca to the simmering broth and cook for 25 to 35 minutes, until very tender and starting to crack open. Lift it out, pull out the woody center cord, and cut into bite-size pieces.
6. Thicken the broth. Ladle 1½ cups of broth, one piece of cooked yuca and some of the soft vegetables into a blender. Blend until smooth and stir back into the pot.
7. Finish. Return the yuca and fish to the pot and simmer 5 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper.
8. Serve. Divide the fish and yuca among bowls and ladle the hot broth over them. Top each bowl with a generous pile of curtido and chopped cilantro, and serve with chifles, tostado or canguil, lime wedges and ají on the side.

Notes

Fish: Albacore is traditional. Bonito, yellowfin tuna or another firm white fish also work. Keep the pieces large so they flake into chunks.

Yuca: Frozen peeled yuca is fine and saves time; it may cook a few minutes faster. If you can't find yuca, use potatoes.

Canned tuna: For a quick version, make the broth and cook the yuca as written, then stir in 3 drained 5-ounce cans of albacore for the last 2 minutes.

Encebollado mixto: Add 1 pound peeled shrimp in the last 3 minutes of cooking.

Storage: Refrigerate the soup up to 2 days and the curtido separately. Add fresh curtido and chifles when serving.

Tips for Encebollado That Tastes Like Guayaquil

• Keep the fish in big pieces.Cut the loin into 3-inch chunks before poaching and flake it gently afterward. Small cubes turn stringy.
• Use the broth twice.Cooking the yuca in the fish broth is what makes the soup taste like one dish instead of fish plus potatoes.
• Blend a little yuca.A blended piece of yuca thickens the broth naturally. Ecuadorian cooks do this instead of adding flour.
• Rinse the onions.A quick soak in salted water takes the harsh bite out of raw red onion while keeping it crunchy.
• Season at the table.Keep the pot mild and let everyone add lime, ají and salt to their own bowl.
• Canned tuna in a pinch.Good canned albacore works for a quick weeknight version. Make the broth and yuca as written and stir the drained tuna in for the last 2 minutes.

Encebollado Mixto and Other Variations

The basic soup is encebollado de pescado (fish encebollado), but you’ll find several versions on menus in Ecuador:

• Encebollado mixtoThe same soup with shrimp added, and sometimes black clams (concha) or crab. It is the most popular upgrade.
• Encebollado with cevicheSome Guayaquil spots spoon a little lime-cured fish or shrimp ceviche on top for extra tang.
• Thinner coastal stylesIn Manabí and Santa Elena the broth is often lighter and soupier than the thick Guayaquil style.
• Encebollado de polloA chicken version for people who don’t eat fish. It is a home-cook’s variation rather than a street classic.

To turn the recipe below into encebollado mixto, add 1 pound of peeled shrimp in the last 3 minutes of cooking, just until they turn pink.

How to Serve Encebollado

In Ecuador, encebollado always comes with a small spread of extras, and everyone builds their own bowl:

• CurtidoPickled red onion and tomato, piled high on top.
• ChiflesThin green-plantain chips, crushed over the soup or eaten on the side. See our chifles recipe, or grab a bag of plantain chips.
• Tostado or canguilToasted corn kernels or popcorn for crunch. Look for toasted cancha corn.
• Lime and ajíLime wedges and a hot pepper sauce, added to taste.
• Bread or riceSome people dunk a soft roll; others eat their encebollado with a little white rice.
• A cold drinkAfter a late night, a cold beer is the traditional partner. See our guide to Latin American beers.

Is Encebollado Healthy?

Encebollado is one of the lighter comfort foods in Latin cooking. Tuna is a lean source of protein with omega-3 fats, yuca adds filling carbohydrates, and the broth itself uses only a couple of tablespoons of oil for a whole pot. The onions, tomato, lime and cilantro add freshness and vitamin C. The parts that add up are the extras: a big handful of fried chifles, salty toppings or rice on the side. If you’re watching salt or fat, go easy on those and load up on curtido instead.

It is also naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, as long as you skip the bread.

Encebollado FAQ

More Ecuadorian Recipes

• Ecuadorian ceviche, shrimp in a tangy tomato-lime sauce
• Bolón de verde, green-plantain balls with cheese or chicharrón
• Tigrillo, mashed plantain with egg and cheese
• Fanesca, the Easter soup of twelve grains
• Ecuadorian soups and stews
• Ecuadorian seafood dishes
• Ecuadorian breakfast foods
• 25 traditional dishes of Ecuador
• All Ecuadorian recipes

Jorge Garcia

Jorge Garcia is the founder of AmigoFoods, where he has spent over 20 years helping readers discover authentic Latin American and Spanish cuisine. Raised in a Cuban-American household, Jorge learned to cook at the hands of his mother and grandmother, carrying forward generations of family recipes. That heritage, backed by his family’s four-generation history in the Latin food industry, inspired him to launch AmigoFoods in 2003. With more than 1,000 published articles on recipes, ingredients, and food culture, Jorge’s mission is simple: make authentic Latin cooking approachable for home cooks everywhere while honoring the traditions behind every dish.

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