Peruvian Soup & Stew Recipes: Ají de Gallina, Aguadito, Seco

🇵🇪 Peru

Peruvian Soup & Stew Recipes

From aguadito's cilantro-green broth to slow-braised secos and creamy Andean chupes, Peru's soups and stews are the heart of its home cooking, built on ají, potatoes and corn from every altitude.

12 soups and stews, each with a recipe ↓

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Peru's soups and stews come from every altitude: seafood chupes and parihuela on the coast, potato-thick carapulcra and sancochado in the Andes, and cilantro-bright aguadito everywhere, all built on ají peppers and the country's staggering variety of potatoes and corn.

Peru's Most Beloved Stew

Ají de Gallina

Shredded chicken in a creamy, golden ají amarillo sauce thickened with bread and walnuts, served over boiled potatoes with rice, olives and hard-boiled egg — Peru's ultimate comfort dish.

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More Peruvian Soups & Stews to Try

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Aguadito de Pollo

Peru's cilantro-green chicken soup with rice, peas and potatoes, the classic late-night restorative.

Shambar

Trujillo's Monday soup of wheat, beans, chickpeas and smoked pork, finished with mint and toasted cancha.

Sancochado

A hearty beef-and-vegetable boil served in two courses: the broth first, then the meat and root vegetables.

Parihuela

A bold, spicy seafood soup packed with fish, shellfish and ají, Lima's favorite hangover cure.

Carapulcra

One of Peru's oldest stews: sun-dried potatoes simmered with pork, peanuts and ají panca.

Chupe de Camarones

Arequipa's creamy river-shrimp chowder with potatoes, corn, milk and a fried egg on top.

Cau Cau

Tripe stew tinted golden with turmeric and ají amarillo, cooked with potatoes and fresh mint.

Seco de Carne

Beef slow-braised in a cilantro and chicha de jora sauce, served with canary beans and rice.

Estofado de Pollo

Homestyle chicken stew with carrots, peas and potatoes in a tomato and ají panca base.

Seco de Cabrito

Northern Peru's goat stew, marinated in chicha de jora and braised with cilantro and loche squash.

Chanfainita

A Lima classic of beef lung stewed with potatoes, mint and ají panca, served over mote.

A Guide to Peruvian Soups and Stews

Soup opens almost every Peruvian meal, and a stew usually finishes it. On the coast that means parihuela, a fiery seafood soup, and chupe de camarones, the creamy river-shrimp chowder of Arequipa. In the Andes it means carapulcra, made with sun-dried potatoes, and sancochado, a beef boil eaten in two courses. Everywhere it means aguadito, the cilantro-green chicken soup, and the secos, cilantro-braised stews like seco de carne and seco de cabrito served with beans and rice.

Start with the recipes above, then see the full roundup of Peruvian soups and stews, or explore Peruvian main dishes, Peruvian seafood, all Peruvian food and soups and stews from across Latin America and Spain.

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