10 Traditional Peruvian Side Dishes
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Loading... - Jack Knight
- 21 Feb 2022
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When considering which recipes to add to this list, I came across a website that said, “Peruvian food is a cuisine of opposites,” and I thought, “That couldn’t be more true.”
These Peruvian side dishes certainly prove it to be so.
The best Peruvian chefs know exactly how to use contrasting flavors, textures, and temperatures to their advantage.
They mix spicy with sweet, creamy with crunchy, and mild flavors with robust ones.
They use a lot of spice and seasonings in their food – even in their desserts – and incorporate plenty of fresh veggies, as well.
For this list, I’ve tried to stick to recipes that are relatively simple to make but have an intense amount of that typical Peruvian flavor. I hope you’ll enjoy it.
1. Peruvian Chopped Salad
I decided to start simple with a 20-minute Peruvian salad.
It’s a dense, filling salad that’s more akin to a shoepeg corn salad than anything you’d ever order at a restaurant.
It contains the sweetness and tartness of corn, tomatoes, and red wine vinegar, the zest of lemons, sea salt, and olives, and the fresh earthiness of onions, parsley, radishes, and mint.
There are even a few jalapenos for heat! If this salad isn’t a study in contrasts, nothing is. Oh, but don’t worry; it’s insanely delicious.
2. Peruvian Pan de Anis (Anise Bread)
If you’re looking for a new sweet bread recipe, check out this one for anise bread, or Peruvian pan de anis.
In addition to “normal” bread ingredients like yeast, eggs, flour, and water, the bread also contains anise seed and â…“ cup of sugar.
It’s warm, fluffy, and tastes great with a cup of black coffee or strong tea.
3. Peruvian Potato-Chicken Salad (Causa Rellena)
I can say with 100% confidence that this Peruvian potato-chicken salad doesn’t look like any salad you’ve ever seen.
If you make it correctly, it resembles flan more than anything even remotely salad-like. Even so, potato-chicken salad is precisely what it is.
It’s cool, creamy, and savory, but it’s also super spicy, thanks to the aji amarillo chili paste.
It’s a layered dish that takes a bit of time to make and get right.
If you manage it, though, there won’t be a single unimpressed person in the entire house.
It looks awesome and tastes great as well.
4. Yuquitas Fritas (Peruvian Yucca Fries)
Although yuquitas fritas take an hour to cook, you can prepare them with four simple ingredients in 15 minutes or less.
These are the Peruvian answer to French fries. They’re crispy, crunchy, salty, and yummy.
5. Salchipapas
You can make this traditional Peruvian dish in 35 minutes with fewer than 10 ingredients.
It’s starchy, meaty, and tastes like authentic street food.
(I mean that in the best possible way. Good street food is incredible and hard to find.)
The dish has a fancy, hard-to-pronounce name, but it’s really just sausage on French fries with plenty of good condiments. Read More…
