Sancocho: A Colombian Stew

Last updated on July 11, 2025.

Often involving a big gathering of friends and family, sancocho is one of the most popular traditional Colombian dishes.

Introduction to Sancocho

Sancocho a stew with a mishmash of meat and vegetable ingredients, so much so that the people cooking it sometimes forget every single ingredient that went into making it. You can get it in a restaurant, but there’s nothing better than when it’s homemade. Many also consider it a comfort food.

Sancocho is often more than a simple meal – it’s an event. A huge quantity is usually prepared and several friends and family members are invited to partake. You don’t need a special occasion or holiday to make sancocho, but it’s definitely a great way to get people together.

Varieties

There are many different varieties using chicken (sancocho de gallina), beef (sancocho de res), pork, or a combination of the three; cooked on a wood fire, (sancocho en leña), thin and watery, thick and creamy; and others.

Many factors can change the makeup of the stew, including who’s cooking, the region of Colombia you’re in, and what ingredients are available at the market. From my time in Colombia, it’s easy to say that no two sancochos are alike.

A Sancocho Event

We usually make sancocho on a holiday or family celebration. For this particular post, the event took place on New Year’s Day in Anserma, a town in the Caldas department in the heart of the Coffee Region.

Marisol and her sisters started preparing the meal in the morning. They went to the market and bought all kinds of vegetables and meats. Among the ingredients were yucca, a few different kinds of potatoes, carrots, cilantro, spinach, squash, corn on the cob, arracacha (a root), pork, and chicken. They got to work chopping everything up as soon as they got home.

We started a fire outside the house with a couple pieces of wood wedged between bricks. We placed a huge stainless steel pot on top of the bricks. Little by little, as the water came to a boil, we started added the ingredients.

When it was finished, everyone at the house was given a bowl of the traditional culinary creation. We enjoyed the delicious feast with music, good conversation, and lots of laughter.