Sancocho is one of Latin America’s most popular delicious soups, especially in the Caribbean.
It does not matter how hot it is in Puerto Rico, any day is a good day to make a Puerto Rican Sancocho. Especially on rainy days!
The Sancocho comes from all over Latin America and the Caribbean. There is no one true recipe because every country has its delicious recipe.
In Puerto Rico we add achiote oil and sofrito with recao. Some of us make Puerto Rican bolitas de platano to add, trust me they’re the best addition to make.
It is typically served with perfect white rice or a piece of bread. Same way as you serve shrimp asopao.
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Why This Recipe Works
- It can be made with any meat you like!
- Is the perfect recipe to make for large family gatherings because is all in one pot and it yields for many people.
Vegetables need it for Sancocho
To find some of the ingredients for sancocho like the root vegetables can be harder. Look for them in your local supermarket in the fresh and frozen area which most of the time they have. You can also go to a Latin or Asian market where you most likely will find them.
- Garlic, onion, and green pepper- These are the first vegetables that go in and serve as your base.
- Yuca, Kent pumpkin, potatoes, yautia, and plantains– All of these vegetables are a must-have because they are starchy vegetables that need to thicken our soup. Plus they’re super delicious and filling. Find out more on cassava root.
- Carrots & corn- These are other vegetables that go great in soup.
Other Recipe Ingredients
- Achiote Oil- this recipe uses achiote oil because it adds a nutty smokey flavor to it and also it is one of the ingredients used for color. But if you don’t have any you can use the oil you normally use for cooking. Learn about achiote and its benefits.
- Beef Stew Meat- you can use round cuts, chuck, or brisket cuts for this recipe.
- Sofrito- this is one of the bases used in this dish for maximum flavor.
- Tomato sauce- I used tomato sauce but you can use tomato paste. If using tomato paste just use ¼ of a cup.
- Bay leaves- these are a must because of all the flavors they release.
- Seasonings- In this recipe, you use ground thyme, adobo, sazón and salt.
- Water- I use 10 cups of water because sancocho shouldn’t be watery. Is meant as a thick stew. If you want it with more stock wait until the last 5-10 minutes to add water so you can see the consistency before adding too much.
How To Make Puerto Rican Sancocho
- Photo 1: The first step is to grab a big stock pot, add oil, and sear your meat. It doesn’t matter the type of meat you use, is always good to sear.
- Photo 2: Then add the garlic, onion, and peppers and saute them with the meat for 2 minutes.
- Photo 3: Saute the sofrito, tomato, recao, sauce, and seasonings for 2 minutes
- Photo 4: Add 6 cups of water to cook covered for 30 minutes. This is the start of making the meat tender.
- Photo 5: Now while you wait for the 30 minutes to pass, peel all the veggies and cut them into about 1-inch pieces. You can prep the veggies before starting but I like to save time.
- Photo 6: Add the veggies and the rest of the water to the pot. Mix and finish cooking for another 30 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- You can make this sancocho stew thicker or runner. If you want it thicker cook it for about 5 minutes more. if you like it runier, cook it 10-8 minutes less.
- Store it in your fridge for no more than 4 days. Freeze it for up to 3 months. To reheat I suggest thawing completely or almost, then put a little more water to avoid it from drying.
More Recipe Ideas For Dinner
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Sancocho
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons achiote oil
- 1 pound beef stew meat
- ½ onion
- ¼ green pepper
- 3 bay leafs
- ½ cup sofrito
- ½ tomato sauce
- ¼ cup recao about 3 whole leaves
- 1 ½ teaspoon sazón
- 1 teaspoon adobo
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground thyme
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 green plantain
- 1 pound yuca (cassava) about 2 pieces
- 1 pound yautia (taro)
- 2 corn cobs
- ½ pound Kent pumpkin
- 1 pound potato
- ½ pound carrots
- 10 cups water
Instructions
Cooking the meat
- In a large Dutch oven over high heat add your achiote oil. Add your meat and brown for 6 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Now add the tomato sauce, sofrito, recao, sazón, adobo, salt, ground thyme. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes. Add 6 cups of water, stir and cover. Cook for 30 minutes.
Cooking the vegetables
- To save time, cut your vegetables while the meat is cooking. Peel the plantains, yuca, yautia, pumpkin, potatoes and carrots. Roughly cut the vegetables into 1 inch cubes. Cut the corn into 6 pieces each or less if you want bigger pieces of corn.
- Last, add your chopped vegetables and the 6 cups of water left. Stir and cook for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid the vegetables sticking to the bottom of your pan. Serve and enjoy right away.
Stephenie says
You made me laugh today when you said you know how to eat it. Let me know how it went and if you have any questions just ask I’ll help you out. Thank you for the visit.
Margarita Mercado says
I am of Puerto Rican decent and have never made sancocho but definitely know how to eat it. I love it. I am going to try this recipe with some tweaks here and there. Will let you know. Thank you for giving me the basics. I’ve always ate it when my aunt made it. I’m 83 so I better not waste time. Thanks again
Stephenie says
Pana! Que rica es right? But like you said is very hard to find depending on where you are. The sancocho is really good even if you don’t have all the vegetables. As longs as I have it with a piece a bread or a bowl of rice I’m happy. Thank you for the visit Wilfredo.
Wilfredo Llanes says
I’m Puertorican and I love sancocho, too. When I make it I put various vegetables. I put pana (breadfruit) if I find it, ñame, yautia, yuca, corn cob, potatoes, platano and meat. Then, my mama’s ingredients that she taugh me. I love sancocho from diffrent country.
Stephenie says
Hola, thanks for visiting! You are right, thats another way of making sancocho. Sometime I use different meats and vegetables it all depends what I can find. I have never used cabbage but will definitely try it.
Anonymous says
I am puerto Rican and we make sancocho different, we don’t add yucca, it’s malanga, yautia, batata, calabaza, name, corn on the cob, cabbage and different meat. Sofrito, hija de laurel and hojas de recao if we have green olives we add some.