Colombia's iconic weekend stew: whole chicken, yuca, plantain, corn, potatoes, and cilantro in a golden, herb-fragrant broth — the dish that brings families together.
Sancocho is the Colombian definition of abundance: a vast, steaming pot of whole chicken pieces, yuca (cassava), green plantain, corn cobs, potatoes, and criolla small potatoes simmered in a broth made golden-fragrant by fresh cilantro, spring onion, cumin, and colour paste (hogao base). Every Colombian region has its own sancocho — the Valle del Cauca makes theirs with seven meats (sancocho de siete carnes); the coast adds coconut milk; Antioquia makes it with pork and dry beans — but sancocho de gallina (hen stew) is the form shared across the entire country and the one served at every major celebration: weddings, Mother's Day, weekend reunions. The dish is built in layers of timing: the older, tougher chicken (gallina, not pollo) goes in first and cooks for 90 minutes until the broth is deeply flavoured; then the root vegetables go in sequentially according to how long they take to cook. The result is a clear broth that has absorbed the character of everything in it, and a bowl that is a full meal: protein, starch, fat, and herb in one. It is served with white rice, hogao, avocado slices, and ají (chilli sauce) on the side.
Serves 8
Place chicken pieces in a large pot with cold water, quartered onion, whole garlic, half the cilantro bunch, spring onions, cumin, sazon, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off foam, then reduce to a steady simmer.
Cook uncovered 45–60 minutes (90 minutes if using gallina/stewing hen) until chicken is very tender and the broth is golden and flavourful.
Remove chicken pieces. Strain the broth, discarding the cooked aromatics. Return the clear broth to the pot. Add chicken pieces back in.
Add green plantain rounds and yuca chunks to the broth. Bring back to a boil, then simmer 20 minutes.
Add corn rounds, white potato, and papa criolla. Continue simmering 20–25 minutes until all vegetables are fully cooked — yuca should be tender all the way through (test with a fork).
Yuca has a fibrous core that runs down the centre; once cooked, the flesh around it is tender but the core string can be removed when serving.
Add the remaining fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, and adjust seasoning. Simmer 2 more minutes.
Ladle into deep bowls ensuring each bowl gets chicken, yuca, plantain, corn, and both potato types. Serve with white rice, avocado, hogao, and ají picante on the side.
Gallina (stewing hen) produces a vastly superior, more flavourful broth than regular broiler chicken — if you can find it at a Latin or Asian grocery, use it. The longer cooking time is worth it.
Yuca must be cooked through completely — undercooked yuca is unpleasantly starchy and difficult to chew. Test by pressing with a fork; it should offer no resistance.
Fresh cilantro added at the end (not cooked from the start) brightens the whole pot — the initial bunch is for flavouring the broth only.
Sancocho de siete carnes (Valle del Cauca): add beef ribs, pork ribs, longaniza sausage, and hen in layers.
Sancocho de mariscos (coastal): replace chicken with shrimp, fish, and crab; use coconut milk as part of the liquid.
Sancocho de frijoles (Antioquia): add pre-cooked pinto beans in the last 15 minutes for a heartier, more filling version.
Refrigerate sancocho up to 3 days — it deepens in flavour overnight. When reheating, bring to a full boil then reduce to simmer for 5 minutes. Freeze for up to 2 months (freeze without the yuca, which becomes grainy; add fresh yuca when reheating).
Sancocho has roots in Spanish cocido (a meat-and-vegetable stew) filtered through indigenous Andean and coastal cooking traditions and heavily influenced by African culinary techniques brought by enslaved people to the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. The word 'sancocho' appears in Colombian and Venezuelan records from the 17th century as a term for a mixed stew. Today it is one of the few dishes recognised across all Colombian regions as a national symbol, despite significant regional variations.
Yes — place chicken and aromatics in the slow cooker with water on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 7–8 hours. Add vegetables in the last 2 hours. Yuca in particular benefits from slow cooker cooking and becomes very tender.
Yuca (cassava) is a starchy root vegetable with a neutral flavour and dense, slightly stringy texture when cooked. Outside Latin America, find it fresh at Asian or Latin grocery stores, or use frozen pre-cut yuca. There's no perfect substitute; potatoes are sometimes used but lack yuca's distinctive texture.
Likely the heat was too low and the broth wasn't simmering actively. For a golden, flavourful broth, maintain a steady simmer (not just a warm steep) and cook uncovered so some liquid evaporates and concentrates.
Per serving (600g / 21.2 oz) · 8 servings total
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