Colombia's hearty breakfast tostada: thick-cut bread fried golden in butter, topped with hogao (tomato-onion sauce) and a fried egg. Simple, satisfying, regional.
The tostada colombiana is the no-frills, deeply satisfying breakfast of the Colombian interior β particularly popular in Antioquia and the coffee-growing regions (Eje Cafetero). It is not a Mexican tostada and not a Spanish tostada: it is a thick slice of pan campesino (rustic white country bread) fried in butter until golden and crispy on the exterior, topped with hogao β the essential Colombian sauce of slowly cooked tomatoes and spring onions β and a fried egg with a runny yolk. The act of breaking the yolk and watching it run into the hogao and pool in the hollows of the toasted bread is a quiet morning pleasure. Alongside a tinto (small black coffee) or a Colombian hot chocolate with cheese floating in it, the tostada is a complete, nourishing breakfast in under 15 minutes. Hogao is the essential Colombian sauce β onion and tomato cooked together for 10β15 minutes until concentrated, sweet, and fragrant with cumin. It is the same sauce that finishes bandeja paisa, tops patacones, and is stirred into beans. No Colombian refrigerator is without it.
Serves 2
Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add spring onions and garlic; cook 4β5 minutes until softened and fragrant. Add diced tomatoes, cumin, and salt. Cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until tomatoes completely break down into a concentrated, rust-red sauce. Stir in cilantro.
Heat butter in a wide skillet over medium heat until foaming. Add bread slices. Cook 2β3 minutes per side until deeply golden and crispy on the exterior. The bread should have a crust but remain soft inside.
A generous amount of butter is what distinguishes tostada colombiana from plain toast β don't be shy.
In the same pan (or a separate small pan), fry eggs in a knob of butter over medium-low heat until the whites are set but the yolks remain runny, about 2β3 minutes. Season with salt.
Place golden bread on plates. Spoon hogao generously over each slice. Top with a fried egg. Serve immediately with black coffee or hot chocolate.
The bread must be thick β thin slices will soak up the butter and hogao and turn soggy. A 2 cm slice holds up.
Hogao can be made in larger batches (keeps 4β5 days refrigerated) and used throughout the week β on eggs, arepas, rice, and beans.
For a richer tostada, mix a tablespoon of cream cheese or cuajada into the hogao before topping.
Tostada con aguacate: add sliced avocado between the hogao and egg.
Tostada con chorizo: top with sliced, pan-fried chorizo criollo alongside the egg.
Tostada de queso: replace egg with a thick slice of queso campesino melted under the broiler.
Hogao keeps refrigerated up to 5 days. Tostadas must be assembled and eaten immediately β the fried bread softens quickly once topped.
Tostadas in the Colombian sense β fried bread with egg and hogao β are a product of the interior Colombian cooking tradition that combined Spanish bread-frying techniques with indigenous tomato preparations and the African culinary tradition of egg cookery. The dish crystallised in the coffee-growing regions of Antioquia and Caldas, where hearty breakfasts sustained long days of agricultural work. It remains one of the most commonly eaten breakfasts in Colombia's highland cities and rural areas.
Hogao (pronounced oh-GOW) is Colombia's foundational sauce of long-cooked tomatoes and spring onions, seasoned with cumin and sometimes sazon. It takes about 10β15 minutes to make and is used as a topping, filling, and seasoning base for dozens of Colombian dishes. Think of it as Colombia's version of sofrito.
Standard sliced sandwich bread is too thin and too soft for this preparation β it will turn soggy almost immediately. Use a thick-sliced country loaf, sourdough, or any rustic bread with some structure.
Yes, and you should β hogao improves over 24 hours as the flavours deepen. Make a large batch on the weekend and refrigerate in a jar for the whole week.
Per serving (280g / 9.9 oz) Β· 2 servings total
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