Locro de papa: Ecuadorian potato and cheese soup
Locro de papa is a classic Ecuadorian potato and cheese soup. Soups are very popular in Ecuador and usually served with most meals. They are one of the cheapest and best tasting dishes you can find. A typical Ecuadorian meal will consist of primero or the first course, segundo or second course- usually meat, poultry or seafood with rice; and dessert. Soups are usually served as a primero and most soups -as well as a lot of other dishes- are always served with avocado and aji or hot sauce.
Locro de papa is more common in the Andes highlands or Sierra region of Ecuador. Quito probably has the biggest claim on this soup, it is even known as locro quiteño by some. Like many Ecuadorian dishes, the ingredients and preparation will vary from one city to another. Some variations of the locro de papa add fresh corn to the soup, others add chopped cabbage or leafy greens. There’s even a variation with blood sausage called yaguarlocro.
The last time I was there, the mother of one my friends made locro de papas without cheese and used freshly ground peanuts instead. She explained that when people couldn’t afford to buy cheese, they would use ground peanuts; the soup was good but I missed the cheese. In Quito and the northern part of Ecuador they usually serve this potato soup with maiz tostado or Andean corn nuts. This locro de papa is a great soup for cold rainy or snowy weather. It can be served as a first course, but is satisfying and filling enough to make a complete meal.
Locro de papa {Ecuadorian potato and cheese soup}
Ingredients
- 10 medium sized potatoes peeled and chopped into small and large pieces
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 white onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp achiote powder
- 7 cups of water
- 1 cup of milk or more
- 1 cup grated or crumbled cheese quesillo, queso fresco, mozzarella or monterey jack
- 1 bunch of cilantro leaves only, minced
- Salt to taste
To serve:
- 1 cup of queso fresco feta cheese, or grated mozzarella
- Maiz tostado or cancha corn nuts
- Chopped cilantro and green onions
- Avocados sliced or diced
- Ecuadorian tree aji hot sauce
Instructions
- Prepare a refrito or base for the soup by heating the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot; add the diced onions, minced garlic cloves, cumin, and achiote powder. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the potatoes to the pot and mix until they are coated with the refrito. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring a every couple of minutes.
- Add the water and bring to boil, cook until the potatoes are very tender. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes in the pot, don’t mash all of them, the consistency of the soup should be creamy with small tender chunks of potatoes.
- Turn the heat down to low, stir in the milk and let cook for about 5 more minutes. You can add more milk if the soup is too thick.
- Add salt to taste
- Add the grated cheese and cilantro, mix well, and remove from the heat.
- Serve warm with the avocados, scallions, queso or feta cheese and aji hot sauce.
Step by step preparation photos for locro de papa {Ecuadorian potato and cheese soup}
Hi there, I was looking for a recipe to make cazuela and ran into your site, IT’S WONDERFUL!!!! I can’t wait to make all the traditional ecuadorian dishes my mom use to make that I didn’t learn how to cook. however, I can’t find your cazuela dish, am I overlooking it? please tell me where it is. Thanks again for keeping the true culture and tradition of ecuadorians.
Hi,
Thank you so much for posting this recipe as well as all the others. I took my wife and inlaws to ecuador the past two aprils repectively and they simply love the food. I am also ecuadorian thru my parents i was born in The Bronx. My father in-law, will usually say if something is good by saying “esta bueno” or “que se repita” but when he had the locro in Quito he gave me this look as if it was the best dish he ever tasted. So now I want to surprise him with this and my parents with ceviche, my brothers with guatita and my wife with llapingacho.
Thank you so much.
I will also post on the family taste testing. :-)
I live in Tampa Bay and I just use the cheese from my nearby Mexican store: queso blanco, queso fresco, cotija or asadero or panela..tastes like the Ecuadorean one…mozarella and jack have no taste and feta is way too salty…
Yesss! I spent 3 months volunteering in Ecuador and loved locro so much. I am going to make this for my birthday to try and impress my friends with some Ecuadorian cuisine. Bring on the memories…Gracias!
Hola,
I’m a big fan of ecuadorian cuisine. When I found your receipe I was so happy, but as I made it, my happiness changed to admiration. A superb soup – one of the best I have ever tried. It looks quite strange and smells quite strange (like unwashed cilantro and cumin) – but the taste is overwhelming. Muchas Gracias. I suppose it fits greatly to “cuy”.
Greetings to Ecuador and Byron!!!!
Hello, I went to Quito, Ecuador last summer. My favorite food there was the Locro de Papa. I’ve been craving this food for a while and I decided to try and make it today. I found your website and I liked it a lot because of it looks, its beautiful. I made the soup but it doesn’t taste like the Ecuadorian locro, when I read the recipe it said mozzarella or monterey jack, I always thought it was made with Ecuadorian cheese. So it could be any latin american national cheese. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think that the cheese is what is missing in my Locro. I just wanted to now if you changed it for the recipe to be more convenient.
thanks
Hi Karla – Locro de papas is one of those recipes that varies from one restaurant, home or city to another, everyone has their own variation. I do agree that the cheese is important, most places in Ecuador use quesillo, a very fresh cheese that is not found in the US, mozarella is the easiest to find substitute that you can find here. If you have a farmers market nearby you can try to find a fresher younger cheese (like curds or farmers cheese). Another thing about quesillo is that it also varies from one town to another (some are fresher, some are saltier, etc. Sometimes a type of cheese called queso de corte or another type called queso de sopa are also added to the locro de papas, these a little bit saltier and also impossible to find here, the closest substitute for those is feta cheese. For this recipe I use the mozzarella or monterrey jack since they melt well like quesillo does and they are also quite neutral (like quesillo), I then add crumbled feta when serving the soup for those that want it.
I just returned from seven days in Ecuador and an so glad you have this recipe posted. The only thing I need to do now is find a source for the Indio Bravo aji sauce I have become addicted to!
you really know how to cook …congrats!
I tried this recipe and it took me no more than 20 minutes to make! Wonderful soup and my 2 year old picky-eater had a whoell bowl!
I just found your site and I wanted to tell you how grateful I am!!! I grew up in Ecuador, I lived there for 10 years, and I miss it terribly. I’ve wanted to make some of the foods I grew up on for my family but I haven’t been able to find any recipes that taste the same until I found this one!! Muchisimas Gracias!