Potato and Chicken Stew (Ajiaco)
Serves 8 Time 1.5 hours Difficulty 3/5 Ingredients 23 Steps 11
Ajiaco is a quintessential dish from Bogotá, Colombia.
Ingredients
Soup
- 1 ea. (approximately 750 g) whole skin-on bone-in chicken breast
- 1 L chicken broth
- 1 onion, peeled
- 2 scallions (white part and first 2 cm of green)
- 2 carrots, peeled
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 ml dried thyme
- 2 ml ground cumin
- 4 sprigs fresh cilantro
- 10 black peppercorns
- 5 ml tomato paste
- 0.5 kg small yellow potatoes, peeled
- 0.5 kg small purple potatoes, peeled
- 0.5 kg mashing potatoes, peeled and sliced 2 cm thickness
- 1 L water
- 2 ml of beef bouillon granules
- 0.25 ml frozen peas
Garnishes
- 4 ears of corn, quartered lengthwise and cooked
- 10 ml whipping cream mixed with 10 ml créme fraíche
- 2 ripe but firm Hass avocados, peeled, pitted and cut into eight slices right before serving
- 10 ml of finely chopped cilantro
- 5–10 ml of pickled capers
Steps
- Combine chicken, broth, onions, scallions, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, cumin, cilantro and peppercorns in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Skim froth as it rises.
- When frothing finishes, reduce heat to low. Cover.
- Remove chicken when cooked through, about 20 min. Reserve.
- Strain broth through sieve. Return to pot. Boil over medium heat. Reserve carrots.
- Add tomato paste and yellow and purple potatoes. Cover. Cook about 20 min until potatoes are soft.
- Meanwhile boil sliced mashing potatoes in water and beef bouillon in separate pot. When boiling, reduce to medium heat. Cook about 30 min until potatoes start to fall apart.
- Drain. Reserve a quarter of the slices. Mash the rest. Add mashed and sliced potatoes to soup.
- Remove bones and skin from chicken; discard. Cut chicken into strips 1 cm wide and 3 cm long.
- Add chicken and peas to soup. Simmer 5 min.
- Slice carrots into .5 cm thick rounds. Add to soup. Salt to taste.
- Serve hot with garnishes.
Notes from the original
- If soup is too thick add boiling water in small amounts; the consistency should be like that of heavy cream. Soup will thicken as it cools.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Potato and Chicken Stew (Ajiaco)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.