Papa a la Huancaína (Potatoes in Spicy Cheese Sauce)
Cold sliced potatoes covered in a creamy, golden sauce of ají amarillo chilli, fresh cheese and evaporated milk, served on lettuce with boiled egg and black olives.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Cook the potatoes
Put the potatoes, water and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook 20-25 minutes until a knife slides in easily, then drain, cool, peel and cut into thick slices.
- 800 g potatoes
- 2 L water
- 1 tsp salt
✅ Done when: a knife slides easily into the center of a potato
Soften the chillies
Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until soft but not browned. If using paste, cook only the onion and garlic, then stir in the paste for 1 minute.
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 4
✅ Done when: onion and chilli are soft and translucent
Blend the sauce
Put the softened chilli mixture from step 2 in a blender with the queso fresco, evaporated milk, crackers and salt. Blend until completely smooth and thick enough to coat a spoon; add a splash more milk if too thick, or another cracker if too thin.
- 200 g queso fresco
- 150 ml evaporated milk
- 4 crackers
- ½ tsp salt
✅ Done when: sauce is smooth and coats the back of a spoon
Serve
Lay the lettuce leaves on a platter and arrange the potato slices from step 1 on top. Pour the sauce from step 3 generously over them and garnish with the egg quarters and olives. Serve cold or at room temperature.
- 4 lettuce leaves
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 8 black olives
Cook the potatoes
Put the potatoes, water and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook 20-25 minutes until a knife slides in easily, then drain, cool, peel and cut into thick slices.
- 800 g potatoes
- 2 L water
- 1 tsp salt
✅ Done when: a knife slides easily into the center of a potato
Soften the chillies
Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until soft but not browned. If using paste, cook only the onion and garlic, then stir in the paste for 1 minute.
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 4
✅ Done when: onion and chilli are soft and translucent
Blend the sauce
Put the softened chilli mixture from step 2 in a blender with the queso fresco, evaporated milk, crackers and salt. Blend until completely smooth and thick enough to coat a spoon; add a splash more milk if too thick, or another cracker if too thin.
- 200 g queso fresco
- 150 ml evaporated milk
- 4 crackers
- ½ tsp salt
✅ Done when: sauce is smooth and coats the back of a spoon
Serve
Lay the lettuce leaves on a platter and arrange the potato slices from step 1 on top. Pour the sauce from step 3 generously over them and garnish with the egg quarters and olives. Serve cold or at room temperature.
- 4 lettuce leaves
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 8 black olives
The Story Behind the Dish
The name means 'potatoes in the style of Huancayo', a city high in Peru's central Andes. A popular story says women from Huancayo sold this dish to workers building the railway from Lima to the mountains in the early 1900s.
Today huancaína sauce is everywhere in Peru: on potatoes, pasta, boiled corn and as a dip for fried yucca.
⭐ Why It's Famous
The bright yellow sauce is creamy, cheesy and gently spicy, a perfect match for Peru's flavourful potatoes.
💡 Fun Fact
The crackers are a secret ingredient: they thicken the sauce and keep it smooth without needing flour.
Huancayo, central Andes (popular in Lima)
-12.07°S, -75.20°W
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