Llapingachos Recipe
This Llapingachos Recipe from Ecuador makes a dozen of cheesy Ecuadorian Potato Pancakes! Made with potatoes, sautéed onions, and stuffed with queso fresco, these babies are the perfect potato patties!Serve with Ecuadorian Peanut Sauceand a zesty onion salad to take them to the next level!
Ingredients
- 3 lb (1.3 kg) potatoes (preferably high-starch potatoes such as Russet, peeled and cut into chunks)
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon achiote oil or vegetable oil (if you can't find achiote oil, you can get achiote powder here instead, add the ground achiote to the potatoes when mashing them)
- 1 white onion (minced)
- 1 cup (140 g) queso fresco
- Butter, oil, margarine, lard, or chorizo/bacon grease (for frying)
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes. Add the potatoes to a large pot with salted water, place the pot over high heat and allow to come to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until done (about 10-15 minutes). To check for doneness, insert a knife in the center of one of the potatoes: if there's no resistance, meaning the potato is tender, and it slides off your knife very quickly, they're done. Drain the potatoes and place them in a bowl.
- Saute the onion. Add the achiote oil or vegetable oil to a skillet over medium heat and allow the oil to heat. Add the onion and season with salt (if you're using achiote powder, add it in now). Saute until softened (about 3-4 minutes). If you're using achiote oil or achiote powder, your onion will turn bright yellow/orange. Once the onion has softened, turn off the heat.
- Make the llapingacho mixture. Mash your potatoes until smooth then add the sautéed onions to the mashed potatoes and mix. Season with more salt, if necessary. Allow the mixture to come down to room temperature before moving onto the next step or it'll be harder to work with texture-wise.
- Assemble the llapingachos. Form the mixture into 12-13 balls, then make an indent in each ball, fill it with crumbled queso fresco, then form into a patty. Make sure the cheese isn't coming out of any of the patties or it will melt and burn when cooking.
- Chill in the refrigerator covered or in an air-tight container for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 days.
- Cook. I recommend using a cast-iron skillet for these so they can get perfectly crispy on the outside but a regular skillet will also work. Add butter, margarine, oil, lard, or chorizo/bacon grease to the skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add 2-3 llapingachos to the skillet and fry for 1-2 minutes or until browned, then flip and fry for another 1-2 minutes or until browned. Be very gentle when working with your llapingachos because they're extremely soft.
- Serve hot with Ecuadorian Peanut Sauce, Curtido salad, chorizo/bacon, avocado, and fried eggs.
Notes
Make-Ahead Instructions. There's 2 ways you can go about this: you can boil the potatoes (step 1) and then store them covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and then follow the recipe from step 2, or you can chill the prepared llapingachos (step 5) overnight or up to 2 days, and cook them (step 6) when you're ready.
Storing Instructions: store your cooked llapingachos covered or in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days and reheat them in a skillet until hot. Reheat in a greased skillet until hot.
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📷 DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?! Tag @itsdamnspicy on Instagram and hashtag it #itsdamnspicy
Nutrition
Calories: 132kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 4gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 84mgPotassium: 504mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 84IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 73mgIron: 1mg
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