The Atlas · Nº 43 ·Colombia

Most Popular Colombian Food

Colombian cooking is cheese, corn, and cassava: warm pandebono at breakfast, an arepa off the griddle, a plantain fried until it turns to candy. It runs on breads and hearty regional plates, from the roast-pork lechona of Tolima to Antioquia's loaded bandeja paisa.

53 dishes ranked·8 in the global top 1,000 ·1,457 diner ratings·Best rank Nº 32

Plate I — The Origins

Fig. 1 Where 53 ranked colombian dishes were born. Dish origin

Drag to pan · Double-click or +/− to zoom · Select a marker for its entry

The Signature Dishes

The twelve highest-ranked Colombian dishes, by global position.

Pan de bono, bread from Colombia
Plate IIBread · Colombia

1 Nº 32 worldwide

Pan de bono

Bread · Pandebono

Colombia's signature cheese bread, made from cassava starch, corn flour, and fresh queso, pulled into small rings or balls that bake up chewy and warm. It turns up at breakfast beside coffee or hot chocolate, and is best eaten the moment it leaves the oven.

★ 4.5|96% positive |86 ratings

Lechona, pork dish from Colombia
Plate IIIPork Dish · Colombia

2 Nº 145 worldwide

Lechona

Pork Dish · Lechona Tolimense

A whole pig slow-roasted until the skin crackles, its cavity packed with peas, potatoes, onion, and its own seasoned meat. It is party food above all, cut to order from big trays at Tolima festivals and Sunday markets, enough to feed a crowd from one animal.

★ 4.4|95% positive |44 ratings

Pan de yuca, bread from Colombia

3Pan de yucaNº 247

Bread · Also Yuca Bread

Little cheese rolls of yuca flour, egg, and cheese, crisp outside and stretchy within, eaten warm as a snack or an afternoon bite. Common to both Colombia and Ecuador, they are the kind of thing bought hot from a bakery and finished before you get home.

★ 4.3|101 ratings

Almojábana, bread from Colombia

4AlmojábanaNº 486

Bread

Tangier and less sweet than pandebono, this cheese roll leans on cuajada, the fresh curd that gives it its flavor. Plainer than its cousins, it belongs to the Colombian breakfast table and is best eaten warm.

★ 4.2|37 ratings

Plátanos asados, appetizer from Colombia

5Plátanos asadosNº 584

Appetizer · Also Plátano asado con queso

Ripe plantains roasted until soft and caramelized, then split and layered with melting mozzarella. Served as a side or a small plate, the sweet-and-salty pairing sometimes gains a slice of guava for a version that leans toward dessert.

★ 4.1|22 ratings

Tamales Tolimenses, breakfast from Colombia

6Tamales TolimensesNº 682

Breakfast

From the Tolima region, a hearty tamale of corn masa loaded with chicken, pork, rice, peas, and potato, all bound in a plantain leaf and simmered for hours. It is a weekend breakfast, unwrapped steaming at the table, hearty enough to carry you to the afternoon.

★ 4.1|31 ratings

Pan de queso, bread from Colombia

7Pan de quesoNº 742

Bread

Antioquia's contribution to the cheese-bread family, made with tapioca flour and grated cheese and lifted by fermented cassava starch. Warm from the oven it turns soft and airy, eaten for breakfast or as parva, the region's mid-morning snack.

★ 4.1|68 ratings

A

8Arroz atolladoNº 866

Rice Dish

A loose, soupy rice from around Cali in the Valle del Cauca, cooked down with pork, chicken, sausage, and potato until it turns creamy. Colombians call it their risotto, and it usually arrives with a spoonful of hogao, the country's tomato-and-onion sauce, stirred through.

★ 4.0|12 ratings

Mote de queso, soup from Colombia

9Mote de quesoNº 1,010

Soup

A soup of the Caribbean coast built on tender yam and chunks of salty costeño cheese, brightened with garlic, tomato, cumin, and lime. Simple and filling, it is home cooking more than restaurant fare, and nearly every family on the coast makes it a little differently.

★ 4.0|19 ratings

Hogao, sauce from Colombia

10HogaoNº 1,051

Sauce · Also Criollo Sauce

The tomato-and-onion sauce at the base of much Colombian cooking, softened slowly with garlic, cumin, and coriander until jammy. It works as a topping, a dip, and a starting point, spooned over rice, arepas, or beans as readily as it seasons a pot from the start.

★ 4.0|24 ratings

Calentado, breakfast from Colombia

11CalentadoNº 1,186

Breakfast

Breakfast made from last night's dinner, reheated and served together: rice and beans, plantain, a bit of steak, a fried egg, and an arepa on the side. It began as a way to waste nothing, and stuck around as one of the homiest ways to start a Colombian day.

★ 4.0|29 ratings

Aborrajado, appetizer from Colombia

12AborrajadoNº 1,252

Appetizer

Sweet plantain split and stuffed with cheese, then battered and fried until golden, the name itself meaning battered. It comes as a snack or appetizer, the soft fruit and molten cheese set against a crisp shell; some cooks tuck in a little guava or bocadillo too.

★ 4.0|15 ratings

The Departments

Every Colombian dish in our ranking, grouped the way you'd order them.

The Complete Ledger

All 53 Colombian dishes in the world ranking. Every entry, leaf by leaf.

53 entries
  1. 32 Pan de bono Bread Colombia ★ 4.5
  2. 145 Lechona Pork Dish Tolima Department ★ 4.4
  3. 247 Pan de yuca Bread Colombia ★ 4.3
  4. 486 Almojábana Bread Colombia ★ 4.2
  5. 584 Plátanos asados Appetizer Colombia ★ 4.1
  6. 682 Tamales Tolimenses Breakfast Tolima Department ★ 4.1
  7. 742 Pan de queso Bread Antioquia Department ★ 4.1
  8. 866 A Arroz atollado Rice Dish Santiago de Cali ★ 4.0
  9. 1,010 Mote de queso Soup Sincelejo ★ 4.0
  10. 1,051 Hogao Sauce Colombia ★ 4.0
  11. 1,186 Calentado Breakfast Antioquia Department ★ 4.0
  12. 1,252 Aborrajado Appetizer Colombia ★ 4.0
  13. 1,308 P Postre de natas Dessert Colombia ★ 4.0
  14. 1,360 Flan de coco Dessert Colombia ★ 3.9
  15. 1,491 P Pastel borracho Cake Colombia ★ 3.9
  16. 1,492 E Enyucado Snack Colombia ★ 3.9
  17. 1,496 C Cayeye Vegetable Dish Magdalena Department ★ 3.9
  18. 1,590 Arroz con coco Rice Dish Colombia ★ 3.9
  19. 1,605 Suero Dip Colombia ★ 3.9
  20. 1,735 Pan trenza Colombiano Bread Colombia ★ 3.9
  21. 1,825 Obleas Wafer Colombia ★ 3.9
  22. 1,862 Ajiaco Chicken Soup Colombia ★ 3.9
  23. 1,982 Arepa de huevo Street Food Colombia ★ 3.9
  24. 2,028 Chocolate Completo Breakfast Colombia ★ 3.9
  25. 2,078 Arepa de queso Snack Colombia ★ 3.8
  26. 2,390 Bandeja paisa Meat Dish Antioquia Department ★ 3.8
  27. 2,923 P Pan aliñado Colombiano Bread Colombia ★ 3.8
  28. 2,988 P Posta sudada Beef Dish Colombia ★ 3.8
  29. 3,020 Caldo de costilla Meat Soup Colombia ★ 3.8
  30. 3,038 P Papas chorreadas Side Dish Colombia ★ 3.8
  31. 4,273 Sancocho Stew Colombia ★ 3.7
  32. 4,308 Picada Colombiana Meat Dish Colombia ★ 3.7
  33. 4,407 Sobrebarriga sudada Beef Dish Colombia ★ 3.7
  34. 4,818 D Dulce de brevas Dessert Colombia ★ 3.7
  35. 6,132 M Mazamorra chiquita Soup Boyacá Department
  36. 6,751 Pastel de Gloria Sweet Pastry Colombia ★ 3.5
  37. 6,859 T Torta negra Colombiana Cake Colombia
  38. 6,941 Carimañola Snack Colombia ★ 3.5
  39. 7,173 Arepa paisa Breakfast Antioquia Department ★ 3.4
  40. 7,286 Sopa de patacón Soup Colombia ★ 3.4
  41. 7,497 M Mogolla chicharrona Bread Cundinamarca Department
  42. 7,523 M Mogolla Bread Colombia ★ 3.4
  43. 7,541 A Arroz de lisa Rice Dish Barranquilla
  44. 7,547 Arepa Santandereana Snack Santander Department ★ 3.4
  45. 7,950 Bollo Bread Colombia ★ 3.2
  46. 8,030 Perro caliente Hot Dog Colombia ★ 3.2
  47. 8,221 G Garullas Bread Soacha
  48. 8,302 T Torta de pastores Cake Valle del Cauca Department
  49. 8,340 T Torta Maria Luisa Cake Colombia
  50. 8,404 Torta envinada Cake Colombia ★ 3.0
  51. 8,718 Hormiga culona Insect Dish Santander Department ★ 2.6
  52. 8,736 C Chuyaco Fruit Salad Valle del Cauca Department
  53. 8,766 Changua Soup Boyacá Department ★ 2.4
Leaf 1 of 2

Gazetteer

A Regional Tour of Colombian Food

Where Colombia's ranked dishes were born, and what to order there.

Questions, Answered

Colombian food, frequently asked. Answered from the data.

What is the most popular Colombian food?
Pan de bono, the little cassava-and-cheese bread, is Colombia's best-ranked dish at #32 of 10,833 in our global list, eaten warm at breakfast with coffee or hot chocolate. Right behind it by ratings come Pan de yuca, the potato-and-chicken soup Ajiaco, and the piled-high Bandeja paisa. All 10 Colombian breads →
What food is Colombia known for?
Cheese breads, above all. Colombia leans on its breads far more than most cuisines do, nearly all built on cassava or corn and fresh cheese: Pan de bono, Pan de yuca, and Almojábana. Corn arepas, fried plantains, and hearty regional platters fill out the rest of the table. All 10 Colombian breads →
What is Colombia's national dish?
There is no official one, but Bandeja paisa comes closest to the title: a huge Antioquian platter of beans, rice, chicharrón, chorizo, fried egg, plantain, avocado, and arepa. Ajiaco, the chicken-and-potato soup thick with the herb guascas, holds a similar place in Bogotá. Both rank among our most-rated Colombian dishes.
What is the most famous Colombian soup?
By our ranking the top Colombian soup is Mote de queso, a Caribbean-coast bowl of yam and salty costeño cheese. The country's most famous soup, though, is Ajiaco, the Bogotá classic of chicken, three kinds of potato, corn, and the herb guascas, served with capers and cream. Caldo de costilla, a beef-rib broth, is the go-to hangover cure. All 7 Colombian soups & stews →
What should I eat in Antioquia?
Start with Bandeja paisa, the region's giant platter of beans, rice, pork, egg, and plantain. Antioquia, the Paisa heartland, also gives Colombia its Arepa paisa, a plain white-corn arepa eaten with everything, and Calentado, the reheated-leftovers breakfast that locals swear by.
What Colombian dishes do locals love that tourists miss?
Coastal and street-corner things. Arepa de huevo, a corn arepa fried with a whole egg sealed inside, is Caribbean beach food you eat standing up. Obleas are thin wafers sandwiched with arequipe, the caramel-like milk spread, sold from carts across the country. On the coast, Arroz con coco turns rice sweet and golden by cooking it in coconut milk.