Puerto Rican Sancocho Soup| This Puerto Rican beef stew recipe is a hearty soup recipe with chunks of tender beef, root vegetables and more!
Soup recipes are a hit around here. Everyone loves our sopa de salchichon (salami soup recipe) and our Puerto Rican chicken noodle soup recipe. Now we are sharing a Puerto Rican sancocho recipe that is to be enjoyed year round on cool rainy days!
Growing up my mother would make this on cold winter days. I would soak white rice into the bowl to coat with all of the broth! My aunt Carmen would make this in the summer, and even if it was 90 degrees out, I would squirt some hot sauce on top and eat my bowl of sancocho as if it was snowing out! This soup can truly be enjoyed year round.
What is sancocho soup?
Sancocho soup is a Latin American inspired beef stew that has root vegetables that are common to those countries (think Cuba, Puerto Rico, etc). Each country has their own variation and today I'm sharing with you an adaptation of my mother's Puerto Rican sancocho recipe. Sancocho is typically served with a side of white rice and chunks of ripe avocado.
🥘 Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds of angus beef, cubed into 1 inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 3 limes
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
- 2 green plantains
- 4 medium russet potatoes
- 1 ½ cups of calabaza (squash)
- 3 large carrots
- 1 large cassava
- 2-3 yautia (malanga) peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 husks of corn, cut into 1 inch rounds
- ⅓ cup of homemade sofrito
- 2 packets of Goya Sazon seasoning (or 2 teaspoons of tumeric for coloring)
- 2 teaspoons of Adobo seasoning (optional)
- ½ teaspoon of ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon of ground oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 4oz of tomato sauce
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- ¼ cup of cilantro chopped
- 6-8 cups of low sodium beef broth
🥕 Root Vegetables
Root vegetables is what makes sets sancocho apart from beef stew. You will still have your common potatoes, carrots, and celery commonly found in beef stew.
Root vegetables and Latin vegetables used in sancocho:
- yautia (English word is taro)
- yuca (cassava)
- plantains (Make sure you use green plantains, the yellow ones are sweet and not to be used here.)
- calabaza (A West Indian pumpkin, or you can swap with any winter squash.)
- yam (ñame)
- corn
These root vegetables are commonly found in Latin and Asian supermarkets.
Goya also sells a bag filled with peeled and chopped frozen sancocho root vegetables. These root vegetables are also known as vianda by the Hispanic community.
🥩 Meats
Puerto Rican sancocho typically only has one cut of beef in the soup. But other cultures have up to 7 cuts of meat used in their sancocho!
Here is what kind meat Puerto Rican sancocho uses:
- Chuck Beef
- Round Beef
Really, any kind of boneless beef or cut of meat that can be cubed into like 2 inch pieces.
Additional meat options:
- pork for stews
- pork ribs
- chicken breasts
- beef for stews
- sausages
- goat meat
- chorizo
🧂 Seasonings
The secret to the best sancocho soup recipe is seasoning each layer!
It begins with seasoning the beef with my go-to Puerto Rican seasonings such as:
- salt
- pepper
- oregano
- garlic powder
This is the base of almost all of my meat recipes. (It starts here!)
Another important component to making the best sancocho recipe is with using homemade sofrito!
Amazon actually sells a pre-made sancocho seasoning packet for an easy sancocho recipe!
Puerto Rican homemade sofrito is a blend of:
- peppers
- onions
- garlic
- herbs
- seasonings
🔪 Instructions
How do you make sancocho?
To make Puerto Rican sancocho soup traditionally, it's made in a large pot over the stove and cooked for a few hours. For this recipe, I'm showing you how I made sancocho in the Instant Pot to save time. I will also show you how to make it on the stove.
💭 Top tips
- Root vegetables have a rough skin that can be intimidating to peel or cut off. You can peel root vegetables easily with both a potato peeler or a small sharp knife. Remember, the skin of root vegetables is like a potato in the sense that it is not thick!
- Want to learn how to peel plantains? This plantain recipe post has a step by step guide on how to peel a plantain.
- No homemade sofrito? Use Goya's sofrito found in the frozen aisle section. Or just chop up half of a red pepper, green bell pepper, onion, 3 cloves of garlic, and ¼ cup of cilantro and add it to a food processor for a quick and easy sofrito recipe.
- Thicken your soup by letting the excess broth evaporate by pressing the saute mode for 20 minutes after the sancocho is cooked, or removing the lid on stove top. Cook it for about twenty minutes until the broth has thickened. (Check often to keep it from burning!)
🍚 Side dishes
Traditionally, white rice is served with sancocho with a slice of ripe avocado on the side!
Here are some Puerto Rican side dishes we know you'll love!
- Puerto Rican Oxtail Stew - Also made in the Instant Pot!
- Basic Puerto Rican Rice- The beginners guide to making Spanish rice!
- Creamy Pumpkin Flan - Leave out the pumpkin for a classic flan recipe!
- Coquito - Want a creamy coconut adult beverage? If so, this is for you!
👪 Serving size
This sancocho recipe makes about 8 servings. Which translates to about 4-6 people! (Everyone loves seconds.)
Recipe
Instant Pot Puerto Rican Sancocho
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
Beef
- 2.5 pounds of angus beef cubed into 1 inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 2 limes
Saute Mode
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
- ⅓ cup of homemade sofrito
- 2 packets of Goya Sazon seasoning or 2 teaspoons of tumeric for coloring
- 2 teaspoons of Adobo seasoning optional
- ½ teaspoon of ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon of ground oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 oz of tomato sauce
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- ¼ cup of cilantro chopped plus more to garnish
Soup
- 2 green plantains peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 4 medium russet potatoes cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 ½ cups of calabaza cut into 1 inch chunks (squash or pumpkin can be used)
- 3 large carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 large cassava peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2-3 yautia malanga peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 husks of corn cut into 1 inch rounds
- 6-8 cups of low sodium beef broth
Instructions
Beef Step
- Season the beef with oregano, garlic powder, salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and the juice of two limes.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the Instant Pot and press the saute option on “more” for about 20 minutes.
- Once the oil has warmed add in enough beef to almost cover the bottom, and leave the rest to cook in batches.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes or until sides have browned. (Adjust heat if needed.)
- Remove beef once browned.
Saute Step
- Add an extra 3 minutes if needed, and add in a teaspoon of oil. Once warmed, add in sofrito, seasonings, tomato sauce, and herbs.
- Cook for a minute, stirring often.
Soup
- Add in your vegetables and your beef, gently toss it together so everything is mixed in together. Add in your beef broth and any remaining ingredients.
- Set your Instant Pot on manual high pressure, set your timer for 30 minutes. Close the lid and set the valve to seal.
- Once the timer is up, press the Cancel button, allow it to release naturally or wait at least 10 minutes before doing a quick release.
- Once your pin drops, open the lid and stir the sancocho.
- To thicken your sancocho, press the saute option for 15 minutes, and allow the soup to cook down and evaporate some of the excess liquid (check on it often).
Recipe
Stove Top Sancocho Recipe
Equipment
- stove
Ingredients
Beef
- 2.5 pounds of angus beef cubed into 1 inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 2 limes
Saute Mode
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
- ⅓ cup of homemade sofrito
- 2 packets of Goya Sazon seasoning or 2 teaspoons of tumeric for coloring
- 2 teaspoons of Adobo seasoning optional
- ½ teaspoon of ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon of ground oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 oz of tomato sauce
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
- ¼ cup of cilantro chopped plus more to garnish
Soup
- 2 green plantains peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 4 medium russet potatoes cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 ½ cups of calabaza cut into 1 inch chunks squash or pumpkin can be used
- 3 large carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 1 large cassava peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2-3 yautia malanga peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 husks of corn cut into 1 inch rounds
- 6-8 cups of low sodium beef broth
Instructions
Beef
- Season beef with salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, sugar and the juice of the limes. Let beef rest for 30 minutes.
- Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large dutch oven or large heavy bottom soup pot over medium high heat.
- Brown beef, working in batches, for about 2-3 minutes per batch, until all sides have browned. Add in more oil as needed.
Saute
- Once all beef has browned and has been removed add in a tablespoon of oil. You will now add in the homemade sofrito and remaining seasonings, as well as the tomato sauce, cilantro, and fresh thyme. Cook for two minutes, stirring it occasionally.
- Add in vegetables, beef, and any remaining ingredients. Stir until everything is mixed together, then pour in broth.
- Cover slightly and higher heat to bring to a boil.
- Once soup reaches a boil lower heat to medium low and allow to simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally, or until root vegetables are fork tender and beef has cooked to your liking.
- Taste for seasonings and serve.
What is your favorite meat to add to your stews? Have you had sancocho before? If so, let us know below how it was different or the same!
Alison says
I was wondering what other root you could substitute for Malanga as I can not find it where I live. Thanks
Latina Mom Meals says
Hi Alison, you could just leave it out, maybe add potatoes, or up the other roots. 🙂 Thankfully, this soup is forgiving. 🙂
Cory M. says
Thank you I found this recipe looking for something new, my wife is at work and while she is I grabbed all the ingredients. I'm cooking as we speak. Thank you for the amazing recipe. Already smells amazing!!
Noel says
Hello and thanks for sharing this sancocho recipe for the instant pot. Can you tell me how many servings come out your 8qt instantpot? I have experimented with sancocho in an instantpot before, but only for me and my family and with a 6qt instantpot. I'm looking at hosting a small party for new year's eve with 12-15 people and would like to make a sancocho for the occasion. I'm debating whether to try the instant pot again or go the old fashion way. If I go the stove top way, what changes do you suggest I make to the recipe for that amount of people. Thank you and have a happy new year.
Latina Mom Meals says
I would say for the 8qt about 8 servings. For that many people, you could get away with it, if you're also serving other foods. I tend to like to have extra food, so would probably double this, but I serve an army of food for a class haha! I would go with what you know if it's for a larger crowd. For that amount I wouldn't double, but just add half more. So like half a pound of more meat, like 1-2 extra root vegetables of each. And about an extra 3-4 cups of liquids. Make sure you taste as you go to adjust seasonings if you're making more.
Please let me know how it goes and what you're choosing to do. 🙂 Happy New Year and thank you for reaching out. 😉
Noel Morales says
Hello again Latina Mom. Just to let you know that my new year's eve sacocho was a hit; so thanks again for sharing your recipe and for the tips on how to make it for a large crowd. I used the stove top method since I wanted to make sure that I had enough for the party (12 people attended) and had some leftover for next day. I made the sancocho almost exactly as per your recipe; however, I did not use green platains and used butternut squash instead of calabaza (sometimes things are hard to find here in Colorado). I did not doubled the ingredients but added half instead as you suggested and it came out perfect. Thanks again, I'll be making your arroz con salchichas next.
Latina Mom Meals says
Hi Noel,
Call me Neyssa. 🙂 I am so excited to hear your sancocho was a hit! Woohoo! That is amazing. I was thinking about you the other day, and I'm so excited to see you followed up. 🙂 Made my day! Gracias. Enjoy the arroz con salchicas tambien! Take care. 🙂
Dannia Ramirez says
Hi Neyssa,
I’m excited to make this in my instant pot! I found the frozen Sancocho mix in my local bodega, so I’m wondering if I need to defrost them first or do anything differently. Thanks!
Latina Mom Meals says
Hey, yes! No need to defrost. 🙂 I use the bagged ones all of the time hehe.
Mandy says
There was no share button so I copied and pasted to share on Facebook on a Puerto Rican page because this woman wanted to make her male friend who is diabetic something ok for him to eat and I felt this recipe was safe .. its a wonderful looking recipe and I will also try it out.. mahalo for sharing this online
Lucy says
Hi there found your recipe and I'm looking forward to trying it. Can I use pork chunks instead of beef? I found Picnic Shoulder cubes in my supermarket.
Neyssa says
Yes, you can.
Josue says
How many servings was this sancocho for?
Neyssa says
Serves 6-8.
Joanne Osenko says
This is very good. Like a regular beef stew only much more flavorful!
Jaki says
Made it for New Years Day. Loved it and had it again for a late breakfast on Jan 2nd. Even better the next morning.
Pip says
Thanks for sharing this recipe!!! It was super delicious!!
Marta Lopez says
Love this recipe. I make it on a cool day and whenever I get a chance. It always comes up perfect!!
Kayla says
Dear Neyssa,
I cannot thank you enough for sharing this delicious recipe! My husband wasn't feeling well and I didn't learn how to cook growing up so I made this recipe for him since he was sick (and sancocho is my favorite soup) and my husband loved it! He said "I'll eat soup if it tastes like this!" Lol! I appreciate the steps included to layer in flavors in the sancocho, like sauteing the meat and the herbs separately to really enhance the flavor. We used chicken breasts for the meat and chicken stock instead of beef stock because of what we had on hand, along with GOYA frozen recaito (instead of homemade sofrito) and GOYA frozen vianda bag (instead of buying the Caribbean vegetables separately) for ease. This will be added to our rotation of dinner foods! Thanks so much, especially for the instructions on how to make it using the instant pot which is a tool I like to use.
Brian says
I first had this delicious dish while vacationing in the Dominican Republic. Nice people great food. I had it every day for lunch with a scoop of rice. When I came home, I immediately began to search for a recipe. I tried yours and everyone loved it.
I have a work friend who comes from Cuba, she also loved it. She said it reminded her of home. Thank you for posting this recipe as it's one of my favorite dishes from the carribeans.
Brian says
I was introduced to Sancocho while in the Dominican Republic, and I ate it every day for lunch with rice. "You really should try it with white rice" now that I'm back in the U.S. I've craved sancocho, and got my recipe from a friend's Dominican mother in NY..
This recipe is as close to her's as I've seen. The flavors are fantastic. I generally make it with three meats. Chuck roast, chicken legs, and pork ribs (country style)
One of my favorite carribean dishes.
Selma says
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMG. I found a bag of frozen root vegetables in the supermarket, which made this so much better for me. The instant pot has spoiled me in that i can do no more than 30 minute meals. BUT following your instructions to the letter..I could not stop dancing around as I tasted this..I DID IT! My grandfather was the one who cooked these dishes in my family, so when I am able to make a dish that reminds me of him..well you can imagine the happy dance. I've been following you for a few years on Pinterest. You're a great teacher and inspiration. Thanks for sharing.