Latin America & Caribbean

Sancocho de Gallina: Colombian Chicken Stew with Green Plantain and Yuca

Name: Sancocho de Gallina: Colombian Chicken Stew with Green Plantain and Yuca
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 h 50 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Colombian
Ingredients: 1.2 kg total Bone-in chicken thighs and drumettes; 250 g Oxtail; 2.4 L Water; 2 Scallions (long green onions); 1 1/2 tsp Salt; 2 Green plantains (cooking bananas); 450 g Yuca (cassava root); 2 Corn on the cob; 1/2 (about 100 g) Onion; 2 (about 250 g) Tomatoes; 2 cloves Garlic; 1/2 tsp Achiote (annatto seeds); 1/2 tsp Cumin; 1 tbsp Oil; 1/2 bunch Cilantro; 1/4 tsp Black pepper; 1 Avocado; For 4 servings White rice; To taste Ají picante or hot sauce

Sancocho de gallina from Colombia's Valle del Cauca, for 4: bone-in chicken and oxtail, green plantain broken by hand, and yuca. Regional differences, substitutes, accompaniments, fixes, storage and shopping notes.

Published: October 25, 2026Total: 2 hr 30 minLevel: Intermediate

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 5

Make the broth from the meat and aromatics

55–60 min

Simmering chicken, oxtail and scallions in a pot to make the broth — Simmer the meat broth without keeping it at a hard boil, skimming the foam from the surface

Put the chicken, oxtail, 2.4 L water, scallions and 1 tsp salt in a pot over high heat. When it boils, lower to medium-low, skim the foam that rises, and set the lid slightly ajar. Aim for not a hard boil but a heat at which the surface barely trembles. Allow 45 to 50 minutes for chicken alone, or 55 to 60 minutes if oxtail is included. Even if the chicken is still firm, there is no need to wait until it cooks long enough to make the root vegetables fall apart.

STEP 22 / 5

Make the achiote-colored sofrito

15–20 min

Cooking onion, tomato and garlic in achiote oil for the sofrito — Slowly cook the aromatics in oil that has taken on the color of achiote

In a separate pot, warm the oil and achiote over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. When the oil turns red, remove the seeds, add the onion, garlic, tomatoes, cumin and black pepper, and cook over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Keep going until the tomato moisture cooks off and it becomes a paste; only if the bottom of the pot dries out, add broth 1 tablespoon at a time. Do not burn the red oil, and cook off the tomato moisture. That is the key to this step. The finished sofrito is not blackened but red-orange, with a thin film of oil on the surface and larger pieces of the vegetables still visible.

STEP 33 / 5

Break the green plantain by hand and add it

15–20 min

Breaking peeled green plantain by hand and adding it to the meat broth — Break the green plantain by hand into 4 to 5 cm pieces and add to the pot

Cut off both ends of the green plantain, make a shallow lengthwise cut and peel. Do not slice it into rounds with a knife; snap it by hand into 4 to 5 cm chunks. Put them in the meat broth and simmer over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the surface softens a little. What thickens the broth is not the sweetness of a ripe banana but the starch from the uneven broken faces. The broken faces, not rounds cut with a knife, give this pot its texture.

STEP 44 / 5

Add the yuca and corn and layer the flavors

20 min

Adding yuca and corn on the cob to the pot — Add the yuca and corn after the green plantain and simmer until a skewer goes through

After the plantain, add the 4 cm cubes of yuca and the corn cut into thirds. Add frozen yuca still frozen, and start timing once it returns to a boil. If using fresh yuca, remove the skin and the hard core in the center first. Simmer over medium heat with the lid slightly ajar for 20 minutes, until a bamboo skewer slides easily into the yuca and the plantain corners are still there. The skewer goes through, but the plantain corners do not collapse. That is the guide. If the chicken is tender but the yuca is still firm, take out only the meat and cook the root vegetables another 5 to 10 minutes.

STEP 55 / 5

Combine the sofrito and herbs, and serve

5–10 min

Finishing the sancocho by adding the sofrito and cilantro and serving the meat and root vegetables in bowls — Add the sofrito and herbs at the end, and serve the avocado and white rice on the side

When the yuca is cooked, add the sofrito, cilantro stems and the remaining salt, and simmer over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Measure the thickest part of the chicken with a thermometer, confirm 74°C (165°F) or higher, then turn off the heat and rest for 10 minutes. If the taste is thin, remove the lid and reduce for 5 minutes; if too strong, add a little boiling water. Adjusting the thickness of the broth at the very end, while keeping the shape of the root vegetables, is the trick. In each bowl, take the meat, plantain, yuca and corn first, then pour in the broth. Serve avocado, white rice and ají on the side. To follow the Ginebra record, you can add a step of browning only the cooked chicken under the grill, but this is optional.

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Ingredients

1 / 4

Meat and broth

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Bone-in chicken thighs and drumettes	1.2 kg total	Thighs alone are fine. For a mature hen (gallina), plan on 1.5 kg and extend the time until tender
Oxtail	250 g	Gives depth closer to the Ginebra version. If you cannot find it, leave it out and use 1.4 kg chicken
Water	2.4 L	Enough to cover the meat and to add root vegetables later. Top up with boiling water if short
Scallions (long green onions)	2	For the broth. Use the white and green parts together
Salt	1 1/2 tsp	1 tsp at the start, adjust the rest at the end

2 / 4

Green plantain and root vegetables

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Green plantains (cooking bananas)	2	Not ripe bananas: green-skinned and firm. Peel, and break by hand into 4 to 5 cm pieces rather than cutting with a knife
Yuca (cassava root)	450 g	Peel and remove the core, cut into 4 cm cubes. Frozen yuca can go in still frozen. Potato changes the texture
Corn on the cob	2	Cut each into 3 pieces. Not in the official Ginebra record, but a home adjustment seen in English-language chicken versions. Do not use loose kernels

3 / 4

Achiote sofrito and herbs

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Onion	1/2 (about 100 g)	Minced. Yellow onion if you have no white
Tomatoes	2 (about 250 g)	Use firm tomatoes. Some local green tomato may replace part if you have it
Garlic	2 cloves	Minced
Achiote (annatto seeds)	1/2 tsp	Seeds preferred. Infuse the oil with the color and remove the seeds. If using powder, add it with the cumin
Cumin	1/2 tsp	Adds aroma. Too much hides the clear impression of the meat broth
Oil	1 tbsp	Neutral oil. For cooking the sofrito
Cilantro	1/2 bunch	Leaves for the finish, stems into the broth. Culantro cimarrón can replace part if available
Black pepper	1/4 tsp	Adjust at the end

4 / 4

For the table

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Avocado	1	Cut into wedges and serve on a separate plate, not simmered in the pot
White rice	For 4 servings	To soak up the broth. Optional, but closer to the local table
Ají picante or hot sauce	To taste	Each person adds their own heat. A vinegar and chili sauce also works

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A big pot at the table in Ginebra

Beyond the steam of a big pot, someone peels a green plantain and, without a knife, snaps it by hand and drops the pieces in. Sancocho de gallina is a stew from the Valle del Cauca region built in layers of chicken or hen, bone-in meat, green plantain and yuca. The scene described here is based on the Ginebra version recorded by Colombia's Ministry of Culture; it is not a report of having eaten it there. That record is the entry point for recreating the dish in a home kitchen.

Green plantain is not sliced into rounds. Peel it and break it by hand into pieces of 4 to 5 cm. Starch seeps slowly from the uneven broken faces and gives the broth a gentle thickness. Once cooked, it has a floury, crumbly texture quite unlike a ripe banana. Breaking the green plantain by hand into the pot. This small step gives the stew its character.

The backbone of this 4-serving recipe is the sancocho de gallina recorded in Valle del Cauca, especially Ginebra. The Ginebra version lists a hen, oxtail, green plantain, yuca, and aromatics such as scallion, onion and green tomato. Since a mature hen is hard to find reliably in many places, this version uses bone-in chicken, with a small amount of oxtail added to get closer to the depth of the broth. Simmer the meat first, then layer in the plantain, yuca, corn and the aromatic base in turn, and each ingredient does a different job in the pot. Layering the ingredients into the broth in order is the framework of this adaptation.

To serve, ladle hot broth over the meat and root vegetables, and put avocado, white rice and ají picante on the side. The Ginebra record also describes taking the boiled chicken out and browning its surface again, but that is not a required step here. The center of the flavor is the meat broth, the starchiness of the green plantain and the crumbly yuca. Heat and sourness are not settled in the pot but added on each plate. Heat and acidity are not fixed in the pot but added at the table, so even around the same pot each person's plate tastes a little different.

A big pot reminiscent of Ginebra's sancocho, with green plantain, yuca and chicken on the table — Layer green plantain and yuca into the meat broth, and serve heat and acidity on the side

About the Ginebra version

Ginebra is a town in Valle del Cauca, where records tie sancocho to music and gatherings. This recipe takes the ingredients and order of addition recorded for the Ginebra version in official sources and recalculates the amounts for four people at home. It is not meant to represent all sancocho in Colombia; regional differences are laid out in the table in the next section. See a region's table through one pot. That is the spirit in which to read it.

Sancocho changes from place to place

Colombia's Ministry of Culture documents sancocho as a dish with many versions by region and household. It often appears as a big pot shared at family gatherings, festivals, and meals after communal work known as minga. What goes in the pot is whatever the place produces, so a mountain meat pot and a Pacific coast fish pot cannot be treated as the same thing. The local ingredients decide what is in the pot.

The sancocho valluno of Valle is recorded with beef, beef ribs, green plantain, yuca, a tomato and onion sofrito, and cilantro-family herbs. The Ginebra version centers on hen, oxtail, green plantain, yuca and aromatics, with accompaniments such as avocado, white rice and ají. The amounts and times here are an adaptation of this Ginebra structure to a home stove and four servings. In Valle's sancocho, yuca and green plantain are at the center of the table.

Region / name	What tends to go in the pot	Difference visible at the table
Valle del Cauca / sancocho valluno	Beef, beef ribs, green plantain, yuca, tomato and onion sofrito	Records of avocado, white rice and ají on the side
Valle del Cauca / Ginebra version	Hen, oxtail, green plantain, yuca, scallion, onion, green tomato, herbs	Household differences such as taking out the chicken to brown it again, grilled plantain or corn
Pacific coast / Chocó	Fish, salted meat, smoked meat, chicken, green plantain, yuca, culantro cimarrón	A separate regional version centered on the aroma of fish and smoke

Fun fact: a pot's name becomes the memory of a place

Ginebra holds the Festival Nacional Mono Núñez, and records connect a sancocho festival with this meeting place of food and music. In Chocó, several pots using fish, smoked meat, salted meat, root vegetables and culantro cimarrón are recorded. Such differences in ingredients are clues to regional variation, but what is written here is information confirmed from sources, not something I saw and heard in person. Differences in ingredients show how the name of a pot becomes the memory of a place.

A table representing Colombian sancocho, with plantain, yuca, chicken and corn plated — Sancocho changes its look with the local meat or fish, root vegetables and herbs

The focus here is the Valle chicken, oxtail, green plantain and yuca, with a sofrito colored by achiote. The fish version from Chocó and other coastal pots are treated as dishes of other regions and are not mixed into the substitutions below. The ingredient list adapted for a home kitchen is only an adjustment for reproducing the dish, and it is not the one right answer used in any particular household in Ginebra. Separating what to substitute from what to keep preserves the outline of the pot.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Read the ingredient tables with three roles in mind: meat, root vegetables and sofrito. The meat gives broth and substance, the green plantain and yuca give a satisfying, almost staple-like fullness, and the achiote sofrito carries aroma and color. A mature hen has many bones and sinews and takes longer, so the first time use bone-in chicken thighs and drumettes together. Oxtail is there to approach the Ginebra structure, so if you cannot find it, leave it out; do not just add more water to the chicken. More than the kind of meat, keep the order of bone-in meat and root vegetables. That is the key to this pot.

Sancocho ingredients: green plantain, yuca, corn, bone-in chicken, oxtail and aromatics — Layer green plantain, yuca, bone-in meat and aromatics into the pot in order

What to prioritize when shopping

When shopping, prioritize green plantain, yuca and achiote. Ripe bananas, potatoes and powdered ingredients are each something else, not substitutes. Look for yuca under the name yuca or cassava root. If you hesitate, gather plantain, yuca and achiote in that order, and the shape of the pot will not fall apart.

Food allergies and handling raw meat

Use separate cutting boards and knives for chicken and beef, or wash them with detergent before using them for vegetables. Check allergen labeling one by one for your family, including avocado, cilantro and hot sauce. Do not wash raw meat, avoid spreading splashes, and cook it through to the center to be safe.

Keeping the sofrito from burning

If color starts to appear on the bottom of the pot, lower the heat before it does. If needed, add a little broth and move the bottom with a wooden spoon. Do not stir in blackened bits; make a new batch in another pot. Adding water after the burning has spread will not undo it.

Chicken internal temperature and storage

Before you start eating, check that the thickest part of the chicken has reached 74°C (165°F) or higher. Do not leave leftovers at room temperature for 2 hours or more; divide them into shallow containers and cool them quickly. In a hot environment, shorten the standing time even further. Eat refrigerated leftovers within 3 to 4 days, and reheat the whole pot to 74°C (165°F). If there is a sour smell, bubbles or sliminess, do not eat it even within the storage period.

Hot broth, white rice and ají on the side

Put the solids in the bowl first and pour the meat broth over them. Put the avocado, white rice and ají on separate plates. For the first mouthful, slowly taste the meat broth and the texture of the green plantain and yuca. Add heat and acidity to your own plate from the second mouthful on. Scatter the cilantro leaves last; when the color of the sofrito is spread evenly through the whole broth, it is done.

Browning the chicken again, as in Ginebra, is an option that adds toastiness without changing the broth in the pot. The pot turns out so well that you could even separate a plate for eating the ingredients from a plate for drinking the broth.

What to keep and what to change in a home kitchen

Gallina can be approximated with bone-in chicken, but the gelatin and deep aroma that come from a mature hen are inevitably weaker. I do not recommend mechanically swapping yuca for potato. Prefer frozen yuca, and use potato only if you really cannot find it, as a separate root-vegetable version. For green plantain, ripe banana, banana chips or sweet potato change the sweetness and stickiness. Culantro cimarrón is a local herb with a different aroma, and cilantro is an approximation chosen for availability. Without achiote, the color and earthy aroma are lost. What can be swapped is availability; do not force the dish's outline to be the same.

If you move a big outdoor pot to a home stove, use a large heavy pot, keep the boil down, and move the bottom gently with a wooden spoon so the plantain and yuca do not break up. Do not keep stirring hard with a metal ladle; put the water level and how the skewer goes in ahead of heat levels and fixed amounts. Read the pot by how the broth is bubbling and the state of the ingredients, not by heat. Base it on 4 servings, and even when doubling, do not fill the pot beyond about two-thirds.

Preparing sancocho in a heavy pot on a home stove — On a home stove, use a heavy pot, keep the boil down and keep the shape of the root vegetables

On the day you have no yuca

Cut potatoes that hold their shape into 4 cm cubes. They soften faster than yuca, so add them 10 minutes later. Enjoy this version as another Colombian root-vegetable pot; it cannot be said to have the same texture as the yuca version. Keep the green plantain and achiote as they are, and change only the root vegetable. That is the rule.

Handling the root vegetables when saving it for the next day

Divide leftovers into shallow containers to cool. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 days at most, and do not leave the pot out at room temperature. When reheating, bring the broth to a boil and get the center of the chicken to 74°C. If the root vegetables look likely to fall apart, take the solids out first and warm them separately from the broth. After a night the root vegetables absorb liquid and the broth thickens, so restore it with boiling water and adjust salt and heat at the table. Restoring the next day's thickness with boiling water and not breaking up the solids is the trick for enjoying the second-day pot.

Reheated sancocho the next day, served with avocado and white rice — Restore the next day's sancocho with boiling water and eat with the accompaniments kept separate

If you branch out into a fish sancocho

A fish version is a separate design, as the Chocó fish sancocho, in which the fish goes in only for the last 10 to 15 minutes. Draw the salt out of smoked or salted meat first, and adjust the salt of the root vegetables and broth starting from half the amount. Coastal versions that use coconut milk or other root vegetables should not be added to this Valle version; make them as recipes of another region. Branching the variations out into other regional versions protects the character of each pot.

FAQ

What if I do not have oxtail?

You can leave out the oxtail and increase the chicken to 1.4 kg. The depth of the broth is lighter, but even without oxtail, keep the bone-in meat.

Can I substitute ripe banana?

Ripe banana changes the sweetness and how it breaks down, so it is not used in this pot. Choose the green-skinned, firm cooking plantain.

What yuca should I buy?

Yuca is a root vegetable used in South America; it is not a powdered ingredient or tapioca starch. Peel fresh yuca and remove the hard core in the center, and cook frozen yuca still frozen.

If I use a mature hen, when do I add the plantain?

Add the plantain after you confirm the chicken is tender and the meat is starting to come away from the bone. The cooking time of a mature hen varies greatly between birds, so do not fix the time; extend it based on the state of the meat. At the end, use a cooking thermometer to confirm that the thick part of the chicken is at 74°C or higher.

How do I adjust the heat and handle storage?

Do not make the pot itself hot; put ají picante on the side and let each person adjust. Heat is added last, on your own plate. For storage, divide into shallow containers and start cooling within 2 hours, and eat refrigerated leftovers within 3 to 4 days. When reheating, warm the solids first and restore the thickness with boiling water.

I want to know about other Colombian dishes

For the difference from the highland soup of chicken and potatoes from Bogotá, see the ajiaco article. There is also mute from Santander, which stews hominy, beans and several meats. For an Andean table built from several dishes, there is bandeja paisa.

Ajiaco
Mute
Bandeja paisa (in Japanese)

A record of a table set with sancocho, avocado, white rice and hot sauce — Plating sancocho with the solids, broth and accompaniments separate makes it easy to adjust how you eat it

Sources

Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia, Paseo de olla. Recetas de las cocinas regionales de Colombia (PDF) - Sancocho of Valle del Cauca, Ginebra and Chocó, the table and regional differences. Accessed and checked 2 October 2026
My Colombian Recipes, Colombian Chicken Sancocho (Sancocho de Gallina) - Ingredients, simmering time and the home table for the chicken / hen version. Accessed and checked 2 October 2026
Food Network, Sancocho de Gallina - English-language comparison of the method; the order of adding plantain, yuca and chicken. Accessed and checked 2 October 2026
GOYA, Colombian Chicken and Vegetable Soup / Sancocho de Gallina - English-language comparison of the chicken and aromatics steps. Accessed and checked 2 October 2026
FoodSafety.gov, Prevent Illness from C. perfringens - Food safety standards for room-temperature standing, dividing into shallow containers, refrigeration and reheating. Accessed and checked 2 October 2026