Sancocho

Course: dinner, Entree, Main Course

Cuisine: Afro-Caribbean, Latin American, Puerto Rican/Hispanic

Keyword: beef, chicken, pork, sancocho, stew, tubers

Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 1 10

marinating time: 1

Total Time: 3 10

Servings:

Calories: 421kcal

Author: Marta Rivera

Sancocho is a stew of meat and tubers popular in many Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Prep time includes a 1 hour marinating time, but I recommend marinating the meat overnight or for at least 6 hours.

Print Recipe

Equipment

large stock pot (at least 12-quarts)

Ingredients

For the Meat Marinade

1/2 cup (125 milliliters) white wine vinegar
1/4 cup (65 grams) sofrito
1 tablespoon adobo
2 teaspoons sazón
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 each (1 1/2 kilograms) chicken leg quarters thigh and drumstick separated and cut into 1 1/2 to 2-inch pieces
2 pounds (1 kilogram) beef chuck roast cut in 1 1/2 to 2-inch chunks
2 pounds (1 kilogram) boneless pork shoulder cut into 1 1/2 to 2-inch chunks

For the Viandas

3 guineos verdes (ungassed green cooking bananas), peeled and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch slices
1 pound (around 450 grams) calabaza (kabocha squash), rind removed and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 pound (about 450 grams) yuca (cassava) peeled and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 pound (about 225 grams malanga coco (cocoyam or big taro), peeled and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 pound (about 225 grams) ñame (yam), peeled and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 large Russet potato peeled and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 medium batata (boniato) peeled and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 small yautía (hairy taro root) peeled and cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks

For the Sancocho

1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) achiote oil or olive oil
marinated meat
1/2 cup (130 grams) sofrito
1 large (about 3 cups) yellow onion peeled and sliced
6 cloves garlic peeled and minced
1 tablespoon adobo plus more to taste
2 teaspoons (2 packets) sazón
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large bay leaves
4 cups (90 milliliters) beef stock plus up to 2 cups more as needed
1 cup (250 milliliters) tomato sauce
10 manzanilla olives optional
1 tablespoon capers optional
1/2 teaspoon black pepper plus more to taste
1 1/2 pound (650 grams) ham steak cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
3 ears sweet corn cut into 2-inch thick slices

Optional (Serving Suggestions)

steamed white rice
tostones
sliced avocado

Instructions

Marinate the Meats

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the white wine vinegar, sofrito, adobo, sazón, dried oregano leaves, and pepper until smooth.
Add the meats (except the ham) to the marinade in the bowl and toss them well to coat completely.
If you mixed the marinade in a metal bowl, pour the marinated meat into a non-reactive (ceramic or glass bowl or into a food storage bag).
Cover or seal the container and place it into the refrigerator. Marinate the meat overnight (or 12 hours) or for at least 1 hour. You can also marinate the meat for up to 24 hours. .

Prepare the Sancocho

Thirty minutes before starting the sancocho, remove the marinating meat from the fridge.
Allow the meat to sit out a room temperature while you gather and prep the rest of the ingredients for the sancocho.
First, add the achiote oil (or olive oil) to a 16-quart (or larger) stockpot or caldero.
Bring the oil up to medium-high heat.
Add the marinated meat to the pot and brown it for 10 minutes. The meat will not be cooked all the way through in this step.
After 10 minutes, add the sofrito, onion, garlic, adobo, sazón, oregano, and bay leaves to the pot. Stir these in with the meat to sauté them.
Sauté the contents of the pot for 4 minutes, still on medium-high heat. Stir the ingredients frequently to keep them from burning. If you find they are starting to darken too much, reduce the heat further to medium.

Add the Tubers

After 4 minutes of sauteing, pour the beef stock and tomato sauce into the pot.
Once you stir them into the meat and vegetables, add the cured ham, guineos, calabaza, yuca, malanga coco, ñame, Russet potato, batata, and yautía.
Bring the liquid in the pot up to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and give it a stir.
Cover the pot and simmer the ingredients in the pot for 30-35 minutes.

Add the Corn

After simmering for 30 minutes, add the corn to the pot.
Allow the mixture to come back up to a simmer, then cover the pot.
Simmer the sancocho for another 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, give the broth a taste and add black pepper and more adobo as needed.
Once the cooking time is up, ladle the hot sancocho into individual bowls and serve it with steamed Arroz Blanco, Tostones, and slices of avocado.

Notes

Swaps and Substitutions:

You can replace the dark meat chicken with white eat (breast and wings) if you prefer, but add it to the pot later on during the cooking.
If you use boneless chicken thigh meat for this, add it to the pot towards the end of cooking to keep it from drying out.
You can omit the pork if you abstain from pork products. Replace all the pork with smoked turkey necks, tails, or wings to achieve that smoky flavor.
Beef: short ribs, tripe, offal, oxtail, rib tips, or shanks.
Pork: rib tips, sirloin chunks, or feet.
Cured meats: smoked turkey necks, wings, or tails, smoked ham hock, longaniza, or Spanish chorizo.
Poultry: guinea fowl, cornish hen, turkey wings, or tails.
Replace the beef stock with chicken stock.
You can replace the sweet corn with regular corn on the cob or frozen mini corn on the cob. You don't have to thaw any frozen corn, just add it to the pot. Do cut them into small slices.

Tips and Techniques:

If you can only find large pieces of the tubes, use what the recipe calls for and freeze the rest. You can also use excess vianda to make Serenata (Codfish and Tuber Salad).
Cities and towns with large Hispanic/Latin American populations may have stores selling viandas for sancocho pre-cut and bagged. If you can find it, by all means, use those. Usually, one bag is enough for this recipe.
If you're using boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, add them to the pot with the corn.
Because this recipe makes a lot of sancocho, you can prepare the whole recipe and freeze half of it or share some with a neighbor. This is a great meal to bring to someone sick, who just had a baby, or is an elder who can't get out much.
The great thing about sancocho is that you can let it sit on the stove for a couple of minutes after cooking. The flavors deepen, and it tastes better as it sits.

Slow Cooker Sancocho:

You must divide the original recipe in half in order to cook it in the slow cooker.

Heat the achiote (or olive) oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the marinated meat to the oil when it starts to shimmer in the pot. Brown the meat for 8-10 minutes, frequently stirring to keep it from burning.
Add the sofrito, onions, and garlic to the pot with the beef and sauté them for 3-4 minutes.
Once the onions are glossy, pour in the beef stock. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Carefully, pour the contents of the pot into a large (10-quart) slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and stir to combine them all.
Cook the sancocho on low heat for 8-10 hours or on high heat for 4-6 hours.

Instant Pot Sancocho:

You need to divide this recipe in half to make it in the Instant Pot.

Add the achiote oil (or olive oil) to the Instant Pot and press the "sauté" button. Heat the oil until it shimmers, then and add the marinated meat. Stir the meat frequently to brown it on all sides for 3-4 minutes.
Next, add the sofrito, onions, and garlic to the pot. Sauté these for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are glossy.
Add the beef stock to the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Add the tomato sauce, spices, bay leaves, olives, and capers to the pot, followed by the tubers. Don't add the corn yet.
Turn the Instant Pot off to reset it. Close the lid and steam valve. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, then allow the pressure to release naturally before doing a quick release.
Stir the corn into the sancocho and cover. Allow the residual heat from the sancocho to cook the corn through.

Storage and Freezer Instructions:

To freeze the marinated meat: Transfer the meat to a freezer-safe storage bag or container. Freeze the meat for up to 6 months. Thaw the meat in the fridge when ready to make the sancocho and use it as instructed.

Store sancocho: allow it to cool before transferring it to food storage containers. Refrigerate leftover sancocho for up to 5 days.
To freeze cooked sancocho:
1. Transfer the cooled stew to a freezer-safe container and freeze it for up to 3 months.
2. Thaw the frozen sancocho in the fridge overnight and reheat it in the microwave or in a pot with a small amount of water over medium heat.

Nutrition