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bowl of vegan colombian sancocho with rice and avocado in the background

Vegan Colombian Sancocho

Vegan Colombian Sancocho is a comforting and filling stew-like soup. It is made with a flavorful vegetable stock, different (root) vegetables and is served with white rice and avocado.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 40 minutes
Course lunch, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Colombian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

Vegetable stock

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 onions, roughly chopped
  • 1 bulb of garlic, chopped
  • 1 leek, roughly chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 handful of mushrooms, chopped
  • 4 bay leafs
  • sprigs of cilantro
  • 2 tsp of salt
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 2,5 liter water
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Vegan Sancocho

  • 1/2 white onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika powder
  • olive oil
  • 2 l vegetable broth (use this recipe, or use good quality premade stock/bouillon)
  • 200-300 g peeled and cleaned cassava, cut into 8 pieces (cut in 4 pieces and halve them so you can take out the hard vein in the middle)
  • 1 green plantain, peeled and cut into 8 pieces
  • 1 cob of corn, cleaned and cut into 4 pieces
  • salt and pepper
  • 400 g pumpkin, cleaned but with the skin on, cut into 8 pieces
  • 2 big white potatoes, peeled and each cut into 4 pieces
  • 2-3 sprigs of cilantro
  • cooked beans or chickpeas (optional)

Serve with

  • cooked white rice
  • chunks of avocado
  • handful of chopped cilantro

Instructions
 

Vegetable stock

  • Prepare the vegetable broth. You can do this in advance.
    Caramelize the vegetables in 4 tablespoons of oil, in a large soup pot, for about 15 minutes on a high heat until colored.
    Add bayleafs, cilantro, salt, water, 2 tablespoons of oil, the vinegar and nutritional yeast ( if using). Stir, bring to a boil and turn low. Cover with a lid and let simmer for 3 hours, or less when short on time.
    Strain, and the vegetable stock is ready to use.

Sancocho

  • Cutting really small or using a blender, chop up and mix the onion, garlic, cumin powder and smoked paprika powder
  • Cook the onion mixture in olive oil on a medium heat in your soup pot for a couple of minutes until fragrant
  • Add to the soup pot the vegetable stock, cassava, green plantain, corn, salt and pepper, and sprigs of cilantro. Bring to a boil, turn low, cover with a lid and let simmer for 35 minutes (see notes below about cooking times)
  • Add pumpkin and potatoes and continue cooking for an additional 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are all tender. Remove sprigs of cilantro
  • Serve the sancocho in individual soup bowls. When using cooked beans or chickpeas, place these in the bowl. Evenly distribute the cooked vegetables, and ladle over the vegetable soup. Sprinkle with cilantro.
    Place white rice and chunks of avocado on a separate plate and serve with the sancocho

Notes

Notes about the cooking times
Cassava and plantain need to cook longest. The cooking time of corn depends on the type of corn you use: the bright-yellow US sweet corn you can add together with the pumpkin and potato as opposed to at the beginning with the cassava and plantain. 
Check your vegetables regularly, on a lower altitude and with different vegetables the cooking times might be a bit shorter (45 mins in total, instead of 60 minutes). 
Keyword gluten-free, lunch, main course, sancocho, soup, vegan, vegan colombian sancocho, vegetables, vegetarian sancocho
Do you love this recipe?Give it a 5-star rating and leave me a comment! Or tag @vecinavegetariana on Instagram. You can also pin this recipe now and make it later!