MAIN INGREDIENTS
Cuy frito or cuy chactado is one of the oldest traditional Peruvian dishes that has been consumed since Incan times. It is made with guinea pigs, which are obviously not kept as pets in Peru – instead, they are fried to crispy perfection.
The fried guinea pigs are said to taste similar to chicken (or as a cross between rabbit a chicken), but with a fattier flavor. The head is also edible, and that's the favorite part for many people. Cuy frito is usually eaten with your hands, and it's recommended to keep some napkins on hand as things can get a bit messy while eating it.
This dish is typically served in cuyerías with corn on the cob, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, salsas, and salads.
MOST ICONIC Cuy frito
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Humitas is a dish popular throughout South America, especially in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The dish consists of corn cakes that are cooked in corn husks. In Argentina, humitas are usually made with corn, onions, and spices, and depending on the region, milk, red peppers, cheese, and spring onions might also be added to the combination, which is wrapped in corn husks and boiled.
In Ecuador, humitas are steamed and are usually made with ground corn, eggs, onions, and variable spices. The Chilean version adds basil and butter to corn and onions, and their humitas are boiled or baked. In Peru and Bolivia, people also prepare sweet humitas with added cinnamon and raisins.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Salchipapas is a very popular Peruvian street food staple that began as a poor man's dish. The name of the dish is derived from the names of its main ingredients – salchicha (sausage) and papas (potatoes). Sold by numerous street vendors, salchipapas is made by frying thinly sliced sausages and combining them with french fries.
It is traditionally served with four dipping sauces: ketchup, aji chili sauce, mustard, and mayonnaise. The dish can be modified with additional garnishes such as fried eggs, cheese, tomatoes, or lettuce. Due to its popularity, it spread outside of the Peruvian borders and is now also often consumed in Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador.
MOST ICONIC Salchipapas
View moreTasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “3 Worst Rated Peruvian Street Foods” list until February 16, 2025, 1,692 ratings were recorded, of which 666 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.