Vegetarian Peruvian Recipes Collection (2024)

Learn more about the flavors in Peruvian food along with tips for cooking Peruvian vegetarian dishes outside of Peru. I’ve put together a list of all my favorite vegetarian Peruvian recipes for you to try out!

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Peru is known as one of the best culinary destinations in South America as well as the birthplace of many delicious ingredients and superfoods.

Since my move to Peru in 2018, I have been working to create vegetarian versions of all my favorite Peruvian recipes.

I love learning about the food in other cultures, its history, flavors, and methods of preparation. So, having the opportunity to live here and become completely immersed has been an amazing experience.

There is so much to love about Peruvian food. The flavors, freshness of ingredients, the chilies, and much more!!

While I enjoy all these recipes, Peruvian alfajores and these Peruvian-inspired canary beans are two faves I eat every chance I get!

For me, I really appreciate the fresh flavors and the spiciness! I understand that not everyone is a fan of spicy flavors. It’s easy to adjust the level of spiciness of all these vegetarian recipes.

What I have found living in Peru is that recipes vary throughout the country and the different regions. I have done my best to thoroughly research the recipes I create by talking to Peruvians, taking classes, and reading books.

Please note that these have been inspired by the classic dishes. I often use substitutions for traditional ingredients that aren’t available worldwide. I thank all the Peruvians who have guided me along the way!

🙌 History and Influences On Peruvian Cooking

Influence on the food in Peru comes from the Spanish, Africans, Chinese, Japanese, and Italians.

Each one adds distinct characteristics to the food, flavors, and preparations used in these vegetarian Peruvian recipes.

Early influences

• Native to Peru: Foods such as quinoa, tubers (potatoes), chili peppers, squash, and legumes are native to Peru and are still cooked today.
• Spanish and Moors: The first major group to arrive in Peru was the Spanish in the 1500s. They brought the influence of the Moors with them along with many new foods and animals including rice, wheat, butter, onions, garlic, olives, and citrus fruits including limes. Many of these foods continue to be key ingredients in Peruvian recipes.
• Africans: The Spanish introduced slavery to Peru. These new arrivals contributed to the culinary traditions in Peru through many dishes and cooking preparations. Most famous is the Turrón de doña pepa, a famous dessert which is still around today. Comida criolla refers to foods that are a blend of indigenous ingredients and the foods of the Spanish and Africans.

Later influences

• Japanese: Their influence today shows up in the style of food in Peru called Nikkei. The Japanese arrived in Peru in the late 1800s and brought the preparation of raw fish and cooking with seafood into Peruvian meals.
• Chinese: They also arrived in the late 1800s and introduced the technique of fast cooking with stir fries. Chinese-Peruvian fusion foods, called chifa, include dishes such as Arroz Chaufa and Lomo Saltado, a stir fry dish served with french fries, rice, sauteed veggies, and most commonly beef.
• Italians: This group contributes a smaller influence than the other cultures. The most obvious influence is seen in Tallarines (linguine noodles) served with a Peruvianpesto made with basil, spinach, fresh cheese, and milk. Peruvians love panetone, especially around Christmas. This sweet bread with candied fruits and raisins originated in Italy, where it goes by the name panettone. In December, the aisles clear out in the grocery stores to make room for the many brands of this sweet bread.

👉 Ingredients in Peruvian Recipes

But what fresh ingredients add flavor to vegetarian Peruvian recipes? There are quite a few. They range from common ingredients to those that are more exotic and unique to Peruvian food.

These ingredients play an important role in layering in lots of flavors, especially when cooking Peruvian vegetarian recipes.

If you want to learn more about finding ingredients for cooking vegetarian Peruvian recipes, check out my guide on How to Find and Buy Peruvian ingredients in the US.

Here are some of the more common ingredients in Peruvian cooking.

Ajis aka Chilies

Peruvians love their food spicy. When dishes aren’t cooked “picante”, fresh aji salsa is often available on the side to add heat. Aji is the word in Peru for the chile pepper.

The popularity and use of hot peppers is determined by the region where you are eating or where a dish originated.

The most unique characteristic of Peruvian ajis is the fruity flavor they bring to food along with their heat. The most popular ajis include: aji amarillo, rocoto, aji limo and charapita.

These ajis are important flavors to use when cooking Peruvian vegetarian recipes to achieve authentic flavors. While you may not be able to find them fresh, many are often available in pastes outside of Peru.

Canary Beans

One of my favorite beans to cook! These beans are yellow when dried and turn off white or slightly beige when cooked.

They have a delicious creamy texture, a mild flavor, and hold their shape pretty well when cooked.

My favorite way of cooking them is in this Peruvian beans with aji amarillo.

Huacatay

Huacatay, also called Peruvian black mint, is a pungent herb with a hint of spearmint, basil, a little bit of citrus, and tarragon. It generally grows wild or on small farms and its use dates back to the Incas.

Huacatay appears most commonly in Ocopa sauce, a sister of Huancaina sauce, and served cold or room temperature over potatoes.

Huacatay also flavors Locro, a Peruvian stew, and Panchamanca, a type of Peruvian bbq where they cook the meat and vegetables in the ground.

Limon

We may think of limon, or lime in English, is a rather ordinary thing, but Peruvian food wouldn’t be the same without this simple flavor.

The dish that highlights the flavors of limon is ceviche. Peruvian limes are much higher in acid than normal limes. In the US, the lime with the closest flavor profile is the key lime.

Red Onion

Red onion is a key ingredient used in almost every Peruvian dish whether cooked or served cold. It’s the most important ingredient in salsa criolla, an onion salad flavored with lime juice, aji limo, and cilantro.

Salsa criolla, one of the most important condiments, accompanies a variety of Peruvian recipes including ceviche, tacu tacu, and a topping on sandwiches.

For salads, soaking the onions in cold water for a few minutes helps remove some of the “bite” or bitterness of the onion. The onions are cut into long almost feather-like thin strips for ceviche and salads.

See Also

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Tropical Fruits

Maracuya: Called passion fruit in English, this fruit has a flavor with hints of honey, vanilla, and florals. In Peru, it appears in juices – my favorite frozen drink in the summer – but also in desserts as well.

It also makes a fabulous addition to a vinaigrette for salads and flavoring for lemonade. When visiting Peru be sure to try out a juice and one of the delicious maracuya desserts.

Chirimoya: A distinctive Andean fruit native to South America with a bright green skin, white flesh, and creamy consistency.

The fruit grows in high altitudes and its name originates from Quechua, an indigenous language in Peru.

The flavor is similar to a super fragrant and much sweeter apple and may be how it got its other name, custard apple. Enjoy it raw but it also makes a great addition to desserts, ice cream flavor and in juices.

Lucuma: A fruit found in Peru that has a maple, butterscotch flavor. The fruit is a dark green color on the outside and the flesh is a deep yellow-orange color.

Most commonly lucuma serves as a flavor for desserts and ice cream rather than eaten raw.

Some of my favorite desserts are lucuma mousse and lucuma ice cream and for me, pairing it with chocolate is a winning combination!

Expert Tips and FAQS

When preparing Peruvian recipes, choose key limes if possible. Key limes are closest in flavor to the highly acidic limes here.

Try to find out if there is a Latin market in your city or town and take a trip to explore. A market is a perfect place to find ingredients such as choclo, ajis, and fruits available frozen.

Be open to exploring new flavors. Adding foods from other cultures is a fun and easy way to add more vegetarian foods to your meals. You are less likely to have a built-in expectation of the dish and be more open to eating it without meat.

Adjust the spiciness to your tastes. Some of the chilies and sauces used in Peruvian cooking are quite spicy so definitely add them in small amounts to make the dish the level of spiciness you prefer.

If you try a recipe from this collection, why not drop a review in the comment section further down the page I always appreciate your feedback. You can let me know how the recipe went for you and which one you’re cooking next. And don’t forget to tag me @cookeatlivelove in your photos on social media so I can see your creations.

Vegetarian Peruvian Recipes Collection

At its heart, Peruvian recipes and cuisine incorporate a blend of flavors and cultures, which in my opinion is what makes it so special and unique.

Here are some of my favorites as well as the most popular vegetarian Peruvian recipes on the blog.

Main Dishes and Sides

Vegetarian Lomo Saltado

This extremely popular dish is representative of the Asian influence on the cuisine here in Peru. In this vegetarian version, mushrooms take the place of beef, but all the flavor remains. The Chinese influence appears in the soy sauce infused flavors and the rice. Of course, this dish also contains the famous chili, the aji amarillo, and french fried potatoes, long-standing ingredients in Peru.

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See Also

Bourbon ham glaze recipe (Christmas ham recipe)

Pasta a la Huancaina with Mushroom Saltado

A spicy creamy sauce tossed with pasta and served up with sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes and onions is a vegetarian version of an authentic Peruvian meal.

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Vegetarian Tacu Tacu

This vegetarian recipe is a great way to use up leftover rice and canary beans. A traditional criolla dish of mashed canary beans and rice flavored with onion and chili. The beans and rice are mixed together and fried, creating a nice crispy crust. Tacu tacu always pairs with salsa criolla, the popular onion salad served to complete many Peruvian dishes.

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Vegetarian Peruvian Stuffed Peppers

This recipe is based on the traditional Peruvian dish, Rocoto relleno. Lentils replace the traditional ground beef in the stuffing for the red bell peppers. The super spicy chili, rocoto is difficult to find outside Peru, so I use a substitute of rocoto chili paste instead to flavor the filling and stuff it in red bell pepper.

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Vegetarian Tallarines Verdes – Peruvian Green Spaghetti

Peruvian Green Spaghetti demonstrates the Italian influence on Peruvian food. The green sauce is similar to pesto but contains spinach and queso fresco added to the basil and garlic traditionally found in the standard pesto. This dish is commonly served with a thin piece of steak or a breaded chicken cutlet on top. Here in this vegetarian version of Tallarines Verdes, we add in fresh cooked veggies on top of the pasta in place of the meat.

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Salads and Appetizers

Vegetarian Causa with Quinoa and Avocado

Causa is the first Peruvian dish I ever made and it still remains one of my favorites. It reminds me a little bit of American potato salad since it contains mayonnaise and is served cold. The dish features lime and chili flavored mashed yellow potatoes layered with different ingredients, most commonly chicken. In this vegetarian version the potato layers surround creamy avocado and quinoa. You can make these individual as pictured or even in a casserole dish, either preparation tastes great.

Vegetarian Papa Rellena Peruana

This classic criolla appetizer has an interesting history and can often be served as a main meal. In this vegetarian recipe, mashed potatoes contain a stuffing of eggplant flavored by olives, tomatoes, aji, raisins and chopped egg then breaded and lightly fried. Read more about its history and get the recipe at the link above.

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Ceviche

Spicy Ceviche With Tarwi

What makes spicy ceviche a little bit different from the regular ceviche above is the addition of rocoto chili peppers, one of the spiciest Peruvian aji. In the recipe I use tarwi, a Peruvian legume that's rarely found outside Peru. You can easily substitute white beans, edamame or chickpeas in place of the tarwi. This spicy ceviche can also be made with sliced mushrooms, artichokes, hearts of palm or a mixture of vegetables.

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Dessert

Adding vegetarian Peruvian recipes to your meals is a delicious way to explore Peru if you can’t come visit in person. I hope these recipes give vegans and vegetarians an opportunity to explore Peruvian food that is typically very meat centric. Don’t forget to drop me a comment below and tell me about your experience cooking and eating vegetarian Peruvian recipes.

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This post was originally published in May 2020. It has been updated with new recipes, photos and content.