This popular potato salad (papas a la Huancaina) is as delicious as it is colorful (similar to the no mayo potato salad). Perfectly tender potatoes are combined with a creamy dressing made with spicy yellow pepper paste and queso fresco. It's served with hard-boiled eggs and black olives.
Not your usual potato salad
If you think it's time to add a new and different potato salad recipe to your repertoire, this is a fantastic and unique recipe.
This is the famous Papas a la Huancaina, a typical dish from Peru that I loosely translated to Peruvian potato salad.
The sauce is super easy to make and can be mixed in the blender or with an immersion blender (one of my favorite inventions ever!), so other than searching for a few of the ingredients, it's a no-brainer.
According to my friends from Peru, it's such a standard meal that there are as many recipes as grandmothers. This is one of my favorite potato salads ever, so I say go for it and try it at least once.
It's a great addition to our side dish category.
Ingredient list
- Potatoes: I use small potatoes, which come in different colors and sizes. They bake faster and fall apart less. But you can use any small potato or regular ones, the ones you always make potato salad with. Fingerling potatoes and Yukon gold potatoes are popular.
- Queso fresco: it's made from cow's milk and is white and has a somewhat crumbly grainy texture. It is not a soft cheese. You can buy it online.
- Aji amarillo paste: the yellow pepper paste is the star of this dish and the ingredient that sets it apart. The yellow chili peppers used are not the regular ones you usually see in the market, brother to the green and red, no, this is a small orange-yellowish one, similar to jalapeños in size.
- Crackers: salty or water crackers are used to thicken the mixture. Any type that is plain in flavor will do. Breadcrumbs can be used too, but I think the crackers are superior in texture.
- Hard-boiled eggs.
- Fresh parsley.
- Black olives: with or without pits. I use kalamata olives with pits.
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
Type of potatoes
For the traditional dish yellow potatoes (or "papa amarilla" in Spanish) are used, which are common in Peruvian cuisine.
Yellow potatoes have a creamy texture and a slightly sweet taste that complements the rich and spicy sauce.
If you can't find yellow potatoes, use a starchy potato, such as red, Yukon Gold, or fingerling potatoes, that will not completely disintegrate and hold its shape well when boiled.
Keep in mind that the texture and flavor of the dish may vary slightly depending on the type used.
I like to use a mix and feel it makes the dish more festive, and a simple potato salad acquires more of an identity.
I find that small potatoes always work better than large ones. But any type you regularly use for your favorite potato salad works.
Depending on where you live, you'll find different types of potatoes.
How to make papas a la huancaina
- Potatoes: they are cooked with skin or without. Leaving the skin on is the way to go if using small ones. If you are using regular potatoes, it's your choice. My recommendation is to boil them with their skins and peel them after they've cooled down.
- Sauce: it's the star of the recipe, and it's very simple. Mix the ingredients in the pan where you sauteed the onion with an immersion blender, or transfer it all to a regular blender. I find the first option much easier and less messy.
Kitchen Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and make sure you have ingredients at the right temperatures, equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier!
- Potatoes: use small potatoes if you can find them. They have a better structure. But the potatoes you use for making your favorite potato salad will work.
- Yellow pepper paste: you can make a batch and keep it in the fridge. Here's a link to a homemade recipe. Or you can buy yellow pepper sauce online since the Peruvian yellow peppers might be hard to find.
- Olives: do use them if you have some. They add to the final dish.
- Queso fresco: it should be somewhat crumbly. You can buy it online.
- Substitutions: though they are not exactly the same, you can sub a mix of regular yellow pepper and habanero peppers (for heat, or any other spicy yellow pepper you like), and the queso fresco for firm ricotta with some cream cheese. It will work once you blend everything.
- Evaporated milk: it adds a unique flavor and texture. But I have used regular whole milk with good results. Just add less of it.
- Variation: add some thinly sliced onion, regular or red onion. Some people also add minced garlic.
Related recipes you might like:
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Peruvian Potato Salad (papas a la Huancaina)
Ingredients
Yellow pepper sauce:
- ⅓ cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, to cook the onion
- 6 tablespoons yellow pepper paste, store-bought or homemade; see Notes below
- 9 ounces queso fresco, see notes below
- ½ cup evaporated milk or whole milk
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 or 4 water crackers or saltines
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- ½ teaspoon lime juice
Potatoes:
- 2 pounds baby or small potatoes, skins left on
- 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil, for the potatoes
To assemble:
- 4 eggs, hard-boiled
- ½ cup of black olives, to serve
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, to serve
Instructions
- In a skillet, sautée ⅓ cup chopped onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until lightly golden.
- Add 6 tablespoons yellow pepper paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Use an immersion blender directly in the pan or transfer the mixture to a blender.
- Add 9 ounces queso fresco, ½ cup evaporated milk, 3 or 4 water crackers or saltines, salt and pepper to taste, and ¼ cup olive oil. Blend until smooth.
- Add ½ teaspoon lime juice and check seasonings, adjusting if necessary. If you want a thinner consistency, add a few more tablespoons olive oil.
- Meanwhile, cook 2 pounds baby potatoes in a large pan of salted water. Drain, transfer to a large bowl, add a couple of tablespoons olive oil, toss and let cool.
- In a serving bowl put potatoes and toss with some of the pepper sauce.
- Add some more sauce, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley and arrange 4 hard-boiled eggs, cut into quarters, around the edges of the bowl. Scatter ½ cup black olives on top.
- Serve with a bowl of extra sauce drizzled with olive oil.
Kelly Anthony says
Is the yellow pepper paste spicy? This peruvian potato salad looks like it is bursting with yummy flavors!
Paula Montenegro says
Not spicy really. The flavor is very unique though.
Neha says
Gosh this sounds like such a fun twist! Potato salad is my favorite and I am totally trying this out.
Dannii says
I love a potato salad and I am loving this twist on it. The sauce sounds amazing.
Demeter says
This is such a great alternative to the classic! It's fun trying new things. Looks fantastic!
estelle says
ooooh we love a good potato salad! perfect for a light Saturday lunch....
mividaenundulce says
Papa a la Huancaína is one of my favorites, and yes, it's a family food, but you can find on local restaurants, also on fancy restaurants, but the presentation is very different, more fancy than the one you can have at home.
We also use that "Salsa" with pasta, ohhh...sooo good.
we also have it as appetizer, so we can simmer into the salsa small potatos, corn, and fried "yuca".
Bam's Kitchen says
This is one stellar potato salad and the pepper paste and cheese sounds amazing in it. This would be a great side dish for so many mains and a fun dish to pass. Hands down I would prefer your version compared to the usual mayo version. Take Care, BAM
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
I'm not kidding, Keith and I were just talking about craving potato salad. I've always made a pretty traditional version, but this, this! I'm going to make it this week...
Laura Dembowski says
This is a great spin on traditional potato salad, Paula! I also respect people who get up early and get going. When I was in school I was tired all the time. All the time. So happy those days are over.
Anne ~ Uni Homemaker says
So nice to see a potato salad without mayonnaise! Sounds wonderfully delicious and I love how light this is.
Dina says
sounds like a delicious potato salad!