Vegan Colombian Potato Soup – Ajiaco

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Ajiaco is a traditional Colombian soup you'll find at just about every restaurant serving local food here.

The original is essentially chicken soup with potatoes, corn, and lots of herbs.

I left out the chicken (who needs it, anyway?) and added some grated tofu and a fantastic coconut yogurt I found at a local health food store.

The soup is pleasantly tangy, with lovely flavor from the corn on the cob, and it makes a nourishing, satisfying meal all on its own.

This soup will also be part of my Colombia Special fat-loss challenge, which kicks off this coming Sunday!

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A Few Notes on the Recipe

• This soup uses 2 kinds of potatoes available here in Colombia: ratte and criolla.

If you know me, you know I'm not about to spend my day digging through the farmers market for specialty potato varieties. So let's keep it simple: buy red-skinned potatoes and small yellow-skinned potatoes—the little ones you'd roast whole will work nicely.

And you know what? If you only have one kind of potato, the soup will still be delicious.

• The soup gets its signature flavor from all those herbs simmering together with corn on the cob. Using just the kernels won't give you the same flavor. Don't skip the cobs!

The other ingredients are familiar soup staples: carrots, parsley root or cilantro root, celery, parsley, and a little cumin. They give the broth that classic, comforting soup flavor. Feel free to leave one out or make a swap to suit your taste.

• To make this soup a full meal, I added a few tablespoons of vegan yogurt and some grated tofu, taking inspiration from the way soup is served at restaurants here in Bogotá. The additions bring extra protein and work beautifully with the soup's flavor and texture.
• Like just about everything in Colombia, this soup comes with a quarter of an avocado and sometimes a side of rice. Why? No idea. That's just how it's done here. I admit I haven't quite figured out the connection, but I'm not saying no to avocado!

Potato Soup Nutrition Facts

One serving of soup, out of 5 total servings, contains:

• 292 calories
• 14 g protein
• 46 g carbohydrates
• 6.4 g fat

Adding a quarter of an avocado adds: 158 calories, 2 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, and 15 g fat.

Vegan Colombian Potato Soup

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Yield 5 servings

Calories 292 kcal

Ingredients

• 3 small yellow potatoes diced
• 3 red potatoes peeled and diced
• 1 carrot
• 1 parsley root peeled and diced
• 1.5 ears corn rinsed and cut into 5 pieces total
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 3 liters (about 12¾ cups) water
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 3 stalks scallions

For Serving

• lemon juice
• A handful of chives optional
• 1 avocado
• 5 tablespoons vegan yogurt
• 5 wooden skewers
• 300 g (10.6 oz) firm tofu, grated on a box grater
• A handful of capers

Instructions

1. Place all the soup ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil.

2. Skim off any foam with a spoon. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

3. Once the soup is cooked and the vegetables are tender, remove the corn pieces and set them aside.

4. Blend the soup with an immersion blender.

5. Insert a wooden skewer into each piece of corn.

6. Ladle the soup into bowls.

7. Place a piece of corn in the center of each bowl.

8. Top with grated tofu, vegan yogurt, chopped chives, and a few capers. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Recipe Video