Chilean street food: 10 recipes from the cart, the fair and the fonda to make at home
What Chileans eat standing up and with their hands: the completo from the fuente de soda, the choripán from the grill, the sopaipillas from the cart on rainy days, the empanadas and anticuchos from the fonda. This guide gathers ten recipes from the site that bring that food home, with each one's real time, how much it yields, the frying temperature and what can be ready ahead.
Chilean street food, in short: on the go, the completo italiano (2 in 25 minutes) and the choripán (4 in 30 minutes, sausage never pricked). From the fryer, pumpkin sopaipillas (20 in 45 minutes at 170-180 °C), fried cheese empanadas (12 in 1 hour, 3 minutes per side at 180 °C) and double-fried french fries (4 servings in 45 minutes). From the fair and the grill, anticuchos (8 skewers after 2-3 hours in the marinade), baked empanadas de pino (12 in 1 hour 10 minutes) and humitas (8 in 1 hour 30 minutes). To go with it all, pebre (2 cups in 15 minutes plus 30 resting) and, to drink, the terremoto (4 glasses in 10 minutes). Pebre, pino and humitas are made ahead; the frying and the terremoto happen at the last minute.
On the go: completo and choripán
The two sandwiches eaten standing up, at the fuente de soda or next to the grill. Both are assembled at the last moment, because the bread softens under the filling, and both are ready in under half an hour.
Completo italiano
The Chilean hot dog of fuentes de soda, fairs and ramadas: a boiled sausage in a soft completo roll with mashed avocado, diced tomato and mayonnaise, the colours of the Italian flag. 2 completos in 25 minutes, assembled at the last minute so the bread stays firm.
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Choripán
Longaniza browned on the grill or in a pan over medium heat for 12-15 minutes, never pricked, in a toasted marraqueta with pebre. 4 choripanes in 30 minutes; one per person as the barbecue starter and two if it is the main.
View recipeFrom the cart's fryer
What comes out of hot oil and is eaten from paper. The three recipes fix the temperature: 170-180 °C for the sopaipillas, 180 °C for the empanadas and a double fry at 150 and 180 °C for the fries. They are fried to order; what is made ahead is the dough or the first fry.
Sopaipillas
Discs of flour-and-pumpkin dough, 8-10 cm wide and 5-6 mm thick, fried at 170-180 °C: 20 in 45 minutes. The street food of central Santiago on rainy days, savoury with pebre, chancho en piedra or mustard, or dipped in chancaca syrup.
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Fried cheese empanadas
A 2 mm hot-water pastry with lard, mantecoso or gouda cheese in batons and 3 minutes per side at 180 °C: 12 empanadas in 1 hour. They freeze raw for up to 3 months and fry straight from frozen, 4 minutes per side at 170 °C.
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French fries
1 cm sticks with a 30-minute soak and a double fry, 6 minutes at 150 °C and 3 at 180 °C: 4 servings in 45 minutes, crisp outside and fluffy inside. The fries that go with a completo; after the first fry they freeze and are finished from frozen.
View recipeFrom the fair and the grill
What is sold at the fair and in the Fiestas Patrias fondas, and at home is made in batches: marinated skewers for the coals, baked empanadas by the dozen and humitas simmered in their husks.
Anticuchos
3 cm cubes of beef marinated for at least 2-3 hours in sweet paprika, garlic, cumin, oregano and vinegar, threaded with onion and bell pepper and grilled 3-4 minutes per side: 8 skewers from 800 g of meat. Eaten off the skewer or on a marraqueta with pebre, and just as good on a cast-iron griddle.
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Baked empanadas de pino
The quintessential Chilean empanada: a pino of ground beef with plenty of onion, paprika and cumin, hard-boiled egg, an olive and raisins, sealed with the repulgue fold. 12 empanadas in 1 hour 10 minutes, with the pino chilled at least 2 hours before assembling; they freeze raw for up to 3 months.
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Humitas
A paste of ground starchy corn with fried onion and basil, wrapped in the corn's own husks and simmered for about 35 minutes: 8 humitas in 1 hour 30 minutes. Eaten with sugar or with chilli and tomato; boiled the day before, they reheat in 10 minutes in boiling water.
View recipeTo go with it, and to drink
The salsa that goes with almost everything above and the drink of the fondas. Pebre is made ahead and rests; the terremoto is built glass by glass at the moment.
Pebre
Seeded tomato, soaked onion, cilantro and green chilli chopped very finely, with oil, lemon and salt, no cooking: 2 cups in 15 minutes plus 30 of resting. Spread on bread and served with choripanes, sopaipillas and empanadas; keeps 2-3 days in the fridge.
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Terremoto
The drink of the Fiestas Patrias fondas, born in a bar in central Santiago: 200 ml of ice-cold pipeño with 60 g of pineapple ice cream per glass and, to taste, grenadine or fernet. 4 glasses in 10 minutes, drunk through a straw; the second, smaller one is the réplica.
View recipeHow much each recipe makes and what can be done ahead
Yield and total time of each recipe, and what that same recipe allows you to have ready in advance. Frying and sandwiches are finished at the last minute.
| Recipe | Yields | Total time | Make ahead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completo italiano | 2 completos | 25 min | Nothing: assembled to order |
| Choripán | 4 choripanes | 30 min | Sausages almost cooked, up to 2 days ahead |
| Sopaipillas | 20 pieces | 45 min | Raw dough in the fridge up to 24 h |
| Fried cheese empanadas | 12 empanadas | 1 h | Raw in the freezer up to 3 months |
| French fries | 4 servings | 45 min | First fry; then frozen |
| Anticuchos | 8 skewers | 4 h (2-3 h marinating) | The marinade, the night before |
| Baked empanadas de pino | 12 empanadas | 1 h 10 min | The pino the day before; raw frozen 3 months |
| Humitas | 8 humitas | 1 h 30 min | Boiled the day before; 10 min in boiling water |
| Pebre | 2 cups (6 servings) | 45 min (15 of work) | Same day or the night before |
| Terremoto | 4 glasses | 10 min | Only chilling the wine and the glasses |
Times are those of each recipe; the anticuchos include the minimum 2-3 hours of marinating.
Work plan: a street cart at home
For an afternoon when everything comes out of the kitchen as if from a cart, this order leaves only the frying, the sandwiches and the terremoto for the end.
- Up to three months ahead: Assemble and freeze the fried cheese empanadas and the empanadas de pino raw (3 months for both): the cheese ones fry from frozen 4 minutes per side at 170 °C and the pino ones bake from frozen at 190 °C for 35-40 minutes. Cooked, well-drained humitas also freeze for 3 months and go from the freezer into boiling water for 20 minutes.
- The day before: Cook the pino and keep it in the fridge (at least 2 hours, ideally overnight). Put the anticucho meat in its marinade, covered and chilled. Boil the humitas and keep them in their husks. Make the sopaipilla dough and keep it raw for up to 24 hours.
- In the morning: Pebre: 15 minutes of chopping and 30 of resting; it keeps 2-3 days but is best the same day. Pipeño into the fridge and pineapple ice cream into the freezer until the last second. Cut and soak the potatoes for 30 minutes, dry them and do the first fry at 150 °C.
- One hour before: Take the anticuchos out of the fridge 20-30 minutes before the coals. Bake the empanadas de pino (30 minutes). Brown the longanizas for 12-15 minutes without pricking them, or finish in 4-5 minutes the ones cooked almost through the day before.
- At the fryer: Oil at 170-180 °C for the sopaipillas and 180 °C for the cheese empanadas, in small batches so the temperature holds. Second fry for the fries, 3 minutes at 180 °C, and salt at once. Yesterday's humitas, 10 minutes in boiling water.
- When serving: Build the completos and choripanes at the last minute, with toasted bread and the pebre in the middle of the table. Serve the terremoto glass by glass: ice-cold pipeño, the scoop of ice cream on top and a straw; a jug with the ice cream inside separates within 10 minutes.
Chilean street food: frequently asked questions
What is Chilean street food?
What is eaten on the go at fuentes de soda, carts, fairs and fondas: the completo italiano, Chile's hot dog, and the choripán of longaniza in a marraqueta; the pumpkin sopaipillas sold in central Santiago on rainy days; fried cheese empanadas and empanadas de pino; the anticuchos of the Fiestas Patrias fondas; and, to drink, the terremoto. Almost all of it comes with pebre.
What goes in a completo italiano?
A boiled sausage inside a long, soft completo roll, topped with mashed avocado, diced tomato and a generous layer of mayonnaise: the green, red and white of the Italian flag give it its name. The recipe makes 2 completos in 25 minutes and asks for an avocado that is ripe but firm and for assembling at the last minute. Its relatives are the dinámico, which adds sauerkraut, and the completo a lo pobre, with a fried egg and french fries.
What do you drink with Chilean street food?
At the fondas, the terremoto: ice-cold pipeño with pineapple ice cream, 200 ml and 60 g per glass, drunk through a straw; for children, the same recipe explains the version with white grape juice. In summer, the cart refreshment is mote con huesillo: dried peaches simmered in a cinnamon syrup and served ice-cold over husked wheat, made the day before because the syrup improves with resting.
What can be ready ahead of time?
The pebre the same day or the night before (it keeps 2-3 days). The pino for the empanadas is cooked the day before and chilled at least 2 hours; the empanadas, pino and cheese, freeze raw for up to 3 months. Humitas are boiled the day before and reheated 10 minutes in boiling water. Anticuchos marinate overnight. The fries freeze after the first fry. What cannot be done ahead: the completo, the assembled choripán and the sopaipillas, which are fried to order.
What goes with sopaipillas and empanadas?
Pebre: tomato, soaked onion, cilantro and green chilli finely chopped, spread on bread and served with choripanes, sopaipillas and empanadas. Sopaipillas are also eaten with chancho en piedra or mustard, and in winter dipped in chancaca syrup with orange peel and cinnamon. Cheese empanadas are served hot, freshly fried, with pebre.
How much do I plan per person?
The recipes say it: one choripán per adult as a starter and two as the main, with one cup of pebre for every four; 2 cheese empanadas per adult as a snack and 3-4 as a meal; 2 anticucho skewers (250-300 g of meat) per adult when there is more food, 3 if they are the main; 1 humita as a side and 2 as a main; one 300 ml terremoto per adult and a 150 ml réplica for anyone who wants a second.
More of the Chilean table
The rest of the site's Chilean cooking is in traditional Chilean food: 27 classic recipes; for the full 18 September table, with starters, barbecue, mains and sweets, the Fiestas Patrias menu; and to work out the meat and the charcoal, the asado menu.