Dominican Sancocho (Caribbean Meat and Vegetable Stew)

There is nothing better than a warm, hearty, and savory sancocho. This meat and vegetable stew is a staple in Spanish Caribbean cooking and the absolute Dominican comfort food.

Very few things give a Dominican more joy than having a delicious bowl of sancocho. It is the meal of choice for friends and family gatherings since it is usually made in big batches and can feed a lot of people.

In my house, we are always looking for occasions to make sancocho, so many times we just end up inviting the neighbors over for no particular reason.

Be sure to try my Dominican Black Bean Stew and Lentil Stew too!

Ingredients

• Pork Meat – I make my sancocho with pork meat. Traditional Dominican sancocho uses a combination of pork, beef, and/or chicken.
• Smoked Pork Neck Bones – Adds so much flavor!
• Seasonings – We add oregano, adobo, whole allspice, salt, and ground black pepper.
• Sofrito – For sazón!
• Chicken Bouillon – As most Dominican soups and stews call for.
• Lime – For a bit of acidity to balance flavors.
• Vegetables – Plantains, corn, carrots, yuca, yautia, and Kabocha squash (auyama).
• Herbs – cilantro, recao culantro (cilantro ancho), and thyme.

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How to make Dominican Sancocho

• Trim the excess fat from the meat and rinse well with lemon juice or vinegar. 
• To season the meat, add 1 teaspoon dry adobo, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon oregano and sofrito. Mix it all together to coat the meat well. 
• In a 6 qts pot or caldero, heat up oil over medium-high heat. Add the meat to the pot, and sear until brown all around. Cover the pot with a lid and lower the heat to medium. Let the meat cook until tender, about 30 – 40 minutes. Be sure to add water as needed throughout so that the meat doesn’t burn. Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside for later.
• While the meat cooks, peel and cut the vegetables into 1-inch pieces, except for the squash, which you want to peel and cut into two large pieces. 
• Add all the vegetables to the pot and add water until you’ve filled ¾ of the pot. Bring to a boil. Do not overfill the pot because you will be adding in the meat later. 
• When the water begins to boil, add the chicken bouillon and allspice or malagueta. Let it cook for about 15 – 20 minutes.

• When the squash is tender, remove it from the pot and blend it with ½ cup of liquid from the pot and ½ cup of cool water until the mixture is smooth. Then, pour it back into the pot. 
• Using cooking twine, tie together tightly cilantro, culantro (cilantro ancho), and thyme and add it to the pot. Let it simmer on medium heat for about 20 more minutes. 
• Stir in ½ teaspoon of adobo, ½ teaspoon of oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. 
• Add the meat back into the pot and let it all simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 – 20 minutes.

• With a colander, remove the herbs bundle we added earlier and the malagueta. 
• Stir in freshly squeezed lime juice before serving. 
• Serve warm with white rice and avocado.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recipe Notes and Tips

• This recipe easily makes enough for 8 servings. Let it cool before storing any leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
• This recipe calls for homemade sofrito.
• Before seasoning the meat, be sure to trim excess fat and rinse it well with lemon juice or vinegar and cold water to clean. 
• As the vegetables cook, keep an eye on the pot. Some vegetables cook faster than others and you might need to remove them from the pot until the other vegetables cook so that it doesn’t break down and disintegrate into your stew. You can then add it back into the pot when the sancocho is closer to being done. 
• If you are making white rice to serve with the sancocho, you want to start cooking the rice when the water for the sancocho breaks a boil (step 6). 
• I use only pork meat for this recipe, but you can use a combination of meats like pork, beef and chicken. 
• When using a combination of meats, keep in mind that different meats cook at different times and temperatures and you will need to remove it from the pot as each becomes tender.

More Dominican Recipes

• Pudín de Pan (Dominican Bread Pudding)
• Con Con or Pegao rice (Dominican Crispy Rice)
• Stuffed Plantain Cups (Tostones Rellenos)
• Camarones Guisados (Stewed Shrimp)

Dominican Sancocho (Caribbean Meat and Vegetable Stew)

Author: Vanessa

Sancocho is a meats and vegetables stew, enjoyed in Latin America and the Spanish Caribbean islands. This Dominican Sancocho is made of a variety of meats and starchy vegetables such as plantains, yuca and yautia, and served with a side of white rice and avocado.

4.84 from 12 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Main Dish, Soup, Stew

Cuisine caribbean, Dominican

Servings 8 servings

Calories 505 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 lb pork loin end chops
• ▢ 1 ½ lbs pork stew cubes
• ▢ ½ lb smoked pork neck bones
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon adobo seasoning, separated
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano, separated
• ▢ 2 tablespoons homemade sofrito
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ▢ 2 ears corn, cut into 1 inch pieces
• ▢ 1 lb kabocha squash, peeled and seeds removed
• ▢ 2 green plantains, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• ▢ 1 lb white yautia, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• ▢ 1 lb yuca, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces, each piece cut in half lengthwise
• ▢ 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
• ▢ 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon whole allspice, malagueta
• ▢ 4 whole leaves of recao culantro, cilantro ancho
• ▢ 2 tablespoon cilantro in its stem
• ▢ 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lime juice, freshly squeezed

Instructions

 

• Trim the excess fat of the meat and rinse well with lemon juice or vinegar.
• To season the meat, add 1 teaspoon dry adobo, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon oregano and sofrito. Mix it all together to coat the meat well.
• In a 6 qts pot or caldero, heat up oil over medium high heat. Add the meat to the pot, and sear until brown all around. Cover the pot with a lid and lower the heat to medium. Let the meat cook until tender, about 30 – 40 minutes. Be sure to add water as needed throughout so that the meat doesn’t burn. Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside for later.
• While the meat cooks, peel and cut the vegetables into 1-inch pieces, except for the squash, which you want to peel and cut into two large pieces.
• Add all the vegetables to the pot and add water until you’ve filled ¾ of the pot. Bring to a boil. Do not overfill the pot because you will be adding in the meat later.
• When the water begins to boil, add the chicken bouillon and allspice or malagueta. Let it cook for about 15 – 20 minutes.
• When the squash is tender, remove it from the pot and blend it with ½ cup of liquid from the pot and ½ cup of cool water until the mixture is smooth. Then, pour it back into the pot.
• Using cooking twine, tie together tightly cilantro, culantro (cilantro ancho), and thyme and add it to the pot. Let it simmer on medium heat for about 20 more minutes.
• Stir in ½ teaspoon of adobo, ½ teaspoon of oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the meat back into the pot and let it all simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 – 20 minutes.
• With a colander, remove the herbs bundle we added earlier and the malagueta.
• Stir in freshly squeezed lime juice before serving.
• Serve warm with white rice and avocado.

Notes

• This recipe easily makes enough for 8 servings. Let it cool before storing any leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
• This recipe calls for homemade sofrito.
• Before seasoning the meat, be sure to trim excess fat and rinse it well with lemon juice or vinegar and cold water to clean.
• As the vegetables cook, keep an eye on the pot. Some vegetables cook faster than others and you might need to remove them from the pot until the other vegetables cook so that it doesn’t break down and disintegrate into your stew. You can then add it back into the pot when the sancocho is closer to being done.
• If you are making white rice to serve with the sancocho, you want to start cooking the rice when the water for the sancocho breaks a boil (step 6).
• I use only pork meat for this recipe, but you can use a combination of meats like pork, beef and chicken.
• When using a combination of meats, keep in mind that different meats cook at different times and temperatures and you will need to remove it from the pot as each becomes tender.

Nutrition

Calories: 505kcalCarbohydrates: 70gProtein: 32gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 359mgPotassium: 1359mgFiber: 5gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 2952IUVitamin C: 43mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 3mg

The nutritional information of this recipe and all recipes on mydominicankitchen.com is only an estimate. The accuracy of any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

KeywordCaribbean stew, How to make sancocho, Sancocho Dominicano

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