Name: Colombian bandeja paisa
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 675 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Colombian, Antioquian
Ingredients: 200 g dried red kidney beans; 1000 ml, plus enough for soaking clean water for cooking the beans; 200 g long-grain white rice; 400 ml water for the rice; 120 g precooked corn flour; 240 ml warm water for the arepas; 300 g ripe tomatoes, chopped; 160 g white onion, chopped; 12 g garlic, chopped; 1 g ground cumin; 240 g skin-on pork belly; 260 g 85/15 ground beef; 4 sausages, 200 g total small pork chorizo sausages; 4 eggs, approx. 200 g without shells large eggs; 400 g peeled ripe plantain; 200 g avocado flesh; 60 ml, divided; nutrition estimates 50 g consumed canola oil; 8 g, divided fine salt

Colombian bandeja paisa

Bandeja paisa for 4 with red beans, rice, arepas, ground beef, pork crackling, chorizo, ripe plantain, eggs, avocado and hogao.

By Néstor Bastidas · Updated on 10 October 2026

Total time

675 min

Servings

Difficulty

High

Cuisine

Colombian, Antioquian

Method

Soak the beans
Sort and rinse 200 g of dried red kidney beans. Cover with plenty of cold water and refrigerate for 8–12 hours. Drain and discard the soaking water. The minimum total of 675 minutes includes an 8-hour soak; with a 12-hour soak, allow 915 minutes overall.
Bandeja paisa: dried red beans covered with soaking water
Cook the beans until tender
Put the drained beans in a pot with 1 litre of clean water. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam, reduce to medium-low heat and cook partly covered for 90–120 minutes. Stir every 20 minutes and add hot water if the beans are no longer covered. They are ready when they mash easily but still hold their shape; do not add tomato or salt yet.
Bandeja paisa: red beans gently cooking in a pot
Make the hogao
While the beans cook, heat 15 g of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add 160 g of chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add 12 g of chopped garlic and 1 g of cumin; stir for 30 seconds. Add 300 g of chopped tomato and 2 g of salt. Cook for 12–15 minutes until thick. Reserve 40 g for the beans and keep the rest for serving.
Bandeja paisa: thick tomato and onion hogao in a frying pan
Finish the beans
When the beans are tender, add the reserved 40 g of hogao and 2 g of salt. Cook uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring, until the broth coats a spoon. If too dry, add hot water in 30 ml increments; if too soupy, reduce for longer.
Bandeja paisa: finished red beans with hogao and thick broth
Cook the rice
Rinse 200 g of white rice until the water is almost clear. Place in a pot with 400 ml of water and 2 g of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce to the lowest heat and cook for 15–18 minutes without lifting the lid. Turn off the heat and rest for 10 minutes; fluff with a fork.
Bandeja paisa: fluffy cooked white rice in a pot
Shape and griddle the arepas
Mix 120 g of precooked corn flour with 240 ml of warm water and 1 g of salt. Rest for 5 minutes. Divide into 4 portions, shape into discs about 9 cm across and 1 cm thick, and smooth the edges. Cook on a lightly oiled griddle over medium-low heat for 6–8 minutes per side, until firm and golden.
Bandeja paisa: four small arepas browning on a griddle
Brown the pork crackling
Cut 240 g of skin-on pork belly into 4 equal strips and score the skin shallowly without separating the pieces. Place in a cold frying pan with 60 ml of water, cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Uncover and continue over medium-low heat for 20–30 minutes, turning, while the water evaporates and the fat renders. Remove when the skin is crisp, the meat is golden and the centre reaches at least 71 °C. Drain on a rack; collect the fat separately and do not pour it down the drain.
Bandeja paisa: golden crisp pork-crackling strips in a frying pan
Cook the beef and chorizo
Heat 10 g of the oil in a clean frying pan. Add 260 g of ground beef and 1 g of salt; cook over medium-high heat for 7–9 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink areas remain and it reaches 71 °C. Remove and keep warm. In the same pan, cook 4 small chorizo sausages, 200 g total, for 10–12 minutes, turning, until their centres reach 71 °C.
Bandeja paisa: browned ground beef and four cooking chorizo sausages
Fry the plantain and eggs
Cut 400 g of peeled ripe plantain into diagonal slices. Heat the remaining oil in a wide frying pan and fry the slices over medium heat for 3–4 minutes per side until golden and tender; drain on a rack. In the same pan fry 4 eggs, one at a time, for 3–4 minutes until the whites are completely set. For pregnant people, young children, older adults or immunocompromised people, also cook the yolks until firm.
Bandeja paisa: golden ripe plantain slices and fried eggs with set whites
Assemble the four platters
Put one quarter of the beans and rice, 1 arepa, 1 strip of pork crackling, 1 chorizo, one quarter of the beef and plantain, 1 egg and 50 g of avocado on each plate. Add the remaining hogao to taste and serve immediately.
Complete bandeja paisa with beans, rice, arepa, meats, plantain, egg, avocado and hogao