Main dishes
Colombian Lechona at Home: Pork, Rice and Peas
Colombian lechona for a home oven: juicy pork, yellow split peas, fragrant rice and crackling skin. With timings and safe temperatures.
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Colombian Christmas recipes
In Colombia, December is cooked as a family. Between the nine-night novena and Christmas Eve dinner, the table fills with natilla, buñuelos and hojuelas, and in many homes lechona is the dish that brings everyone together.
These are the recipes we make for those days, adapted to a home kitchen: easy-to-find ingredients, clear timings and every step explained.
Selected by chef Néstor Bastidas
Colombian tradition
The dishes no Colombian December is complete without: for the novena, Christmas Eve and the day-after leftovers.
Main dishes
Colombian Tamales from Tolima
These generous tamales from Tolima combine corn dough, rice and peas with pork, chicken, egg, potato and carrot. Banana leaves form round parcels that cook gently in steam.
Main dishes
Colombian Roast Pork Leg (Pernil)
A Colombian December centerpiece: pork leg marinated overnight with citrus, garlic, onion and cumin. Covered roasting keeps the meat juicy before a final blast of heat browns the outside.
Desserts
Colombian natilla: creamy panela and cinnamon dessert
Creamy Colombian natilla made with panela, cinnamon and cloves. Learn the exact cooking point and serve it chilled with buñuelos.
Breads & doughs
Colombian buñuelos: cheese and cornstarch fritters
Golden, round, airy Colombian buñuelos made with queso costeño and cornstarch. Learn the exact oil temperature so they do not burst.
Desserts
Colombian Manjar Blanco
Manjar blanco from Colombia’s Valle del Cauca is milk, sugar and rice slowly reduced to a thick beige sweet. It joins buñuelos and natilla on December tables; rice sets it apart from dulce de leche.
Desserts
Colombian Candied Figs
Dulce de breva keeps the figs whole, tender and glossy in a syrup flavored with panela, cinnamon and cloves. Serve with arequipe, the Colombian dulce de leche, and fresh cheese; the fruit is never mashed into jam.
Drinks
Colombian Sabajón Eggnog
Sabajón is a creamy Colombian Christmas drink made with milk, gently cooked egg yolks and cinnamon. Serve it cold in small glasses. The version containing brandy or aguardiente is for adults only.
Desserts
Colombian Black Cake
This Colombian Christmas fruitcake combines wine-soaked raisins, prunes and candied orange peel. Deeply caramelized panela gives it a dark color and rich flavor without chocolate; the crumb is dense and moist.
Desserts
Colombian Green Papaya Dessert
Firm green papaya becomes tender, translucent strips as it gently cooks in panela syrup with cinnamon and cloves. This Colombian December sweet keeps the fruit in distinct pieces rather than turning it into jam.
Breads & doughs
Colombian hojuelas: crisp cinnamon-sugar pastries
Thin Colombian dough sheets fried until crisp and finished with cinnamon sugar. Makes 20 pieces.
Breads & doughs
Colombian hojaldras: thin fried dough rounds, crisp and golden
Colombian hojaldras with just flour, egg, butter, salt and water: thin rounds of dough fried until golden and blistered.
Soups & creams
Colombian Ajiaco
Colombian chicken soup with corn, guascas herb and three kinds of potato.
To round out the table
A main course, a salad and sweets to share with family and guests.
Main dishes
Spinach and walnut stuffed pork loin
Butterflied pork loin rolled with spinach, Parmesan and walnuts, tied and roasted. Rest before slicing for tidy spirals.
Salads
Homemade Russian potato salad with hard-boiled egg
Potato, carrot, peas and egg with measured mayonnaise: six servings, cooked weights and cooling included.
Starters & appetizers
Pesto and cheese puff pastry Christmas tree
Two sheets of puff pastry enclose basil pesto, mozzarella and Parmesan. Twist the side strips into branches for a warm Christmas centrepiece to share.
Desserts
Round ginger and molasses cookies
Plain ginger and molasses cookies with weighed ingredients, chilled dough and two oven batches for 24 cookies.
Desserts
Baked green anise biscuit rings with orange
Small anise biscuit rings with orange and olive oil: grouped quantities, resting, two oven batches and full cooling, with estimated USDA nutrition and missing data stated.
Desserts
Almond turrón tiramisu cups without raw egg
This Christmas variation layers coffee-dipped ladyfingers with mascarpone, whipped cream and soft Spanish almond turrón. Serve in glasses after at least four hours in the fridge.
Desserts
Rice Pudding
Creamy Spanish-style rice pudding with a cinnamon stick, lemon peel and sugar, cooked slowly over low heat. Serves 6, ready in 80 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What do Colombians eat at Christmas?
It depends on the region, but almost everywhere you will find natilla and buñuelos, shared during the novena. Christmas Eve dinner often includes lechona, tamales or roast pork leg (pernil), with manjar blanco, candied figs and hojuelas for dessert.
What is the novena de aguinaldos?
It is a Colombian tradition: for the nine days before Christmas, from December 16 to 24, families and neighbours gather to pray, sing carols and share natilla, buñuelos and something to drink.
What is natilla served with?
The classic pairing is freshly fried buñuelos. In the Valle del Cauca region it also comes with manjar blanco and candied figs, and many families serve it alongside hojuelas.
What can I make ahead?
Natilla and manjar blanco keep for several days in the fridge, and candied figs even longer if they stay covered in their syrup. Tamales can be cooked a day ahead and reheated by steaming. Buñuelos and hojuelas are best freshly made.