The traditional food of Peru centers on iconic dishes like ceviche, lomo saltado, aji de gallina, anticuchos, and causa — a cuisine that fuses indigenous Andean, Spanish, African, Chinese, and Japanese traditions across the country's coast, mountains, and Amazon. Peruvian cooking is now celebrated as one of the world's great culinary traditions, and Lima has been named a leading global food destination thanks to a larder that includes more than 3,000 native potato varieties and ingredients cultivated for thousands of years.
The National Dishes Every Visitor Tries First
If Peru has a single signature plate, it is ceviche: fresh raw fish "cooked" in lime juice with sliced red onion, fiery aji peppers, and cilantro, traditionally served alongside sweet potato and toasted cancha corn. The acidic, bright flavour is so central to national identity that Peru celebrates a Day of Ceviche (Dia del Ceviche) every June 28.
Equally beloved is lomo saltado, a stir-fry of beef strips, tomatoes, and onions tossed in a wok with soy sauce and piled over both rice and french fries. It is the most famous dish of chifa cuisine, the Chinese-Peruvian cooking style born from 19th-century immigration. Rounding out the trio is aji de gallina, shredded chicken simmered in a creamy sauce of aji amarillo pepper, walnuts, and bread, served over rice with olives and a slice of boiled egg.
Street Food and Andean Favourites
Peruvian street eating is a culture of its own, best experienced in the evening when smoky grills appear across Lima. The star is the anticucho, skewers of marinated beef heart grilled over charcoal, a pre-Columbian tradition that treats offal as a delicacy rather than scraps. Vendors known as anticucheras set up portable braziers that perfume entire blocks with aji panca and cumin.
- Papa a la Huancaina: sliced boiled potatoes blanketed in a creamy, mildly spicy aji amarillo and cheese sauce, garnished with olives and egg.
- Causa: a chilled, layered terrine of mashed yellow potato seasoned with lime and aji amarillo, packed with tuna, chicken, or avocado.
- Empanadas: baked pastries stuffed with seasoned beef, chicken, or cheese, found at bakeries and stalls nationwide.
- Cuy: roasted guinea pig, an Andean delicacy eaten for over 5,000 years and served whole at festivals in the highlands.
Soups, Stews, and Regional Comfort Food
Peru's dramatic geography produces distinct regional cooking, and nowhere is this clearer than in its hearty stews. From the southern city of Arequipa comes chupe de camarones, a rich river-shrimp chowder thickened with potatoes, corn, eggs, milk, and cheese. The northern coast offers seco de cordero, lamb slow-braised in a vivid cilantro and chicha sauce, served with beans and rice.
These dishes lean heavily on Peru's astonishing tubers and grains. The country grows more native potato varieties than any nation on Earth, in colours from purple to yellow to nearly black, and the potato itself was first domesticated in the Andes roughly 8,000 years ago. Native grains like quinoa and kiwicha, staples of the Inca, still anchor everyday meals across the highlands.
Desserts, Sweets, and Drinks
Peruvian sweets blend native ingredients with Spanish colonial techniques. Suspiro a la Limena — the "sigh of a Lima woman" — layers a thick dulce de leche base under a cloud of port-wine meringue. Picarones, ring-shaped doughnuts made from squash and sweet potato and drizzled with chancaca syrup, have pre-Columbian roots and remain a favourite street dessert, while alfajores sandwich dulce de leche between crumbly shortbread cookies.
To drink, the national cocktail is the pisco sour, made with pisco grape brandy, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and a few drops of bitters. Non-alcoholic options include chicha morada, a refreshing purple-corn drink boiled with pineapple, cinnamon, and cloves, and the famously sweet golden soda Inca Kola, one of the few local brands in the world that outsells Coca-Cola in its home market.
Why Peruvian Cuisine Is So Diverse
The depth of Peru's food comes from geography and history. Three radically different environments — the Pacific coast, the high Andes, and the Amazon rainforest — supply seafood, tubers, grains, tropical fruits, and game. Layered on top are waves of migration: Spanish colonists, enslaved Africans, Chinese labourers, Italian settlers, and Japanese immigrants all left their mark, producing fusion styles like chifa (Chinese-Peruvian) and Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian). The result is a tradition of more than 500 recognised dishes. To learn more about the country behind the cuisine, see our peru country guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the national dish of Peru?
Ceviche is widely regarded as Peru's national dish — fresh raw fish marinated in lime juice with onion, chilli, and cilantro. It is honoured with its own national holiday, the Day of Ceviche, on June 28.
What is the most popular drink in Peru?
The pisco sour is the national cocktail, while Inca Kola is the most popular soft drink, famously outselling Coca-Cola within Peru. Chicha morada, made from purple corn, is the classic non-alcoholic accompaniment to meals.
Do Peruvians really eat guinea pig?
Yes. Guinea pig, known as cuy, has been eaten in the Andes for over 5,000 years and is considered a festive delicacy, typically roasted or fried and served whole.
What is chifa food?
Chifa is Peru's Chinese-Peruvian cuisine, born from 19th-century Chinese immigration. Its most famous dish is lomo saltado, a soy-seasoned beef stir-fry served over both rice and french fries.
