A popular street- and bar-food started in the 1950's, salchipapas (literally, "sausage fries") come in many forms. This recipe jazzes up the most basic form for added flavor.

salchipapas sausage melted cheese green onion on french fries

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What is Salchipapa?

A popular street- and bar-food started in the 1950's, salchipapas (literally, "sausage fries") comes in many forms. At its most basic, it consists of fries and heated sliced sausage, and that's it. Festivals are built around salchipapa, where cooks compete to win awards for the best salchipapa recipes.

From Peru, Columbia, and Ecuador in South America up into Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua in Central America, you find salchipapa in "sodas" (small neighborhood restaurants), bars, and served up by street vendors.

What type of sausage should you use?

Chorizo sausage in salchipapas is not the better-known Mexican-style that crumbles up when cooked. Instead, it's a style of sausage that is firm, much less greasy, and holds its shape when sliced. Criollo is popular in Costa Rica, and in the USA any type of firm sausage link can be used, like smoked, Polish, and the like. Even a firm Andouille sausage would be great, and I've even seen it made with regular old hot dogs, too.

What can you put on Salchipapa?

To jazz up the basic fries and sausage, yet still keep it simple, I browned my sausage with some red pepper flakes for a little heat. Then I used Cheez Whiz that I heated up in the microwave oven, and topped it with chopped green onion.

In Central and Latin America, the preferred dip for french fries is mayonnaise - not ketchup. Squeezing out ribbons of mayo on the top is an option, as is mustard.

Black or red beans and roasted corn (off the cob) are excellent additions, and Baja sauce is delicious too.

For more heat, chopped or sliced jalapeño are perfect.

With salchipapas, anything goes, so feel free to make it your own!

Breakfast, anyone?

Why not? Top this recipe for Salchipapa off with a fried or poached egg or two - nice!

More Latin American dishes to try

See more Mexican and Latin American →

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📖 Recipe

Salchipapas Suprema- Latin American Street Food

A popular street- and bar-food started in the 1950's, salchipapas come in many forms.

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5 from 1 vote

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Course: Lunch

Cuisine: Latin America

Prep Time: 8

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 18

Servings: servings

Calories: 1126kcal

Ingredients

1 pound frozen french fries
½ pound hard link sausage, such as hard chorizo or criollo Polish, Andouille and smoked sausage are options
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ to ⅔ cups cheddar cheese dip, such as Mission or Tostitos brand also Cheez Whiz
2 tablespoon thinly sliced green onions (scallions)

Instructions

Air-fry (or pan-fry in oil) the french fries according to package instructions.
While the fries are cooking, slice the sausage and toss it into a non-stick frying pan with the red pepper flakes. Toss occasionally, looking for the sausage to be heated through with a little bit of browning.
Heat the cheese dip until hot (but not overly hot) and set aside.
Arrange the fries on a plate or platter, mounding them a little bit. Top with the cheese dip, sausage and green onion. Serve with forks or simply as finger-food.
Enjoy!

Nutrition