- Country of origin
- 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
- Category
- Soup
- Difficulty
- ●●○ Medium
- Preparation
- 30 min
- Cooking
- 1h30
- Servings
- 6 servings
Economic context
At $5.40 a day, the Dominican Republic sits at the higher end of the cost range in this atlas, and sancocho itself amplifies that gap on special occasions: the seven-meat version calls for three or four separate proteins simmered together, well beyond the single-protein cooking that fills most ordinary days. That’s exactly why it’s reserved for birthdays, reunions and rainy Sundays rather than routine dinners.
Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in the Dominican Republic generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.
History
Sancocho is a hearty stew of meats and root vegetables simmered together, prepared in varied forms across much of Latin America and the Hispanic Caribbean — but the Dominican Republic has made it a national symbol, especially in its most generous version, “sancocho de siete carnes” (seven meats).
Reserved for big occasions (birthdays, family reunions, rainy days with friends), this version combines pork, beef, chicken, and assorted cured meats with yams, cassava, and plantains, in a thick, fragrant broth that embodies, more than just a dish, a true ritual of togetherness and shared abundance.
Ingredients — serves 6
- 300 g (10.5 oz) beef, in chunks
- 300 g (10.5 oz) pork, in chunks
- 300 g (10.5 oz) chicken pieces
- 2 yams and 1 cassava root, cut into chunks
- 2 green plantains
- 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves
- Fresh cilantro, bouillon cube, lime
Dominican sancocho, step by step
- Brown the meats separately in a large pot, then set aside.
- Sauté the onion and garlic in the same pot.
- Cover generously with water and simmer over low heat until the meats begin to soften.
- Add the cut yams, cassava, and plantains, then continue cooking.
- Simmer until the vegetables are tender and the broth has thickened nicely.
- Serve piping hot, sprinkled with fresh cilantro, with a lime wedge and white rice.
Cooking method
Technique: long, successive cooking of the meats then the root vegetables, for a broth naturally thickened by their starch.
Traditional equipment: large family pot, often prepared in very large quantities for sharing.
Signs of doneness: the broth should coat the back of a spoon, a sign that the starch from the roots has sufficiently thickened the preparation.
Nutrition, per serving
Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided by six servings.
Three meats and three starchy roots together make sancocho one of the more substantial dishes in this atlas: 72 g of carbohydrate per serving, almost entirely from the yam, cassava and plantain, alongside 31 g of protein spread across the mixed meats.
Who this dish suits
Fits well with
- Substantial, energy-dense meals for active days or shared occasions
- Balanced combinations of animal protein and starchy root vegetables
Worth knowing
- 630 kcal per serving before the white rice traditionally served alongside
- Mixed-meat dishes carry variable fat content depending on which cuts and cured meats are used
- A large-batch, occasion dish by tradition rather than a quick weekday stew
What about you?
In your opinion, where’s the best place or restaurant to enjoy great Dominican sancocho?