If you have never tried Peruvian Lomo Saltado, you are in for a treat. This is the best comfort food you can have. You can choose to make the dish spicy by adding aji amarillo (yellow chili paste) or serve it with spicy salsa verde (green salsa) on the side. I’ll walk you through a lot of variations below on how to make this quick, amazing meal at home. I also wanted to share that this was my favorite meal to have when I was pregnant with my now 6 year old son. It’s true, I couldn’t get enough of this dish.If there was a Peruvian restaurant in Doral, I knew about it. They would see me walk in and would say: Lomito para el bebe? meaning the beef stir fry for the baby:)).
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What is Lomo Saltado?
Lomo Saltado translated from Spanish to English means Jumping Tenderloin. This is a traditional Peruvian dish that has slowly made its place in almost all cities with a large Hispanic population like Miami. I have my list of favorite restaurants in Miami that serve lomo saltado:).
Lomo saltado is a stir fry type of beef dish made with this strips of tenderloin. Beef is marinated in vinegar, spices, soy sauce and stir fried with tomatoes, onions, french fries and aji amarillo. Dish is served with a side of rice.
Peru is a culinary wonder in my opinion. Their gastronomy is influenced from the ancient Incas, European cuisine from the Colonial times and Chinese immigration. This cuisine diversity has fueled the creativity and produced amazing dishes such as lomo saltado, arroz chaufa, ceviches, pollo a la brasa, aji de gallina and so much more.
Peruvian Lomo Saltado Recipe
If you have tried Lomo Saltado in a restaurant before, you might think there is no way I can cook this myself at home. Let me tell you something! This is a very easy dish to cook at home as long as you have all the ingredients. I’ll walk you through the recipe below and give you some tips.
- Note 1: Select the right cut of Meat. Pick a thinly sliced tenderloin then you can just cut it in strips yourself. Or you can ask at the meat department of your grocery store if they can do it for you.
- Note 2: French Fries – don’t stress over them. You can do the frying yourself, bake frozen fries in the oven or use an air-fryer. Choose whichever method makes it easier on you.
- Note 3: If you like spicy food, double up on aji amarillo. However, if you have kids or family members who can’t eat spicy then skip the aji amarillo on the stir fry. But you can still make aji verde or Peruvian green salsa (Recipe coming next week) and put that on the side. Then pour as needed on your own plate:)).
- Note 4: The most typical way to do the stir fry is to stir fry the beef, add tomatoes, onions etc towards the end and then add the fries to coat in the sauce. However, it takes few tries to take timing right. When I first started cooking this dish, I would stir fry the beef then add the aji amarillo, soy sauce and beef broth. Then in another skillet, stir fry for a minute or two the tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Then add everything from this skillet to the first one. It helps get them cooking right doing it separately. Practice makes perfect, with time you’ll become a pro and cook them together.
Here’s the aji amarillo I use (first one from the choices below). You can find it in most Latin sections in American grocery stores. You can also use dried aji amarillo powder or chopped aji amarillos.
Peruvian Lomo Saltado
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs beef tenderloin, thin sliced
- 1 big red onion
- 2 tomatoes I used medium sized tomatoes on the vine
- 2 garlic cloves
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp aji amarillo
- 0.5 tsp paprika
- 3 tbsps red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsps soy sauce
- 0.5 cup beef broth
- 1 lb french fries you can bake frozen french fries, air fry them and cook them from scratch. It's up to you:)
- 5 tbsps olive oil I personally prefer olive oil but you can use oil of choice.
- 0.5 tsp salt Please be careful with salt since beef broth usually has some and soy sauce too.
- 1 bunch cilantro
Instructions
- Place meat cut in strips in a bowl. Add salt, paprika, black pepper and minced garlic. Let the flavors meld.
- Chop onion, tomatoes and cilantro.
- Heat oil in a skillet. Add beef and stir fry until browned on both sides. Timing depends a little bit on size of skillet and how thin the strips of beef tenderloin are. So please make sure meat is well cooked. If you are cooking in big batches, then cook about 1.5 lbs at a time and put aside. It took me about 8 minutes to cook well on both sides.
- Add onions, tomatoes and cilantro. Leave a little bit of cilantro on the side for decorating at the end. Cook together for about 2-3 minutes. Stir well. If you are experienced in the kitchen, try flipping the food in the skillet instead of stirring with a spoon. It keeps the shapes a little more intact and the dish looks more appetizing.
- Add red wine vinegar, soy sauce, aji amarillo and mix well until the dish is caramelized.
- Add beef broth. If you like more sauce increase the quantity of beef broth. For me just half a cup is enough.
- Serve over french fries with a side of rice. Decorate with the remaining cilantro.
- If you are serving right away, you can also choose to add the crispy french fries to the skillet the last 20-30 seconds and then serve that way next to rice. With this method you have to serve fast so fries don't get soggy. You just want them to get coated in the sauce a little bit.
Notes
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
If you would like to cook this dish and save the recipe for later, please pin below image to Pinterest. Thank you:)
Other Latin American Inspired Recipes:
For more Latin American inspired recipes please see below links:
Ela
I’m always looking for a good lomo recipe and yours is the best so far. Very authentic of course 😊. I now use this recipe every time I make it.
Vicki S
Delicious and FUN recipe! I made the Salsa Verde with the Huacatay sauce as well- over the top delicious! Both recipes have gone into my permanent recipe file. Thank you!
Sonila
Thank you so much Vicki:). I really appreciate you letting me know! Those two are part of our dinner rotations too:).
Silvia Martinez
El lomo saltado es definitivamente un platillo favorito de esta casa, es muy similar a la carne de deshebrada que hacemos en México. Para chuparse los dedos.
Angelo Taveras
Gracias por esta receta. Me encanta el lomo saltado y me gusta con un poco de picor. Es una delicia!
Sonila
Gracias Angelo:)). Si a mi me gusta hecharle la salsa verde picante para darle un poquito de ‘spicy’ taste.
Yaimar Pérez
Esto se ve muy rico y además parece saludable. Gracias por compartir esta receta!
Sonila
Gracias Yaimar:). Si siempre trato de hacer mis platos un poco mas saludables.
Zol
Peruvian Food is just delicious. This recipe looks easy and yummy
Sonila
Thank you so much Zol:)
Andrea Minski
La comida peruana es una de mis favoritas. Pero hasta ahora nunca la he hecho en casa, hoy gracias a ti podré intentarlo
Sonila
Es una de mis favoritas tambien:). Siempre pense que era dificil pero cuando empeze a cocinar platos peruanos me di cuando que no es dificil. Si tienes alguna pregunta, avisame.
Enriqueta E Lemoine
Que comes que adivinas? I was dreaming of a good lomo saltando and found yours! So good that I already saved it in my Hispanic Heritage board on Pinterest! Thank you so for the recipe! Love it!
Sonila
Aww thank you so much Enriqueta:). Lomo Saltado has been for years one of my favorite meals so I’m glad I gave it a try to cook it myself and play with the ingredients until I got it right.