Cuy (guinea pig) is Nariño’s standout dish. This small rodent is a symbol of health, fertility and abundance. Known for its high protein content and unique flavor, cuy is typically prepared fried, stewed, or roasted on a spit. It is served with pop corn, boiled potatoes, and a local peanut sauce. You can try it at numerous restaurants in the area, including Cuyes de la 40 in San Juan de Pasto, Cuyquer, Asadero Cuyes Pinzón, Casa de los Cristales in Ipiales, and Rico Cuy in Sandoná. For an authentic experience, local artisans like Claudia Marleny Ramírez in Córdoba and Blanca Tarapués in Cumbal also offer traditional cuy dishes.

If you’re traveling from Pasto to Sandoná, be sure to try the choriza sandoneña—a smoked pork sausage seasoned with roasted peppers and spices. You can sample it at Restaurante Flor de Campo in Sandoná. Also, don’t miss pasteles de yuca—crispy fritters made with yuca dough, stuffed with cheese and dusted with sugar, available at Cafetería Doña Lolita.

Locro pastuso: This hearty soup, a fusion of indigenous and Spanish influences, is traditionally eaten on Sundays. Made with guata potatoes, chauchas (green beans), and yellow potatoes, it is similar to ajiaco from the Cundiboyacense region, but served with crumbled cheese. You can enjoy it at Restaurante Casa Nariño along with other local treats.

Hornado: This dish is a legacy of Spanish cuisine, imitating the famous Segovian roast pig. The entire pig is marinated with achiote and onions, then slow-cooked in a wood oven for 24 hours. It is typically served with mote corn, arepas, and avocado. Try it at Restaurante La Merced or Plaza Bomboná in Pasto.

Frito: A traditional fried pork meat and ribs dish served with unpeeled pastusa potatoes boiled in water with milk, onions and garlic , roasted corn, fried plantain, and a homemade spicy sauce made with red chilis, chives and salt. You can try this at La Vereda Cocina de Origen in Pasto, where they serve it with bondiola, crispy potatoes, sweet corn, spicy sauce and pickled salad. As a dessert, they also offer Callanas arepas with goat ricotta cheese and pumpkin jam—a true treat!

In Nariño and the surrounding regions, one traditional dish is masa de añejo—a fermented corn dough that’s been left to ferment for eight days. Once sifted and ground, it is cooked in a copper pot or clay bowl and is the base for many dishes such as empanadas, tamales, envueltos, champús (a corn-based drink), and the famous carantanta—the crispy crust that forms on top of the cooking pot.

You can try the best empanadas de masa añeja filled with meat or cuy, at Restaurante Guadalquivir in Pasto, where they are served with the traditional peanut sauce at any time.

Milk almonds: A delicate milk-based candy shaped like almonds and dusted with cinnamon. You can find it in Dulces San Juan in Pasto.

Quimbolitos: Steamed corn cakes made with corn flour, eggs, cheese, butter, sugar, and raisins, wrapped in achira leaves. You can enjoy this esponjosa delicacy at Café Las Tablas and Taller de Amasijos in Pasto.

Helado de Paila: This product has been handcrafted for decades. Ice cream made with fruit juices and milk, traditionally prepared in a copper pan, sppining it over ice (mixed with sea salt), which many years ago was brought from the Cumbal nevado. The best places to try this artisanal treat are Heladería Santiago, La Morenita, Helados de paila Artesanales, and La Ñapanguita in Pasto, and Heladería 20 de Julio in Ipiales. Try the popular blackberry and vanilla falvors!

Peanut Melcochas: These are panela honey candies, stretched by hand until they turn white and, shaped into long strips, they are often mixed with peanuts. Traditional treat from the sugar-producing region of Sandoná, you’ll find several stands selling this sweet, along with a frothy, honey-flavored drink called Ponche de Leche, in Sandoná’s main park. 

Sweets made from chilacuán or papayuela, pumpkin, pineapple, guava, and cider (yota squash): These are all typical sweets from Nariño. The fruits are cooked with sugar and spices like cinnamon and cloves. They are very pleasant to taste and are often served with fresh cheese. You can enjoy them with artisan Blanca Alicia Tarapués in Cumbal or at the El Potrerillo Market in Pasto.

Champús with masa de añejo: A refreshing traditional drink made from blended fermented corn dough and sweetened with panela. Cooked with dices of pineapple or lulo and tender mote corn kernels. You’ll find other traditional drinks such as vinete, mistelas and sabajón. 

Chupones de Juanito: Crushed ice topped with syrups and lemon juice, a popular treat found at Juanito’s stand in Plaza de Bolívar, Pasto.

Black Coffee: Nariño coffee, recognized for its Denomination of Origin, is smooth and flavorful, thanks to the region’s volcanic, mountainous soil where. It is typically served black, without milk. Visit Caffeto, El Café de la Catedral, or Obraje Café Especial, winner of an award to the best cup of coffee in 2021, in Pasto for a great cup of Nariño coffee paired with baked goods such as alfajores or cornbread.

Sancocho pastuso: A regional variation of the popular Colombian stew, made with ollocos (long pink, lilac or pale yellow Andean tubers, also known as hibias) and tender fava beans, which thicken the soup.

Juanesca: A traditional Easter soup made with squash, potatoes, ollocos, beans, corn, peas, and peanuts, served with dried fish previously salted, battered with flour and egg, and fried, and garnished with a boiled egg. In Pasto, you can find this dish at Restaurante La Merced, Casa Nariño, and La Vereda.

Poliada: There are two versions of this dish known for its exquisite taste. It can be made with choclo or sarazo corn. The corn is ground and sieved, the cooked in a beef broth with slices of pastusa potatoes which add starch to the soup as it cooks and thickens. The first variation is served with fried chorizo and the later with tender corn kernels and fresh crumbled cheese. You can taste it at Casa Nariño in Pasto.

Añejo tamales: Specially made for Christmass, they can now be found roudn the year. These are made with the traditional masa de maíz añejo and filled with a savory mix of pork, chicken, beef, carrots, potatoes, a queartes of a boiled egg and chickpeas, all spread with peanut sauce. They are wrapped in sachapanga or anturio leaves and steamed for 30 minutes. Enjoy them at Restaurante Guadalquivir in Pasto.