Costa Rican Chayote Hash

Picadillo de chayote is a dish that never fails in any Costa Rican home, found in every soda and every story of Tico cooking.

It’s made with chayote squash, boiled and diced into small cubes, sautéed with vegetables, and usually finished with a generous splash of Salsa Lizano to enhance its mild flavor.

Costa Rican Chayote Hash

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• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Side dish
• Cuisine: Costa Rican

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

• 2 of large chayotes
• 1 of onion, chopped
• 1 of sweet bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of achiote (annatto)
• 1/2 cup of ground beef (optional) (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of Salsa Lizano
• to taste of salt
• to taste of oil

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Instructions

1. Cook the chayote, boil the whole chayotes until soft.
2. Peel and chop, peel them, remove the seed if large, and chop into small cubes.
3. Brown the meat (optional), in a skillet with oil, brown the ground beef if using.
4. Sauté the vegetables, add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and achiote, sautéing until fragrant.
5. Add the chayote, stir in the diced chayote and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, mixing well.
6. Season, add the Salsa Lizano and salt to taste.
7. Finish, finish with the chopped fresh cilantro.
8. Serve, serve with white rice, hard-boiled egg, or tortillas palmeadas.

Tips for getting it right

• Cooking the chayote whole, unpeeled, helps it keep its texture better before dicing.
• Achiote gives picadillo de chayote its characteristic color.
• Salsa Lizano is key to enhancing chayote’s mild, neutral flavor.
• If made only with vegetables, without meat, the result is just as flavorful.

Traditional variations

• There are versions with a cream-based sauce (vegetarian), a broth-based sauce (vegan), or with ground beef.
• Some families add corn kernels to the preparation.

How to serve

Picadillo de chayote is served as part of the traditional casado, alongside white rice, black beans, fried plantain, and salad.

It’s a dish found in every home and every soda in Costa Rica, with its own variations in each family.

Recommended sides

• White rice
• Hard-boiled egg
• Tortillas palmeadas

Did you know?

Picadillo de chayote is such a popular dish in Costa Rica that every family has its own version, though all share the same care in its preparation.

Salsa Lizano, a local relative of Worcestershire sauce, is essential to season chayote’s neutral flavor.