El Pollo Inka’s most popular entree, Lomo Saltado, is a Peruvian dish with sliced steak, onions, tomatoes, fries and cilantro topped with spicy green aji sauce and brown rice.
Lomo Saltado is the most popular dish at a small restaurant chain in our old neighborhood in Los Angeles called El Pollo Inka. They’ve attained a sort of cult following for their amazing food, most notably the amazing Lomo Saltado with Aji Sauce. The beef is tender, the veggies are still crisp and very flavorful, the fries are delicious and that sauce… is just amazing.
Lomo signifies it is steak, but there are also chicken and seafood variations of the dish. Any opportunities we get to go back to LA, we make sure to stop and get a few orders and a large extra side of their delicious, spicy, green aji sauce. Since those trips are few and far in between I have been experimenting with making this delicious dish at home. After four tries…. success!
To make french fries, peel and cut russet potatoes.
Soak them in water for as long as you can. I soaked mine for a couple of hours.
This takes the starch out and allows them to be crispier. Drain, dry and fry.
Season the beef with salt and pepper.
Add soy sauce, vinegar, beef stock and cumin in a bowl together.
Put a pan over very high heat.
Add oil and on very high heat cook half the meat, brown on one side, flip over and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Remove meat and repeat with second half.
Stir in the onion and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and cook for just a minute. The tomatoes should hold their shape.
Stir in soy sauce mixture.
Add salt and pepper to taste
Turn off the heat, toss with french fries
Add chopped cilantro, green onion and serve with some Perfect Brown Rice and aji sauce.
To make aji sauce, add all ingredients to the food processor and combine until completely smooth. Let sit for a few hours in the fridge if you can. The sauce will begin to separate after a few days, so don’t make too much at once.
El Pollo Inka's Peruvian Lomo Saltado (Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 lb sirloin steak , cut in thin slices
- salt and pepper for the meat
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 small red onion , cut in thick slices
- 3 plum tomatoes , cut in thick slices
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup beef stock
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- salt and pepper for the cooked meal , before cilantro and fries
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro , coarsely chopped
- 2 green onions , sliced tip to tail [minus the root]
- 2 cups french fries , freshly fried
Aji Sauce
- 1/2 head Iceberg Lettuce , washed, torn and dried
- 1 jalapeno , stem cut off [for less spice, de-seed and de-vein]
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 lemon , juiced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- To make french fries, peel and cut russet potatoes.
Soak them in water for as long as you can. I soaked mine for a couple of hours.
- This takes the starch out and allows them to be crispier. Drain, dry and fry.
- Season the beef with salt and pepper.
- Add soy sauce, vinegar, beef stock and cumin in a bowl together.
- Put a pan over very high heat.
Add oil and on very high heat cook half the meat, brown on one side, flip over and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Remove meat and repeat with second half.
Stir in the onion and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and cook for just a minute. The tomatoes should hold their shape.
- Stir in soy sauce mixture.
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Turn off the heat, toss with french fries
- Add chopped cilantro, green onion and serve with brown rice and aji sauce
- To make aji sauce, add the iceberg lettuce, jalapeno, mayonnaise, lemon juice, 1/2 head of cilantro and 1/4 teaspoon salt to the food processor and combine until completely smooth. Let sit for a few hours in the fridge if you can. The sauce will begin to separate after a few days, so don't make too much at once.
I just made it, it was delicious. We used the wok on the charcoal grill. No changes, but I prefer white rice instead of brown rice. I am keeping this recipe, the sauce was pretty good.
Thanks for the 5 stars, Yoli.
I’m sure this is probably obvious to the more experienced cook/chef, but I’m a novice and I’m not clear on the instructions for step #5 as it seems to relate also to step #11 … in step #5, do you “add” the soy sauce, white vinegar, beef stock and cumin in a bowl WITH the meat, OR keep it separate and only add to the meat as it indicates in step #11 after the tomatoes?
You just want to put those ingredients into a bowl to have ready for when you need the soy sauce mixture. The meat is browned on it’s own (no sauce). Hope this clears things up. Enjoy!
Keeper dinner, fast easy. Frozen french fries in air fryer, back off on salt. Skip the rice side go for a salad with the Aji sauce as dressing
Im peruvian, and lived many years in LA. many times an “El Pollo Inca”, almost weekly, first of all because I´m friend of the family owners, but also to dance “Marinera” McDonald’s Big Mac Sauce national dance of Perú. I´m a cheff, so I have certain changes in the recepy.
The cut of the onion is very especial; only the tree outer layers of the onion, in triangles; the tomatoes are peeled first, and added last; the vinegar used is some dark, and some ligh vinegars; the soy sauce in low sodium; the amount of cuming is Wright; besides, some tomato paste is added and cornstach to make the sauce thick. The fries are no mixed with the saltado, instead are added on the side, so they are not soaked. Finally, I do not use sirloin (which is customary), instead, I use clean Chuck steaks which is flatened with a pond, and then cut in stripes, This provides a lot more flavor; and then, the Green sauce in not make with lettuce; instead use cilantro and “wacatay” (black basil), ají amarillo, and some ricota cheese. Beside theese, the recepy is great.
Do you mind making a guide would definitely like to compare. I am learning.
Hola, amigo mío. Siento haberte molestado, pero he estado intentando encontrar la receta tanto para el pollo a la brasca como para el aji verde durante años. Ya no vivo en California y El Pollo Inka era donde mi padre y yo iremos juntos y es muy especial para mí. Me doy cuenta de que es mucho pedir, pero ¿está dispuesto a decirme las recetas exactas? Significaría mucho para mí y traer muchos recuerdos buenos.
También estoy usando Google para traducir, así que me disculpo por cualquier desafío del idioma. ¡ gracias por tu tiempo!
Gracias por comunicarse conmigo, pero no tengo recetas para ninguno de esos en mi sitio. Permítanme agregarlos a mi lista de investigación y ver qué puedo encontrar.
También estoy usando el traductor de Google, así que espero que esto tenga sentido.
Great Recipe. It was so easy to follow and so precise. I’m not even an experience cook and I made this for a family gathering and everyone loved it ! Thank you !!
I’m glad you decided to give it a try and loved it!
Great recipe! I loved it. Note that you need to reduce the sauce for a minute or two once you add it to the pan – if your wok is hot, this should be no problem.
Lomo Saltado/Pollo Saltado, are definitely on my favorite dish”es” list.
I have not made this dish yet, (Since i wasn’t even looking for it, but it found me!!!) But I know its going to be all that I have dreamed of!!! Making my own Saltado!!! Finally!!!
I am an Iron chef (In my “own” mind) and its guidance like this, that will help me Beat Bobby Flay one day!!! 🙂
Who said just browsing the internet is not healthy!
Thank you Sabrina!!! I have a feeling I will be spending more time in the kitchen.
Love it!!
How many potatoes should we use (or how many did you use) for this dish’s french fries?
Fantastic recipe. This was better than the lomo saltado I ate in Peru. Gracias!
Do you have any other recipes from El Pollo Inka? They made a spicy creamy seafood dish with white rice that is AMAZING ! and also the Papa a la Huancaina! Thank you! This one was very good. I don’t live close to Pollo Inka anymore, but still crave these dishes.
This is the only one I have on the site so far. I will definitely have to work on some more! So glad there’s a fellow fan of it out there!
Another “knock it out of the park” recipe! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
SO so so so so delicious!!! We loved this! Our first time making Lomo Saltado and it was a success! We will make it AGAIN! The reason I picked this recipe over others was because it had ingredients we knew we could find at our grocery store! Thanks so much!
Aw, thanks for coming back to let me know! I’m so happy you liked it!
I really love this recipe. I bravely doubled the recipe and made it for the first time for a dinner party, and it was a big hit. One question though: my version turned out a bit “soupy” and therefore, the fries got soggy. Should I not have doubled the amount of broth/soy/vinegar mix when I doubled the meat?
It sounds like there was a bit too much liquid. You don’t necessarily need to double the sauce ingredients next time, but also if you have it soupy in the future you can always add a small cornstarch slurry to it to thicken up before adding the fries. 🙂 Hope this helps and thanks for the feedback!
Hi Sabrina-
Have you tried this recipe with chicken or seafood? What would substitute the beef stock in that case?
I haven’t tried with chicken or seafood. If you went chicken, I’d sub chicken broth. Let me know if you switch up the proteins and how it turns out.
How long do you cook the meat for?
You want to brown the meat on both sides, typically 2-3 minutes per side on high heat. Make sure to cook in 2 batches, crowding the pan will extend cooking times and make the meat cook unevenly.
So delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome Reese.
Amazing!!! This was phenomenal and greatly reminded me of our dinners at Pollo Inka years ago! Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Divina. Thanks for the 5 stars.
Hi, just wanted to make sure…am I supposed to marinate meat in the soy sauce mixture or does that simply go in at the point mentioned in recipe? Thank you. Can’t wait to give it a whirl.
No need to marinate the meat. You’ll just want to add the soy sauce mixture once it’s all cooked (step 11). Hope this clears it up for you. Enjoy!
Ok, we have been known to drive out of our comfort zone in search of yummy Lomo Saltado. I’m happy to know I no longer have to. This is it right here. If you’re in search of an authentic recipe with tons of flavor, then you’ve come to the right place. Thanks a bunch for sharing! I had attempted to make it once thinking, “how hard can this be” but came short on the sauce and didn’t remove starch from potatoes. Appreciate this detailed version of yours. Thank you again!
Thank you so much!
This was amazing!!! I can’t wait to make it again tonight.
Thanks for coming back to let me know. So glad you enjoyed it!