Got the munchies? Grabbing snacks in Loja, Ecuador

The City of Loja and most of the suburban neighborhoods will have a tienda or a ‘mom-and-pop’ corner store within easy walking distance of anywhere you are staying. Although there is a surprising variety of foods and household supplies packed into these small markets, one of their main raison d'etre is as a beer stop. Life in Loja’s team has reviewed mass produced Ecuadorian bottled beer available here for those of you who have yet to partake, however the next dilemma our brewski purchases present is what snacks do we get to go with?

We understand that munchie preferences with a cold one are highly subjective. In fact, if you are one of those beer and cookies people, we are not going to judge you! Live and let live, we say. Here is a non-comprehensive look at pre-fab packaged snacks you will very likely find in a local tienda. We will start off by reassuring you that potato chips, beloved the world over, will be available in corner stores in these parts. Unfortunately, pretzels: not so much. If you choose to get your beer at a national grocery chain or big box store, both of which Loja has, you may have more luck finding those.

Corn chips are also very popular in Ecuador. Nacho cheese flavors are abundant. You may even find Frito-Lay brand nacho chips made in South America right next to Lay’s potato chips or some facsimile thereof. You’ll have lots of fun tasting your way through the unfamiliar brands until you find the one you like. We understand from our sources that spicy nacho chips are a big seller, along with pizza-flavor. In fact, pizza-flavored anything does very well. For many Lojanos, a quick six-pack pickup needs nothing more than popcorn, which should be right there with the beer on the snack shelf.

Our team saved the best snack for last. That would be chifles. We think these little fried goodies made with green bananas or plantains in various states of ripeness are one of the best things, processed food/snack-wise, in Ecuador. There is some controversy about how the chips arrived in the country, either from Southeast Asia or via Havana, Cuba, but it seems they have been a national mainstay since the mid 20th Century. There are all sorts of permutations of chifles from the crunchier coin shaped cross cut variety to the paper thin shaved lengthwise style. We prefer the latter because they are as light as air and perfectly crisp-tender. The long thin chifles are often produced locally and it is good to have them very close to when they were prepared. They will be in an old school clear cellophane bag in an eye-level shelf display. We also like to dip these in salsa rosada, which is like shrimp cocktail sauce in North America. You can make this on the fly with takeout-sized envelopes of mayo, ketchup, and tabasco. Just rip open the chifles bag and squeeze these on top. Ready to enjoy instantly! Chifles produced by larger snack companies often have interesting flavors available that are worth trying.

Long-cut chifles

Life in Loja is giving a shout-out to another category of banana and plantain-based chips. ‘Chifleton' brand tostones are excellent twice-fried green plantain snack chips. These salty/spicy delights were road-tested and introduced to us by digital nomad friends from Colombia who were here before taking up residence in Peru. Chifletons might not be in all the corner stores, but they are worth picking up wherever you find them in Loja. 

For more information about what to eat in Loja, and where to eat, or if you would like to know more about our cultural tours including local food and drink, contact Life in Loja by email, or phone/WhatsApp at 593-098-674-5994.

Images: ASOMIF, Chifleton on Instagram, Frito-Lay

Life In Loja is registered under Ecuador’s department of intellectual rights as of 2022.