Guinea Pig (Cuy) in Cusco: The Andean Dish Everyone Wants to Try

Cuy is an Andean rodent, the same animal known elsewhere as the guinea pig. In Cusco it has been raised at home for centuries and is eaten on special occasions. The most typical way to have it is cuy al horno, roasted whole and stuffed with herbs; it’s also served chactado, meaning fried and flattened. The best-known place to try it near the city is Tipón, in the South Valley. You eat it with your hands, it’s usually shared, and it’s best to order it well cooked at a busy place.

For many travelers, trying cuy is the most talked-about food experience of the trip. For people in Cusco it’s more of an everyday thing: the dish of festivals, family lunches and important guests. Here, from Cusco, I explain where it comes from, how it’s prepared, where to eat it without any hassle and what the official data says about its nutritional value.

Important: Cusco sits at about 3,399 m, and during the first few days many people have less of an appetite or a sensitive stomach. Roasted or fried cuy is a heavy dish, with crispy skin and fat. Save it for when you’re acclimatized and start with soups and light dishes. More details in our guide to altitude sickness in Cusco.

What is cuy?

Cuy (Cavia porcellus), also called cobayo or curí in Spanish, is a rodent native to the Andean region of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, according to the FAO. In English it’s the guinea pig. In Europe or the United States it’s a pet; in the Andes it is, above all, an animal raised for food.

Peru is the country with the most guinea pigs and where the most are eaten. According to data from the 2024 National Agricultural Survey (ENA) published by the official newspaper El Peruano on National Cuy Day 2026, the country has about 24 million cuyes and more than 833,000 producers, and it produces around 22,000 tons of meat a year. Cuy farming is found in 20 departments, and Cusco is among those where it’s most widespread, along with Cajamarca, Áncash, Apurímac and Junín, among others. Half of all producers live between 2,500 and 3,500 m above sea level.

Besides the cuy raised in country homes, there are now improved breeds. The National Small Animals Program of INIA, Peru’s state agricultural research institute, recognizes the Perú, Andina and Inti breeds plus a crossbred one. The Perú breed, for example, grows fast and reaches one kilo in about eight weeks.

The history of cuy in the Andes: from before the Incas to today

Cuy was eaten in the Andes long before the Inca Empire existed. In its manual on guinea pig production, the FAO notes that the existing evidence shows it was domesticated between 2,500 and 3,600 years ago. At the temple of Cerro Sechín, in northern Peru, archaeologists found abundant deposits of guinea pig droppings. The huacos, or ceramic vessels, of the Mochica and Vicús cultures depict it, and in ancient South American tombs guinea pig skins and bones have been found buried alongside human remains.

An animal that lives in the kitchen

Family-scale raising is still the most common method in the Peruvian highlands, and it works almost the same way it did centuries ago. The FAO describes it like this: the animals are normally kept in the kitchen, where the heat of the stove protects them from sudden temperature changes, and they are fed with weeds, crop residues and kitchen scraps. If you step into a farmhouse in the South Valley or the Sacred Valley, it’s normal to see guinea pigs scurrying around by the hearth.

Traditional medicine and rituals

Cuy was never just food. The same FAO publication notes that it is also used in traditional medicine and in magical-religious rituals. That importance now has legal backing: Law 28477, from 2005, lists the cuy among the native livestock species declared Natural Heritage of the Nation.

Cuy in Cusco culture: festivals and the Cathedral’s Last Supper

In Cusco, cuy is celebration food. One of the dishes where it shows up most is chiri uchu, an ancestral dish that, according to the Andina news agency, includes cuy, tortilla, hen, cheese, rocoto pepper, yuyo (a seaweed), fish roe, sangrecita (cooked blood) and toasted corn, and is served at patron saint festivals and in June, Cusco’s jubilee month. If you’re coming for Inti Raymi, that’s the time to look for it.

The guinea pig at the Last Supper

The most famous image of cuy is in Cusco Cathedral, on the Plaza de Armas. Its most celebrated canvas is a Last Supper by the Cusco painter Marcos Zapata. In the center of the table of Christ and the apostles sits a roasted guinea pig on a platter, and you can also see papayas and rocoto peppers. It’s one of the clearest examples of how Cusco’s colonial art brought Andean foods into Christian scenes.

To see the painting you have to go inside the Cathedral, which has its own admission fee. How to fit it into your walk around the historic center is covered in our guide to things to do in Cusco, and there’s more about the city in our guide to Cusco.

How cuy is prepared: roasted, chactado and other styles

In Cusco you’ll mainly find two preparations: roasted and chactado. The rest of Peru has many more, and some of them also appear on Cusco menus.

Cuy al horno (roasted guinea pig)

This is the classic Cusco preparation. The cuy is seasoned, stuffed with Andean aromatic herbs such as huacatay, and roasted whole, often in a wood-fired oven, until the skin turns golden and crisp. It’s served with potatoes and, depending on the place, with rocoto relleno (stuffed hot pepper), tamal or salad. In Tipón it’s the star dish.

Cuy chactado (fried guinea pig)

This is fried cuy. It’s served whole, fried in plenty of oil and accompanied by boiled potatoes, salad and toasted or boiled corn. The name comes from the way it’s cooked: the guinea pig is flattened while it fries, traditionally under the weight of a stone, so it cooks evenly. It ends up crunchier and drier than roasted cuy. Tipón makes it too, along with pepián de cuy.

Other preparations

Pepián de cuy is a stew with a thick sauce. Picante de cuy, with a chili pepper sauce and rice, is so common that it appears in the official food composition tables of Peru’s National Institute of Health. In the central highlands, especially in Junín, people also eat guinea pig broth, cuy colorado at fairs and patron saint festivals, pachamanca de cuy and modern versions such as cuy broaster, breaded and fried like fried chicken.

Preparation	What it is	Served with	Where or when
Cuy al horno	Whole, stuffed with herbs, roasted until the skin is golden	Potatoes and house sides	Tipón, the South Valley and Cusco picanterías
Cuy chactado	Whole, fried in plenty of oil and flattened	Boiled potatoes, salad and corn	Tipón and picanterías
Pepián de cuy	Guinea pig stew in a thick sauce	Depends on the place	Tipón
Chiri uchu	Cold dish with cuy, hen, tortilla, cheese, rocoto and toasted corn	All on one plate	Patron saint festivals and June
Picante de cuy	Guinea pig in chili pepper sauce	Rice	Picanterías and set menus
Pachamanca de cuy	Cooked underground with hot stones	Fava beans, potatoes and humitas	Central highlands and festivals
Caldo de cuy	Soup with pieces of guinea pig	On its own, as a starter	Central highlands

Where to eat cuy in Cusco

We won’t give you restaurant names: they change a lot, and what’s useful is knowing where to go and what kind of place to look for.

Tipón, the guinea pig town

Tipón is a small town in the district of Oropesa, in the province of Quispicanchi, on the road that heads southeast out of Cusco. The Andina news agency describes it as the place to savor cuy al horno and other guinea pig dishes, such as pepián and cuy chactado. Many Cusco families make a habit of going there to eat it.

It’s worth pairing lunch with the Tipón archaeological site, famous for its Inca terraces and water channels. Everything you need to visit it is in our guide to Tipón.

The South Valley food route

Tipón is part of a classic route for people from Cusco. Before it comes Saylla, known for its chicharrón, and right next door is Oropesa, known for its pan chuta bread. With half a day and transportation you can try all three and add an archaeological site. Read our guide to the South Valley of Cusco to plan the route.

In the city of Cusco

If you don’t have time to leave the city, there are picanterías and traditional restaurants that serve it, both in the historic center and in the neighborhoods. Some Novo-Andean restaurants serve it in pieces, a good option if seeing it whole puts you off.

At the fairs

Around National Cuy Day there are producer fairs. In 2024, for example, Agro Rural, a program of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri), organized the Inka Cuy fair in Cusco, with local producers and hundreds of guinea pig dishes.

How to eat cuy and what to expect

The first surprise is the presentation. Cuy usually arrives at the table whole, with its head and feet, splayed open on the plate. It’s not a joke for tourists: that’s how it’s served in homes too.

• Size: according to El Peruano, a live cuy weighs about 850 g on average and its carcass about 650 g. It has a fair amount of bone and not much meat per piece, so many people share one between two, with the sides.
• With your hands: that’s the normal way to eat it. Cutlery helps at the start, but the meat close to the bone is eaten with your fingers. Ask for extra napkins.
• Cut up: if you don’t want to see it whole, ask for it to be served in pieces. Many places are happy to do it.
• Taste and texture: the meat is dark and delicate, with a flavor many people compare to rabbit. The most prized part is the skin, crisp in roasted cuy and even crunchier in chactado.
• Price: it usually costs more than other traditional dishes because you’re served the whole animal. For reference, a live cuy already costs between S/ 25 and S/ 30, according to El Peruano. At the restaurant, ask first whether the price is for a whole cuy or a half.

National Cuy Day: when is it?

Peru has a day dedicated to the guinea pig. Ministerial Resolution No. 0338-2013-MINAGRI, dated September 13, 2013, established National Cuy Day, to be celebrated every second Friday of October. According to El Peruano, the goal is to revalue, promote and spread the consumption of cuy in Peru and abroad.

• 2026: it was celebrated on Friday, October 9.
• 2027: it will be on Friday, October 8.
• What happens that day: producer fairs, contests and guinea pig dishes in several regions, with Agro Rural, the Midagri program, among the organizers.

If you’re in Cusco on those dates, ask about fairs in the city and the surrounding districts: it’s the best chance to try several preparations at once.

Nutritional value of cuy

Guinea pig meat has a reputation for being very nutritious, and the official data partly backs this up. According to the Peruvian Food Composition Tables of the National Institute of Health (INS), 100 g of cuy meat provides 96 kcal, 19 g of protein and just 1.6 g of fat. It’s a lean meat, comparable to lean beef. But keep in mind: the skin changes the numbers a lot, and roasted or chactado cuy is eaten with the skin on.

Food (100 g, according to the INS)	Energy	Protein	Fat	Iron
Cuy, meat	96 kcal	19.0 g	1.6 g	1.9 mg
Cuy, leg with skin, raw	219 kcal	16.6 g	16.0 g	1.6 mg
Cuy, breast with skin, raw	269 kcal	16.0 g	18.7 g	1.0 mg
Chicken, lean meat	119 kcal	21.4 g	3.1 g	1.5 mg
Beef, lean meat	105 kcal	21.3 g	1.6 g	3.4 mg
Pork, boneless meat	198 kcal	14.4 g	15.1 g	1.3 mg

In short: guinea pig meat is high in protein and low in fat, but it doesn’t beat chicken or beef for protein, and with the skin and frying it’s no longer a light dish. Enjoy it for what it is: a festive dish.

Tips for eating cuy without problems

1. Choose busy places. Where lots of Cusco families eat, the cuy comes out of the oven constantly and isn’t reheated.
2. Order it well cooked and hot. The meat should be cooked through to the bone. If you see pink parts, ask for it to go back in the oven.
3. Be careful with raw sides. During your first days, choose the potatoes and corn over raw salads, and drink bottled water.
4. Share it. Half a cuy per person is a generous portion, especially at altitude.
5. Ask about the heat. The rocoto and chili sauces that come with it can be very spicy.
6. Respect the tradition. For many families this is an important dish. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but avoid making jokes at the table.

Tip: if you go to Tipón, have lunch early. At midday the ovens are in full swing and the cuy comes out freshly made; by mid-afternoon, some places have already run out. Afterward, visit the archaeological site and walk off your meal among the terraces.

If you’re vegetarian or don’t want to try it

You don’t have to eat cuy to get to know Cusco cooking. Order kapchi, corn with cheese, quinoa soup or dishes with tarwi. And if you eat meat but cuy doesn’t appeal to you, chicharrón, adobo and lechón are just as traditional. You’ll find them all in our guide to traditional Cusco food.

Summary: the essentials of cuy in Cusco

• What it is: an Andean rodent domesticated between 2,500 and 3,600 years ago, according to the FAO, raised in homes and eaten at celebrations.
• How to order it: al horno, the Cusco version, or chactado, fried and crunchy.
• Where: Tipón, in the South Valley, is the go-to place; in the city, try picanterías and traditional restaurants.
• Culture: it appears in festival chiri uchu and in Marcos Zapata’s Last Supper in Cusco Cathedral.
• Its day: the second Friday of October, under Ministerial Resolution No. 0338-2013-MINAGRI.
• Nutrition: 19 g of protein and 1.6 g of fat per 100 g of meat, according to the INS; with the skin, much more fat.
• Tips: after you’ve acclimatized, at a busy place, well cooked and shared.

If you’re planning your trip, set aside half a day for the South Valley and its cuy in our Cusco itineraries for 3, 5 and 7 days, and round out your list of dishes with our guide to traditional Cusco food.