Vori Vori, the Best Soup from Paraguay

Today I am going to introduce you to vori vori or bori bori, this is a soup from Paraguay, which contains small balls made mainly out of cornmeal as its main feature. The name of the soup “vori vori” means “a lot of balls” in the language Guarani. Guarani does something a few languages do,  in order to say a word in plural, it is simply repeated. Vori vori has been declared the best soup of the world in 2026 by the Taste Atlas. The soup comes together rather quickly, you will brown chicken first, chop or blitz some veggies you will simmer and then you can boil the soup. It is only for the last ten minutes that you will need to add the cornflour balls to the mix, they get ready quickly. I love this warming soup in winter and can highly recommend making it.

I have to admit, so far I had not heard about this soup, but I always like to learn more. To add cornflour add-ins to a soup sounded great. In Venezuela and Colombia arepas, which are a corn flatbread, are commonly eaten the same way as bread in Germany. So to come full circle, just as in Germany we have so many flour-based add-ins for soups, croutons, dumplings, etc., so I figured, it does also make sense to do the same with cornflour in Latin America. So I asked my husband if he would like to try this Paraguayan soup and he was all in. We both loved it a lot, this will definitely be repeated, thank you so much, Paraguay!

Credit: Emi Báez on Instagram (in Spanish)

Print Recipe

Vori Vori Soup from Paraguay

Serves: 4 large servings

Prep Time: 30min – Cooking Time: 45min – Total Time: 1hr 15min

Vori vori Soup from Paraguay has as main characteristic small balls made from cornflour. I introduce the traditional version with chicken and pumpkin here.

Ingredients

• Soup
• Olive oil
• 1 chicken piece per person (I used chicken legs)
• 1 large tomatoe
• 1 large onion
• 1 pepper bell
• 200-300 grams of pumpkin (I used Hokkaido)
• 1-2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 
  
• Cornflour Balls
• 300 grams of cornflour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• About 80 grams of farmer's cheese (originally with queso paraguayo)
• 2 ladels of the broth from above
• Water if needed

Instructions

1

First fry the chicken pieces in a large pot on high heat with a bit of olive oil. You want to brown the pieces from all sides. Set aside. Then either chop all veggies except for the pumpkin or do as I do and blitz through a food processor and fry in the rendered fat of the chicken for a few minutes while stirring. Meanwhile cube the pumpkin. Then transfer back the chicken pieces, add the pumpkin, season with the spices and fill up with about 1-2 liters of water. Get to a simmer and simmer for about 30-45 minutes. Stir occasionally.

2

Meanwhile make the cornflour balls. If the dough is too dry, add more water if needed. You want to make small balls the size of a walnut. You should get about 45-50 balls total. Add to the soup and cook for ten minutes, they should float. Season to taste if needed and serve hot. If you like, you can sprinkle each plate with chopped spring onions.

3

Tip: as it is only the two of us, I divided the amount for the cornflour balls in half and served this soup on two consecutive days. It is better to make the balls fresh and cook them 10 minutes with the soup instead of reheating the next day.

P.S. For further soups and stews from Latin America, how about:

Ajiaco – Colombian chicken and potatoe soup

Guiso de lentejas – lentil stew from Uruguay

Frijoles – mild Colombian beans stew