Mote con Huesillo Recipe: How to Make Chile’s Favourite Summer Drink at Home

If you have ever visited Chile in summer and wondered what everyone is drinking from those street trolleys, the answer is mote con huesillo — and once you try it, you will understand immediately why Chileans are so devoted to it. There is even a saying that captures it perfectly: “More Chilean than mote con huesillo.” That is not a small claim in a country with strong opinions about its identity.

Mote con huesillo is a non-alcoholic drink made from boiled wheat grains and dried peaches, served cold in a sweet cinnamon syrup. It sits somewhere between a drink and a dessert, which is part of its appeal — it is refreshing, filling, and exactly what you want when the Santiago summer heat is pressing down on you like a physical weight.

I discovered it the hard way. I was climbing the famous hill in Santiago on a blazing summer afternoon, the sun burning, the air thick and hot, when I spotted a street vendor with a trolley near the path. I stopped, tried one, and that was it. A little sweet perhaps, but cold and deeply satisfying in a way that nothing else quite manages in that heat. It became one of my favourites immediately and stayed that way for the rest of my years in Chile.

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What is Mote con Huesillo

Mote is the Chilean word for husked, boiled wheat grains. Huesillo refers to dried peaches — not fresh ones, but the intensely flavoured sun-dried version that rehydrate into something soft and almost jammy when soaked and cooked in sweet water. Together with a cinnamon and orange syrup, they produce a drink that is uniquely Chilean and surprisingly difficult to find anywhere else in the world.

You can buy mote con huesillo year round — freshly made from street vendors or sealed in bottles at supermarkets across Chile. But it is in spring and early summer when the street trolleys appear in force, particularly in Santiago, and the queues form on hot afternoons. If you are visiting Chile between October and March, finding one is not difficult. Trying it is non-negotiable.

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Mote con Huesillo Recipe

I was so taken by it that I made it my mission to get the actual recipe, and after some asking around, I did. So here it is, straight from the people who make it every day, for anyone who wants to recreate a little bit of Chilean summer at home.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 250g huesillos (dried peaches)
• 250g wheat grains (mote)
• ½ cup sugar, plus a little extra for caramelising
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 strip of orange peel (optional but recommended)
• 5 cups of water

Directions

1. Soak the dried peaches overnight Wash the huesillos and place them in a bowl with enough water to cover them, a cinnamon stick and the orange peel if using. Leave them to soak overnight — this rehydrates them and begins to draw out their flavour into the water, which becomes the base of your syrup.

2. Cook the peaches Once soaked, transfer the peaches and the soaking water to a saucepan. Add the sugar and cook over a medium heat for approximately 30 minutes until the peaches are soft and the liquid has thickened slightly into a light syrup. Keep the cinnamon stick in while cooking.

3. Caramelise some of the sugar In a separate small pan, heat a couple of tablespoons of sugar until it turns golden brown. Add this to the peach mixture — it deepens the colour of the syrup and adds a gentle caramel note that makes a noticeable difference to the finished drink.

4. Cook the wheat Boil the wheat grains in a separate pot of water until tender but not mushy. The exact time depends on whether your wheat is pre-soaked or not — taste as you go and stop when it has a pleasant, slightly chewy texture. Drain and set aside.

5. Assemble and serve cold Place a generous spoonful of wheat grains into a tall glass. Add one or two peaches. Pour the cold syrup over the top until the glass is full. Serve immediately, well chilled.

Tips for Getting it Right

Use proper dried peaches, not fresh ones — the flavour is completely different. Dried peaches have an intensity that fresh ones cannot replicate and are what give mote con huesillo its distinctive taste. In Chile they are sold everywhere. Outside Chile, look in Latin American grocery stores or online.

Do not skip the overnight soak — it is tempting to rush it but the soaking time is what gives the syrup its depth. The water the peaches soak in becomes the base of the drink, so the longer you soak, the better the result.

Serve it very cold — this is not a drink that works at room temperature. Chill the syrup thoroughly in the fridge before assembling and serve over ice if you want the full street vendor experience.

Adjust the sweetness — the traditional version is quite sweet, which is part of the point on a hot day. If you prefer something less sweet, reduce the sugar slightly and taste as you go. The cinnamon and peach flavour should come through clearly.

The caramel step matters — it is easy to skip but do not. The caramelised sugar gives the syrup its characteristic amber colour and adds a layer of flavour that makes the difference between a good mote con huesillo and a great one.

Where to Try Mote con Huesillo in Chile

If you are visiting Chile and want the real thing before attempting the recipe at home, Santiago is the easiest place to find it. Street vendors with trolleys appear throughout the city in spring and summer, particularly near parks, hills and busy pedestrian areas. The Mercado Central and the area around Cerro Santa Lucía are good places to start looking.

It is also widely available in supermarkets in sealed plastic cups, not quite the same experience as fresh from a street vendor, but a perfectly decent version if you want to try it outside of peak season. I always bought it on the street and it always was excellent even though I don’t like sweet drinks.

Have you tried mote con huesillo in Chile or made it at home? Leave a comment below — I would love to know how it turned out.

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