Pupusas Recipe

Make this genuine pupusas recipe at dwelling! Pupusas are crispy stuffed masa truffles from El Salvador, crammed with refried beans, pickled jalapeños, and melted cheese. I serve these full with a facet of curtido, a sort of cabbage slaw. They make a enjoyable, simple snack or mild dinner!

I’m a BIG fan of road meals, and I really like recreating Latin American favorites, from Mexican pambozas to Cuban mojo rooster and these crispy, tacky Salvadoran pupusas.

Pupusas stacked next to curtido on a stoneware plate with the top pupusa broken in half to reveal the refried bean filling inside.

As somebody who hunts down the closest meals truck irrespective of which metropolis I’m in, I got here throughout pupusas not too long ago in Austin whereas on a enterprise journey and I’m hooked! These palm-sized, crispy masa truffles are golden outdoors and steamy inside. Pull them aside, and also you get strings of melted cheese and a wealthy, tasty filling of refried beans and tangy pickled jalapeños (or actually, something you’d like). After just a few rounds of testing at dwelling, these got here out identical to I bear in mind them. I even made a fast pickled cabbage slaw, referred to as curtido, to serve with.

Issues I Love About This Pupusas Recipe

Easy substances. I make this pupusas recipe with masa harina to maintain issues genuine, but when you end up with out, it seems nice with cornmeal, too. The remainder of the substances are frequent fridge and pantry gadgets.
Straightforward methodology. Shaping pupusas is simply as simple as shaping a crab cake or a potato patty. The one distinction right here is that you just’ll stuff them with filling. It takes somewhat approach, however you’ll get the hold of it very quickly.
Customizable. You may make pupusas with every kind of scrumptious fillings, from the kind of cheese you utilize to meats, veggies, and extra. It’s completely as much as you.

Overhead view of pupusas with curtido on a plate garnished with jalapeño and lime slices.

What Are Pupusas?

Pupusas are thick, pan-fried corn truffles from El Salvador and Honduras. They’re produced from masa harina, a sort of cornmeal flour, they usually really remind me a variety of Colombian arepas and even quesadillas. Pupusas are filled with scrumptious fillings (on this case, refried beans, pickled jalapeños, and cheese, however the prospects are limitless!) earlier than they’re fried.

To steadiness out all that tacky goodness, it’s frequent to serve pupusas topped with a zesty, tangy slaw referred to as curtido. I got down to make a model to take pleasure in at dwelling, so clearly, I’m sharing it with you!

Curtido ingredients with text labels overlaying each ingredient. — Curtido substances.

What You’ll Want

This pupusas recipe could be very easy, with only a few primary substances wanted to make the dough and curtido. I’ve put collectively some fast notes right here. You’ll discover the printable recipe within the recipe card after the submit with the complete substances checklist and directions.

For the Curtido

Shredded Cabbage – I exploit inexperienced cabbage, however be at liberty to make use of one other sort, like purple or napa cabbage.
Carrot – Sliced up good and skinny. A mandolin or perhaps a field grater works nice for this.
Dried Oregano – Or chopped recent oregano in case you choose.
Apple Cider Vinegar – You might additionally substitute a equally candy vinegar, like white or purple wine vinegar. There’s fairly a little bit of vinegar within the dressing, so I don’t suggest white vinegar because it’s too robust for this recipe.
Sugar – Use cane sugar you probably have it, in any other case common granulated sugar, brown sugar, or one other sweetener, like agave or honey, will do the trick.

For the Pupusas

Masa Harina – Translating actually to “dough flour”, masa harina is a sort of coarse maize flour. It’s used to make tortillas, pupusas, and tamales (I exploit it within the topping for my tamale pie). For those who don’t have masa harina, you may substitute cornmeal or corn flour in a pinch. The flavour simply gained’t be fairly the identical.
Mozzarella – Or one other shredded, melty cheese, like provolone or cheddar.
Refried Beans – If I’ve time, I’ll make the selfmade refried beans from my huevos rancheros recipe. In any other case, store-bought refried beans work completely.
Jalapeños – These could be pickled jalapeños or recent, finely chopped. For those who’re utilizing recent chilies, I like to recommend deseeding them first.

Pupusas arranged in rows on a tray garnished with lime slices.

Put together the Curtido

We’ll begin by making the curtido, our zesty Salvadoran cabbage relish. It is a mixture of cabbage, carrots, and oregano, marinated in a dressing of vinegar, sugar, and salt. It’s much like coleslaw or sauerkraut, like a simplified model of the purple cabbage slaw that I exploit for my fish tacos.

Do your greatest to plan forward and make the curtido prematurely, because it wants at the very least 3-4 hours to relax within the fridge (I generally even make it the day earlier than!). Right here’s find out how to do it:

Curtido in a glass bowl with a spoon. — 1. Mix the substances.

Mix the substances. Add your shredded cabbage, carrots, and oregano to a bowl.
Add the dressing. In a second bowl, whisk the apple cider vinegar with scorching water, salt, and sugar. Stir nicely to completely dissolve the sugar, and pour that over the cabbage.
Refrigerate. Stir your curtido, after which cowl it and let it sit within the fridge for 4 hours, or in a single day.

Make Pupusas

As soon as your curtido has marinated, you’re prepared to arrange the pupusas following the how-to under.

Water being poured into a bowl of masa harina. — 1. Combine the dough.

Make the dough. Combine up a fast dough from masa harina, water, and salt. I wish to stir all the things along with a spatula first, after which knead the dough with my arms till it’s good and gentle. Afterward, divide and roll the dough into 8 equal-sized balls.
Flatten the dough. Subsequent, flatten the dough balls between your palms in order that they’re about ¼” thick. I wish to maintain a bowl of water close by to moist your arms in between, to assist with sticking.
Fill and form the pupusas. Now, add ½ tablespoon of refried beans to the middle of every dough circle, topped with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese, and diced jalapeños. Fold the dough up and across the filling and pinch the perimeters collectively earlier than rolling/shaping the dough again right into a ball. Press gently to flatten the pupusas to a half-inch thickness.
Fry. As soon as your pupusas are able to go, fry them in a skillet with a splash of oil. Mine normally take about 4-5 minutes per facet to get a crispy, golden sear.
Serve. Take pleasure in your pupusas with curtido on the facet. They’re greatest served recent, so dig in!

Recipe Suggestions

Keep away from sticking. This recipe makes a reasonably sticky dough. If the water isn’t sufficient to maintain the dough from sticking to your arms whilst you form it, add somewhat oil to the water. You can too use solely oil and evenly coat your arms whilst you work.
Use a cookie scoop. A big cookie scoop makes portioning the dough tremendous simple. I like to recommend a 2-ounce scoop.
Use parchment paper. After shaping the pupusas, place them on a sheet of parchment paper. For those who don’t have parchment, grease a baking sheet or chopping board as an alternative to maintain them from sticking.
Preserve them heat. To maintain the pupusas heat however nonetheless crispy, place a wire rack over a baking sheet, and place the entire thing into the oven on low. When you’ve fried a batch of pupusas within the skillet, switch them to the rack within the oven.

Two hands breaking apart a pupusa over more pupusas on a tray.

Extra Filling Choices

There are such a lot of filling prospects! You may maintain it tremendous easy and stuff your pupusas with solely refried beans, or attempt any of the next concepts:

Protein. Any shredded cooked or braised meats go nice in pupusas. I feel these would style wonderful filled with Puerto Rican pernil or Mexican beef machaca or rooster mole.
Cheese. Swap melty mozzarella for gouda, cheddar, Oaxacan cheese (queso), or crumbly Cotija cheese.
Veggies. Baked butternut squash is one other favourite filling rather than beans, or you need to use acorn squash.
Totally different beans. As an alternative of refried beans, attempt cooked and pureed black beans, white beans, or pinto beans.

Pupusas stacked next to curtido on a stoneware plate.

Can You Freeze Pupusas?

Sure, the best solution to make these forward is to freeze them! Prepare the crammed, unbaked pupusas on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pop that into the freezer and let the pupusas freeze till stable, then switch them to a freezer bag or container. They’ll keep frozen for as much as 4 months they usually’re nice to bake straight from frozen. Simply add a few minutes to the frying time.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

Refrigerate. Like most fried issues, pupusas are greatest loved scorching and crisp from the skillet. That being stated, maintain any leftovers in an hermetic container to refrigerate for 2-3 days.
Reheat. I choose to reheat these in a evenly oiled skillet, or the toaster oven in order that the skin crisps up once more. The microwave makes pupusas a bit soggy.

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Make the curtido:

Mix the substances. Add cabbage, carrots, and oregano in a bowl. Mix vinegar, scorching water, salt, and sugar in a separate bowl and stir till sugar dissolves. Pour the combination over the cabbage and stir to mix.
Chill. Cowl and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Make the pupusas:

Make the dough. Mix masa harina, water, and salt in a bowl. Stir with a spatula, then knead till you might have a really gentle dough. Divide the dough into 8 equal elements and form into balls.
Fill the dough. Add some water to a bowl – you’ll use this to moist your arms so the dough doesn’t stick. Flatten the balls between the palms so they’re ¼-inch thick. Place some refried beans onto the dough (round ½ tablespoon), mozzarella cheese, and pickled jalapenos.
Fold. Raise and pinch the perimeters and roll the dough once more right into a ball. Flatten it gently to 1/2-inch thick. Repeat with the remaining substances.
Fry the pupusas. Warmth 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Add pupusas and prepare dinner for 4-5 minutes per facet.
Serve. Serve the pupusas whereas nonetheless heat with curtido on the facet.

Filling choices. For the filling, you may go together with different choices or simply use refried beans. Baked squash as an alternative of beans is an efficient alternative.
Sticky dough. For those who really feel the water just isn’t sufficient to maintain your dough from sticking, then add some oil to the water or simply use oil.
Use a cookie scoop. If you don’t want to divide the dough, you need to use a 2-oz. cookie scoop to portion out the dough.
Use parchment paper. When you’re performed shaping the pupusas, place them on a chunk of baking paper to stop sticking to kitchen surfaces.

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