Homemade Cheese Pupusas Recipe

Close up of Pupusa Recipe inside dish layered.

With only 5 simple pantry ingredients and about 30 minutes start to finish, this Pupusas Recipe turns out cheesy, golden, slightly crispy Salvadoran griddle bread the whole family will fight over.

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine El Salvadorian, Mexican

Keyword pupusas recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 12

Total Time 32

Servings servings

Calories 242kcal

Author Dana DeVolk

Ingredients

3 cups masa harina corn flour
2 cups water
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup queso fresco crumbled

Instructions

Combine masa harina, water, and salt to a large bowl. Stir together.
3 cups masa harina corn flour, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Start kneading the pupusa dough with your hands until a soft, smooth, moist dough ball forms. You may need to add a little more water, up to ¼ cup. You know it is ready when you can gently pinch some together and it doesn’t crack.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, toss together the mozzarella and queso fresco, set aside.
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup queso fresco
Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. I like to weigh them to make sure they are the same size, but you can eyeball it.
Take one of the dough portions and pat it into a large disc in your hands.
Add 1/8th of the cheese mixture to the center. Fold and pinch the edges of the dough over the cheese. Roll into a ball.
Gently pat and press the ball into a round disc about 1/4th inch thick.
Repeat with the remaining dough and cheese. Keep any dough you are not working with covered so it doesn’t dry out.
Heat a griddle over medium heat. Once hot, spray with cooking spray.
Cook for about 5-6 minutes per side until golden brown and slightly charred.
Place on a wire rack while you are cooking the remaining pupusas. Serve immediately.

Notes

This recipe is super easy to double.
Serve this as a side dish or appetizer.
These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
Use a cast iron skillet for this recipe.
Other fillings can be used, see above for ideas.
We like to dip these in refried beans.

Nutrition