We’re kicking off our new “culture” section with a recipe for a version of a traditional Colombian dish: Arepa de queso!
While we never fail to tell you about the cultural particularities of each region, we wanted to share with you posts dedicated to Colombian culture. After surveying our readers, we realized that many of you wanted to do just that!
In these posts, we’ll be talking about Colombian culture in the broadest sense of the term: music, cinema, art, photography, literature, as well as gastronomy, crafts, traditions, myths, local beliefs and legends, etc.
The Travel insurance we recommend in Colombia
We live in Colombia, and we can confirm that private healthcare is very expensive here. Private clinics in Colombia generally only admit patients who have insurance.
Coverage up to 2.5 M€ · 24/7 assistance in english · Hospitalization · Medical evacuation · Luggages
Excellent · 4,6/5 · Trustpilot · 1 599 review
Arepa de queso
Recipe for Colombian dishes
Arepa de queso is a corn cake with cheese inside. It’s eaten mainly for breakfast. At least, that’s how we eat it at home!
The arepa is one of Colombia’s emblems. Another tradition straight from the indigenous peoples! In fact, everything to do with corn in Colombia is indigenous.
There are different types of arepa in Colombia, depending on the region, the type of corn used (yes, there are lots of different kinds), and what’s inside.
Here are a few examples of arepas:
- De queso (white corn and cheese)
- De huevo (yellow corn or trisazon and egg)
- Rellena (white corn filled with various ingredients, often with meat)
- De chocolo (tierno corn)
- Boyacense (very thick arepa made with boyacense corn)
- Santandereana (pelao corn)
- Paisa (very thin white corn)
- etc.
We’ll try to introduce you to different arepa recipes, but we’ll start with the one we’re used to making at home, with ingredients you’ll find abroad: arepa de queso.
Ingredients for 4 Arepas de queso
Colombian recipe
Here we go! Like all recipes, this is our version of Arepas de queso. As you can imagine, every family has its own recipe and way of making arepas! If you’d like to share your own Arepa de queso recipe in the comments, don’t hesitate 😉
Ingredients for 4 arepas de queso
- One mug of pre-cooked white corn flour (we use the Harina PAN brand (yellow packet), which is easy to find in Latin stores or order online)
- A mug of lukewarm water, or a little more if necessary
- Option: add a little milk if you like
- A little butter
- A pinch of salt
- Small pieces of Mozarella cheese, for simplicity. (not Buffala, not in a ball)
Tips: we insist, but you can’t make empanadas with the corn flour found in “normal” supermarkets. You need “pre-cooked corn flour”, which ican be found under the name PAN in Latin or “exotic” grocery stores, or on the Internet.
Making the Arepa dough
Recipe for Colombian Arepa de queso
Making the dough is really simple, you just need to pay attention to the final texture of the dough.
- Pour the flour into a bowl and mix with the salt
- Add a little water and start mixing with the flour
- Repeat the operation, massaging the dough well each time
- Add the butter while the dough is still warm, and continue kneading
- Finish adding water to the flour if you feel your dough still needs it
- Knead the dough well for at least 10 minutes to achieve the right texture (like modelling clay: if it’s too dry, it crumbles, if it’s too wet, it sticks)
Tips: you need to have a little warm water left over to knead the dough, so that you can wet your hands regularly. This also allows you to adjust the amount of water to achieve the right texture.
How to shape the Arepa
Recipe for a Colombian dish
Once the dough is ready, it’s time to make the arepa.
- Make two small balls
- Flatten the dough with the palms of your hands and shape it into a round ball (turning with thumb and forefinger). The round should be about 5mm thick.
- On one of the two discs, place the cheese in the middle (a thin slice will be perfect)
- With the second disk, cover the first and flatten the edges to close
- Turn the disc with your thumb and forefinger to give it a round shape and a little thickness (about 1cm in the end)
- Repeat with remaining dough.
Variants
You can add the grated cheese directly to the dough as you knead it. This saves you the somewhat technical step of closing the arepa. But you won’t get that slightly melting cheese feeling in the middle of the arepa.
How to cook Arepa de queso
Colombian recipe
We’ve reached the fateful moment! Cooking the Arepa. In some families, the arepa is fried. Colombians love fried food. But we prefer the arepa “asada”. This can be done on a griddle or grill over a wood fire, or simply in a frying pan, as we do.
- Heat a frying pan with a little butter
- Brown the arepas over medium heat, turning them from time to time
- When the arepa is nicely browned and the crust is crisp (this takes a little time), it’s ready!
Serving the arepa
Colombian gastronomy
Arepa con queso is best served for breakfast (or as a snack at any time)…
With a little salt and butter on top…
A good Colombian coffee…
And a fresh fruit juice!
Buen provecho!
Hello, I’ve just discovered your recipes and finally got my hands on a packet of pan flour. But I was wondering how to keep them? Cook them at the last minute or save them for later? For a picnic, for example. Thank you very much for sharing 😊
Hello!
Ah super. So normally you can make and bake them straight away, it’s better.
But you can also form them and keep them in the fridge with cling film between each one. You can keep them maybe a day or two before baking. I think the dough will dry out after that.
Hello !
Is it possible to make them with wheat flour, or does that totally distort the recipe?
Hello, no that’s not possible, it will completely change the recipe…
You can still try, but you’ll end up with an Indian-style bread. Not an arepa
It’s all in the flour, I understand better now.
It’s also delicious with breakfast chocolate!
And for the chocolate arepas, what flour do you need?
Hello! We’re delighted to know that you’ve tried the recipe and that you’ve fallen in love with it 🙂 indeed, it’s very good with chocolate. Chocolate arepas are more complicated, but I recently saw that there’s now a sweet corn “harina pan” (Mezcla de maiz dulce) that you should try.
Thank you very much, we’ll certainly give it a try
Take care
Hello Denise and thank you for your comment! We hope you enjoy making the arepas at home 😉
Take care of yourself too
Wish these were in English
We have been many times in Colombia but do not speak Spanish. Just returned two months ago from our last trip.
Would LOVE TO MAKE THESE RECIPES
PLEASE MAKE THEM TO BE TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH.
Hello Carol ! Thanks for your message, We’re sure you’ll find Colombian recipes in English on the web, there is plenty of it !
Thank you for this recipe! Your photos made me travel for the time of an article and made me want to try it 😉
Thanks Sabinne 😉 If photos of Arepas make you want to travel then it’s perfect!
Top merci pour cette découverte et la recette ! I didn’t know it at all and it makes me want to try it. I’ll have to try it 😁
Thank you very much! Arepa is a very typical dish in Colombia and Venezuela too. Great if it makes you want to try it 😉
The arepa is an Amerindian heritage that is prepared in many countries in America … Mexico, (they call them “gorditas”) and in Central America, also in Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia. The choclo is called cachapla in Colombia and cachapa in Venezuela ….you need to buy the cobs of tender corn and take the seeds, mix them with eggs, sugar, salt, cheese, oil or butter and a little milk. Then bake them on both sides on Teflon so they don’t stick, and if not, on a sheet of plantain…that’s how they’re made at home 🙂
Thanks for your message 😉