Pupusas
I love pupusas, the national dish of El Salvador, and keep a stash in my freezer to whip up for lunch anytime. If you like homemade tortillas, then you’ll love these cheesy, stuffed corn pupusas. I often order them when I’m close to my favorite Salvadorean restaurant, but they’re also easy enough to make at home. The filled dough is flattened and cooked on a griddle, resulting in a warm and delicious stuffed tortilla, a staple of Salvadoran cuisine. My favorite part is the cold, tangy, spicy curtido that’s made with shredded cabbage, carrots, pickled jalapeño, and vinegar. It’s the perfect contrast to the hot black bean pupusas. They’re naturally gluten-free and can be made with dairy-free cheese to keep them vegan.
Ingredients for Pupusas
Here’s what you’ll need to make this pupusa recipe. Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Cheese (“queso”) Refried beans (“frijoles refritos”) Vegetables like loroco (an edible flower bud native to Central America) and ayote (a type of squash)
In my Skinnytaste Meal Prep cookbook, I have a zucchini and cheese pupusa that I love, but these black bean pupusas are also delicious.
Pupusa Dough: Corn flour (masa harina, such as the brand Maseca which is the brand I use), salt, warm water, vegetable or canola oil. Black Bean Pupusa Filling: Minced poblano peppers, onion, and garlic, black beans, salt, shredded part-skim mozzarella. Note: Don’t drain the black beans – you want the liquid. Curtido Ingredients: Shredded green cabbage, shredded carrots, jarred pickled jalapeño and the brine, white vinegar, olive oil, dried oregano, salt Avocado for topping the pupusas
How to Make Pupusas
Variations
Filling: You can make pupusas with any filling. Swap the black beans for refried beans, leftover slow cooker shredded chicken, barbacoa, carnitas, chorizo, zucchini, or all cheese. Poblanos: Substitute bell pepper or jalapeño for poblano. Don’t like cilantro? Omit it. Black Beans: Use pinto, refried, or pink beans. Cheese: Swap mozzarella for cheddar, Monterrey jack, or dairy-free cheese for vegan pupusas. Vinegar: Sub apple cider vinegar. Time Saver: Buy a bag of coleslaw mix if you don’t have time to shred the cabbage and carrots.
What are pupusas served with?
Pupusas are traditionally served with curtido and a mild, tomato-based salsa. I also like to top mine with avocado. Sometimes I even use them as tortillas and top them with scrambled eggs. Cook the Black Bean Filling:
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