Arepas are definitely one my favorite Colombian dishes and these stuffed arepas with mozzarella cheese or Arepas Rellenas de Queso are delicious.
Other Popular and All-Time Favorite Traditional Colombian Dishes: Empanadas Colombianas (Colombian Empanadas), Sancocho de Gallina (Chicken Sancocho), Ajiaco Bogotano (Chichen and Potato Soup), Bandeja Paisa (Paisa Tray), Pandebono (Cheese Bread), Buñuelos (Cheese Balls).
Ingredients
(6 Arepas)
2 cups pre cooked corn meal (masarepa)
2 cups hot water
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon soft butter, divided
12 slices mozzarella cheese
Directions
1. In a medium bowl mix the masarepa, water, salt and butter. Knead with your hands for about 3 minutes moistening your hands with water as you work.
2. Form 6 small balls with the dough. Place each ball between 2 plastic bags or parchment paper and with a flat pot cover flatten to about 1/3 inch. The arepas should be about 5” in diameter.
3. Add the butter to a nonstick pan over medium heat. Place the arepas in the pan, and cook about 3 minutes on each side, until a crust forms or until they are golden brown.
4. Split the arepas using a knife as you would do with an English muffin and stuff wit 2 slices of mozzarella cheese.
5. Place the stuffed arepas back on the skillet over medium high heat and cook 2 minutes on each side or until the cheese is melted and serve immediately.
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
I want to grab those corn cakes with cheesy goodness right off the screen! Yummy!
You keep coming up with real unique stuff! amazing!!
I recently had arepas for brunch in a restaurant and I loved them. But yours look so delicious and authentic, I’d love to try your recipe!
Pieces of heaven
love me some arepas! I love arepa de choclo and also maiz trillado. I like them with queso blanco or fresco. I grill mine on a flat cast iron skillet
Who can resist that oozing cheese! Looks so mouth-watering.
Thank you all for the nice comments!
This is what I want!!!!! I always order this when I go to my favorite Colombian restaurant called, La Estancia De Luisa. So delicious. Yours look absolutely fabulous.
Can you use Maseca for this too? I’ve always wanted to make these and yours look great!
Hi Eric,
I know people use maseca for mexican tamales……I am not sure if you can make arepas with it.
They are a lot of places online to find masarepa: amigosfood.com, hatogrande.com, Goya.com.
Probé las arepas hechas por un Venezolano y me sorprendieron muchísimo, están riquísimas. Las tuyas no se quedan atrás, tomo nota de la receta.
Besos.
Oh, don’t those look good? I must try this too.
LL
I can’t wait to make this tonight!! Looks delicious!
MMMM..Erica! they look so georgous & so delicious! Yum Yum Yum,…what else can I say? 8)!!
I Tried my first arepas in Villavicencio, Colombia. The maid Sandrita made them and told me her secret was to mix the dough with white cheese and add some aguapanela to the dough at
taste !
Also I had the oppurtunity to eat the “Arepa Paisa” Large disc form arepa, but then they were
all morning cooking corn, grinding and baking, I think at least 6 hours work to get a breakfast,
I think I will stay with the instant Masa Harina!
Hi John,
I am paisa and my grandmother made arepas cooking and grinding the corn at home too. That is the traditional way to make arepas in Antioquia and it is delicious!
I agree with you I prefer masarepa is easier and faster.
Thank you!
Yum! Looks drool worthy!
¿Cuando ha visto usted arepas como esas en Colombia? Esas son arepas venezolanas. Las arepas colombianas son muy distintas.
Federico.
Mi abuelita , mis tias y mi mamá siempre han hecho esta clase de arepas rellenas de queso o tambien arepas rellenas de huevo …..Yo se que son similares a las Venezolanas, pero en Colombia tambien las hacemos y la arepa de huevo por ejemplo es tipica de la region del caribe.
Nosotros no hacemos rellenos de pollo, chorizo, etc, como los Venezolanos. En Colombia las hacemos delgadas y les colocamos los guisos encima, pero las recetas que yo coloco aqui es por que mi familia las ha hecho por muchos años.
Gracias por tu comentario!
Erica.
Yo soy Colombiana y vivo en Medellin y si he visto arepas como esa en muchos restaurantes tipicos Colombianos y tambien las hacemos en mi casa.
Me encanta tu pagina, Felicidades.
Yo soy de Colombia y me encanta tu pagina, muchas gracias por mostrar algo lindo de nuestro pais que es la comida.
En el rancherito un restaurante en Copacabana (Antioquia) hacen arepas como estas. y en mi casa mi mami muchas veces las hace con jamon y queso blanco.
Yo no conozco las arepas Venezolanas pero estas son muy comunes en nuestra region. Tambien tengo un libro de cocina Colombiana que tiene estas arepas, pero la receta es con cuajada.
Me gustan mucho tus fotos, sigue con el buen trabajo
We are fortunate to have at least one Colombian restaurant here in Minneapolis where I had my first taste of arepas! This looks wonderful (especially with all that lovely cheese oozing out!) I will be on the look out for masarepa – my husband would really enjoy these.
Thank you everyone for the comments! Gracias a todos por los comentarios:)
Esta receta se ve muy buena, pero me gustaria que probaras las arepas con queso ack Pepper Jack..Este queso le da un sabor medio picante y la arepa queda maravillosa. Trate y no se va a arrepentir..
Hola Alfonso,
gracias por el comentario…..seguro que voy a probar tu receta!
I wonder how do some Arepas come out softer and higher mine taste good but feel a little dense any suggestions
Linda- I usually follow the same directions from this post and they are perfect! Water your hands when your are making the balls, that can help a little.
I love this!!! I feel so hungry now….:-((( and I am not supposed to eat anything after 8pm…
Soy Colombiano nacido en Santiago de Cali y residente fuera de Colombia. Felizmente si hay restaurantes de comida típica de Colombia, en este país donde vivo. Allí yo como las deliciosas arepas colombianas, de cualquier tipo.
I LOVE AREPAS. I LOVE COLOMBIA.
Hi Erica,
Just have a question. Why you have not come out with a book on your own?
I would love to buy a couple if you just had one out there that we all can enjoy your fantastic receipes.
Abrazos,
Martha =)
Martha- maybe I should try to write my own cookbook! Thank you so much for the wonderful comment
Thank you so much for these recipes!! I did another one of yours and my boyfriend thats colombian didnt believe it at all!!! the taste was so authentic!!! great job!!!
Erica, me encanta tu pagina hace 4 a~os estoy fuera de Colombia y es una maravilla encontrar tantas recetas en un solo lugar, me encanta cocinar cositas para mis amigos y asi darles a probar un poquito de la maravillosa comida que tenemos en nuestro pais.
Sigue adelante!!
I am a Colombian grandama, living for 47 yrs, here in the USA. I already passed the recepie to my 4 daughters in law: German, Italian, Irish and from Georgia. They all know how to make them with cheese. I add a little bet of sugar, to complement the ingredients. Also before putting them together, I let the maza rest for 5 minutes. make a big ball, and cut it in the number of arepas you are going to make. That way everyone has the same size! I use Mazarepa.
can you tell me what corn i can use to make the arepa santaderana,and maybe you have the recipe,I look foward to your daily recipes thanks
Has anyone ever had the arepas con quasi at the airport in Bucaranga? Those were my very favorite! Would this recipe be similar?
Sorry meant queso above spell correction switched it…
I made these this weekend for breakfast and they were deeeelicious! Just like the ones we eat in Medellín. The one thing I would change is to add a bit more salt to the masa but that’s just a personal preference in taste. I also ended up cooking the arepas for about 5 minutes per side before adding the cheese, 3 minutes were not enough. A couple of tips for anyone who is not familiar with Masarepa, make sure you add the water slowly and see how much more or less you may need as you knead, don’t throw it all at once. Also, let the arepas rest before cutting them and adding the cheese. Thanks Erica, this was a wonderful recipe!!!
Just wanted to give you guys an update on this recipe. I tried it last weekend just as Erica wrote it but I added two thin slices of honey ham and one slice of mozzarella cheese. They were out of this world!
Please share if someone knows how to make the arepas like at the airport in Bucaramanga! Is it a different corn??? I love them and have nit had one in about 24 years!
Tambien se puede utilizar queso mejicano como el queso fresco, le da un sabor mas de campo….Also try it with a type of mexican cheese called queso fresco….. yummy
YOU ARE MY HERO. Enough said.
Here lately I have fell in love with you and your blog. I read in one of your post earlier that you felt homesick and were going to the Latin Store. Totally my kind of day today… I am totally homesick and wishing abuelita was here to spoil me…
But since she’s not ‘chocolate y arepas’ as soon as i can come back from the Latin Store!
Thankyou so much for taking the time to do all these. I bet your husband feels like he hit the jackpot with you! (Saying that because i have made about 4 of your recipes and my fiance thinks he’s the luckiest man on Earth… and I definitely wouldn’t say I am a good cook!)
So seriously… thank you!
Hi Ana- Thank you so much for your beautiful comment…..:) I truly appreciate it!
They r so good and easy to make
Thank you for your recipe! Now my husband doesn’t have to rely on the frozen ones!!
Thanks to your website I’m starting to love arepas! I prefer the taste of the arepas fried in oil (as your egg arepas are). Any way this recipe can be modified to first fry them and then add the cheese? Not sure if the part to melt the cheese should still be done in a skillet with butter but just fry the arepas first? Your opinion on this will be great!
Hi Erica,
I made these for breakfast today (topped with poached eggs, with a side of sausage). Wonderful! I made a half-batch, since there were only two of us, and was really happy with how well they turned out. I suspect I will be making these fairly frequently going forward, by popular demand! I’m also looking forward to trying your other arepa recipes. Cheers!
Hey Erica, I was wondering about the prep time and the cook time for this recipe.
I’m doing a project for school & were going to have cultural food day.
oh the arepas just need to be golden on each side and the cheese melted… cook at a low temperature. If it takes long its normal. sometimes its fast and sometimes not.
I just wanted to thank you for posting all of these amazing Colombian recipes! My boyfriend is from Colombia and I know how much he misses his comfort food, and I’ve been dying to make him something that reminds him of his home. Thanks so much!!! You’re amazing
OMG… you have the best recetas ever they always come out so good like home…. living in the united state without mom is hard to get home cooking… thank so much for sharing
I can’t wait to make this recipe!!! I’m an adult Colombian adoptee who has traveled to Colombia twice and met my birthfamily last year. Delicious Colombian food takes me back and definitely feeds my soul. Thanks for all your hard work on this website!
I recommend that you add shredded cheese in the bowl before mixing it and also a little bit of brown sugar. i also recommend putting hot water(really hot) in the batter then mix it (NOT WITH YOUR HANDS but with a big spoon or something).When you make the balls add more shredded cheese to the inside of each ball (a lot of cheese) before flattening them. then just flatten them and cook in a pan like you said. Cook it at a low temperature and let it cook thoroughly. Take my advise… Just try it! They will taste even better.