Arepas de Queso are made with pre-cooked corn flour, butter and cheese. These arepas usually eaten for breakfast and popular in Colombia and Venezuela.
Arepa is a typical Colombian dish from the region Antioquia, my home state. They are made with pre-cooked corn flour or masarepa. There are many variations of this dish in the country and depending on the region and cook, you will also find arepas made with yuca, plantains, sweet corn, dried corn and potatoes.
I love eating warm Arepas de Queso for breakfast, spread with butter and more cheese on top, with a good cup of Colombian hot chocolate.
Colombian arepas are very versatile because they can be top or fill with your favorite ingredients and served for breakfast, appetizer, lunch or dinner.
These Cheese Arepas are an essential part of the Colombian daily diet. You can serve them as a main course or appetizer with any topping you like. I love making small sized arepas de queso with hogao. They are absolutely delicious!
What You'll Need to Make Arepas de Queso
You can find the printable recipe card with exact amounts and cooking directions below.
Pre-Cooked Cornmeal: This is the main ingredient to make this dish and can't be replace. You can find it online or at your local supermarket.
Water: To make the dough and should be lukewarm.
Cheese: I like to use grated mozzarella cheese for this recipe, but feel free to use any melting cheese.
Butter: Unsalted butter to make the dough and to cook the arepas.
Salt: To add flavor to the dough.
More Arepas Recipes To Try:
Arepa with Guacamole and Shrimp
Arepa with Chicken and Avocado
Arepas de Queso Recipe (Cheese Arepas)
Ingredients
- 1 cup pre-cooked white or yellow arepa flour or cornmeal
- 1 cup warm water
- ⅓ cup white or mozzarella cheese grated
- 2 tbsp butter
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Combine the cornmeal, warm water, cheese, 1 tbsp butter and salt, mixing thoroughly. Let mixture stand for five minutes.
- Knead with your hands for about 3 minutes moistening your hands with water as you work.
- Form 4 small balls with the dough. Place each ball between 2 plastic bags and with a flat pot cover flatten to ½ inch.
- 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 they are golden brown.
Genevieve R
I ate something similar when I lived in Mexico. We stuffed them with cojita cheese, and a combination of onion, radish and Cilantro, and then added some spicy green salsa. They were heavenly. I can't wait to try this recipe!!
Cyn
I made these without the cheese, so I could eat them with sweet or savory toppings. I was able to easily find Goya masarepa at my local international market. They came out perfect, lightly crusted on the outside, creamy on the inside. Wonderful with shredded white cheese or raspberry jam on top. Thank you for the recipe! I will be making them for my gluten intolerant friends.
Michelle
These are so amazing! Our Exchange student from Bogota made Arepas and these turned out just like hers!
Question: How do you split them if you want to put a meat filling in them and eat them sandwich style?
Erica Dinho
Make them ticker and split with sharp knife one of the edges.
Ann-Marie
Should the butter that is put into the arepa mixture be melted? Or should it be room temperature?
Erica Dinho
Room temperature
Elle
I haven't tried making them yet (finally found PAN though!) but I've been seeing a lot of people commenting they use feta to mix trough the flour instead of mozzarella (they use mozzarella for stuffing though). Which would taste the best for a first time making this?
Erica Dinho
I would use mozzarella.
Jessica S.
Do you measure the masa in grams or do you just measure it out with a measuring cup?
Tiffany
I've made several recipes form this site over the years. So when my Encanto obsessed daughter requested to make arepas con queso I came here looking for a recipe. We just made them together and they are a hit with the whole family. Thank you.
Brooke
I'm super excited to have found this website! My husband and I spent three months in Colombia (Bogota y Armenia) and I have been wishing to recreate some of the wonderful meals we had there!
Liz
My kids wanted to make these after watching Disney's Encanto. They turned out great. I was even able to find PAN at Aldi. We're looking forward to trying more of your Colombian recipes.
Ashley
Absolutely delicious. Love this recipe.
Roni
Hi! I host foreign exchange students and I currently host one from Columbia. She is here for 6 months and got a little homesick. So I searched for recipes from her country and came across your site. I made the arepas with Oaxaca cheese and she LOVED it! She was so happy. And I found that I love it too! These are better than bread or pancakes to me. Lol Thank you for these yummy recipes and I can't wait to try more of them.
Mahalo, Roni