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.
Rocio del Pelar
Mariel
on Aug 25th, 2010
@ 1:27 PM:
Answer: On the chuzos, they were spreading some sauce over them…it was kind of greenish…I was wondering if you might now what sauce that is and how to make it.
Yes, the sause was "chimichurri" Its a typical Argentinian sause used with churrasco, but in Colombia it also used with other meats.l
Kristen
Is there a sauce that adds avocado chunks to a chimichurri in Colombia? My mother in law is Colombian and she made empanadas one morning with what I thought was a chimichurri (I've seen recipes but never made it or tried it myself) and they added avocado right before serving. Omg it was soooooo good on the empanadas. I want to try and mimic the recipe for my husband as a surprise but I've had a hard time finding the recipe considering I don't know what it even is
Rachel Joyce
I first tried arepas at a Cuban restaurant outside of Orlando and their style served was the Arepas Rellenos de Queso. I love all kinds of grilled cheese and this is no exception. Thanks for your recipe because I'm using it tonight for a Cheese & Corn Arepa stuffed with a Papaya and Habanero Chicken filling. Muchas Gracias!
Diana
I also made these last weekend as a side dish to the Pollo Asado (found in the Main Dishes section) I made for my sister's birthday. If I knew how EASY these were to make, I would have made arepas every day for breakfast, Medellín style. I only added a pinch of salt to the dough but that's just how I like them. I will never, ever ask my mom to make arepas again just so I can satisfy my craving. I can now make them myself! THANKS Erica!
joe
can anybody help me find frucos products in the usa? anyplace in ny or florida thanks
Mariel
Hi, I went to Colombia 2yrs ago with my friend to visit her family and absolutely loved the food. So recently I found your blog and started making many of these recipes....which turned out delicious! (especially arroz con coca-cola...so simple. The town I stayed at was Santa Marta, and I gotta say the chuzos were amazing too. but I have a question... On the chuzos, they were spreading some sauce over them...it was kind of greenish...I was wondering if you might now what sauce that is and how to make it. Well thanks for posting up all these recipes they are great...and keep doing what you do. Best wishes
Erica
Mariel- Every city has different recipes. In Medellin it is popular to marinade the meat for 24 hours with herbs and beer and spread beer with oil when you are grilling the chuzos.Maybe one of my readers can help you.
Marta S.
Hello Erica,
I see everyone is as excited as I am about your blog. Great way for you to make new friends. You have a new one here in Houston, Tx. I am from Bta and my mother used to cook something that she called 'entero'. do you have 'entero' in Medellin?
Gracias pues, Erica!!
Erica
Marta- What is entero? What kind of dish?
Stephanie
The package directions state 2 cups of areapa flour to 1 cup of water. Is your masa real thin.
Leah
Thank you so much for this website! I love cooking Colombian food for my Caleño husband, and these recipes are so authentic and easy to follow! He was delighted with the arepitas we had with dinner tonight!
Laura
Wow, your website was such a find! I was born in Medellin and came to the US with my family when I was very young so I never learned how to cook our traditional dishes. Looking through your blog has brought a smile to my face! My gringo boyfriend and I want to try to make arepas this weekend, and he's super excited to try some of your other recipes, especially that Colombian pizza! Mmmm!
Stacey Viera
Erica,
Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try making arepa at home. We loved eating arepa and calentado when we visited Bogota. Colombia is a beautiful country; can't wait to go for another visit!
Buen provecho,
Stacey
Pedro
Erica:
In the US, the best ingredient to make the paisa arepas is "White Hominy". You can get it from Goya foods, but there are also other sources. It is very much like mazamorra. The label on the can also calls it "Mote Blanco" and "Pozole". It is exactly like the cooked white corn we use for the arepas in Antioquia. It comes in slightly salted water, so I drain it, rinse it, and drain it well before grinding it (on a food processor) to the consistency of the arepa dough. The result is the real thing, perfects arepas. Like you, I am a paisa, married to a gringa. But I am not the cook. She makes the most delicious Colombian foods, and she was thrilled to find your website. Thank you for doing it.
Erica
Pedro- thank you so much for the wonderful comment. I am going to try mote soon.
~ Suze
Masa harina also works fine, as it's a corn flour that is very similar to masarepa.
El Paramedico
Erica,
I have done this with Grits ( I know no the same, but, the best I can do in my area)..I use less water so that the grits can be formed easier (trial and error as too how much water to use).. After the grits have cooled a little, I add mozzarella shredded, fold in the cheeze and grits.FYI-WET HANDS really does make it easier to handle... Form into balls and flatten..Then I bake them on a greased cookie sheet....I'm still trying to get the temp and timing down..but After trial and error I end up taking them out when they look like what my mom's used to look like..They never taste the same as hers,but, I'm gettng closer!!! lol
Diana
These look great. I'm going to give these a try. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Diana
koshercamembert
Erica -- Looking forward to getting your help with these the next time my sister visits so I can surprise her with these that she loved so much after her trip to Medellin. Thanks for the offer.
Best, Zahavah
Erica
Precooked cornmeal is called masarepa,if you do not find this kind yo can use the one you use for polenta.
kayatthekeyboard
What do you mean when you say "precooked" cornmeal? Cooked as in like polenta? That's the only way I could figured to do it.
Robert
I use "PAN" cornmeal in white or yellow. It's made in Colombia.
Maria
Goya makes a masarepa which is the cornmeal used for arepas. They even have a recipe on the back of the bag
Alicia
Do you use an arepa grill? The arepas in your pictures have spirals. Do you recommend an arepa grill?
Ariana
the precooked cornmeal is actually something that comes made you can find it on amazon or a mexican store it is called "PAN" and where is says PAN there is this yellow background on it.
Dane
Can I use regular cornmeal or is there an easy fix I can do to the regular cornmeal? We don't easily have access to precooked cornmeal
Erica Dinho
It's not the same. You can buy it online, amazon has PAN.
sadie
I looked it up and I think it's fine. I'm also gonna make it with regular cornmeal
Lucy
fwiw i tried that and afaik only PAN works correctly. i am Irish and have no preconceptions. But PAN works and others don't.
sadie
your comment is 13 years old
Anonymous
She posted a picture