Arepa Rellena con Queso is a popular dish in Colombia and Venezuela. This is a Colombian-Style Cheese Stuffed Arepa recipe. It's very easy to make and delicious.
What is an Arepa?
It is one of he most popular foods in Colombia and Venezuela. There are many variations of this dish in Colombia. They are basically patties made with precooked corn flour. They can be filled or topped with different ingredients and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
These cheese stuffed arepas are very easy to make and the recipe doesn't require a lot of ingredients. They are rich, cheesy and absolutely delicious. You can eat them alone or served with huevos pericos on the side.
If you want to try more arepa recipes, check my arepas de yuca, arepa de huevo, arepa de papa and arepa Boyacense.
Ingredients to Make Arepas de Queso
You'll find the printable recipe card with exact amounts, cooking directions and step by step cooking video below.
Pre-cooked Corn Flour: To make arepas you must use masarepa or pre-cooked corn flour, some brands are P.A.N. and Goya. Some regular grocery stores sell it on the international food aisle. You can also find it in Latino markets or online.
Salt: To flavor the dough.
Water: Use lukewarm water to make arepas.
Butter: To make the dough and to cook the arepas.
Cheese: I recommend using whole milk mozzarella cheese.
How to Store Arepas
You can store them in the refrigerator for up to 7 days in a ziploc bag or in an airtight container.
If you want to freeze them, let the arepas cool completely and wrap them well with plastic wrap. Then place inside a freezer ziploc bag and freeze them for up to 3 months.
Cheese Stuffed Corn Cakes Recipe (Arepas Rellenas de Queso)
Ingredients
- 2 cups pre cooked corn meal masarepa
- 2 cups warm water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon soft butter divided
- 12 slices mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- 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.
- 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 ⅓ inch. The arepas should be about 5” in diameter.
- 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.
- Split the arepas using a knife as you would do with an English muffin and stuff wit 2 slices of mozzarella cheese.
- 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.
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie
I want to grab those corn cakes with cheesy goodness right off the screen! Yummy!
Skip
"2 cups pre cooked corn meal masarepa"
How do you precook the Masarepa before making the dough?
Erica Dinho
Masarapa is precooked corn flour. It's ready to make the arepas.
Jaime A Martinez
Masarepa is made from already pro-cooked corn
James Clover
It comes that way.
Soma
You keep coming up with real unique stuff! amazing!!
lisa (dandysugar)
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!
Felisha
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
pigpigscorner
Who can resist that oozing cheese! Looks so mouth-watering.
Erica
Thank you all for the nice comments!
Pocky
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.
Eric
Can you use Maseca for this too? I've always wanted to make these and yours look great!
Erica
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.
Armando G
Hi, Maseca is only for Tortillas. You Can Find Harina Pan o Doña Arepa. They are the best for this king of plate.
Anonymous
Hello, what would the best way be to make and store these a day in advance?
Erica Dinho
Store the cooked arepas in a zip lock in the freezer.
Silvia
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.
Lori Lynn
Oh, don't those look good? I must try this too.
LL
Sophie
MMMM..Erica! they look so georgous & so delicious! Yum Yum Yum,...what else can I say? 8)!!
Stanley Barker
Puede decir "Ñam, ñam, ñam
lilee
I can't wait to make this tonight!! Looks delicious! 🙂
John
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!
Erica
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!
Dimah
Yum! Looks drool worthy!
Federico
¿Cuando ha visto usted arepas como esas en Colombia? Esas son arepas venezolanas. Las arepas colombianas son muy distintas.
Erica
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.
Claudia
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.
Alejandra Castillo
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
Tangled Noodle
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.
Erica
Thank you everyone for the comments! Gracias a todos por los comentarios:)
Alfonso Galvez
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..
Erica
Hola Alfonso,
gracias por el comentario.....seguro que voy a probar tu receta!
linda
I wonder how do some Arepas come out softer and higher mine taste good but feel a little dense any suggestions
Erica
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.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
I love this!!! I feel so hungry now....:-((( and I am not supposed to eat anything after 8pm...
Luis Fernando
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.
Martha
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 =)
Erica
Martha- maybe I should try to write my own cookbook! Thank you so much for the wonderful comment 🙂
maribel
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!!!
Angelica
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!!
mARIA eSCOBAR
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.
herman
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
LeeAn Kahriger
Has anyone ever had the arepas con quasi at the airport in Bucaranga? Those were my very favorite! Would this recipe be similar?
LeeAn Kahriger
Sorry meant queso above spell correction switched it...
Diana
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!!!
Diana Lopez
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!
LeeAn
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!
Isabel M
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
Ana
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! 🙂
Erica
Hi Ana- Thank you so much for your beautiful comment.....:) I truly appreciate it!
Anonymous
They r so good and easy to make
Aimee
Thank you for your recipe! Now my husband doesn't have to rely on the frozen ones!!
Lisa
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!
Dawna
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!
Dulce
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.
Colombiana Laura
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.
Annie
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 🙂
Paola
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
Angela
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!
Colombiana Laura
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.
NELLY GRILLI
Que rico se ve, pero debo preguntar , ¿que es la Masarepa? o como se prepara esa masa?, muchas gracias, desde Argentina,, un saludo ....
Vanessa
I made this for breakfast...it came out great! Thanks for the posting these recipes!!!
OliviaStein
do they work if you use polenta for the cornmeal part?
Erica Dinho
Olivia, I didn't try making them with polenta, but you can try it and let us know if you like them.
Tara
This was absolutely delicious! It was my first time making arepas and I love the cheese filling. Can't wait to try other variations.
ymassey
Us Mexicans also use and make corn cakes for our gorditas and stuff them with anything. 🙂 sometimes I smother them with red or green Chile sooooo yummy!! We use masa harina
Claudia
Tengo una pregunta,soy de padres colmbianos,y cuando mi abuelita hacia árepas ella usaba una parilla encima de la estufa y teníamos estufa electrica. Con esta receta se puede usar una parilla?
Por que no sabe lo mismo en un sartén que en parilla.
Raquelle
I am all for anything with cheese!
Michael
I make these all the time, but I grill them to get a “skin”, then pop them in a convection oven at 400 degrees until the puff up. After cooling slightly I cut a slit in the edge about half way around and stuff goodies inside....YUM.
Maria
I only have in the house at this moment fine yellow corn meal, can I used it to make the arepas? Thank you in advance
Erica Dinho
Precooked cornmeal or masa arepa
David Brenner
Hi, these look great, and I want to try and make them; however, I have one question: you list the butter as "2 tblsp of soft butter, divided. Does that mean that 1 tblsp goes in the dough, and 1 tblsp goes in the pan for toasting?
Erica Dinho
Step by step video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiDPP2JP9zI
David Brenner
Thanks, but that still didn't clarify how much butter goes in the dough and how much goes in the pan; is it one tablespoon each?
Erica Dinho
Yes
Anna Kirova
These look so yummy! I saw them in the Disney film Encanto and I really want to make them! Thank you for the recipe!
Sara
This is my favorite recipe. Very easy to make and watching your video was perfect.
Karen
Who's here after watching Encanto?? 🙂 can't wait to try these, about to order some masarepa!
Jade
Here because of ENCANTO! Can't wait to try!
Elizabeth Br
I made these for foreign language week at school and my teacher just so happened to be Colombian! I got positive feedback from everyone!
Laura B
I would make these with mi abuelita when I was little. We would do just as you said but instead of putting it right to cook, we would make the ball and then we would press our thumb into it, making sure not to go all the way through. Then we would add the cheese and flatten it out making sure the cheese would stay in the middle. I’ve done them like this ever since and the cheese stays in the middle and just as good.
nancy arce villegas
Exquisitas las arepas