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–+ servings

Pupusas de Frijol con Queso

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Prep 1 hour
Cook 1 hour
Total 2 hours
Pupusas are the national food of one of my favorite places on earth, El Salvador. On every street corner, I heard the distinct pat-pat-pat of the women making the pupusas and just thinking of it brings me back! As it is basically illegal in El Salvador to eat these with a fork, be prepared to eat with your hands and get a little messy! As this recipe takes more time to prepare I have made the batch size a little bigger at 6 servings to ensure you have enough to share with friends! The recipe costs $2.10 per serving and $12.60 for the whole recipe.
Servings 6
Course Main Course
Cuisine Salvadoran
Servings6

Ingredients

Curtido
  • 1 Head Green Cabbage
  • .5 Onion
  • 2 Carrots
  • 2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 2 tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
Beans
  • 1 lb Red Beans
  • 3 qt Water
  • 1 tbsp Veggie Stock Base
  • 1 Dried New Mexico Chili
  • 1 Onion
  • 4 clove Garlic
Salsa
  • 6 Roma Tomatoes
  • 1 Onion
  • 1 clove Garlic
  • 1 Jalapeño
  • 1 Lime
Other Ingredients
  • 4 cups White Corn Masa
  • 5 cups Water
  • 12 oz Monterrey Jack Cheese
  • Canola Oil

Method

Prepare Curtido:
  1. Using a knife or food processor, finely shred the cabbage and onion. Using a cheese grater, shred carrots. Put cabbage, onion, and carrot into a large bowl and cover with salt, oregano, and vinegar. Stir to combine everything and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours. Mix the mixture around every 20 minutes or so to ensure everything is coated in vinegar. The cabbage can be prepared several days in advance. Make sure you put it into a glass jar if you plan to let it sit for longer than a few hours.
Prepare Beans
  1. Pressure Cooker Method: Combine red beans, water, veggie stock base, and whole New Mexico Dried Chili into a pressure cooker. Chop onion and mince garlic and add to the pot. Bring to high pressure and cook for 60 minutes. Use the quick-release method to let out the steam. Once finished, strain, and reserve the liquid from the beans.
  2. Regular Pot Method: Combine red beans, water, veggie stock base, and whole New Mexico Dried Chili into a large pot. Chop onion and mince garlic and add to the pot. Cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer beans until tender (3-4 hours). Once finished, strain, and reserve the liquid from the beans.
  3. Blend Beans: Blend the beans in a high powered blender or using an immersion blender until they are very smooth. If needed, you can add a small amount of the cooking liquid back into the beans if they are not blending or are too thick but you want them fairly dry.
  4. Finish Beans: Pour the beans into a large frying pan or wok. Add 1/2 cup of canola oil and stir over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the oil is completely mixed in and the beans begin to thicken. Season with salt to taste then set aside and let cool completely. The beans will get very thick as they cool.
Prepare Salsa
  1. Blanch the tomatoes by immersing them in boiling water for 45-60 seconds until the skins start to split. Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and put them in cold water in the sink. Once cooled, remove the skins and seeds and put the tomatoes in a blender. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño (stemmed and seeded) to the blender and blend until no chunks remain. Pour the mixture into a small pot and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and juice one lime into the pot and stir. Season with salt to taste and set aside to let cool.
Prepare Cheese
  1. Shred cheese and let sit at room temperature for about 60 minutes. Once the cheese is at room temperature, use your hands to mush the cheese and form into a ball. You will be using small handfuls of the cheese to form the pupusas in step 7 so it is important that the cheese is malleable and at room temperature.
Prepare Masa
  1. Mix the corn flour and water together to form a thick masa. Let it rest for about 5 minutes to absorb all the water. It should not be sticky but it should also be very soft. A good test to see if you have the right amount of flour and water is to form a ball and then smash it. If the side of the ball cracks, then you don't have enough water. If it is sticky, then you need to add more flour. Once the dough is mixed, cover with a damp towel and set aside until ready for step 7.
Assemble and Cook Pupusas
  1. To make things easier on this step, I have put together a video on how to form the perfect pupusa. Click here or watch below to get started. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Take about 2 ounces of the masa and form into a ball and flatten the ball into a thick disk. Add a small amount of beans and cheese to the center of the disk. Fold the edges of the masa up and around the beans and cheese to form a ball. Using a small amount of oil, pat and shape the ball into a flat disk, evenly spreading the beans and cheese out along with the masa. After forming the pupusa add a small amount more oil then put it into the hot pan/griddle. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes until browned and the cheese is melting out the sides.
Serve:
  1. To serve, pull apart the pupusa and top with curtido and salsa. Traditionally, pupusas are eaten with your hands but can also be enjoyed using a fork (just don't let any Salvadorans see you doing it)! Buen provecho!

Video