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Paraguayan

Chipa

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

Chewy, golden rings of cassava-starch bread rich with cheese, egg and a hint of anise — Paraguay's everyday snack, sold by street vendors and eaten with cocido or mate.

Chipa is a Paraguayan bread, ready in about 50 minutes and made with tapioca starch and queso fresco. It serves 10 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep
25 min
Cook
25 min
Total
50 min
Serves
10
Level
Easy
Calories
395

Ingredients

10 servings (20 chipas)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Beat the butter (opens in a new tab) with the eggs (opens in a new tab), anise and salt. Work in the cheeses.

    • 5 min

  2. Step 2

    Add the starch and cornmeal (opens in a new tab) and knead, adding the milk (opens in a new tab) a little at a time, until the dough is smooth, soft and no longer cracks when pressed.

    • 10 min
    Hands kneading dough on a floured surface
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Roll pieces into ropes about 2 cm thick and join into rings or horseshoes about 8 cm across. Space on a lined tray.

  4. Step 4

    Bake at 200 °C for 20–25 minutes until golden. Eat warm.

About this dish

Origin
Paraguay · Well documentedRooted in Guaraní cassava cooking; also popular in north-eastern Argentina. Related to Brazilian pão de queijo.Also popular in ArgentinaMore food from Paraguay
Dish
Breakfast · Snack · Breads & flatbreads · Street food
Cooking method
Oven-baked
Taste
savoury, salty, aromatic / warmly spiced
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Portable / lunchbox · Freezer-friendly · Child-friendly · Make-ahead
Cook more with
Tapioca starch · Queso fresco · Cornmeal · Butter · Egg · Parmesan
Techniques
Baking · Kneading

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom butter, queso fresco, parmesan, milk
  • Contains: Eggsfrom egg

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

395 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 122 g · recipe makes 10

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 9%
  • Carbohydrate 51%
  • Fat 39%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy395 kcal324 kcal
Protein9.2 g7.6 g
Carbohydrate50.6 g41.4 g
Net carbohydrate49.7 g40.7 g
Sugars2.9 g2.4 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre0.9 g0.8 g
Fat17.3 g14.2 g
Saturated fat9.8 g8 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol99 mg81 mg
Sodium572 mg469 mg
Salt equivalent1.4 g1.2 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
100 mg
Calcium
235 mg
Iron
1.4 mg
Magnesium
20 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
164 µg
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
1.1 µg
Vitamin B12
0.7 µg
Folate (DFE)
13 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Tapioca starch: Dry pearl tapioca (FDC 169717) used as a stand-in; both are almost pure cassava starch.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • The dough should feel like soft modelling clay; too dry and the chipa cracks.

Serve with

  • With cocido (toasted yerba mate with milk) for breakfast.

Storage

  • Keeps 2 days in a tin; freeze shaped, unbaked rings.

Reheating

  • Re-warm at 180 °C for 5 minutes.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 25 min

    Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.

  2. Bake · about 25 min at 200 °C

    Puffed with golden-brown spots on both sides.

  3. Start to finish: about 50 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

  • Pale crust

    Likely causes

    • Oven too cool
    • Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
    • Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)

    What to do

    • Check the oven with a thermometer
    • Brush with egg wash or milk
    • Shorten the fermentation
  • Burnt bottom

    Likely causes

    • Tray too close to the heat
    • Dark tray absorbs more heat
    • Too much sugar in the dough

    What to do

    • Bake on the middle shelf
    • Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
    • Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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