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Central American

Pupusas with curtido

Vegetarian

Pupusas

Thick corn-masa cakes stuffed with melting cheese and refried beans, cooked on a hot griddle and served with curtido, a tangy pickled cabbage slaw.

Pupusas with curtido is a Central American street food from El Salvador, ready in about 2 hours 5 minutes and made with masa harina and queso fresco. It serves 4 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking
A serving of Pupusa
Representative photo. JMRAFFi / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
40 min
Cook
25 min
Rest
1 h
Total
2 h 5 min
Serves
4
Level
Intermediate
Calories
635

Curtido is best made a day ahead.

Ingredients

4 servings (8 pupusas)

For the curtido

For the dough

For the filling

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Make the curtido: pour boiling water over the cabbage (opens in a new tab), carrot (opens in a new tab) and onion (opens in a new tab), leave 1 minute and drain well. Toss with the vinegar, 60 ml water, oregano (opens in a new tab), chilli flakes (opens in a new tab) and ½ tsp salt. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

    • 10 min

  2. Step 2

    Blend or mash the beans with 1 tbsp oil and ¼ tsp salt, then cook in a pan for a few minutes until thick enough to hold its shape. Cool.

    • 6 min
    • medium heat

  3. Step 3

    Mix the masa harina (opens in a new tab) and ½ tsp salt with about 400 ml warm water to a soft, smooth dough that feels like play-dough and doesn't crack at the edges. Mix the two cheeses.

    • 5 min

  4. Step 4

    With lightly oiled hands, roll a golf-ball-sized piece of dough, press a deep cup in it, fill with a spoon each of beans and cheese and pinch closed. Pat gently into a 1 cm-thick disc. Repeat to make 8.

    • 20 min

    Small cracks are fine; press them together with a damp finger.

  5. Step 5

    Cook on a lightly oiled hot griddle until speckled brown and puffed, about 4 minutes per side, so the cheese melts.

    A flatbread cooking on a hot griddle
    How it looks · Photo: Muhammad Khawar Nazir on Pexels

  6. Step 6

    Serve hot with plenty of curtido on top or alongside.

    • 1 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
El Salvador · Well documentedAlso made in Honduras, where their origin is sometimes claimed too.Also popular in United StatesMore food from El Salvador
Dish
Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner · Street food · Main courses · Breads & flatbreads
Cooking method
Pan-fried, Marinated / cured
Taste
savoury, tangy, earthy
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · High-protein
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Street food
Cook more with
Masa harina · Queso fresco · Cabbage · Carrot · Onion · White vinegar
Techniques
Pan-frying · Boiling · Marinating · Curing

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom queso fresco, mozzarella

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

635 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 455 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 16%
  • Carbohydrate 50%
  • Fat 34%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy635 kcal140 kcal
Protein25.3 g5.6 g
Carbohydrate80.7 g17.7 g
Net carbohydrate68 g14.9 g
Sugars6 g1.3 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre12.7 g2.8 g
Fat24.5 g5.4 g
Saturated fat9.4 g2.1 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol46 mg10 mg
Sodium1163 mg255 mg
Salt equivalent2.9 g0.6 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
679 mg
Calcium
514 mg
Iron
8.4 mg
Magnesium
141 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
260 µg
Vitamin C
29 mg
Vitamin D
1.1 µg
Vitamin B12
1.2 µg
Folate (DFE)
324 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.
  • Red chilli flakes: Ground cayenne (FDC 170932) used as a stand-in for dried chilli flakes such as pul biber or Aleppo pepper.
  • “—” 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

  • Keep a bowl of water with a splash of oil nearby to keep your hands from sticking.

Common mistakes

  • A dry dough cracks and leaks cheese; add water a spoon at a time until it is supple.

Serve with

  • Serve with a thin cooked tomato salsa.

Storage

  • Curtido keeps a week refrigerated. Cooked pupusas keep 2 days refrigerated or 2 months frozen.

Reheating

  • Reheat on a dry griddle until hot through.

Variations

  • Pupusas revueltas (El Salvador): Filled with a mix of cheese, beans and chicharrón (seasoned ground pork).

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

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

The spice and seasoning backbone

Spices, masalas & pastes

  • Salt1.25 tsp · 7.5 g
Used in step 1

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 40 min

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

  2. Rest · about 1 h

    Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.

  3. Bake · about 16 min

    Puffed with golden-brown spots on both sides.

  4. Start to finish: about 1 h 56 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
  • Tough or chewy flatbread

    Likely causes

    • Dough too stiff
    • Not rested
    • Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan

    What to do

    • Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
    • Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
    • Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

Reviews & corrections

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