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Chilean

Sopaipillas

Vegetarian

Round fried flatbreads made with mashed pumpkin, crisp outside and soft within. Chileans eat them with pebre or mustard from street carts, or soaked in spiced chancaca syrup on rainy days.

Sopaipillas is a Chilean bread, ready in about 1 hour 5 minutes and made with pumpkin and all-purpose flour. It serves 8 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep
30 min
Cook
20 min
Rest
15 min
Total
1 h 5 min
Serves
8
Level
Easy
Calories
323

Ingredients

8 servings (about 20 sopaipillas)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Mix the flour, baking powder (opens in a new tab) and salt. Add the warm pumpkin (opens in a new tab) purée and melted butter (opens in a new tab) and knead into a soft, smooth, non-sticky dough, adding a spoonful of flour or water as needed. Rest 15 minutes.

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

  2. Step 2

    Roll out to 5 mm thick, cut 10 cm rounds and prick each a few times with a fork so they don't puff unevenly.

    Dough being rolled out with a rolling pin
    How it looks · Photo: Katerina Holmes on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Fry in oil at 180 °C, a few at a time, until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper.

    Food safety: Use a deep pan no more than a third full of oil.

About this dish

Origin
Chile · Commonly attributedFried doughs called sopaipillas exist in Argentina and New Mexico too; the pumpkin version is typically Chilean.Also popular in ArgentinaMore food from Chile
Dish
Snack · Breakfast · Breads & flatbreads · Street food
Cooking method
Deep-fried
Taste
savoury, mild
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
With the listed swaps: Vegan, Plant-based, Ovo-vegetarian, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Street food · Budget-friendly · Child-friendly
Cook more with
Pumpkin · All-purpose flour · Baking powder · Butter
Techniques
Deep-frying · Kneading

Allergens

  • Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom butter
  • Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour, baking powder
  • Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour, baking powder

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

323 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 105 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 7%
  • Carbohydrate 50%
  • Fat 43%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy323 kcal308 kcal
Protein5.6 g5.3 g
Carbohydrate40.8 g38.8 g
Net carbohydrate39.2 g37.3 g
Sugars1.2 g1.1 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre1.5 g1.5 g
Fat15.4 g14.6 g
Saturated fat4.6 g4.4 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol16 mg15 mg
Sodium400 mg380 mg
Salt equivalent1 g1 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
183 mg
Calcium
50 mg
Iron
2.7 mg
Magnesium
16 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
211 µg
Vitamin C
3 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
152 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.
  • “—” 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

Serve with

  • Top with pebre, mustard or ketchup; or simmer briefly in chancaca (brown sugar) syrup with orange peel and cinnamon for sopaipillas pasadas.

Storage

  • Best freshly fried; cooled ones keep a day in a tin.

Reheating

  • Re-crisp in a 200 °C oven for 5 minutes.

Variations

  • Sopaipillas pasadas (Chile): Soaked in hot chancaca syrup and served as a winter sweet.

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

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

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 step 1

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 25 min

    Mix only until no dry flour remains — overmixing makes it tough and tunnelled.

  2. Rest · about 15 min

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

  3. Bake · about 20 min

    Risen and golden; a skewer in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs; the top springs back.

  4. Start to finish: about 1 h. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
IngredientRoleWeightBaker’s %
All-purpose flourFlour400 g100%
PumpkinOther300 g75%
ButterFat60 g15%
SaltSalt6 g1.5%
Baking powderRaising agent4 g1.1%
Total flour
400 g
Hydration
—
With milk, eggs…
0%
Wholegrain
0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

  • Salt 1.5% — normal for bread.
  • Fat 15% — a rich, tender dough.

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

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

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