Skip to content
FriendsPantry

Venezuelan

Tequeños

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

Sticks of salty white cheese spiralled in a thin, slightly sweet wheat dough and fried until crisp and golden. No Venezuelan party is complete without them.

Tequeños is a Venezuelan finger food, ready in about 1 hour 25 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and queso fresco. It serves 8 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking
Golden fried tequeños stacked on a wooden tray with a side of dipping sauce.
Photo: Ricardo Suarez / Pexels · Pexels License
Prep
40 min
Cook
15 min
Rest
30 min
Total
1 h 25 min
Serves
8
Level
Intermediate
Calories
421

Ingredients

8 servings (about 32 tequeños)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Mix the flour, sugar (opens in a new tab), salt and baking powder (opens in a new tab), rub in the butter (opens in a new tab), then add the egg (opens in a new tab) and enough cold water to form a smooth, firm dough. Wrap and chill 30 minutes.

    • 10 min

  2. Step 2

    Roll the dough out very thin (2 mm) and cut into 1.5 cm-wide strips.

  3. Step 3

    Wrap a strip in a tight, slightly overlapping spiral around each cheese stick, covering the ends completely so no cheese shows.

    • 20 min

  4. Step 4

    Heat the oil to 180 °C and fry the tequeños in batches for 3–4 minutes, turning, until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

    Food safety: Never leave hot oil unattended; any gap in the dough lets cheese leak and spit.

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

About this dish

Origin
Venezuela · Well documentedCommonly linked to the town of Los Teques, though this is not certain.Also popular in Colombia, SpainMore food from Venezuela
Dish
Snack · Finger food · Appetizers & starters
Cooking method
Deep-fried
Taste
salty, creamy, savoury
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Festive & celebration · Freezer-friendly · Child-friendly
Cook more with
All-purpose flour · Queso fresco · Sugar · Baking powder · Butter · Egg
Techniques
Deep-frying

Allergens

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

421 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 121 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 13%
  • Carbohydrate 30%
  • Fat 57%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy421 kcal348 kcal
Protein13.8 g11.4 g
Carbohydrate31.8 g26.3 g
Net carbohydrate30.8 g25.5 g
Sugars2.9 g2.4 g
Added sugars1.6 g1.3 g
Fibre1 g0.8 g
Fat26.5 g21.9 g
Saturated fat11.1 g9.2 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol74 mg61 mg
Sodium609 mg503 mg
Salt equivalent1.5 g1.3 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
115 mg
Calcium
311 mg
Iron
2 mg
Magnesium
21 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
173 µg
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
1.5 µg
Vitamin B12
0.9 µg
Folate (DFE)
116 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

Tips

  • Freeze uncooked tequeños on a tray, then fry from frozen for parties.

Serve with

  • With a garlic-mayo or guava dipping sauce.

Storage

  • Freeze uncooked for up to 3 months.

Reheating

  • Re-crisp in a hot oven or air fryer.

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, 3

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 40 min

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

  2. Rest · about 30 min

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

  3. Bake · about 15 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 25 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
  • Crust too hard or thick

    Likely causes

    • Baked too long at too low a temperature
    • No steam at the start

    What to do

    • Bake hotter for a shorter time
    • Add steam for the first 15 minutes (tray of boiling water, or a covered Dutch oven)
    • Cool under a tea towel for a softer crust

Reviews & corrections

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

You might also like