Pupusas are an extremely cost effective meal! Fill them with your favorites and you’ve got a perfect dish!
There have been many times I’ve seen people shy away from an international dish solely based on its name. I totally get that it can be intimidating to order something you know nothing about in hopes that you, or dare I utter, your kids would enjoy it. Just the other day we went to a Mexican restaurant while on vacation in upstate New York and when I named off dishes to the kids that included sopes, huaraches and flautas there was silence in the air for several seconds until Kenya said “do they have tacos or enchiladas?”
It can feel intimidating trying new foods with exotic names, but once you try and enjoy them there’s no going back. This is exactly what happened when we had pupusas for the first time at our farmers market years ago. I remembered all of our friends ordering them for breakfast with their kids, but for some reason it took some time before we made the leap.
One bite, though, and Kenya was hooked! There was actually shock in his voice (as if he thought they only came from the Salvadorian lady at the farmer’s market). Years later our family has had every variation of this Salvadorian dish including cheese, bean, chicken, vegetable and more. They’re generally topped with a vinegary slaw, a side of guacamole and crema to add to the simple flavor of the masa that makes these traditional pupusas.
The best part is they only take minutes to make and cost so little per serving, which is great if you’re feeding a group or looking to stretch your weekly menu planning budget. If you make them please let me know in the comments below what you added inside (if anything) to make them your own!
Pupusas
Ingredients
- 2 cups masa harina (corn flour)*
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup shredded cheese I used a mexican blend of cheeses)
- oil
Instructions
- Combine the masa, water and salt in a bowl and stir to combine into a dough.
- Divide the mixture into 6 balls and flatten each one into a 3 inch disk.
- Place 1 tbsp of shredded cheese in the center of the disk and carefully fold in the edges to enclose the cheese.
- Flatten the disk, covering the cheese and form into 1/4 inch thick disks (about 5-6 inches across).
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large saute pan. Add 2-3 pupusas at a time and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side for a total of 8-10 minutes.
- Serve.
Notes
- *Make sure to buy masa harina (sold at most groceries) which is different from cornmeal
- To Freeze: After step 4, place on sheet tray and freeze for 30 minutes or until frozen then transfer to a ziploc bag label and freeze up to 4 months. When ready, defrost in fridge for 24 hours and follow steps 5-6.
Is 1.5 cups water correct? It was soo watery. Thanks!
I love pupusas, but making the cup for the filling was my down fall. Now to make them I just put masa in a mixing bowl, add some salt and dump in beans and cheese, onions etc and mix. Them form this Pattie’s and fry with minimal oil. Easier than frying eggs and bacon and almost as fast.
Can you pre make pupusas and when you are ready cook them?
Yum!
My son-in-law is Salvadoran and has me hooked on Pupusas. My favorite is Chorizo and cheese filled.
These sound good – thank you.
You had me at pusa! (How cute is that?) I adore pupusas, so Kenya OBVIOUSLY has great taste. Yours look amazing! Already printed off the recipe…
I just made these and they are outstanding! Use Maseca brand masa and add water slowly. I used slightly over 1 1/2 cups. Super yummy and they brown up with no oil 🙂