Venezuelan Arepas
Venezuelan arepas are flat, round, savory corn flour patties made with only five ingredients for crispy-on-the-outside and tender-on-the-inside delights. This versatile Latin-American staple can be enjoyed plain, buttered, or stuffed with meat, beans, and cheese!
You know, I truly love cooking and blogging because I get to travel all over the world, trying different foods. And whenever I find a fantastic new recipe, I can’t help but put my little spin on it. Then I get anxious and excited to share it with you.
These arepas are my latest discovery and spot-on satisfying. I was surprised to see people eating these filling treats for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack time. Then, we ordered a few and understood why.
What Are Arepas?
This pre-Columbian staple continues to be a popular street food in Venezuela and Colombia. The main ingredient is masarepa (a.k.a areparina or arepa flour), a precooked and finely ground corn flour. Add water and salt, and you have an easy and naturally gluten-free snack.
The Venezuelan version is thicker than the Colombian one, which means it’s great for slicing open and stuffing with cheese, meat, chicken, and beans. They remind me of a Mexican gordita with a finer texture.
How to Make Venezuelan Arepas
- Mix the areparina and salt, add the melted butter and water, and mix well into a dough. Form into disks, filling with cheese if desired.
- Fry on a griddle or cast iron skillet. Optionally finish in the oven.
Recipe Tips
- If you want to avoid frying, brush the arepas with a little olive oil and bake them for 18-20 minutes at 350℉ (180℃) or air fry them for 14-18 minutes at 375-400°F (190-200°C).
- For a traditional, 3-ingredient arepa, leave out the butter and cheese.
- Colombian arepas use the same dough but are thinner and served as a side on their own or topped with butter, shredded cheese, or scrambled eggs.
- Masa harina is very different from masarepa, and it will change the flavor, texture, and the amount of water needed. However, ½ cup of gluten-free flour to 1½ cups of masa harina will achieve a similar consistency as masarepa. A teaspoon of baking powder helps it rise a bit. You can add a little flour, arrowroot starch, or tapioca starch if needed to get the desired consistency—moldable and not crumbly.
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
Arepas are best straight from the pan, but you can make the dough a day or two ahead. Keep it wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 2-3 days or freeze it for 2-3 months.
Store leftover arepas in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, 4-5 days in the fridge, or up to 3 months in the freezer. Heat them back up in a toaster, 350℉ (180℃) oven, or air fryer.
What to Serve With Venezuelan Arepas
Slice the arepa almost in half to create a pocket. Then fill it with black beans, shredded cheese, picadillo, shredded beef, avocados, or chicken salad. We love it with a side of guacamole and salsa. Not authentic, but totally delicious.
More Mouthwatering Cornbread Recipes to Try
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Venezuelan Arepas
Ingredients
- 2 cups (360g) masarepa (or areparina)
- 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups (480ml) warm water
- ½ cup (66g) mozzarella cheese (optional)
- 2 tablespoons (30g) cooking oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the masarepa corn flour and salt until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the center and add the melted butter and water.
- Gradually stir using a wooden spoon until no dry lumps remain. Adjust the consistency by adding more flour or water as needed; the dough is ready when it doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl or your fingers. Let it rest for about 5 minutes to hydrate.
- Wet your hands, grab about 3 tablespoons of the dough, form a ball, and gently press it between your palms to flatten, forming about a ¼-inch thick patty. Pay attention to the edges, and smooth out any cracks. If using cheese, make a little well in the center of the dough ball before flattening. Place flattened disks on greased parchment paper and repeat with the remaining dough.
- Heat a little oil in a large cast-iron or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the arepas in batches, flipping once, until golden brown, for 5-8 minutes on each side. Finish them in a 350℉ (180℃) oven if you're concerned the outside will burn before the center cooks.
- Transfer the arepas to a wire rack and let them cool. Split them and stuff them with the desired filling: shredded chicken, pork, chicken salad, or enjoy them as they are.
Tips & Notes:
- The dough should feel soft, similar to Play-Doh, and don’t forget to let it rest for about 5 minutes so the flour hydrates well.
- Wet your hands before forming the arepas so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands.
- Finishing them in the oven will give you fluffier arepas.
- Authentic arepas are gluten-free because the flour is 100% corn. However, if you’re enjoying them in a restaurant, ask to make sure because some people add white flour to the mix.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
excellent
THanks , Laura
These look so good!! Going to try soon. Can these be made bigger, like the size of taco shells?? 6 inches in diameter???
Yes they sure can . Please do let me know how it works out for you.
Thanks
I like this recipe, will try for sure
Thank you Marlina, sure go ahead and don’t forget to share your feedback, I will be waiting to hear 🙂
Thanks for the note about adding the flour or arrowroot starch. I’ve tried making these in the past but couldn’t get them to stop being so watery, despite adding more and more masa harina.
Go ahead and try it. I am sure it will turn out great now 🙂
My friends from Colombia approved this recipe. Yay!
Yayy, Great to hear !!!
Love your recipes! What is the recipe for the meat that is served with the arepas in the picture?
It’s slow cooker carnitas. Check out the recipe here https://www.africanbites.com/spicy-pulled-pork/
Do you work the cheese into the dough? Or just cook it on top of the dough?
Hello. I add the cheese at the center of each dough ball before I flatten them. Please see step #2. Thank you.
what is Arepa flour?
Hi Eileen. It is a precooked corn flour specifically for making arepas. For arepa flour, it uses large, starchy corn kernels which makes it a starchier variety of flour. You can purchase it online in amazon.com or at most Latin specialty stores.
Harina PAN….Venezuelan food
I was wondering if you knew of a substitute for the flour as I can’t find it anywhere and don’t have time to order it!
Sorry there isn’t a real substitute for this flour.
Hi sweety! First, i want to say thtat i love your blog and recipes! I am from israel, the food here is amaizng! Israelis are very open minded and love to try and test new food and recipes. Unfortantly, we dont have a lot from the caribbian-african side here, i hope we will…, any way, what i want to ask is about this special arepas flower, we dont have it here, we have yellow and whait cirn flower, thick and thin…, can i make this beautiful arepas with a diferent flower?? I would love to make it…! Is it possible?? Thabk you, yaeli.
Hi, Yaeli. Thank you for dropping by. I haven’t tried this recipe with other types of flour. But as per online digging, the closest substitute you can have for Masarepa flour would be Masa Harina which is a very finely ground white corn flour used in making tortillas. Though there’ll be a noticeable difference in taste and texture. You can purchase masarepa though on amazon.com. You’d usually see brands like Areparina (which I use), Goya and PAN – among others. Hope this helps.
My sister-in-law is from Columbia and serves them with a salted yogurt that is sooo good! They kind of remind me of my southern Grandmas fried corn bread which I miss so much. I am definitely going to try making these soon!
Got to try these with yogurt. I’ve had these with butter and I love love it. That’s my first thought, too. These resembles the hot cornbread or fried cornbread. Can’t wait for you to try it. Enjoy!
Listen here Imma, my mother-in-law gave me a bag of this flour about 3 weeks ago and I have to admit that I didn’t know what to do with it, so it ended up in the cupboard until i can figure out what to use it for.
Now today i got your update, and what you know the same flour present itself… well honey, I made Arepas for lunch with some sweet plantain hash. OMG!! DELICIOUS!!
Thank you so much hun… you are appreciated.
Awesome!!! So glad I could help.