This Bean and Cheese Pupusas with Curtido recipe is part of a sponsored collaboration with Vive Mejor and DiMe Media. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
Bring home the flavors of Central America with Homemade Bean and Cheese Pupusas with Curtido
Beans, cheese and masa are the epitome of my childhood. From bean and cheese tamales, to bean and cheese tlacoyos, gorditas, tlayudas, and sopes. Just imagine my delight when a freshly made corn tortilla, right off the comal was smeared with refried beans topped with a few pieces of asadero cheese, rolled between my grandmother’s palms and gently handed to me. It was a symbol of love and fortunately for me, a memory I haven’t forgotten.
Related recipe: Shrimp Ceviche Tostadas
Fast forward to the present. The tradition continues. Now, I get to enhance those flavors with salsas, cremas, slaws, pickled jalapeños and relishes. This calls for pupusas. Pupusas are traditional Salvadoran corn flour cakes, stuffed with savory ingredients such as chicharron, squashflower blooms, chicken and loroco, a Central American edible flower bud. In this case, I went back to my beloved beans and cheese.
Pupusas are customarily served with curtido, pickled cabbage slaw. It can also be topped with a mild or spicy salsa. Your preference. I opted for the spicy and perfectly seasoned with Knorr® Chicken flavor Bouillon.
These pupusas can also be kid-friendly. My nine-year-old son devoured a couple just topped with curtido. The curtido in this recipe is tangy. With Best Foods Real Mayonnaise added to the mix, the pickled cabbage was a bit creamy. It also includes nutritious twists like using part-skim cheese and reduced amounts of dressing than other typical coleslaw recipes. The combination is delicious.
Although pupusas are known as a comfort dish. This dish is on the lighter side. No lard or shortening is used in the masa mixture or beans. We also loaded up on veggies in the curtido and salsa.
I love using Knorr to season my dishes. Not only is it convenient and makes the food taste better, it also sources high quality ingredients and helps farms implement sustainable practices such as reducing water and energy consumption, minimizing fertilizer usage, optimizing renewable resources, and increasing biodiversity.
Get inspired just like me and visit ViveMejor.com. There are so many recipes with simple ingredients where you can create full mid week meal spreads in a fraction of the time.
You can also follow along on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @ViveMejor and @Knorr with the hashtags #MiCocinaViveMejor and #LograMasConTuCocina.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup PLUS 1 teaspoon cider vinegar, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 small head purple cabbage, finely shredded
- 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
- 1 small white onion, divided
- 4 plum tomatoes (about 12 oz.)
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled
- 4 finely chopped serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded if desired
- 1/3 cup cilantro
- 1 1/2 teaspoon. Knorr® Chicken flavor Bouillon, divided
- 5 teaspoons oil, divided
- 1 1/2 cups cooked no salt added pinto beans, mashed
- 1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 4 cups masa harina
Instructions
- ¡ For Curtido, combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, 1/3 cup cider vinegar, salt, sugar and red pepper flakes in large bowl. Add cabbage and carrots. Finely slice 1/2 of the white onion and stir into cabbage and carrots; refrigerate until ready to use.
- ¡ For Salsa, pulse remaining 1/2 of the white onion, roughly chopped, plum tomatoes, garlic, chilis, cilantro, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon Knorr® Chicken flavor Bouillon and remaining 1 teaspoon of vinegar in blender until smooth.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over medium high heat. Carefully pour contents of blender into skillet and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature before serving.
- For refried beans, heat 1 teaspoon oil in medium skillet and cook yellow onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to blender, reserve skillet.
- Season beans with 1/2 teaspoon Bouillon and keep warm.
- For pupusas, combine masa, remaining 1/2 teaspoon Bouillon and 3-1/2 cups water in large bowl to form a slightly sticky dough, adding more water, little at a time, if needed. Cover and let rest 10 minutes before forming pupusas.
- Divide dough into 20 egg-size balls, cover with a damp towel. Form each ball into a deep bowl shape, fill with 1 to 2 tablespoons cheese, pressing into side of dough, then top with 1/2 tablespoon bean mixture. Bring edges together to seal. Gently pat and squeeze ball to form a flat disk, about 4-in.; repeat.
- Heat skillet over medium high heat. Lightly brush with 1 to 2 teaspoons oil. Cook pupusas in batches, until golden, with slightly darker spots, about 6 minutes, turning once. Serve with Curtido, Salsa and cilantro.
