Today begins Hispanic Heritage Month and I am excited to share my recipe for pambazos. Pambazos are considered a Mexican street food craving. Usually sold in mercados or stands, Pambazos are similar to tortas. They are made with Pambazo bread or telera bread, different than a bolillo. Pambazo and telera bread is soft but its outside is sturdy enough to be dipped or brushed with sauce and fried. A bolillo has a crispy exterior and is oblong-shaped.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Pambazos
Pambazos are traditionally filled with potatoes or potatoes with chorizo, shredded lettuce, Mexican crema and queso fresco. You can definitely switch to cotija cheese, or crema agria (Mexican sour cream), your preference, but adding a sprinkle of hispanic cheese and crema is a must when enjoying a Pambazo. They are the best flavor enhancers on your soups, stews, salads and breakfasts.
Related Recipe: Watermelon Cucumber Salad
When looking for a great quality hispanic style cheeses and cremas, look for the Real California Milk seal on each package. When you look for the Real California Milk Seal, you’re getting authentic products made with sustainably sourced milk from family farms.
Want to learn more about Hispanic-style cheeses and cremas? Visit Real California Milk and get inspired with their delicious recipe catalog.
This is a sponsored recipe by Real California milk as part of the Real California Milk Hispanic advisory board. Thank you for supporting the brands I love that make this website possible.
Pambazos
Pambazos are dipped tortas in guajillo sauce traditionally filled with potatoes or potatoes with chorizo, shredded lettuce, Mexican crema and queso fresco.
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: Makes 4
Ingredients
6 dried guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
1 large dried pasilla chile, stem and seeds removed
½ white onion
3 large garlic cloves
2 cups Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon vegetable or chicken bouillon
Cooking oil
1 (8 ounce) pork, beef or soy chorizo
Salt to taste
4 telera breads
Filling:
shredded lettuce
crumbled queso fresco
crema Mexicana
sliced radishes
salsa verde
Instructions
Place dried chiles, onion and garlic in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
While chiles cool, place potatoes in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover and cook for 12 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and set aside.
Using tongs, transfer boiled chiles, onion and garlic to a high-powered blender. Add 1 cup water and chicken bouillon. Blend on high until smooth and thick. If a high-powered blender is not available, strain chile sauce. Transfer sauce to a bowl and refrigerate while potato filling is prepared.
If using soy chorizo, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat (oil is not necessary for pork or beef chorizo), add chorizo and stir, breaking apart with a spatula; about 10 minutes until chorizo is fully cooked. Add cooked potatoes and stir, mash gently with potato masher, still leaving some potatoes intact. Mixture should be lumpy and thick. Season with salt if needed. Set aside.
Heat 1 cup oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
Slice bread 3/4 of the way through, with one side still attached to be able to open and close. Using a pastry or BBQ brush, brush the entire outer portion of the bread with salsa. Using tongs, place bread in hot oil. Fry for 30 seconds on each side. Transfer bread to a serving plate. Open with tongs and fill with potato/chorizo mixture, lettuce, crema, queso fresco, radishes and salsa verde.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
