My Family’s Vegan Pupusa Recipe
Every vegan needs pupusas in their life! My family is from El Salvador and I grew up eating pupusas on a weekly basis. After going vegan my first mission was to recreate a vegan version of the food I grew up with. Because no one should have to give up their favorite foods after going vegan ;). This is my family's recipe of pupusas. Everything is made from scratch, the curtido, the beans, the salsa. This recipe is special, so I hope you really like it.
Curtido
Curtido is an essential side served with pupusas. Essentially it’s a pickled cabbage slaw. Think of it like a Salvadoran version of kimchi, the longer it sits, the better it tastes. If you can, make this the night before or if not, make sure its the first thing you make. This recipe will be enough for 8-10 people - half the recipe if you want less.
Ingredients: Serves about 10 people
1 medium cabbage - very thinly sliced
1/2 white onion, very thinly sliced
1 Tbs Sea salt
1 Serrano chile (Optional - Most Salavadorans don’t eat spicy but we do :D )
2 Carrots grated
1 tsp oregano
1 Cup Water
Directions:
First add thinly sliced cabbage to a bowl.
Next add 1/2 an onion, very thinly sliced.
Add salt and massage it with your hands so the salt can break down and soften the cabbage and onion. We also like to add Serrano chiles but this is optional.
Once reduced in size you grate 2 carrots.
Then add the very important ingredient - apple cider vinegar. Please don’t use regular vinegar, it must be apple. Then add equal parts water a pinch of oregano and mix until well liquids are well incorporated.
Adjust salt to taste if needed. Place in large container with the juice also.
Refried Beans
My favorite pupusas are the ones with beans and cheese so I always make beans for my pupusas. If you want only cheese pupusas you can skip this step.
Ingredients: Serves 5-8 people (so you can reduce the recipe if needed)
2 lbs of beans (cooked Salvadoran style) or 2 cans of red beans
1/4 Onion
1/2 Green Bell Pepper
1 Serrano Pepper (take out the seeds)
2 Tbs Oil
Salt to taste
Directions:
First you sauté 1/2 green bell pepper and 1/4 of an onion to a pan with some oil until they are nice and charred. Then you add home made beans or canned beans. Then you blend until smooth and you add to a pan with a bit oil on low heat because you wan’t to cook them until most of the water has evaporated and more firm. Let them cool in a bowl, you should be able to grab some with your hands and form a ball.
Vegan ‘Cheese’ Mix
Adding flavor to the “cheese” is what makes a pupusa taste better overall. There are many different types of filling but loroco is one of the most popular. When my parents first moved to the US they didn’t have loroco readily available so one day they decided to mix green bell pepper, and lemme tell you, the flavor is amazing. I like to add a tiny, tiny, touch of lemon juice to give it that tangy flavor that some sharp cheeses have. I also add some of my vegan crema sometimes to give it that extra oomph. My mom even likes to use in the non- vegan cheese ones.
I like using Daiya cheese just because I like their “cheese” pull results and flavor compared to some other vegan cheeses but honestly you can use whichever you like.
Ingredients:
2 Pkg Daiya Cheese (makes about 12-14 pupusas)
1/2 of a large Green Bell Pepper, grated, with juice. Make sure there’s more cheese to bell pepper ratio but the juice helps soften the cheese. If the cheese looks too dry add more grated bell pepper. If you have a smaller bell pepper you can grate the whole thing.
2-3 drops of lemon juice
Pinch of salt (optional)
Directions:
In a large bowl add Daiya Cheese, grated green bell pepper. Mix and breakdown with your hands.
Microwave for about 30-45 seconds until the cheese is soft but not melted. It can’t be rough like it’s natural state but it can’t be gooey either. You should be able to pick up with your hands and form a ball.
Add drops of lemon juice and let cool. You can also add a tiny pinch of salt but everything else should already have salt.
Salsa
You can’t have pupusas without salsa it’s just not gonna be the same experience. Here is our easy recipe.
Ingredients:
7 Roma tomatoes
1/4 - 1/3 White Onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 Cup Water
Pinch of oregano
Directions:
Add about 7 Roma tomatoes, 1/4 of an onion and 2 cloves of garlic and 2 chiles de arbol to a pot along with some oregano and salt add just a bit of water like 1/2 cup you will just need enough to steam for 10 min.
Take off the skins of the tomatoes to make a more smooth salsa and blend until smooth.
Masa
Next is the masa, you want a finely ground white corn flour.
3 Cups White Masa Flour (I like using Masienda since it’s non-gmo, but you can also use Maseca.
3-4 Cups Water
I’ll be honest, I never really measure since I do it all by feel, but I did it just for you guys. You want about 3 cups of the masa flour and 3 cups of water and mix bit by bit until you masa is like a play dough consistency it can’t be too mushy or too hard, so just add more water or masa if needed. It should be on the softer side.
How to Assemble
To put them together, first add a bit of water mixed with oil to your hands to prevent sticking and grab a golf size ball of masa or more to your hands. Make a little bowl shape and add beans and a generous amount of cheese. About 1 tablespoon of beans and two large tablespoons of cheese. Try to press in the cheese as much as you can then you close up the masa in a circular form to remove any excess masa from the top. This will even out the ratio of masa to filling.
Hand Method vs Plate Method.
Flatten out the ball between two hands like, moving it back and forth. Or you can put the filled ball between a large cut open zip loc bag and flatten with a plate.
Heat a comal (skillet) to medium high heat
Make sure to turn the pupusas every minute or so, so they don’t crack. Then you’re ready to serve with curtido and salsa, it does take quite a bit of time to prepare this meal from scratch but trust me, it’s worth it.
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