Photo of Bean and Cheese-Stuffed Pupusas by WW

Bean and Cheese-Stuffed Pupusas

4
Points® value
Total Time
45 min
Prep
20 min
Cook
15 min
Serves
8
Difficulty
Easy
Pupusas are thick corn cakes made from masa harina that are typically stuffed with tasty fillings before they’re cooked. They’re the national dish of El Salvador, where they’re often served with a tangy cabbage slaw called curtido. The masa gives them a deep, rich corn flavour, and cooking them in a hot skillet creates a crispy exterior and tender, moist interior. Look for masa harina in the Latin foods section of large supermarkets, or on the baking aisle near the cornmeal. We use mozzarella cheese here because it’s a good stand-in for harder-to-find Oaxaca cheese.

Ingredients

Cooking spray

6 spray(s)

Masa harina

1 cup(s), white or yellow

Kosher salt

½ tsp(s)

Water

1 cup(s), hot

Fat free refried beans

½ cup(s)

Shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

½ cup(s)

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, stir together the masa harina and salt. Stir in the hot water to form a soft dough; cover and let stand 10 minutes.
  2. Place a large piece of plastic wrap on a work surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a ball. (If the dough feels too wet, work in another tablespoon of masa harina.) Place the dough balls on the plastic wrap. Flatten 4 dough balls into a 3-in circle. Arrange 1 tbsp refried beans and 1 tbsp cheese in the center of each circle. Using plastic wrap, bring the edges of the dough over the filling. Coat hands with cooking spray and pat the dough over the filling to completely enclose it. Gently flatten each filled dough piece into a 4-in circle. Coat both sides of pupusas with cooking spray.
  3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 filled dough pieces to the pan; cook until golden brown and crisp on the outside, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat the process with the remaining dough and filling to make 8 pupusas.
  4. Serving size: 1 pupusa