Chicken Pupusa Recipe

Now that I am officially a Salvadoran mama, it is time I share my recipe for chicken pupusas! 

I love making pupusas out of my leftovers! If I have extra tomatillo sauce and chicken, aji de gallina, or extra deli meat you can bet I’m going to add some mozzarella and make amazing pupusas out of it! We do not waste time or food in this house. Use your imagination and make any kind of pupusa you like. My personal favorites are:

• Black bean and cheese
• zucchini and cheese 
• Chicken and cheese
• avocado and cheese
• Aji de gallina and cheese

Making your own pupusas, allows you to play around with the ratios for salt, oil and water to get the pupusas just how you like them. 

Whatever pupusa you eat be sure to eat it with curtido and salsa roja. Make your curtido 3-days ahead for the best flavor and make the red sauce (salsa roja) the same day you make your pupusas!

And by the way, these chicken pupusas are 100% diabetes friendly. If you make 12 pupusas out of my recipe that will be just 15g of carbs per pupusa (not counting mozzarella). Additionally, my curtido recipe has no sugar and the tomatoes in the salsa roja lower the GI index even further. 

This recipe is for chicken pupusas. The golden ratio for cheese is equal parts to whatever else you are mixing in.

Tips for making pupusas:

• Every brand of masa has a different water requirement. 
• Salt your masa or it will be very hard and dry;
• Add more or less water to your masa depending on the weather;
• Don’t overwater the masa, so that the masa doesn’t stick to your hands;
• If you overwater it just let it rest a bit so water can evaporate;
• Use less masa than you think you need when forming each pupusa;
• Stuff each pupusa as much as possible: equal parts filling to masa;
• Focus on making your pupusas thin rather than pretty.

Let’s make pupusas!

Homemade Salvadoran Curtido Recipe

Ingredients

Makes 12 pupusas

Masa

Tip: The masa is where a lot of people get stumped when making pupusas. It is essential to mix the masa with your hands in order to feel the right consistency. If the masa feels crumby, not enough water, if sticky, masa has too much water.

• 2 cups corn masa for pupusas (Maseca).
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1/4 cup avocado oil

1. Mix flour and salt first;
2. Add water, mix masa with your hands;
3. Last, add the oil and make sure it’s mixed thoroughly;
4. Partition out your masa into 12 equal pieces: Roll into a log, cut in half, cut each part in half, finally cut each piece in thirds. 

Filling 

Tip:  “Pull” your chicken in a bowl using a mixer on low, to save time and effort. 

• 2 cups cooked pulled chicken or meat of choice;
• 2 cups mozzarella, shredded
• Veggie sauce:*
• 1 green bell pepper shredded
• 2 tomatoes, peeled and seeded
• 1 small onion, diced

*Optional: Gives the pupusa’s filling that uniquely Salvi taste!

Make It

1. Heat a large griddle on medium heat
2. Mix chicken, cheese, and *veggie sauce to make filling.
3. Roll each of the 12 pieces of masa into a small ball, pat it flat like a tortilla and stuff it. 
4. Stuff each masa “tortilla,” fold it like a taco, then roll it all into a ball and flatten it again.
5. Grill each side over medium heat for 3-5 minutes on each side, until the pupusa puffs up, and slides easily off the grill with a spatula.
6. Serve with curtido and red sauce!

Buen provecho!

Laura