How to make Arepa – Venezuelan Style

Arepa is made with pre-cooked White Corn Meal; its crispy exterior and soft texture on the inside make them perfect to add the filling of your choice. In this post, I will show you how to make Arepa – Venezuelan Style. This dish is delicious, and it is gluten-free!

Arepas have a special meaning to me. I grew up eating Arepas all the time. This recipe is passed down from generation to generation, and my daughter loves it! I remember my mom waking up early in the morning on weekends and cooking arepas filled with Venezuelan scrambled eggs (Perico) for breakfast.

Family traditions are so important; they bring the family together, and food does that. Every time I cook, Arepa brings me back to those happy moments that I spent with my brothers and sister, sitting at the table eating our mom’s food. I can still smell the delicious aroma of my mom cooking for us.

Now that I have my own daughter, I’m teaching her how to make Arepa; I tell her all the stories of my mom teaching me and how grandma taught my mom how to cook.

What is Arepa

Arepa is a pre-Columbian dish from the northern region of South America. Originally dates back to around 3,000 years ago. In some areas, they found instruments native people used to cook this dish. It seems that they use clay slabs for cooking them. This meal is made by grinding dry corn kernels. This meal is high in fiber and low in sodium.

How do we eat Arepas?

I’m sure that each family has its own way to make them. At home (in my childhood), we used to eat Arepas at any time during the day; breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and even made mini arepas for birthday parties! We also have a sweet version in which they add sugar to the dough and fry them. It’s so delicious!

Arepas are extremely easy to make, and they cook in no time. The original recipe has only three ingredients, Pre-cooked Corn Meal, water, and salt. I add flaxseed and chia seeds because I like to add extra fiber and proteins, but the original recipe contains only the three main ingredients mentioned above.

In Venezuela, we make them a little bit thick so we can open them and fill them. It is really versatile because you add the filling of your choice, from cheese to scrambled eggs, salad, meat, tuna, black beans, ham, to name a few.

Arepas can be grilled, fried, and bake.

What do you need to prepare Arepa?

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Kitchen Utensils

• Large Bowl
• Grill pan
• Measuring cup and Spoons

Ingredients

• 2 cups of Pre-cooked White Corn Meal (gluten Free)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups of water at room temperature.
• 1/2 teaspoon Chia Seeds (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon Flaxseed (Optional)

How to make Arepa – Venezuelan Style

Add Pre-cooked Corn Meal, salt, flaxseed (optional), and Chia Seed (optional) to a large bowl. Add the water.

Knead until the dough has a smooth consistency and let it rest for 5 minutes. Make the Arepa

On a grill pan, cook the arepa over medium heat for around 5 minutes on each side. You know that it is ready when the outer layer is crispy.

Open them from the side, add butter if you like, and add your favorite filling.

Useful tips

1. The brand of Pre-cooked Corn Meal I use is Gluten Free. It’s always advised to check on the labels that say gluten-free.
2. If the consistency of the dough gets too hard after resting for 5 minutes, you can add a little more water until it softens.
3. With this recipe, I made six arepas.
4. Where to buy this Pre-cooked White Corn Meal? You can find it in most supermarkets in the international section. There are many brands; the brand I use is called P.A.N.

Fillings ideas for Arepas

Potatoes Chicken Salad (family recipe):

• In a pot with boiling water, add a chicken breast.
• Let the chicken cook to medium heat for 30 minutes or until chicken breast is fully cooked.
• Add two potatoes and two carrots cut into cubes, and 1/4 cup of green peas.
• Add one teaspoon of salt to the water. Boiled the vegetables with the chicken until fork-tender.
• Drain the content with a colander and let it cool down.
• Place vegetables and shredded chicken in a container, add salt to taste, a sprinkle of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of shredded onion, 1/2 of red apple, cut it into cubes, and mayo.
• I filled the arepa with the salad and topped it with avocado slices.

Venezuelan Scrambled Eggs (Perico):

• In a frying pan, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium heat.
• Add 1/4 cup sweet pepper in cubes, 1/4 cup of diced sweet onion, and 1/4 of tomatoes in cubes. Cook in the frying pan until tender.
• Add six eggs, lightly beaten, and salt. Cook to your desired consistency.

Tuna Salad:

• In a large bowl, empty a tuna can.
• Dressed the tuna with red onion (cut it into small squares), tomatoes, salt, pepper, and mayo.

I hope you like this recipe of How to Make Arepa – Venezuelan Style. Looking for more cooking ideas? Try my Multigrain Bread Recipe!