Homemade Arepas

my mom is from Venezuela so I'm familiar with arepas and these reminded me of the ones my mom used to make

I make these a couple times a week bc my husband is from Venezuela. These are a staple in Venezuela and can be stuffed with anything from ham and cheese to steak. They are also good stuffed with chicken salad. It took me a a few tries to get them perfect but they are worth it. Very good.

I'm not Venezuelan, I live in Guadalajara, Jalisco. We are so used to making these, we make quesadillas, and we deep-fry them, slice 'em open and stuff with cubed bistec and very spicy tomato sauce. They can also be made with Maseca. Same consistency. If you live in Mexico, P.A.N. can be found in any Superama, Walmart doesn't have it. Thanks for posting, I love your recipes!!!

I just had to post how you actually make the Arepas before frying. You grab a handful of dough and roll it around in your hand until it is a smooth ball (the heat of the hands helps to get rid of rough edges). Then you slowly pat the ball until it is evenly flat, not too thick or thin. Adding Parmesan cheese to the dough adds a nice touch, but I find simple is better. You can also make thick oven Arepas by heating the Arepas in a pan lightly greased until it has a bit of a shell, then pop in oven until it is cooked through and looks a little flaky, cooking time varies depending on size and how long they were in the pan, you can also skip the pan step. =)

This is pretty much the recipe from the cornmeal product container. Having said that... you can't really beat it. Sometimes, if only seving as a vessel for salsa, I 'll add some seasoning to the batter, but it is totally not necessary. Easy, fast and delish.

Maybe I did something wrong, but I thought these were extremely bland, plus they were kind of sticky in the middle, almost like they weren't cooked enough, but hard on the outside, like they were overcooked. I made them twice with the same results, I tried cooking them faster the first time and then slowly on lower heat the second time. The texture is just terrible and I don't know how to fix that. It's a shame, because my daughter is celiac and I'm always trying to find her a quick sandwich option that's not terrible. I'll keep trying until I use up the PAN, which I had to order on-line, but I don't think I'll buy any more.

Made these exactly as described, using coconut oil, and they came out perfect. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Filled some with chorizo, sliced chayotes, and grated cheddar, others with Italian sausage, peppers, onions and cheddar, after sauteing the chorizo, chayotes, italian sausage, peppers, and onions in separate piles in a large skillet. They were delicious, and perfect for me because they are gluten-free!

I love these so much I bought an arepa maker as a Christmas present to myself! In my family there are so many dietary preferences. Vegan, vegetarian, meat eaters. I make these for Christmas and everyone brings a different filling. I have filled them with the chicken tinga recipe from this site, I have also filled them with carne asada. Black beans and sliced avocados are good. Cream cheese and jam is very good. Even scrambled eggs and bacon. There is a filling for everyone! Unfortunately after one or two you are stuffed! One thing I wanted to add, make these as you need them, they are no good reheated! If I have any left over dough it will keep wrapped tightly in plastic for a few days.

The brand name Harina P.A.N. was proposed by Empresas Polar's then President and Chairman of the Board Carlos Eduardo Stolk. He selected the acronym "P.A.N.," in Spanish "Producto Alimenticio Nacional," or in English, "National Food Product," to represent a food product for mass consumption for all Venezuelans."

great recipe, I always have to fry them a bit longer on each side. i've been eating these at home since I was a kid. In Colombia they eat these with everything. I recently wrote on my blog about my life eating arepas as a Colombian American along with a food and music pairing

I used canola oil because I was out of vegetable oil, still worked!

these are very good especially with cheese.

Fantastic basic Arepas recipe! The water/cornmeal proportions needed to be adjusted slightly to find the exact consistency I was looking for, but they turned out great.

These are awesome. It pretty much follows the recipe on the bag of masaarepa. They took a little longer to cook... probably 10 minutes per side. We stuffed it with cheese, black beans, and shredded chicken.

I thought they were bland.

These are quite good. It's important to keep an eye on the temperature because these need to be cooked thoroughly, therefore you have to make sure they don't burn on the outside.

Very easy and fun to make. Great results.

It literally didn’t work. The corn flour just sat at the bottom o the water so I kept having to add corn flour. Then when I went to cook them they crumbled and fell apart. The flavor also was way way under salted. I had to throw them away.

Soy de Colombia muy bien explicada tu receta, le puedes agregar queso a la masa y queda un mas rica . Very Good!

I made this recipe today, and my only addition was to oil my hands to better hands the dough, which was a bit too wet and kept sticking to my hands and not forming the patties. Regardless, they came out pretty great!

Turned out just right

Excellent

Perfect recipe, as is. I love this as a quick alternative to rice, pasta, polenta or naan!

Love this recipe! Sooooo delicious!

Very good. My mistakes: the dough was slightly wet, and my pan was just a little too hot.

I made arepas with cheese (mozzarella and parmesan mixed) which was very good. A little slower pan and a drier dough would have given me a little lighter biscuit, and better texture, I think.

Yummy !! We lightly greased skillet, as recommended on the P.A.N. website. Thanks Chef John !

I made these as written, only difference was I made them thinner and did not split them, came out with 14. They were delicious also hit them with some fresh cracked pink salt as soon as they came out of the pan. They were so good!

Found my new go-to breakfast sandwich bun. You can do so much with it. I added Everything Bagel seasoning to a few of them just to experiment. Yum!

Ridiculously simple, very tasty. I played it up a bit and stuffed mine with shredded cheese (combo mild cheddar and Jack).

Great. After making this a few times, you can get a feel for when you've added enough water and not even need to measure it.

So easy and they turned out perfectly the first time! I made them as a trial run before my son and daughter in law came into town. They were so good we ate the leftovers for breakfast when they arrived. They were a hit . We plan to make them tomorrow. What a treat, especially for those of us who are gluten intolerant.

Delicioso!

I loved to eat these, especially with the cheese in them!

Like others said pretty bland on their own - reminds me of a corn pancake. Definitely takes on the flavor of whatever you eat them with - we used them as a replacement for tortillas tonight with tacos and it was good.

Love arepas so many different types, in the flea market in homestead florida there's a food truck selling home made arepas with lots of cheese or lots chicharon the best arepas that's my saturday get away.

This recipe definitely takes practice. My ingredients were exact and the batter came out very watery. The more I tried to add flour little by little, the more the consistency changed. I will try again. Flavor was great.

Excellent! More Venezuelan than Colombian, but that could also be as much cooking manner as anything.

I made a mistake and made them a little to big. I will make it again and little smaller. As always Chef John explains it great.

Not sure if the mesa I used was right or not. They still want down a treat. I can see how it could be very versatile to make a array of dishes or quick and easies.

straight up addictive

kids loved them and really cheap!!! excellent ready for my arepas food truck home-made bread's thanks these are fire better than processed bleach bread I also used dry Masa

My mom made me arepas growing up, she taught me how to make on the fillings the scrambled egg one with tomato and onion. One of my favorite fillings. I started making them for my girlfriend and she's obsessed with them and starting eat breakfast cause if them. One if the easiest meals to make :)
I came to this recipe cause j never know how much water to add so I add in little at a time. Ooo sorry for the long paragraph

My husband is from Venezuela and we have them all the time. Someone mentioned that the middles didn't seem quite done and, how we eat them is to cut in with a butter knife while they're very hot and scrape out some of the middle. My husband said that in Venezuelan restaurants, you could specify if you wanted none, a little, or a lot of the dough removed.