Pupusas de Chicharron (Pork Pupusas)

Pupusas de chicharron are one of the most delicious foods you could ever taste. They’re absolutely delicious and worth every bit of work that goes into them. These pork pupusas are an incredible dish the whole family is sure to love! Next, you’ll have to check out a similar dish called arepas.

If you’ve never made pupusas before you might want to start out with this cheese pupusa recipe. It’s a whole lot easier than making pupusas de chicharron.

Then once you master the cheese pupusas you can move on to making the recipe I’m sharing today. That’s just a suggestion though.

Today I’m going to share all my tips and trick with you so even if it is your first time making pork pupusas they should still come out amazing!

What are pupusas?

Pupusas are the national dish of El Salvador. They are made from masa harina just like gorditas.

The difference between pupusas and gorditas is that pupusas are stuffed with the filling before cooking and gorditas are first cooked then stuffed with the filling.

Pupusas can be filled with pork, cheese, refried beans or all three which are called “revueltas”.

They are served with curtido and a delicious non-spicy tomato salsa.

Ingredients

For the filling:

• pork butt
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• oregano
• chicken bouillon
• water
• vegetable oil
• red bell pepper
• green bell pepper
• white onion
• garlic cloves
• roma tomatoes
• ground cumin
• shredded mozzarella cheese

For the salsa:

• roma tomatoes
• piece of onion
• garlic cloves
• chicken bouillon
• olive oil

For the masa:

• masa harina (I use Maseca)
• chicken bouillon
• water

In this recipe “chicharron” is referring to the pork meat not fried pork skins or rinds.

How to make pupusas de chicharron

The first thing you want to do is prepare the chicharron.

Chop the pork into small chunks. The pork will be blended later so making them into small chunks will be easier on the blender.

Put the pork chunks in a large bowl and add the garlic powder, onion powder, oregano (crush between your palms) and chicken bouillon.

Mix well with your hands and make sure all the pork is coated in the seasonings.

Heat up a skillet over medium heat. Add the meat and 3/4 cup of water. Cover and cook for 40 minutes.

Remove the lid and let all the liquid evaporate.

Let the meat brown in it’s own fat for 20 more minutes.

Stirring and flipping the pork chunks often.

You can add oil to the skillet if the meat didn’t release enough fat. I added about 2 tbs of vegetable oil to mine.

The meat should look like the photo below when done. You’ll want your pork meat about this color.

They’ll be tender inside but nice and crispy on the outside. This is going to provide the best flavor.

Set the meat aside.

Now it’s time to start on the salsa.

Put the roma tomatoes in a pot and cover with water.

Bring to a boil over medium high heat.

Let them boil for about 5 minutes or until the skins start peeling.

Then remove from heat.

Transfer the tomatoes to a blender.

Pour out the water from the pot.

Add the piece of onion, peeled garlic cloves and chicken bouillon to the blender. Blend until smooth.

Make sure the pot is dry and heat up the olive oil in it over medium heat.

Add the salsa and let fry for a couple of minutes.

Then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.

While the salsa is simmering chop up the bell peppers, onion and tomatoes and put them in a bowl along with the garlic cloves.

Add half of the bell pepper mix to the blender and add half of the pork chunks. Then blend.

You can add a little water if necessary to get it blending.

Transfer the blended meat to a large bowl.

Then repeat the above step with the remaining half of the veggies and pork chunks.

Heat up the same skillet used to cook the pork over medium heat.

Add the blended meat to the skillet and cook for about 7 minutes.

Then remove from heat and let cool for about 30 minutes.

Now it’s time to get started on the masa dough.

In a large bowl add the masa harina and chicken bouillon. Mix well.

Instead of the chicken bouillon you could use just salt but the bouillon adds a wonderful flavor to the masa that plain salt doesn’t.

Then slowly add the water and mix with your hands for about 5 minutes or until you get a smooth and moist dough.

You don’t want the dough to be dry.

Next form the dough into equal sized balls. You should be able to make between 20-25 dough balls depending on how big you make them.

Next put one dough ball between two sheets of plastic. I used a ziploc bag that I cut open for this.

Use a heavy pot to flatten the ball.

Be careful to not flatten the ball too much. It should be thick and not thin like a tortilla.

If you make it too thin it will most likely break open after you put the filling in.

Add a spoonful of the chicharron to the center of the masa. Then add some of the shredded cheese.

Next fold the dough as if making an empanada. Use the plastic to help you do this.

Now shape it back into a ball. You can use the plastic bag to help you do this.

The ball does not have to be perfect.

What I do is take the two ends and kind of push them in and up in order to make a ball.

Now for this part you’ll want to keep a small bowl of water or oil nearby.

Wet the palm of your hands in the water or oil and using your palms flatten the dough ball into a thick tortilla as shown below.

Then place the uncooked pupusa on a baking sheet and repeat the above steps with the rest of the dough balls.

Don’t fret if your pupusas don’t look perfect it’s totally fine.

Here’s a quick tip. If the pupusa cracks open after shaping it back to a thick tortilla you can use a small piece of masa to patch over the crack.

I’ve done just that with one of the pupusas shown below.

Heat up a skillet over medium heat. Coat the skillet with some oil.

I don’t use a lot of oil just enough to keep the pupusas from sticking.

Once the oil is hot add the pork pupusas.

I was actually able to fit about 3 pupusas at a time in my skillet.

Cook the pupusas for about 6-7 minutes.

Then flip them and continue to cook for another 6-7 minutes.

Then transfer them to a large baking sheet and cook the rest of the pupusas. Add oil as needed to coat the skillet.

You can also cook them on an electric griddle.

An electric griddle is a great option because you can fit more pupusas on them.

Serve the pupusas de chicharron with plenty of curtido and salsa.

You can’t have pupusas without curtido. The curtido really completes them!

I linked to the recipe for the curtido earlier.

It’s best to make the curtido a day in advance as that will allow sufficient time for the shredded cabbage to soften and for the flavors to come together.

If you have any pork butt left over I suggest you try making carnitas! They’re easier than making pupusas and so yummy!

Tips and tricks for making pupusas de chicharron

• Cutting the pork meat into small chunks will make it easier for it to blend later.
• Add a little oil to the skillet if the pork meat doesn’t release enough fat.
• Brown the meat until nice and crispy on the outside yet tender on the inside for the best flavor.
• If you want a spicy salsa add a serrano pepper along with the tomatoes when boiling.
• Wet your hands with water or oil when flattening the dough balls.

Pork and cheese pupusas

Pork and cheese are one of my family’s favorite foods.

Yes, there is quite a bit of work that goes into them but it’s absolutely worth it.

Plus once you get the hang of it it’ll seem much easier the next time you make them.

I hope you and your family enjoy these delicious pork pupusas as much as we do.

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below and don’t forget to rate it.

Thank you so much for visiting, see you soon!