Together with our marinated grilled tofu and a creamy vegan sauce, these Vegan Arepas will gain a place in your heart immediately.
Maize tortillas constitute a staple of Latin American cuisine. You will find tortillas in different shapes, colors, and flavors, as there are more than twelve thousand types of corn.
In the South (Colombia and Venezuela), people call these corn shapes Arepas. From Panama and up to Mexico, we call them tortillas.
Arepas are the sandwiches of South America, as you can eat them with whatever filling you think makes a great combination.
We both share a love for Arepas. Joaquin tried them for the first time, thanks to his Colombian roommates back in Buenos Aires.
Me, well, I am from Panama where we, not only have our version made out of yellow corn (called Tortillas de Maiz) but, given our countries’ proximity, have been exposed to both Venezuelan and Colombian Arepas.
Here, we propose to have arepas with this Marinated Grilled Tofu and this 5-minutes Creamy Vegan Sauce, which is similar to a pesto. Optionally you may add some arugula and caramelized onions.
We have eaten them in both ways, and they are equally delicious. When it comes to arepas, they will welcome whatever stuffing you can think of, but this combination is magnificent!
Corn
Corn is a good source of many vitamins and minerals, and carb, specially for people with gluten intolerance. Popcorn tends to be higher in minerals, while sweet corn tends to be higher in vitamins.
Your Ingredients for the Vegan Arepas
Vegan Arepas
Equipment
- Grill or Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 cups pre-cooked white maize flour corn meal
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
To serve:
- Creamy Vegan Sauce
- Marinated Grilled Tofu
Optional:
- 1 bunch arugula
- ½ red onion sautéed
- 1 pinch red chilly if you like it spicy
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients and knead for 2 minutes.
- Divide the dough into four balls and flatten them with your hands until you get discs of about three inches. Shape the discs, so they resemble a flying saucer, pressing more on the edges and less on your palm’s souls.
- Cook them on a grill on medium heat for five minutes on each side.
- Meanwhile cut the red onions and sauté with one teaspoon of cooking oil and optionally adding the remaining juice of the grilled tofu marinade (should have some ginger, garlic, and soy sauce).
- When the arepas are ready, cut them carefully on one side, without cutting them all the way through, and stuff them with the sauce, the sautéed onions, arugula, and tofu chunks.
Notes
Nutrition
More Latin American Recipes?
Looks like an interesting recipe. I’ll have to run this past my husband and see if it is something he’d be interesting in having. 🙂
Cool! Hopefully, he is interested! Let us know how it turns out.
Will do. In the meantime, next week when I go to the market again, I’m going to pick up some fresh parsley and basil and make your vegan green sauce. Besides putting it over vegetables and the like, I think it might be a nice addition to a veggie burger.
Yes, I agree it would be a great addition to a burger! We have been munching on it with Arepas (just posted the recipe yesterday). We love it!
Oh, I’d love to make these. I don’t have a grill – can I put them in the oven instead, or should I fry them on a pan? Ps I found your post on Vegan on a Budget and I couldn’t like it for some reason!
They totally work in the oven, I have made them that way as well. A pan also work, if you do oven or pan, always remember to us medium-low heat so they form a nice crust. 😋
OMG this arepa recipe is amazing. Thank you for sharing.