Reina Pepiada, the Venezuelan equivalent of chicken salad, is a rich and satisfying filling for these plump cornmeal patties. Other popular arepa fillings: white cheese, black beans and fried sweet plantains, ham and cheese, and butter. Have fun mixing and matching to find your favorite variety!
Read Related: Grilled Arepas with Farmer’s Cheese (or Queso Blanco)
AREPA WITH CHICKEN & AVOCADO
Makes: 8 Arepas
Prep time: 25 min.
Total time: 50 min.
Ingredients
For the Filling:
2 packets GOYA® Powdered Chicken Bouillon
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb.)
½ cup GOYA® Mayonnaise
½ small yellow onion, finely chopped (about ½ cup)
¼ cup GOYA® Guacamole, thawed
1 TSP GOYA® Minced Garlic
2 TSP finely chopped fresh cilantro
GOYA® Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper, to taste
1 avocado, finely chopped
For the Arepa:
2 cups GOYA® White Cornmeal Masarepa or Harina P.A.N.
1 TSP salt
2 TSP GOYA® Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add bouillon, stirring until dissolved. Add chicken; cook until cooked-thorough, about 20 minutes; transfer to refrigerator until cold. Shred chicken. In a medium bowl, stir together chicken, mayonnaise, onion, guacamole, garlic and cilantro. Season with adobo. Gently fold in avocado. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- In a medium bowl, stir together masarepa and salt. Add 2½ cups lukewarm water. Stir until combined; let sit 5 minutes. Using wet hand, knead dough until smooth. Divide dough into 8 portions. Form dough into small balls.
- Heat oil in large comal or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add balls, leaving at least 3″ space between dough. Using palm of hand, flatten balls to ½” thickness. Cook, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides, about 7 minutes total. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Using knife, halve arepas horizontally without detaching end. Divide filling evenly among arepas.
Goya Recipes provided by and the mark GOYA® used by permission of Goya Foods, Inc.
