Pan de Yuca (Gluten-Free)
This easy and delicious gluten-free cheese bread made with tapioca flour, has its roots in Ecuador. Pan de Yuca will become a dinner table staple in no time!
I first encountered Pan de Yuca when I first entered Ecuador by bus–smack dab in the middle of a year long journey that began in Costa Rica. I lived in the small village of Peguche for 3 months, visiting the markets of neighboring Otavalo a few times a week. Pan de Yuca was one such thing that stuck with me from those visits, as I absolutely fell in love with Yuca (not to be confused with Yucca), finding myself eating it nearly every day just about any way you could buy it or prepare it!
Yuca, also known as manioc or cassava, is an amazing tuber that cooks similarly to potato but has a unique and satisfying flavor all of its own. I was delightfully happy to discover that here in the states you can easily purchase tapioca starch/flour, which is the powdered form of this much loved Latin American root.
While traditionally made with freshly made queso blanco in Ecuador, I chose to make it with a blend of feta & parmesan for an extra dose of cheesy flavor, as I am a self admitted cheese fiend! But, if you would like to be more traditional, you can make this with queso fresco instead (easily found here in the states).
This bread is so very wonderfully chewy and cheesy, and whether or not you adhere to a gluten free diet, I promise that you will be amazed by this easy & tasty bread!
I derived much joy from recreating one of my beloved favorites from travels past, and I so hope it inspires & transports you too…
This Gluten-Free Cheesy Pan de Yuca Bread is
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Fun and easy to make.
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Super cheesy, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
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Soft and chewy.
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Hearty and filling.
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Versatile and complements a variety of dishes.
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Wholly addictive!
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Gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, grain-free, sugar-free.
Tips for making Pan de Yuca
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I’ve now made this bread hundreds of times, each time with a slight variation but always delicious results. Simply put: this recipe is versatile!
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You can easily halve or double the recipe with the same results.
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This is my favorite version of this recipe, but I make it all the time with some of the following variations.
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You can replace these cheese in this recipe with any cheese of your choice. We often use shredded cheddar, mozzarella or a blend of the two. Just keep in mind that you may need to add a tad more milk when using drier cheeses for the dough to come together properly.
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You can throw in a handful of fresh or dried herbs, minced garlic or chopped garlic for tasty results.
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Any milk or even water can replace the coconut milk in a pinch.
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This bread tastes best fresh out of the oven, but will keep lightly covered at room temperature for about 4 hours or store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to one week and re-heat in 350F oven until softened and warmed throughout. This bread will turn quite hard, but when re-heated the cheese begins to melt and the bread begins to soften again.
Pan de Yuca is very similar to Pão de Queijo, a bread that can be found in Brazil, and Pan de Bono or Pan de Queso, a cheese bread from Colombia.
What to Serve with Pan de Yuca
Instant Pot Three Sisters Soup Recipe (Vegan + Gluten-Free)
Spicy Southwestern Corn, Potato, Quinoa, And Red Lentil Chowder (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
Spicy Chimichurri Chickpea Pasta Bowl (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Instant Pot Millet & Pinto Bean Chili (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
Gluten-Free Baked Hatch Chiles Rellenos
Cheesy Pumpkin Chipotle Corn Grits With Garlic Roasted Veggies (Gluten-Free)
Roasted Green Chile, Potato, & Quinoa Soup (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
If you try this recipe please let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, share this post, use Pinterest’s “tried it” feature, or take a photo, & tag me on Instagram and I’ll share it! Thank you so much! <3
Pan de Yuca
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups tapioca flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups feta cheese crumbled
- 2 cups parmesan cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 2 tbs coconut milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients
- .In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients & cheese until evenly combined.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until smoothly combined. Let batter sit for a few minutes.
- Knead dough until you have one smooth round ball. Divide dough into 12 rounds.
- Place rounds on your parchment line baking sheet & place on the middle rack of your preheated oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then turn on the broiler and broil for 10 minutes or until firm & beginning to brown.
- Best served fresh & warm–but also stores well in the fridge & reheats well in oven!
- Enjoy!
I have been making this for many years. I learned how from friends that are from Brazil. I actually buy my flour from Amazon. I always have some on hand. The brand is Yoki. You can make it from package directions except that my friends always added shredded cheese. I do not buy shredded cheese as it has a chemical on it to keep it from sticking together. I also have used different types of cheeses. Do not make the rolls very large as it changes the texture when baking. The inside is almost stretchy in texture. They are so delicious.
Omg! These are so delicious! I decided to try this recipe because I have tapioca flour and some quest fresco cheese on hand. I halved the recipe and made 8 rolls, used milk instead of coconut milk, quest fresco instead of feta, and used pecorino because I don’t have Parmesan cheese. After baking, I broiled low for almost 5 minutes and they were brown enough. Really soft and just the right amount of cheesiness when warm, I doubt if anyone who can stop at eating one!!
I’m so very happy to hear this! Thanks so much for taking the time to share here. 🙂
very yummy and easy to make recipe! The balls were super cheesy!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Hi, I’m from Brazil and I didn’t know the existence of this type of bread in others countries. To store, you can freeze the breads before baking. Make balls and take to the freezer for an hour, then remove and store in plastic bag. So when you want, just take it out of the freezer straight into the preheated oven and enjoy the freshly baked bread.Thanks for the recipe. Greetings from Brazil.
Hi! Wonderful tip. Thank you for visiting! 🙂
I love the sound of this cheese bread! I’ve never heard of it before.
Love that these are GF so I can enjoy them because they’re absolutely delicious and addicting little bites!
My son will love this. Delicious! I’m going to make him this tonight. Thanks for the lovely idea.
This looks and sounds delicious! Great that it is gluten-free, too.
I can see why you have made this bread hundreds of times! It looks absolutely amazing. I especially love that texture. Yum!
Thank you so much!!
I love that this cheese bread is gluten free! It’s gorgeous. Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you!!
Sounds like an amazing trip! First time trying this and it was so good! Loved the cheese in it!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you!
This gluten-free cheese bread was very straightforward and SO tasty! Definitely a repeat recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing!
I love the combination of cheeses in this! It has such a savory flavor and its great as a side!
Thank you so much!
This was my first attempt at making pan de yuca, and I skimmed through several recipes before deciding to try this one. The coconut milk in place of water gave it just a hint of sweetness.
The pan de yuca was delicious, and so pretty. I used grated Oaxaca cheese, which is probably too wet making my pan de yuca pretty dense.
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! I love Oaxaca cheese. It is a somewhat dense bread, but yes, there can be some variances with cheeses used for certain! 🙂
I used the metric conversion and the results were very wrong. 2 cups crumbled cheese should not convert to 300g. The buns puddled out as they were baking and the result has a pudding-like texture and tastes strongly of cheese (I used cheddar, cheddar and parmesan 0.5kg in total as instructed!) I will try to slice a “bun” into fingers and cook them under the grill today; I may find it more palatable that way, a bit like a polenta stick. My other half enjoyed trying a bun, but he loves cheddar haha!
Can the metric conversion be fixed?
Hi! I apologize for the discrepancy with the metric conversions. This is not something I input myself, it is automatically calculated by the recipe card I use. I will add a disclaimer to my recipe card so that people are aware that it may not be accurate. Thank you for letting me know! And, sorry again.
This is the 2nd time in 2 days that I’m making this. As I have no experience with South American baked goods, I was about to throw out my 1st try (after forcing myself to eat 3). But my Colombian husband assured me that they were absolutely right and the best thing I had EVER made. I don’t know how to tag on Instagram so I can’t send you photos.
Oh my goodness, this makes me so happy to hear! Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and share. 🙂
This is the tastiest recipe ever. And it was so easy to make!! Thank you, thank you. All this time I had no idea how easy it was to make and I lived in Ecuador for years. I would pay 50cents per piece. However, I will be very careful how many times I make it and how many I eat because that was a lot of butter and a lot of cheese haha.
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for the kind words! This makes me so happy to hear! I appreciate the feedback. Yes, a lot of butter and cheese, but so so good. 🙂
-Kristen