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!
Melanie C says
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.
Kristen Wood says
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! 🙂
iLikeToast says
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?
Kristen Wood says
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.
Ellen Jaramillo says
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.
Kristen Wood says
Oh my goodness, this makes me so happy to hear! Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and share. 🙂
Jennifer says
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.
Kristen Wood says
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