Recipe byThe ZestyPlate Kitchen
Venezuela's national dish in arepa form: cheese-filled corn cakes stuffed with shredded beef, black beans and sweet fried plantain, topped with pico de gallo.
Arepa pabellón folds Venezuela's national plate into a single corn cake: shredded beef, black beans, sweet fried plantain and melting cheese, all packed into a warm, crisp arepa. Each bite gives you savoury, sweet and creamy at once. It is messy, generous and very satisfying.
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Prep 20 min
Cook 20 min
Total 40 min
Medium
Scale:
- 2 Corn Arepa Filled With Mozarella Cheese
- 1 Fried Ripe Bananas
- 1 Can Black Beans
- 1 Pico De Gallo Sauce
- 2kg Shredded Meat
- 1 chopped Tomato
- Pinch Salt
- Pinch Pepper
Preparation
- Cook the shredded meat in a skillet, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Warm the black beans in a pan over medium heat, fry or grill the ripe plantains as directed on the package, and dice the tomato. Set everything aside for filling.
- Preheat a grill or pan and grill the cheese-filled arepas, turning once, until golden brown on each side.
- Using a knife, open each arepa along the edge through the middle to create a pocket, then fill with the plantain, beans, beef and chopped tomato.
- Serve with a little pico de gallo or guacamole.
Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen
- Grill the cheese-filled arepas until they are genuinely golden, so the outside crisps and the cheese inside goes soft.
- Have every filling hot and ready before you split the arepas, so nothing has gone cold by the time you assemble.
- Choose plantains that are well blackened and ripe; they fry up sweet and caramelised.
- Cut a deep pocket rather than slicing all the way through, so the arepa can hold a generous filling without falling apart.
Frequently Asked Questions
It's Venezuela's national dish of shredded beef, black beans, rice and fried plantain. This version brings those flavours together inside an arepa.
Yes. Leave out the beef and pile in extra beans, plantain, cheese and avocado instead.
Very ripe ones with black-spotted skins. They are sweet and turn into golden, caramelised slices when fried.
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