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Baleadas
Serves 4 Prep 55 min Cook 30 min Total 1 hr 25 min Type Side Origin Honduras

Baleadas

Honduras' national snack: a thick soft flour tortilla folded around refried beans, a slick of mantequilla and a sprinkle of crumbled cheese.

Serves 4 Prep 25 minutes (plus 30 minutes resting) Cook 30 minutes Units Rate

Overview

Soft flour tortillas, thicker than Mexican ones, are griddled until lightly blistered. While still warm, they're spread with hot refried beans, drizzled with mantequilla, sprinkled with salty crumbled cheese, then folded in half. Eaten in hand. Add-ons are layered before the fold. Done in 20 seconds at the stand.

Ingredients

Tortilla dough

  • 400 g plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (or melted lard)
  • 220 ml warm water

Fillings

  • 300 g Refried Beans (warmed)
  • 150 g mantequilla, sour cream (or crème fraîche)
  • 150 g queso fresco, feta (or cotija cheese, crumbled)

Optional add-ons (con todo)

  • 4 eggs (scrambled)
  • 1 avocado (sliced)
  • 200 g cooked chorizo, shredded chicken (or shredded beef)

Method

Stage 1 - Dough

  1. Whisk flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
  2. Drizzle in the oil; rub through the flour.
  3. Pour in the warm water; mix to a soft, slightly tacky dough.
  4. Knead 4 minutes until smooth. Cover; rest 30 minutes.

Stage 2 - Shape

  1. Divide the dough into 8 equal balls.
  2. Flatten each into a disc. Roll out to about 18 cm wide and 3 mm thick - thicker than a Mexican tortilla.

Stage 3 - Cook

  1. Heat a dry heavy pan or comal over medium-high.
  2. Cook each tortilla 60-90 seconds per side - light blisters and pale gold patches.
  3. Stack as you go, wrapped in a clean tea towel to stay soft.

Stage 4 - Fill and fold (per baleada)

  1. Spread 2 tablespoons of warm refried beans across half of the tortilla.
  2. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of mantequilla over the beans.
  3. Crumble over 1 tablespoon of cheese.
  4. Add any optional fillings.
  5. Fold the tortilla in half. Eat in hand.

Notes

  • Tortillas are thicker than Mexican: Don't roll them too thin. They should fold without cracking, with a bit of chew.
  • Mantequilla: The Honduran fermented sour cream is unique - sour, thick, slightly funky. Crème fraîche thinned with buttermilk approximates it; sour cream works at a pinch.
  • Make ahead: Cook tortillas an hour ahead and wrap in the towel; reheat individually on the comal for 10 seconds before filling.

Storage

  • Cooked tortillas keep wrapped at room temperature 4 hours, or refrigerate 2 days; reheat before filling.
  • Assembled baleadas: eat immediately.

Recipes mentioned here

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Refried Beans

Refried Beans

Dried pinto beans soak overnight (or quick-soak: 1 hour after boiling). They simmer slowly with halved onion, garlic, bay leaves and a pork bone (or salt + epazote leaves) until very tender, about 1 ½ hours stovetop, 30 min pressure cooker. The cooking liquid is reserved. Lard (or bacon fat, or oil, but lard is traditional) melts in a wide pan; diced onion fries to deep gold; the cooked beans go in by spoon, with a ladle of cooking liquid. Mashed with a potato masher to a chunky paste (or pureed smooth, depending on preference). Cooked another 10-12 minutes, stirring, until the beans thicken and develop a slight crust at the edges of the pan. Cumin and salt to season. Topped with crumbled cotija or queso fresco, chopped coriander, sliced jalapeño.

Sides 2 hours 55 minutes Serves6

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