Chipa
Paraguayan cassava-starch cheese bread, baked into chewy rings — sold warm from baskets on every bus and corner.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 18 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 43 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Chipa is a small cheese bread made from cassava starch rather than wheat, so it is chewy and dense rather than fluffy, with a crackled crust and a salty, slightly sour pull from the cheese. The dough is starch, eggs, fat, milk and a lot of cheese, worked by hand until smooth, shaped into rings or small logs and baked hot for about fifteen minutes. Anise seed is traditional in many households and optional here. Eaten warm. The starch must be cassava (tapioca) starch, not cassava flour; the two behave completely differently. Makes about twenty.
What you'll need
7 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
- Tapioca, tapioca starch (almidón de mandioca), not pearls or cassava flour500 g
- Parmesan cheese, finely grated120 g
- Queso fresco, crumbled fine200 g
- Egg3 large
- Butter, softened; or lard100 g
- Milk, roughly; add as needed100 ml
- Salt4.9 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Heat the oven to 220°C and line two trays.
3 min220°C
Step 2
Beat the butter with the eggs in a large bowl. Add both cheeses and the salt and mix to a paste.
4 min
Step 3
Add the tapioca starch and work it in with your hands, adding milk a splash at a time, until you have a smooth, firm dough that does not crack when rolled. It will feel odd, squeaky and slightly elastic. Knead 5 minutes.
10 min
Tip: Starch dough changes fast. Add the milk slowly; you may not need all of it, or you may need a little more.
Step 4
Divide into 20 pieces. Roll each into a 15 cm rope and join the ends into a ring, or leave as a short log. Space them on the trays.
10 min
Step 5
Bake 15-18 minutes until pale gold with darker spots and a crackled surface. Do not wait for deep brown; they dry out. Eat warm.
18 min220°C
Watch: Chipa goes hard within hours. Refresh day-old ones in a hot oven for 4 minutes.
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 101 kcal
- Protein
- 3.7 g
- Carbs
- 4 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Saturated fat
- 4.3 g
- Fibre
- 0.5 g
- Sugar
- 1.1 g
- Sodium
- 160 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Milk
- Eggs
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.
Substitutions
Parmesan and queso fresco → Mature cheddar and feta, half and half
Not Paraguayan, but the salt and the chew are right.
Tips
- Shaped raw chipa freezes well on a tray. Bake from frozen for 20 minutes.
- A teaspoon of anise seed in the dough is traditional in many families and gives the faint sweetness people remember from the bus.
History & culture
Sold from baskets by chiperas on buses, at traffic lights and outside every bus terminal in Paraguay, and baked at home for Holy Week, when families make chipa by the kilo on Wednesday to eat through Good Friday. Breakfast with cocido or mate, afternoon snack with tereré. Coronel Bogado calls itself the chipa capital.
Cassava is the Guaraní staple and the Jesuit missions of the seventeenth century added dairy and eggs, which is how a starch-and-cheese bread came out of the region. Chipa spread through Guaraní-speaking northeastern Argentina and into southern Brazil, where pão de queijo is a close relative.
Traditional — Queso Paraguay is the proper cheese. A mix of a hard grating cheese and a fresh crumbly cheese gets the salt and the chew. Many families add a teaspoon of anise seed.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Chipa take?
43 min all in — 25 min prep, 18 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 20 pieces. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Milk, Eggs. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Gluten-free, Nut-free.
7 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Baking tray, Oven.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
What can I use instead?
Parmesan and queso fresco → Mature cheddar and feta, half and half. Not Paraguayan, but the salt and the chew are right.
What should I watch for?
Chipa goes hard within hours. Refresh day-old ones in a hot oven for 4 minutes.
Any tips from this recipe?
Shaped raw chipa freezes well on a tray. Bake from frozen for 20 minutes. A teaspoon of anise seed in the dough is traditional in many families and gives the faint sweetness people remember from the bus.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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