Pan de yuca is an easy, gluten-free cheese bread from Ecuador. This tasty, cheesy bread is very versatile: you can enjoy it for breakfast, as an appetizer, or as a snack.
This Latin bread is a great choice when you want fresh bread and are short on time. Many traditional recipes call for a resting time for your bread dough. My recipe skips that step and still makes delicious bread. You can have homemade bread on the table in about 20 minutes!
Origin of Pan de Yuca
I discovered pan de yuca (pronounced pahn day yoo-kah) from an Ecuadorian friend. It’s also popular in other South American countries such as Colombia, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil, with slight variations.
Fiesta in Ecuador, the inspiration for this recipe
Yuca vs. Yucca
An important thing to known: yuca is not yucca. Yuca—also known as cassava or tapioca—comes from the plant manihot esculenta, which is native to South America. Tapioca is the cassava starch that’s is extracted from the root of this plant.
Yucca, on the other hand, is an ornamental plant commonly found in the desert. The Kitchn has a more detailed explanation of the difference between yuca and yucca if you’re interested.
Yuca isn’t very pretty, but trust me, this bread is delicious.
Exploring Ingredients
The ingredient list is quite simple and no yeast is required! The stars of this bread are yuca harina and queso fresco. If you’ve never heard of them, or can’t find them, no worries. There are substitutes.
In English, yuca harina translates to yuca flour, tapioca flour, or tapioca starch.
Goya Foods makes a good quality yuca harina that you can usually find on Amazon or in some specialty stores.
You can also make pan de yuca with tapioca flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour. I often use this flour as it’s inexpensive and easy to find online and in local supermarkets here in the U.S.
The second key ingredient is queso fresco. This crumbly cheese—in Spanish it means fresh cheese—is easy to find in most U.S. supermarkets. You can substitute mozzarella, but the taste is slightly different.
Making Pan de Yuca
Pan de yuca is a simple recipe. You mix, you bake, and you enjoy. It’s quick enough to make first thing in the morning for breakfast or as a snack or appetizer. Kids love making this yummy bread, and you can toss in a quick Spanish and geography lesson while you bake!
The traditional shape is a small bun, but you can also make crescents or other shapes. Placing your buns in a muffin tin rather than on a baking sheet is another option.
If you prefer a sweeter bread you can add a little agave nectar or your favorite sweetener. I usually forgo any added sweetener, but then I tend to prefer things less sweet.
Depending on the cheese you use, your bread dough might need a little water. The consistency should be soft but not wet.
Pan de yuca is best when it’s freshly baked, right out of the oven. Enjoy!
Looking for more Latin recipes? Check out Ajiaco Colombian Chicken and Potato Soup or Banana Licuado: Delicious Mexican Smoothie.
Pan de Yuca: Gluten-Free Cheese Bread
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups tapioca flour or yuca harina
- 4 cups queso fresco crumbled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup butter or margarine softened
- 3 tablespoons of water optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Combine the flour, cheese, baking powder, and salt and mix thoroughly.
- Add the butter and eggs and continue to knead until smooth. Optionally, add a couple of tablespoons of water if the mixture is too dry.
- Form the dough into small balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Serve the bread while still slightly warm, fresh from the oven!
Notes
Nutrition
24 comments
Its always great to find gluten-free varieties of bread. I will be sharing this with a gluten sensitive friend!
I love making quick homemade breads. I never used yuca before…love it in restaurants 🙂
Definitely going to try this out…looks like it would be great for a breakfast sandwich!
I didn’t know that yuca and yucca were two different plants. That was very interesting.
Definitely going to recommend this to my gluten-sensitive friends and family!
Fantastic recipe cannot wait to try it out!
Very good!
Wow, these look delicious. What a great gluten-free bread option!
I did not know there was a difference between yuca and yucca! This sounds very intriguing. I will have to try!
I love homemade breads. This is a wonderful recipe.
I can’t wait to have a full bite of this Pan de Yuca: Gluten-Free Cheese Bread!
I never tried pan de yuca before and looks so delicious!
It was so wonderful to read through this and learn about the origin of the pan de yuca. It’s great to learn about other cultures. Even though we can’t travel, we can still lend our time to experiencing other cultures from afar.
I love the Latin American influence here and the end product look s simply delicious!
I haven’t cooked with a lot of these ingredients before! Thank you for sharing a unique recipe!
I have never tried making my own bread – I think because it took too long. This one looks really easy to make – plus I’m sure I would love it because of the cheese in it!
I am going to try this recipe! Yucca root is a staple in our home (82 year old mother in law loves them)
My whole family loves to try new bread recipes. This will be a great one to try!
These are awesome!
Yum! I’ll have to make this for my friend who is gluten intolerant.
I love home made bread. I have to try making a gluten free one.
A new way to try gluten free bread!
In Peru, Pan de Yuca is served with yogurt (which is delicious), but it is good with a spicy jam as well, but by itself, fresh out of the oven, it is amazing. I won t call this bread healthy, but it is a gluten free bread. Pan de Yuca is best when it is freshly baked, but one option is to freeze the dough and just take out as many as you want to bake when you are ready for a delicious treat.
I had pan de yuca at a Brazilian steakhouse today and it was amazingly delicious! I can’t wait to make the soft cheese balls. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Making these for Thanksgiving. Prepared dough night before and kept in fridge. Of course I had to taste at least one in advance so I baked it and yummy. It’s delicious with queso fresco but I definitely think stronger cheese like Parmesan would be even better. I also used my ninja food processor with the dough blade, and it worked perfectly.