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I Love Brazilian Cheese Bread (pão De Queijo)
When I was working in LA, every week my colleagues and I would go to The Farmers Market at the Grove for the Brazilian BBQ.
Pampas Grill—the stall selling the BBQ—is probably one of the most popular eateries at the Farmers Market.
There is always a long line of patrons lining up for the hot-off-the-grill, juicy, and scrumptious Brazilian BBQ, and the amazing Brazilian cheese bread, or “Pão de Queijo” – including the Hollywood kind.
One time, Hollywood star David Arquette and his entourage were lining behind me.
While the meats served at Pampas Grill are amazingly good, myself and others went there mostly for this Pão de Queijo, or Brazilian cheese bread.
If you haven’t had Brazilian cheese bread, you are missing out.
Other Recipes You Might Like
What Are Brazilian Cheese Rolls (pão De Queijo)?
Pão de Queijo are mini cheesy puffs in ball-like shape that are soft but chewy, puffy and addictive. The recipe calls for the following ingredients:
- Tapioca flour or tapioca starch
- Eggs
- Milk
- Cheese
- Salt
Brazilian Cheese Rolls (pão De Queijo) at Home!
Elise of Simply Recipes posted her Pão de Queijo recipe, I was so excited to finally make my own Brazilian Cheese Bread but I was pregnant then and followed a very strict diet that precluded me from eating cheese.
Anyway, time flies and now that Baby G is here, I am sort of on a cheese binge these days.
I finally made the Brazilian Cheese Bread.
I finished all of them in practically 15 minutes and immediately made a second batch.
I just love these soft, fluffy, chewy, and cheesy Brazilian cheese rolls.
They are absolutely delightful and takes less than 30 minutes from prep to out of oven.
This Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo) recipe is a keeper and I am sure this is going to be one of my favorite baking recipes.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 80 calories per bread.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
Pão de Queijo is best served with a main dish such as steak. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)
Ingredients
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups (170 g) tapioca flour or tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup (50 g) cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup (50 g) mozzarella cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Grease a mini muffin tin generously. Put all of the ingredients into a blender and pulse until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender so that everything gets blended well, it will yield about 2 cups batter.
- Transfer the batter into the mini muffin tins. Fill up about 3/4 full. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until all puffy and just lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes. Eat while warm, or save to reheat later.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I just finished making these. The recipe was so simple and easy to use. Usually, when I try to make any type of bread, I fail horribly. This is the first time that it came out like the pictures and tastes delicious. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Liza, awesome, I am so happy you had success.
These are great! My friend made them for me so I had to try making them myself. But I couldn’t eat them all myself… how would you suggest reheating them?
Btw, they are amazing with raspberry jam!
That’s good to know. You can just microwave for a few seconds to reheat.
I couldn’t find tapioca flour at my local market but found that you can use half the amount of rice flour. It didn’t have a nice cavity like in your photo but they were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I used sharp cheddar. It didn’t quite have the cheese taste I’d like so next time I’ll try hand mixing in the cheese. This recipe was so easy. Thank you.
I was working with Brazilian company for more than 4 years. My Brazilian colleagues always made this tapioka cheese ball for us. It’s damn good & nice.
I very excited to found this recipe it look like mochi mochi cheese that I like.I made it , very easy and delicious recipe .thank you so much.
Hello. I made these yummy breads. It was unfortunate that they stuck to the cup tin although i oiled them generously. Upon the second batch i poured them in cup cakes but they stuck to the paper this time and was difficult to peel. Any ideas? Please
I am not sure why, it didn’t happen to me. Are you sure you followed the ingredients correctly.
I have not tried the paper liners, but maybe the temperature was too low and baked too slow? I periodically check my oven temperature to make sure the setting is correct. There have been times in the past where I have had to adjust my baking times.
Hi have you ever made these in regular muffin tins? I was planning on making these tonight and then realized that I let my friend borrow my mini tins recently. Thanks!
Hi! Have you ever made these in regular size muffin tins? I was planning on making these tonight, but just realized that I let a friend borrow my mini muffin pan. Thanks!
I just saw the recipe today and immediately made some. Delicious! They taste just like the ones I’ve if at Fogo de Chao in ATL!
Yes Kathy I love these Brazilian cheese bread at Fogo de Chao, too. I always eat so many of them!!!
Yes! That’s exactly what I was hoping to replicate. The lil cheese breads at Fogo de Chao in Baltimore. I just made these tonight and was disappointed but told husband I was not giving up. I followed directions but did a full cup and a half of tapioca and I used my nutria system blender which pulses. I figured it is a combo of a “scant” too much tapioca, the pulsing blender thing (I don’t have a traditional blender) and based on comments a smidge too much cheese and a smudge too little salt. Mine came out like the photo and it was chewy on inside but there was almost no taste. The actual cheese bread at Fogo reminds me of what a warm cheese nip would taste.
Next time I will follow it precisely but mix cheddar and Parmesan. I will say my first batch made 24 minis and an additional 6 minis. The 2nd batch came out and did not fall like the first. The only difference was I eyeballed the first batch and the second I took out at exactly 20 min so those of you with issues of the bread falling, I’m guessing it’s cooking a tiny bit too long.
I won’t give up, because everything else I’ve cooked on this site was amazing and just as pretty as the photos. Thank you, from a huge fan in Annapolis MD
Hi there! Just wanted to leave a comment to thank you for this wonderful recipe. We have made this multiple times and followed the recipe to a T and it has yielded yummy Brazilian cheese bread each time! Even my kids are able to do this on their own. I noticed though that the amount of time it’s allowed to bake varies on the pan I use. We love the original recipe, however, we’ve modified it by adding a little grated cheese on top. The ‘cheese-on-top’ version is a hit with the kids!
Hi Marnie, thanks for your sweet comment. Oh wow, that’s a great idea about the cheese on top, I should totally do that? What cheese do you use? :)
Sorry for the late reply. We used a tiny bit of cheddar on top. Using too much will deflate the bread. Thanks again for your awesome recipe!