Chipá
Small cassava-starch cheese breads with a golden crust and a dense, chewy center. Naturally gluten-free, shared between northeast Argentina and Paraguay.
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total
- 35 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- easy
Chipá belongs to both northeast Argentina and Paraguay, a small cheese bread built on cassava starch instead of wheat flour, which gives it a naturally gluten-free, dense and chewy center under a golden crust.
The dough behaves nothing like a wheat bread dough, dense and a little sticky with no real stretch. That is simply how cassava starch works, not a sign the recipe has gone wrong.
Part of our 20 best Argentine recipes list.
method
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line a baking tray with parchment.
Rub the cassava starch and butter together with your fingers until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
Add the grated cheese, eggs, milk and salt, and mix until a dense, slightly sticky dough comes together. It will feel different from a wheat dough, with no real elasticity.
Shape the dough into small balls or rings, about 4 cm across, and arrange them on the tray with some space between each.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden on the outside and firm to the touch.
Let them cool slightly before eating; they are best warm, within an hour or two of baking.
chef's tips
- Cassava starch gives chipá its particular chewy, dense center. There is no substitute that gives quite the same texture, so it is worth sourcing specifically rather than swapping in a different starch.
- Use a genuinely salty, flavorful cheese. It is the main seasoning in the whole dough, and a mild cheese leaves the chipá tasting flat.
- This dough has no gluten at all, so it behaves differently from a bread dough, dense and a little sticky rather than elastic. That is expected, not a sign something went wrong.
- Chipá is best eaten the day it is baked, ideally still warm. It firms up considerably once fully cooled.