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Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe (Pao de Queijo)

Brazilian Cheese Bread

A precious gift from my Brazilian friend Luana and her aunt Jovita, this authentic, easy recipe for Brazilian cheese bread, Pao de Queijo, is such a great gluten-free and lectin-free bread alternative. It only requires five ingredients and about 10 minutes to put together. With a golden brown and crispy crust and a gooey, salty, cheesy inside, this easy Pao de Queijo will be perfect for breakfast with butter and jam, as an afternoon snack with tea, or even as mini sandwich bread.

I remember the first time I had Brazilian cheese bread, Pao de Queijo. It was at a Churrasco restaurant in Dubai. I ate so much that I could barely have any meat after. They were so good.

Since they are originally made with cassava flour and easy to make Plant Paradox compliant, I’ve been contemplating making them for a long time. Still, I’ve always been intimidated by recipes that seem rather complicated, like the classic Pao de Beijo recipe.

What I have here is a treasure because it is absolutely delicious, it takes 10 minutes to put together, and the recipe comes straight from Brazil.

The most precious gift – an authentic but easy Brazilian cheese bread recipe

Jovita is Luana Ferrari’s grand auntie, and Luana is a social media friend. She is Brazilian, lives in Paris, loves to eat real food, and is as passionate about food and cooking at home as I am. So in a proper social media friend fashion, I stalk her all the time and follow her travels and culinary adventures.

When she started posting about being back home in Brazil and enjoying foods and flavors that reminded her of childhood, I became curious. Thank God she enjoys the exchange and is as excited about sharing culinary stories of her family as I am to be at the receiving end.

To cut this story short (-er), I ended up with the most precious gift, an easy Pao de Queijo recipe (Brazilian cheese bread) her aunt Jovita makes, handwritten by Jovita’s brother in 1983, just before Christmas (I was four years old at the time!). And I’m now passing it forward thanks to Luana’s generosity.

The easiest Pao de Queijo recipe you will ever find

If you don’t read Portuguese, the original ingredients were:

  • cassava flour
  • oil
  • cured (aged) cheese
  • eggs
  • milk

And four lines of instructions. My kind of recipe.

I used Otto’s Cassava flour, full-fat coconut milk (unsweetened, in a can, I buy 365 from Whole Foods), Pecorino Romano cheese, avocado oil, and two pastured eggs. Luana told me that Pecorino Romano is also her choice when she needs to replace aged Brazilian cheese.

The way this recipe comes together might change depending on the cassava flour you are using. If you are in the US, I recommend using Otto’s brand; if not, you might have to adjust the quantities slightly (add more flour if too runny or more milk if too hard.

How to make Brazilian cheese bread

It is super easy. It took me 10 minutes to make the dough and 30 minutes to bake it, and the result was mind-blowing. The crust is golden brown and crispy and hard, and the inside is gooey, salty, cheesy goodness. I’m not even going to mention how many I had, for the sake of being informed to make this post, of course. But in all seriousness, I had to try it warm and cold, and after keeping it for a few hours in the fridge, all of them were amazing.

How to store them

Store the Brazilian cheese bread on the counter for a day in an air-tight container or freeze it. The best way to store them is to freeze them.

I kept them in a Stasher bag at room temperature overnight. They are still soft the next day, they just lose a little bit of shape and the hard crust, but they are still as tasty as on the first day.

Brazilian cheese bread can be used as a delicious sandwich

How to eat Brazilian cheese bread

Auntie Jovita and her dad are from Ibiraci, a small town in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil (North of Rio). At the farm they grew up, Pao de Queijo (‘cheese bread’) was an everyday food (and it still is).

In Brazil, cheese bread can be served as breakfast with butter, jelly, or jam, had as a snack in the afternoon with coffee, or even used for sandwiches, with pretty much anything you can imagine (guess what I’m having tomorrow?). I had some with homemade strawberry jam, and it was delicious.

This is not a keto bread

Because some of you have commented, this is not a low-carb bread. I have added the nutritional label below. Anything made with cassava flour will not be low-carb or keto friendly. For more information on gluten-free and lectin-free flour types and which ones are keto-friendly, check this article: Quick Guide to Lectin-Free, Gluten-Free Flours

Vegan Brazilian Bread

For a vegan version of Brazilian cassava bread, try our Pao de Beijo recipe, made with cassava flour and sweet potato.

*This post contains affiliated links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to purchase something via one of my links, at no extra cost to you.

Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe (Pao de Queijo)

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (81 votes, average: 3.80 out of 5)
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By Claudia Curici, Health Coach Serves: 12
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes

A precious gift from my Brazilian friend Luana and her aunt Jovita, this authentic, easy recipe for Brazilian cheese bread, Pao de Queijo, is such a great gluten-free and lectin-free bread alternative. It only requires five ingredients and about 10 minutes to put together. With a golden brown and crispy crust and a gooey, salty, cheesy inside, this easy Pao de Queijo will be perfect for breakfast with butter and jam, as an afternoon snack with tea, or even as mini sandwich bread.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup cassava flour
  • 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (in a can)
  • 1/2 cup avocado oil
  • 2 pasture-raised eggs
  • 200g grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 2 heaping cups)

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 410F.

2

Prepare a muffin pan by oiling it (you can use ghee or avocado oil).

3

Mix coconut milk with avocado oil and eggs. Add the flour and incorporate it into the wet mixture. Add the cheese and mix. You will get a sticky dough.

4

Split the dough in two, then each half in two halves, then each of the quarters in three equal portions. You will end up with 12 balls that will fit in the muffin pan. Add them to the muffin pan and bake for 30 minutes or until slightly golden on top. (Mine took exactly 30 minutes, but keep an eye on them just in case your oven is slightly different).

Notes

Store on the counter for a day in an air-tight container or freeze. The best way to store them is to freeze them and reheat them in the oven. The consistency of the dough might differ when you use another type of cassava flour. If you are in the US, I recommend using Otto's brand. If you don't have access to Otto's, you might have to adjust the flour-to-liquid ratio to get a sticky dough slightly.

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43 Comments

  • Reply
    Leah Bruhn
    August 31, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    Looks good! Can I use the parchment liners for the muffin pan? What brand of muffin pan do you have?

    • Reply
      Claudia
      August 31, 2018 at 7:37 pm

      I’m not sure about parchment paper. Maybe try muffin cups. My pan is from William Sonoma.

  • Reply
    Susan
    September 1, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    Oh my goodness! These are so delicious, and easy! They will be great alongside many dishes as well as by themselves. I did use muffin cups, as my muffin tin is well used, and they worked great. Thanks again Cladia!

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 1, 2018 at 3:28 pm

      Thank you so much for letting me know Susan! Enjoy! Auntie Jovita will be happy 😀

  • Reply
    Heather
    September 6, 2018 at 11:24 am

    I received cassava flour today and tried to make these. After I got started I realized that I didn’t have avocado oil so I substituted evoo. I don’t know how they were supposed to turn out, but I can say that what I made was a disappointment. 🙁
    I’ll have to get avocado oil and try again for something better than just barely edible. Lol

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 6, 2018 at 12:18 pm

      Hi Heather, maybe you can give me more details about the result? What do you mean by disappointment, what do you think went wrong? I would not recommend using olive oil for this bread, because of the temperature is cooked at (it’s not really safe to use olive oil over 400F), but that being said I’m not sure if the type of oil would make a difference in the result (other than nutritional values). I’ve had multiple people doing the recipe since I posted and they all really happy with how it came out.

      • Reply
        Susan Tyson
        December 8, 2022 at 8:38 am

        Good News About Cooking with Olive Oil! Please review this video by Dr. Gundry regarding the safety of cooking with Olive Oil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnyOHgML86I

        • Reply
          Claudia
          December 8, 2022 at 11:49 am

          Hi Susan, I’m so happy you posted this comment. Just today, I saw the old reply about olive oil and thought the same; olive oil is pretty safe to cook with if it’s a good quality oil, high in polyphenols. We live and learn! Happy holidays! Claudia

  • Reply
    Kristi Shanks
    September 16, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    These are awesome! And I did use parchment paper liners! No sticking.

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 17, 2018 at 9:54 am

      Great, thanks for letting me know xx

  • Reply
    Cathy
    September 17, 2018 at 4:20 am

    Could I use A2 cows milk in place of coconut milk if dairy is ok?

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 17, 2018 at 9:47 am

      Sure. Just be aware of the sugar content of the milk. The original Brazilian recipe is made with normal milk. I saw Dr. Gundry uses goat milk. xx

  • Reply
    Pamela
    September 17, 2018 at 9:02 am

    I tried (making) these yesterday, unfortunately they were a flop. I used all ingredients listed, but wonder 200g I googled to convert to cups… what should this be. I am guessing I added way too much Romano. I hope to test them once again with the correct conversion for the cheese.

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 17, 2018 at 9:52 am

      It must be. That’s why I think is important you weight the cheese, because grated cheese can be very fluffy, it’s going to be hard to figure how packed your cup would be. I’d say ask your cheese vendor to weight it for you if you don’t have a scale? Or ask them to cut you a 200g piece (0.44lbs), and grate it all. Or make it slightly bigger because the crust that you don’t use is heavy. The recipe works because I had a lot of people making it successfully, so I guess the measurement might have been the problem. Please update me if you make it again.

    • Reply
      Christine
      September 17, 2018 at 12:06 pm

      I have made these a couple times and simply used one cup of the grated cheese—they turned out perfect!

      • Reply
        Claudia
        September 17, 2018 at 2:43 pm

        Thank you so much Christine! This is so helpful <3

  • Reply
    Brenda Anderson
    September 17, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    Just made these and my husband loves them. Thanks!

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 18, 2018 at 8:59 am

      Thank you so much for letting me know Brenda <3

  • Reply
    norma N
    November 18, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    Hi claudia, I was disappointed in to product because is tasted very starchy like cassava flour. I did use a food processor to knead the dough and maybe that is the problem. I did taste it while still warm- any thoughts, I’d love to nail this. thanks

    • Reply
      Claudia
      November 18, 2018 at 2:13 pm

      Hi Norma, I’m not sure what to say. I had a lot of people doing this recipe and never heard anyone being disappointed,on the contrary, so maybe it’s a question of taste? Did you use a quality Pecorino Romano (the real one, fresh grated)? I would not mix it in a food processor, but not sure if that alone can be the reason you didn’t like it. Maybe it’s just your taste. We don’t all like the same things. I love it when I eat it straight from the oven, it should taste good and cheesy, not starchy.

  • Reply
    Eliz
    March 7, 2019 at 7:33 pm

    Could almond flour be substituted?

    • Reply
      Claudia
      March 7, 2019 at 8:43 pm

      I don’t think so, not the same result anyway. If you try let us know. xx

      • Reply
        rachel
        June 19, 2019 at 7:56 pm

        hi i can’t get cassava flour here could i use tapioca instead? i’m new to the plant paradox eating and this recipe looks amazing!

        • Reply
          Claudia
          June 20, 2019 at 4:42 pm

          Hi Rachel, yes you can use tapioca, but be careful it has a high glycemic index, so keep the portions really small and rare.

  • Reply
    Darby
    August 27, 2019 at 6:34 pm

    Can vegan cheese replace the real cheese?

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 13, 2019 at 2:17 pm

      Hi Darby, I couldn’t say, never worked with vegan cheese. My vegan version of this bread is Pao de Beijo, made with sweet potato instead of cheese. Is delicious, you can find it on the website.

    • Reply
      Joelle
      December 7, 2022 at 7:40 pm

      Hi Darby I have followed exactly the recipe my batter is thick but runny. I have spoon it in to patty cake paper. And are cooking them now. Thinking they may take longer to cook?

      • Reply
        Claudia
        December 8, 2022 at 4:59 am

        Hi Darby, I’m not sure if this comment was meant for me or for Darby’s comment. But I’d be curious to know how they came out. Claudia

  • Reply
    Ss
    September 26, 2019 at 10:58 am

    Nutritional information would be useful for keto people

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 30, 2019 at 10:50 am

      Hi Stella, you can calculate nutritional information with an app on your phone. Frankly that’s not how I eat and not my focus.

      • Reply
        Ramona Herner
        September 14, 2020 at 1:37 pm

        274 calories each, 18.9g carbs, 18g fat and 7.9g protein. I had no idea they would be so heavy on the carbs. Not Keto at all.

        • Reply
          Claudia
          December 8, 2022 at 4:56 am

          Hi Ramona, yes, cassava flour is not keto friendly. It’s made of a starchy root vegetable, called cassava or yuca root.

  • Reply
    Bob
    October 9, 2019 at 7:40 am

    Is this bread allowed in Phase 1, considering it uses eggs? Are eggs allowed in phase 1 at all?

    • Reply
      Claudia
      October 11, 2019 at 9:45 am

      Hi Bob, no eggs and no cheese in Phase 1. But phase 1 is only 3 days.

  • Reply
    Ruth
    January 30, 2020 at 11:07 pm

    Claudia, I’ve made this recipe several times, with varying results, and never has the mixture become even remotely “sticky;” am I not mixing for a long enough time?? I’ve tried other people’s recipes (one where I poured the batter from my blender into a cupcake pan came out divine), so I have some sense of how these should end up. I’ll keep on trying, as we love these!!

    • Reply
      Claudia
      February 1, 2020 at 11:51 am

      Hi Ruth, not sure what to say… You should end up with a dough, not batter. It has to be worked a little bit. I had meany people making this one and I never heard anyone having a problem. You will end up with a dough, from which you can shape small balls, so in no way is somethig you could pour into a muffin pan. Maybe next time you make them you sould send me a picture or video of the process so I can underatnd exatly what happens?

  • Reply
    Lauren
    February 25, 2020 at 4:53 pm

    I’m allergic to avocado. Do you have any other suggestions for a type of oil you would recommend for this recipe?

    • Reply
      Claudia
      February 26, 2020 at 4:36 pm

      Hi Lauren. Olive oil would work, it might give a slight taste but I wouldn’t mind. That’s what I would use, olive oil.

  • Reply
    Ramona Herner
    September 14, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    I tried to make these today and before adding the cheese my dough was crumbly and powdery. I used the exact amounts listed. I added the cheese and then kept adding avocado oil and more coconut milk alternately until I got something I could make balls out of. I did use coconut cream in a can not milk. I don’t see how that would change the dough consistency though. I ate two and then realized the carbs in these are crazy high.

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 16, 2020 at 10:52 am

      Hi Ramona, it strange you had this problem, I had many people making this recipe and never heard it didn’t work. It might be the coconut cream, it was probably not enough liquid to absorb the dry ingredients. Sometimes different brands of cassava flour can act differently, but not that much. Anyway, you did the right thing by just adding more liquid. In the future, if you only have coconut cream, mix it with water until you get the required quantity of coconut milk (coconut milk is in fact coconut cream, mixed with water). As per the carbs, there is no where on this site mentioned this is a low carb recipe, and my site is a collection of plant paradox compliant / lectin-free recipes, not a low carb eating plan. Everyone chooses what and how it fits their own dietary plan. You can eat this bread once a year, once a month or once a week if that fits you dietary needs. I used to make these a few times a year, but I don’t eat them anymore, not because of carbs but because I gave up dairy. I hope this site is for everyone who follows a lectin-free diet and for all occasions, no matter the specific personal restrictions. xx

  • Reply
    Caipirinha
    August 17, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you
    write. The world hopes for more passionate writers such as you who aren’t
    afraid to mention how they believe. All the time go after your heart.

  • Reply
    VK
    September 4, 2022 at 11:09 am

    I was excited to try this recipe and I finally did. I strictly followed the instructions so there was no room for mistake. The recipe did not work out. Fat is way out of proportion. I wish I used these ingredients to make parmesan crisps, at least they are fun to have.

    • Reply
      Claudia
      September 4, 2022 at 11:18 am

      Hi VK, I’m sorry it didn’t work for you; I’m not sure what could go wrong as this is a tried and tested recipe; plus, it has been in Luana’s family for generations. Many people have made this recipe with great results. Can you give us more details about what didn’t exactly work out?

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