Eat a pupusa with your hands. Tear off a piece and use it to scoop up curtido and salsa roja.
The dough gets filled and sealed before it hits the comal, so every torn piece carries some cheese, beans or pork along with the masa. Pupusas are thick flatbreads of corn or rice, and they come from El Salvador.
Author Carlos Cordova reports a pre-Hispanic belief that cutting tortillas with a knife was sinful, because corn was considered a divine grain.
How to eat a pupusa, step by step
Let the pupusa cool just enough to hold, then tear it by hand. Run each piece through curtido and salsa roja so every bite gets both toppings.
- Give it a minute. The cheese inside a fresh pupusa is molten, and a travel writer at Roads & Kingdoms (2016) warns that pupusas served straight off the griddle will burn your fingers and mouth.
- Spoon curtido and salsa roja over the top or next to it. Either works.
- Pull a wedge off the edge with your fingers.
- Fold that piece into a small scoop. Luz Media calls these guacalitos, little bowls.
- Dip it into the curtido and salsa, then bite.
- Keep going. Cooksinfo notes that pupusas are best eaten hot, so don’t let the plate sit.
That advice from Cooksinfo pulls against the burned-finger warning. Wait for the steam to ease, then start.
Tear-and-scoop or pocket?
Chef Edwin Orellana of Dos Manos Kitchen pulls a chicharron pupusa apart by hand, dips the pieces in thin salsa and tops them with curtido (Boston.com, 2025).
Chef Anthony Salguero of Popoca in Oakland does it differently. He cuts the pupusa in half, opens it like a pita, stuffs curtido and salsa inside and eats it by hand (Berkeleyside, 2020).
Tear-and-scoop is the safer default because it works on any pupusa. The pocket needs one that holds its shape when split.
Should you eat pupusas with a fork and knife?
Tradition says no. Pupusas are eaten by hand, and a fork is a tolerated exception.
The sources agree on hands and only differ on how much a fork offends.
| Source | Position on utensils | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Luz Media | Hands only, fork just to scoop curtido from its container | Salvadoran editorial piece |
| Karla Vasquez, SalviSoul Cookbook | Most Salvadorans use hands, many are offended by a fork nearby | Cookbook excerpt on Masienda |
| Chef Edwin Orellana (Boston.com, 2025) | A fork in El Salvador would draw stares | Dos Manos Kitchen, Somerville |
| Alicia Maher | By hand traditionally, a fork is allowed when the occasion calls for it | Author of Delicious El Salvador, LAPL interview |
Why hands are the tradition
The pupusa predates Spanish colonization. Reach the World’s guide to the dish puts its earliest ancestral form well before the Spanish arrived in Central America.
Decree 655 of April 2005 made it the national dish and set National Pupusa Day on the second Sunday of November. Sources date the decree to both 1 April (Romero Pineda, Cooksinfo) and 20 April (Wikipedia). Romero Pineda’s footnote gives 20 April as the Official Gazette publication date.
Romero Pineda also explains why November was picked. It’s the corn harvest month, and it’s when families gather around Day of the Dead.
Honduras claims the dish too, so where pupusas come from has two answers. The holiday belongs to El Salvador.
When a fork makes sense
A pupuseria owner quoted by the Tampa Bay Times (2008) said he can tell a customer is Salvadoran by the hands. The same report notes that US-born children of Salvadoran families don’t eat that way.
Mission Local’s reviewer (2019) judged pupusas partly by whether they were seared golden enough to hold by hand, and marked down the greasiest one. A limp or greasy pupusa is where a fork earns its place.
Hands match the tradition and the tear-and-scoop method, and since nothing gets cut, the molten center stays put. What you pay for that is hot cheese and grease on your fingers.
A fork and knife cope better with a limp or greasy pupusa, and Alicia Maher allows them when the occasion calls for it. Orellana says they draw stares in El Salvador, though, and Salguero has watched diners cut a pupusa like a pie with the toppings piled on top.
Default to hands. Keep the fork for a limp pupusa or a formal table.
How to use curtido and salsa roja
Serve both with every pupusa, on top or on the side, in whatever amount you like. Alicia Maher calls curtido and tomato salsa the only fixed requirement.
Curtido is a lightly fermented cabbage relish with onion, carrot and oregano. Salsa roja is just a thin, smooth tomato sauce.
Cooksinfo says both toppings balance the richness of the pupusa, which is why neither gets skipped.
On top or on the side?
Neither is wrong.
Luz Media accepts topping the pupusa, setting the toppings beside it, using only one of the two, or using neither. At a pupuseria the curtido and salsa usually arrive in a separate container, so you control the amounts and a fork is fine for scooping from it.
Mission Local’s reviewer notes the usual disappointments, which are curtido that isn’t pickled enough and a sauce that runs thin.
How sour should curtido be?
Published fermentation times for curtido run from 24 hours to 14 days.
Food Revolution Network says 1 to 5 days, with the best tang and crunch at 48 hours. Shockey’s Fermented Vegetables (via Mountain Feed) gives 4 to 14 days and says a longer ferment means a sourer result. Fermenting for Foodies serves it typically after 3 days, and by the one-month mark it tastes like sauerkraut.
Young curtido stays crunchy and fresh. Let it age and it gets sharper, so use less of an old batch.
Some recipes skip the long ferment entirely. Tastes Better From Scratch adds vinegar and says the slaw is good fresh on the day it is made.
Mild or spicy sauce?
Camila Made calls salsa para pupusas milder and smoother than Mexican salsa roja. Tastes Better From Scratch describes its version as very mildly spicy once the seeds and veins are removed.
Not every pupuseria plays it that mild. A 2007 review on Roboppy described the tomato sauce at one Williamsburg pupuseria as thin and spicy.
Heat varies by place. Taste a drop before you pour.
Choosing a pupusa filling
Queso gets you plain melted cheese and revuelta gets you the full set. Loroco has the most distinct flavor of the bunch, and ayote or espinaca covers the vegetable fillings.
| Filling | Inside | Meat | Dairy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frijol con queso | Refried beans, cheese | No | Yes |
| Chicharron con queso | Cooked pork, cheese | Yes | Yes |
| Revuelta | Chicharron, beans, cheese | Yes | Yes |
| Loroco con queso | Loroco flower buds, cheese | No | Yes |
| Ayote or espinaca con queso | Squash or spinach, cheese | No | Yes |
Plain queso, cheese only, rounds out the classics. The table follows pupuseria menus such as El Pulgarcito and La Casita.
A Miami New Times reviewer called the flower-spiced loroco version more complex, with hints of chocolate and malt. The same reviewer found that the loroco made the cornmeal flavor more pronounced.
Past these, the wider list of pupusa varieties includes chicken, shrimp and jalapeno versions.
What chicharron means in a pupusa
The word covers two different things. Cooksinfo describes chicharron as fried pork rind. A Daily Aztec writer, on the other hand, notes that the chicharron in a pupusa is closer to ground pork than to the pork skin used in Mexico.
La Casita’s menu lists ground pork chicharron, which fits the second reading. Ask the pupuseria if the texture matters to you.
Corn or rice dough?
In El Salvador the server often asks “de arroz o de maiz” when you order, according to LA Taco. Olocuilta, a town known for rice flour pupusas, is where the rice version is traditional (Cooksinfo).
Descriptions of the rice version don’t line up. Cooksinfo says it tastes plainer, browns more and comes out crunchier. OC Weekly found it airier, softer and a tad sweeter. LA Taco calls it chewy yet crispy, with a hint of sweetness from the rice, and Chicago Magazine describes a creamy white pupusa with a springy texture.
Since the accounts split on crunch versus softness, ask how a given pupuseria’s rice pupusa comes out. Cooksinfo adds that rice versions cost slightly more.
Vegetarian and dairy-free options
Frijol con queso, queso, loroco con queso and ayote or espinaca con queso are all vegetarian. Chicharron con queso and revuelta both contain pork.
Cheese goes into nearly every classic filling, so dairy-free diners need to ask.
La Casita Pupuseria & Market in Silver Spring, Maryland lists a soy-chorizo pupusa made with plant-based cheese, plus a fresh baby spinach and cheese pupusa.
What to drink and serve with pupusas
The classic drinks are horchata de morro and Kolashanpan soda (often spelled Kolashampan). The classic sides are crema salvadorena, fried plantains and beans, though a pupusa also works as a full meal by itself.
Drinks that match the dish
In El Salvador the word horchata refers to a drink built on ground morro (jicaro) seeds, which Wikipedia’s horchata entry says are ground with rice. A Nashville Scene reviewer pairs pupusas with an ice-cold horchata or a Coke.
Kolashanpan is a sweet carbonated soda from Embotelladora La Cascada, officially launched in 1965 according to the company’s vice president (Diario El Salvador). The company spells it Kolashanpan, and El Salvador.com says many people describe the flavor as a mix of bubblegum, vanilla or caramel.
If you’d rather have a beer, SBS Food’s drink match for Melbourne chef Lilian Funes de Murga’s pupusa recipe calls for something cold, crisp and lager-like.
Sources disagree on what goes into horchata de morro. Imperfect Plan says the Salvadoran version contains no rice, while a Torrance, California menu from La Esperanza says the drink can also be made with white rice, sesame and peanuts alongside the morro seeds.
Sides worth ordering
Pupuseria menus from Restaurante Salvadoreno and Salvadoreño Restaurant list fried plantains with Salvadoran cream and beans. Salvadoreño Restaurant also lists yuca frita con chicharron.
Alicia Maher says Cacique makes a good Salvadoran-style cream that most major markets carry. Estrellitas Snacks, a caterer, pairs its pupusa special with casamiento, white rice and black beans.
Skip the generic side lists that suggest guacamole and Mexican rice. Pupuserias serve plantains, beans, yuca and crema instead.
How many pupusas make a meal
Two per person when you serve sides, three when the pupusa is the whole meal. Cooksinfo sets that range, and a Nashville Scene reviewer who tried three says two was the limit.
- Cooksinfo puts a pupusa at 5 to 6 inches wide and about 1/4 inch thick.
- Mini pupusas as an appetizer run 2 per person, per an Estrellitas Snacks catering listing.
- Frozen pupusas list 230 calories for Del Real Foods carnitas and cheese (145 g), 360 for Mama Lycha cheese and bean, and 390 for Mama Lycha pork and cheese.
Why the counts differ
Reach the World’s guide says one or two fill you up. Three independent accounts converge on two.
The gap to three comes down to size and sides. A full-size pupusa with curtido, salsa roja and a side of plantains is already a plate.
What two pupusas add up to
Doubling the label values puts two pupusas between 460 and 780 calories.
Restaurant pupusas carry no label and vary in size and grease, so treat that as a rough range. Order two, then reorder one at a time.
Pupusas FAQ
What is a pupusa?
Thick, handmade stuffed flatbread of corn or rice flour, griddled on a comal. Cheese, beans, pork or vegetables go in before cooking, and it’s the national dish of El Salvador.
Are pupusas gluten-free?
Usually, when the dough is corn masa or rice flour. Mile High Pupusas labels its corn pupusas gluten free.
Kitchens and frozen brands vary, so confirm the dough and how it is cooked before ordering.
How is a pupusa different from a gordita?
The pupusa gets stuffed before it cooks. A gordita is cooked first and filled afterward, per Tropical Cheese’s recipe page.
See the gordita versus pupusa breakdown for the full comparison.
How do you reheat leftover pupusas?
Use a pan or flat grill, not a microwave or oven. Mama Lycha’s label for frozen pupusas names a frying pan, flat grill or skillet, and Del Real Foods says to flip about every 2 minutes on the stove until the inside is hot.
Camila Made keeps cooked pupusas in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Can you eat pupusas on the go?
Yes. Tear pieces off by hand straight from the wrapper, the same way you would at the table.
Carryout pupusas in El Salvador come wrapped in plastic and then paper (Wikipedia), and street vendors often serve them on a banana leaf (Cooksinfo).
The one habit that matters most
Tear the pupusa by hand while it’s hot, and scoop curtido and salsa roja with each piece. That’s the habit worth keeping. Everything else at the table is adjustable.
Hands come first because the scoop method depends on them. Toppings rank next, since the sources accept every placement, and the count matters least because a second order fixes a miscount.
Sources checked in October 2026 support that order. It would only change if Salvadoran cookbook authors and pupuseria owners stopped naming hands as the default.
If you’re cooking at home, the next step is making the masa for pupusas.
