Cassava Cheese Bread (Pan de Yuca)

Name: Cassava Cheese Bread (Pan de Yuca)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Colombia
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups (300 g) cassava starch (tapioca starch, almidón de yuca); 7 oz (200 g) queso fresco or low-moisture mozzarella, finely grated; 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) fine salt; 2 large eggs (100 g), lightly beaten; 3 tablespoons (45 g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled; 1/4 cup (60 ml) whole milk

Pan de yuca Say it: pahn deh YOO-kah

By the Passport Plate editors. Published November 6, 2026.

Jump to recipe Pin it

Pan de yuca is Colombia's beloved little cassava-starch roll, sold warm from bakery counters and eaten for breakfast or as an afternoon snack with coffee. The dough mixes cassava starch with fresh white cheese, egg, butter and a splash of milk, then bakes into pale golden spheres with a thin, faintly crisp crust and a chewy, stretchy, cheese-rich middle. It is naturally gluten-free, quick to stir together, and best eaten straight from the oven while the center is still soft.

Cassava Cheese Bread (Pan de Yuca)

Pan de yuca

Pronounced pahn deh YOO-kah

Serves: 4
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 20 min
Total: 40 min
Level: Easy

Also nut-free.

Allergens: contains milk, egg. Check labels on packaged ingredients.

Ingredients

4 servings

Dough

2 1/2 cups (300 g)300 g (2 1/2 cups) cassava starch (tapioca starch, almidón de yuca)
7 oz (200 g)200 g (7 oz) queso fresco or low-moisture mozzarella, finely grated
1 teaspoon (4 g)4 g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3 g)3 g (1/2 teaspoon) fine salt
2 large eggs (100 g), lightly beaten
3 tablespoons (45 g)45 g (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup (60 ml)60 ml (1/4 cup) whole milk

Method

Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk the cassava starch with the baking powder and salt. Add the grated cheese and toss until every shred is coated in starch, which keeps the cheese from clumping.
Pour in the beaten eggs and melted butter and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture looks evenly moist and crumbly. Add the milk a little at a time and knead with your hands for 1–2 minutes, until you have a soft, smooth dough that is slightly sticky but holds together in a ball.
Pinch off 1 1/2-tablespoon (25 g) pieces and roll them between your palms into 16–18 neat balls. Set them 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on the lined sheet.
Bake for 18–22 minutes, until the rolls have puffed, are pale golden at the edges and feel set and hollow when lightly tapped on the base. Pull them out before they brown deeply, or they turn dry.
Let the rolls rest on the sheet for 5 minutes, then serve them warm while the cheese inside is still soft and stretchy.

Regional variant: Ecuadorian pan de yuca

Ecuadorian versions are usually made larger and slightly flatter, and many cooks tuck a small cube of mozzarella or queso fresco into the middle of each roll before baking so it melts into a pull-apart core. Some families deep-fry the same dough in hot oil instead of baking it, which gives a blistered, extra-crisp shell; fry at 350°F (175°C) for 3–4 minutes per batch until golden.

Cook's notes

Use fine cassava starch (tapioca starch), not coarse ground cassava meal — the meal gives a denser, grittier crumb.
Grate the cheese as finely as you can; it melts evenly and creates the characteristic stretchy center.
If the dough feels dry and cracks when you roll it, work in another tablespoon (15 ml) of milk; if it sticks badly, dust your hands with a little extra cassava starch.

Serve with

Warm with Colombian coffee, hot chocolate or a glass of cold milk.

Make ahead and storage

Bake and cool completely, then keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or refrigerate up to 2 days; reheat at 350°F (175°C) for 5–7 minutes. Best eaten fresh.

Cassava Cheese Bread (Pan de Yuca)