Make Ahead

Addictive Cheese Balls: Chipa

by:
November 29, 2010
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0 Ratings
Addictive Cheese Balls: Chipa
  • Makes 20~24 balls
Author Notes

This cheese balls are called Chipa, originating from Paraguay, eaten all around South America. I bit into my first Chipa, homemade by a porteño. Immediately consuming 5 balls, I knew I had to get the recipe from her. This potato flour mixed with shredded cheese, butter and milk gives these balls a chewy, creamy, cheesy texture. My friend from Brazil humorously said, "This addictive cheese ball, also called Pao de Queijo in Brazil, is known to feed straight down to the arse of Brazilians." Therefore I must eat more. —FrancesRen

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Potato Flour (Yuca Flour)
  • 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup butter, cut into 1/2 inch cube size
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella plus 2~3 other kinds of sharp cheeses
  • 4-8 tablespoons whole milk
  • 1/2 head of roasted garlic (optional)
  • Dash ground pepper
Directions
  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Mix flour and butter by hand until it resembles bread crumbs with some small pieces of butter remaining.
  3. Add salt and pepper, cheese, egg and cheese; mix well by fork.
  4. Pour milk tablespoons at a time; mix until dough is evenly distributed and sticks together.
  5. Dust hands generously with potato flour; drop 1 tbsp of dough onto palm and shape into a tablespoon size ball. Dust hands with flour again; repeat. *If the dough is too soft to work with, put it in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
  6. Bake on baking sheet 10~15 minutes, until puffy and golden on top. *keep an eye on it, dough rises at the last 5 minutes of baking: cheese oozes out, slightly puffy and golden brown.
  7. Enjoy warm.
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  • FrancesRen
    FrancesRen
  • Sagegreen
    Sagegreen
  • JoanG
    JoanG
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    Andro WR

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11 Reviews

S. H.
S. H. November 2, 2014
Used about 6 tablespoons of milk. Dough looked about consistency of biscuits. Dropped on pan, put in oven and they spread all over the place in one big sheet. What did I do wrong?
 
FrancesRen
FrancesRen November 2, 2014
How was your oven temperature ? And what was the end result ? I will bake these again this week and get back to you.
 
FrancesRen
FrancesRen November 2, 2014
And what cheese did you use ? I usually don't grate them fine, more towards a rougher consistency so they don't melt too fast.
 
Andro W.
Andro W. November 20, 2019
Hi, I was born an raised in Northern Argentina. I've been cooking these for the better part of 40 years and have a slightly different list of of ingredients and technique. I thought I would share my own recipe.
2/3 C Butter
3 Eggs
2 C Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 T Grated Orange Peel
1/3 C Milk
3 C Tapioca or Yucca Starch
1 t Salt
2 t Baking Powder
Preheat oven to 375⁰. Whip the butter until fluffy; incorporate the eggs, parmesan cheese, orange peel and milk into the whipped butter. Sift the dry ingredients and combine with the butter/egg/parmesan/milk mix. Using a cookie scoop (0.75 oz) , scoop the mixture onto a Silpat lined (or parchment paper) cookie sheet about two inches apart. Bake for about 12~15 minutes or until golden brown and delicious (GBD).
 
Sarah L.
Sarah L. October 10, 2012
you should add the tag 'Gluten Free' for these!
 
FrancesRen
FrancesRen December 4, 2010
Great. Keep in mind the 1/2 cup of cheese is including the mozzarella as well as a few other sharp cheeses. A few people got confused! Tell me how it went.
 
Sagegreen
Sagegreen December 3, 2010
These do look really light and tempting.
 
FrancesRen
FrancesRen December 4, 2010
They are not only tempting, but very addictive :D
 
JoanG
JoanG November 29, 2010
These sound wonderful! Do you have to use potato flour or could you use a different flour instead?
 
FrancesRen
FrancesRen November 29, 2010
The potato flour contributes to the light chewiness texture, instead of the bready texture that wheat flours gives. Potato flour can be bought in chinese supermarkets and latino supermarkets. It can be substitute with what you can find in the market: Yuca/ Mandioca/Cassava Flour/Sweet Potato Flour. Good luck!! Tell me how it goes!
 
JoanG
JoanG December 4, 2010
I found potato flour at my coop so now I can try this out!