CurtidoPile the tart cabbage relish on top of each pupusa, not beside it.
Refried red beansA scoop on the side for anyone whose pupusa has no beans inside.
Salvadoran cream (crema)Drizzle a little over the top, or keep it for the plantains.
Tomato sauce (salsa roja)Spoon the sauce over the curtido so it soaks into the corn.
Plantains, cassava and other sides 7
Avocado slicesFan a few slices on the plate with a pinch of salt.
Breaded palm flowers with tomato sauce (pacaya)Use the same tomato sauce you set out for the pupusas.
Chayote filled with melted cheeseServe it hot while the cheese still pulls.
Fried cassava (yuca frita)Top the hot cassava with more curtido.
Fried plantainsServe them soft and sweet with cream and beans.
Green mango with ground pumpkin seeds (alguashte)Slice the mango into spears and dust them just before serving.
Scrambled eggs with izote flowersA morning plate, with a pupusa in place of bread.
Tamales, soups and plates from the same kitchen 8
Beef and vegetable soup (sopa de res)Serve a bowl first and bring the pupusas after.
Chicken braised with onions (pollo encebollado)Give each plate a pupusa in place of tortillas.
Chicken soup with chipilín leavesA light bowl for those who want only one pupusa.
Chicken stewed with mushroomsSpoon the sauce over rice and eat the pupusa by hand.
Chicken tamalesUnwrap one for each person and share the tomato sauce.
Cow's foot and tripe soup (sopa de pata)A big bowl for sharing; add lemon at the table.
Seafood soup (mariscada)Tear a pupusa and dip it in the broth.
Warm stuffed chicken or turkey sandwich (pan relleno)For a crowd, set sandwiches and pupusas on one table.
Something sweet after 7
Biscuits for dipping in coffee (viejitas)Set them beside each cup.
Crumbly milk fudge (dulce de leche)Break it into small pieces; a little goes a long way.
Milk pudding (poleada)Chill it in small cups.
Pineapple-filled pastry (semita de piña)Slice it into bars for the table.
Plantain turnovers filled with custardRoll them in sugar and serve them warm with coffee.
Rice flour cinnamon cookies (salpores)Put a plate out with the coffee.
Sweet cheese pound cake (quesadilla salvadoreña)Cut small squares to go with coffee.
Drinks without alcohol 4
Chopped fruit drink (fresco de ensalada)Give each glass a spoon for the fruit at the bottom.
CoffeePour it with the sweet course.
HorchataStir the jug before each glass and pour it over ice.
Tamarind drinkIts tartness suits a cheese pupusa.
How it works
What to eat with pupusas starts with two things: curtido, a tart cabbage relish, and a tomato sauce. These 30 ideas add plantains, cassava, tamales, soups, Salvadoran sweets and drinks.
Read the full guide
The two things a pupusa is served with
Pupusas are served with curtido and tomato sauce and are traditionally eaten by hand. Curtido is a lightly fermented relish, in El Salvador usually made of cabbage, onions, carrots and oregano, a little like a tart coleslaw. The sauce, salsa roja, is a cooked tomato sauce. Plantains, tamales and vegetables can be served alongside.
Building a Salvadoran table
Fried cassava, yuca frita, is served with curtido too, so one bowl of relish does for both. For a bigger meal, start with sopa de res, a soup of beef shank, corn, plantain and vegetables. Finish with coffee and quesadilla salvadoreña, a sweet cake of rice flour and cheese.
Lift curtido out of its liquid with a fork. A wet spoonful makes the pupusa soggy.
Questions and answers
What sides go with pupusas?
Fried plantains with cream and refried beans, fried cassava and sliced avocado. Chayote filled with melted cheese is a Salvadoran side that brings a vegetable to the plate.
What can I serve with pupusas for dinner?
Add a soup or a stew from the same kitchen. Mariscada is a seafood soup with fish, clams, shrimp and crab, and pollo encebollado is chicken braised with onions. Chicken tamales, wrapped in plantain leaves, also fill out the table.
What dessert goes with pupusas?
Empanadas de plátano: ripe plantain dough filled with vanilla custard, fried and rolled in sugar. Semita de piña, pastry layered with pineapple preserves, and poleada, a vanilla milk pudding, are other Salvadoran sweets.
What do you drink with pupusas?
Without alcohol: horchata, which in El Salvador is spiced with cinnamon, sesame and morro seeds, tamarind juice, or ensalada, a pineapple juice drink with finely chopped fruit in it.