Sopaipillas, Chilean fried dough
Flat, golden fried pumpkin dough — crisp outside, tender within. Chile's most beloved street snack eaten at breakfast with pebre or mustard.
Chilean sopaipillas are not the puffy fried-dough pillows of New Mexican cuisine. The Chilean version is flat, slightly orange (from the pumpkin in the dough), and made savory or sweet depending on the time of day. Breakfast sopaipillas come with butter and jam (sopaipillas dulces), or smothered in pebre (Chilean salsa) for a heartier version. The pumpkin is what makes them distinctly Chilean, it gives the dough a soft texture, a subtle sweetness, and the characteristic golden-orange color. Eaten on cold winter mornings (especially in Santiago in July, when temperatures drop), with hot tea or café de pote.
Method
Make the dough.
Combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the cooled mashed pumpkin and melted butter. Mix until a soft dough forms — add 1–2 tbsp of water if too dry. Do not overwork. Rest 10 minutes.
Roll and cut.
Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thickness. Cut into 8cm rounds using a glass or cutter. Poke 3–4 holes in each with a fork (this prevents them puffing too much).
Fry golden.
Heat oil in a deep pan to 170°C. Fry the sopaipillas in batches, 2–3 minutes per side, until golden and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Serve.
Serve warm with pebre (Chilean salsa verde), mustard, or a drizzle of chancaca (dark sugar syrup).
Frequently asked questions
- Why pumpkin in the dough?
- Pumpkin (zapallo in Chilean Spanish) gives sopaipillas their characteristic color, texture, and slight sweetness. Without it, you have generic fried dough, comparable to other Latin American fried breads (buñuelos, fry bread) but missing what makes Chilean ones distinctive.
- Can I use butternut squash?
- Yes, butternut is the closest widely available substitute for Chilean zapallo (a large dense pumpkin variety). Sweet potato also works (slightly different texture, similar color and sweetness).
- Sweet or savory?
- Both. Sweet sopaipillas (sopaipillas pasadas) come with chancaca syrup (raw sugar + spices), eaten for dessert or sweet breakfast. Plain sopaipillas come with pebre (Chilean salsa), eaten as a snack or savory breakfast.
- How long do sopaipillas keep?
- Best within 24 hours. After that, the dough goes slightly hard. Reheat for 30 seconds in a hot pan to refresh, or fry leftover sopaipillas briefly to crisp them back up.
- Why poke holes in the dough?
- Without the small fork holes, the dough puffs into a balloon when it hits the hot oil. The holes let the steam escape, so the sopaipillas stay flat, which is correct for Chilean style. (New Mexican sopaipillas, which do puff, are a different dish.)
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