Authentic Gorditas, like those found in the street cafes of Mexico, stuffed with chorizo-flavored refried beans and cheese. The gordita shells are made from scratch for a unique, fresh flavor like what you find in a Mexican restaurant. These Mexican snacks are portable and packed with delicious taste.
Course Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Servings 164-inch gorditas
Ingredients
Gorditas
4Cmasa
2.5Chot waterabout 120 degrees
1.5tspkosher salt
Fillings
refried beans*
Panela cheese**
Instructions
To make the gordita dough, mix the ingredients together with a stand mixer with a hook attachment or by hand with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture starts to create large crumbs, you're ready to form the dough.
If the masa seems to dry to hold together, add 1 tsp of additional water at a time. You don't want the dough to be too wet. It should be just wet enough to hold together.
To best make gorditas, you need a tortilla press. I have linked to the one I have above for purchase. If you don't want to invest in one, you can roll out the gorditas with a rolling pin, but it will take a bit more time.
Form the prepared dough into 16 2.5-ounce portions. I use a digital scale to make sure I have even portions. I've linked to the one I have above for purchase.
Once you've formed the dough into equal portions, roll each one into a sphere shape. Line the tortilla press with a large piece of plastic wrap. Place the dough ball on the plastic wrap on the tortilla press and fold the plastic wrap over to cover the dough.
Press the dough to a 1cm thickness or the thickness of two tortillas stacked. We're going to split each gordita and stuff it so it needs to be thick enough to not fall apart when split.
Heat a flat grill pan or cast iron pan over medium-high heat. The pan is ready when a drop of water sizzles when dropped on the pan. Working in batches, place the flattened gorditas on the hot pan and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes or until the skin starts to brown. The gorditas will puff just slightly while cooking.
Once both sides have browned, let the gorditas cool for just a minute or two until you can comfortably handle. Once cooled, use a small sharp knife to split the gordita horizontally (see the picture above) into two pieces, but leave a one-inch section intact to hold the two pieces together.
Fill the inside of each gordita with a heaping tablespoon of refried beans and about the same amount of crumbled panela cheese and press the gordita together. Place each gordita back on the hot cast iron pan and sear each side for another 2 minutes each until the cheese inside is melted.
Serve hot with salsa or hot sauce.***
Notes
*Check out my awesome refried beans recipe!**Panela is a simple farmers cheese from Mexico that has a creamy, crumbly texture and mild salty taste. You can substitute any cheese you like, but I would recommend Monterey Jack.***I'm obsessed with the green salsa recipe I gave in my Chorizo and Potato Breakfast Tacos post. It's so simple to make and has just the right balance of fresh and spicy flavors.