This easy Vegan Brazilian Cheese Bread uses tapioca starch, potato, olive oil, and spices to make a dairy-free pão de queijo. Gluten-free.
It was only a few years ago now that I was first introduced to Brazilian cheese bread. A coworker had brought it in for a celebratory birthday lunch.
The moment I found out that it was made of naturally gluten-free tapioca starch, I almost jumped up and down with excitement.
It’s the little things, right?
Traditional Brazilian cheese bread, or pão de queijo, while made up mostly of tapioca starch, is also, as the name suggests, heavy on the cheese.
I wanted a dairy-free Brazilian cheese bread that didn’t rely on vegan cheese but still had that crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside texture and addictive flavor.
And while already going the dairy-free route, I wanted to go ahead and make it completely vegan, omitting the egg.
Due to the starch content of both tapioca starch and the cooked potato, this was possible.
Vegan Brazilian Cheese Bread Ingredients
Besides those two main components, the ingredients list is really quite short. Here’s what you’ll need:
- tapioca starch
- nutritional yeast
- cooked potatao
- olive oil
- unsweetened almond milk
- garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, black pepper
Can you reheat Vegan Brazilian Cheese Bread?
I recommend that this vegan brazilian cheese recipe is best eaten the day it is made. It is especially good while still warm right out of the oven.
But, if you do have leftovers, refrigerate the brazilian cheese bread in an airtight container. You can reheat the cheese bread in the oven or the microwave.
I prefer to heat them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 8-10 minutes. The oven method keeps the outside crisp, while the microwave method will not.
If using the microwave, heat for 15-20 seconds.
So, eat these for breakfast, serve as a snack or appetizer, or pair with a meal.
I love having them with soup as they make delicious dunking vessels!
Want more inspiration? Check out these gluten-free sourdough crescent rolls!
More Gluten-Free Bread Recipes
Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Cornbread
Vegan Brazilian Cheese Bread (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked Russet potato
- 2 cups (236g) tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 pinches ground turmeric
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast*
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pierce the potato with a fork and cook on appropriate setting in microwave until cooked and mashes well with a fork.
- In a large bowl, combine tapioca starch, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, turmeric, and nutritional yeast. Whisk to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine boiling water, olive oil, and almond milk. Whisk to combine. Add the liquid mixture to the tapioca mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula, stirring until most of the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
- Add the cooked potato and stir and mash with the back of the spoon until mostly incorporated. Then, using your hands, squeeze and knead the dough together until it becomes smoother. There will be some dry bits of dough, just press and knead them into the dough.
- Scoop the dough by tablespoon, and roll into balls. It is helpful to squeeze the dough together a few times as you roll to make a cohesive ball. Space about an inch and a half apart on baking sheet.
- Bake for 32 to 35 minutes. The outsides should be dry and the bottoms should start turning a golden brown (lift one to check). The tops of the cheese bread will not really brown at all.
- Allow vegan brazilian cheese bread to cool for a few minutes on baking sheet. Serve warm. Best eaten the day they are made.
- For leftovers: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, warm in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes. You can also reheat in microwave for 15-20 seconds. The microwave will not make them crisp.
Christina Bianco says
Thanks for posting this recipe, I’m going to make these today. Do I use the skin of the potato or do I peel the potato? Thanks in advance for your reply!
Tessa says
Hi Christina! Good question. No skin, just the inside. I usually slit the potato and scoop it out after cooking!
Montserrat Murillo says
Hi Tessa! I have made mine but they were super hard on the outside, literally impossible to bite. I substituted tapioca starch with cassava flour. Do you think that’s the reason of my failure?
Tessa says
Hi Montserrat! Yes, I do think that is what caused them to be super hard on the outside. Cassava flour is more fibrous than tapioca starch and doesn’t always work well as a substitute.
Marina says
How many balls does this make?
Tessa says
Hi Marina! It makes about 12-14 balls.
Mimi says
Could you sub russet potatoes with yams?
Tessa says
I think that would probably work just fine. I’d love to hear how it worked out for you.
Monika says
I’ve made your recipe with sweet potato a couple times and it’s just as good! I continue to make both kinds.
Tessa says
Love that! Thank you, Monika!
Ivana says
If just using garlic powder and not turmeric/onion powder is that still ok?
Tessa says
Yes, that is just fine. The flavor will change slightly but should still taste great.
Charlotte says
Hello, I am following the FODMAP regime and cannot eat garlic or oignon, can we make the recipe without it ?
Thank you so much !
Tessa says
Hi Charlotte! Yes, it will work just fine, it just changes the flavor a bit. Even without those two, I think it will still taste great.
Veronika Neužilová says
Hi,
Can I ask you Do you know how many grams are in a cup of mashed potatoes?
Thank you so much!
btw. The recipe looks sooo good! I have to cook it this weekend.
Have a nice day,
Veronika
Tessa says
Hi Veronika! It should be about 325g for 1 cup of cooked mashed potatoes. I hope that helps!
Tessa says
Hi Veronika! It should be about 325g for 1 cup of cooked potatoes. I hope that helps!
Frances says
Could I sub oat milk for almond?
June says
What’s the calorie and nutritional counts (macros?) of this recipe?
Michelle says
Did you repost this? I’m looking for a recipe from several years ago that used to be one of my favourites– and this looks exactly like it. Do you think it was yours?
Unfortunately, I now live in Asia and don’t have an oven! I just have a microwave, rice cooker/steam cooker and a stovetop… curious whether these can be pan fried…? What do you think? I’d love to taste this deliciousness again…
Kelly says
Thanks for the recipe! I made this with yuca/manioc instead of potatoes and for seasoning only added salt and nutritional yeast. They turned out delicious!
Danielle says
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe. I found it via Instagram.
I am currently doing it but the tapioca balls are not melted.
Is that normal or did I choose the wrong type of tapioca ?…
Thanks in advance for your help.
Best regards,
Danielle.
An says
Hey there, you actually need to use tapioca flour, not tapioca pudding with the little balls in. Good luck!
Alina says
Hi, can the dough be frozen and then baked later? Or should they be baked right after the dough is made?
Samantha says
I tried to make these. But mine turned out dry on the inside. Any tips?
Esther says
I’ve made them twice now, and they’re delicious! Thanks!
Tessa says
That is great to hear!! Thanks so much, Esther!
Elisabeth says
Hi!
The corn starch you used, is it grainy or finely ground in texture?
Thanks!
Tessa says
Hi Elisabeth! There isn’t any corn starch in this recipe, but the tapioca starch is very finely ground in texture. I hope that helps!
Lisa says
Hi I have made these and they go very hard – is there a reason for this? Am I leaving them in the oven for too long?
Thanks
Tessa says
You may be leaving them in too long – it is possible your oven runs a little hotter so you don’t need as much time. It is natural for them to harden at room temperature after awhile, but they shouldn’t be so hard right out of the oven. I hope that helps!
janice Hoffmann says
I’m Brazilian and this was my first attempt to make vegan cheese bread! I was amazed at the texture! Really similar. I am not a big fan of nutritional yeast, so I will skip it next time and add also more salt. Amazing recipe!
Tessa says
That is awesome – thanks so much!
joselle says
These are FANTASTIC . I’m Brazilian and these were like little vegan bites of home. I have terrible GERD so no pepper, onion or garlic… added a smidge more salt and used the nutritional yeast. They came out SO cheesy. Thank you
Tessa says
That’s awesome! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you. :)
Juliet says
These are delicious! I messed up and put one whole potato instead of a cup. It still worked out.
Tessa says
Thank you, Juliet! I’m so glad!
Brit says
Mine turned put much too watery, even after I added more tapioca flour. I’m not sure where I went wrong.
Cait Murphy says
Just made this, and it was amazing! We made a vegan mayonnaise sauce to go with it, with Tajin spice and lime mixed in. It was so good – like a pub food made at home! :)
Tessa says
Hi Cait! Thank you! That sounds amazing. I love it!
Hannah says
These are absolutely delicious and addictive. The texture is god-like. I made this without onion powder as I couldn’t find any, but instead used a little bit of Herbamare salt. I don’t think it would be as delicious without the nutritional yeast. I will make this a million times again I swear. I plan on making a garlic herb margarine (as in vegan butter) for it – we’ll see how that goes!
Tessa says
Thank you, Hannah! That garlic herb butter sounds like it would be amazing with these! :)
Ed says
Hello!
Are you able to change the tapioca starch to something else? I can’t find anywhere in Ireland.
Tessa says
Hi Ed! Unfortunately, the tapioca starch is crucial to this particular recipe. I wish I had a substitute to suggest!
Vicky says
Even though my dough was very sticky after following the recipe the way it was written , all I had to was add a lot of extra tapioca starch to make the dough good enough to make balls from them! Do you think there’s anyway to reduce the oil? To make a healthier version of it? Thank you.
P. S. These were delicious and approved by my meat eater hubby
Tessa says
Hi Vicky! Thank you! I am worried that reducing the oil may make the baked end product harder. If you try it, I’d love to hear how that goes. So glad your husband liked them too!!!
Cat says
I just did these. It was the best thing ever!! Really really amazing!
The dough was very liquify so I had to add more flour but they turned out amazing!!!!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Tessa says
Thank you!! So glad you enjoyed them!
Diana says
Hi!
I’m thinking about making your vegan cheese bread today but I’m wondering if I can make the dough and refrigerate it overnight and bake tomorrow?
Tessa says
Hi Diana! I have never tried refrigerating it before baking – I would worry that this may take away from the “stretchiness”.
Emily says
You could make the little balls and freeze it. When you are ready to eat them, just bake them frozen ;)
Emily Garcia says
Hi Tessa, you made the unthinkable possible! cheese bread without cheese! amazing texture!
I did it without the pepper and added nutritional yeast.
I tried to do it a second time with potatoes flakes and oat milk instead of boiling water, but I lost the texture, why would that happen? any tips?
Tessa says
Thanks, Emily! I’m not quite sure why it would lose the texture except that potato flakes may not have the same amount of starch in them. The starch is necessary for that chewy texture.
Carolina Torres says
Hello. I ussually make the cheese ones for my kids and freeze them in batches. Could i freeze this recipe and cook them for breakfast once needed?
Tessa says
Hi Carolina – I have never tried freezing and baking them later. I would like to think that would work but still need to try it out. If you freeze a small batch, I’d love to hear!
Jana says
Today I tried to make it according to your recipe Brazilian “cheese” Bread and it’s so delicious! Tell me, what kind of consistency should be inside? it seemed to me a bit like chewing gum and it seems I did something wrong ..
Thank you for the answer and for the delicious recipes
Tessa says
Thank you, Jana! I’m happy you liked it! The inside should be a bit chewy/stretchy due to the tapioca starch.
Nuno Dias says
Is is OK to substitute the garlic powder for fresh garlic?
Tessa says
I think that would work just fine!
Rita D says
Hi Tessa!!
thanks for the recipe.
Dough turned out sticky and moist. so I couldn’t really form the balls it. what did I do wrong? measured the ingredients exactly as per recipe?
still baked them and they looked similar to whats on the pictures, but stuck to the parchment paper and are like jelly inside?
Tessa says
Hi Rita! I’m not sure what went wrong, but you could always add a little more tapioca starch until it is easier to roll into balls. They will be a bit jelly inside – that is due to the tapioca starch.
MJ says
Hi, thank you, your a life saver. However i need your help because mine did not turn out like yours. The inside was gummy, outside normal. The inside looked like mozerella cheese all rubbery gooey and gummy. I followed instructions exactly. I ate them, probably should’ve have.
Tessa says
Hi! Thank you! The insides will be a bit gummy due to the tapioca starch, but shouldn’t be overwhelmingly so. You can always try a little less tapioca starch or a little more cooked potato.
Roxanne says
Absolutely delicious and dangerously moreish! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Tessa says
So happy you enjoyed it! Thank you!
Maya Yuristha says
Hi! I’ve tried making this and it blow my mind!!! Super deliciouuuus! Thank u for sharing this. anyway, may i know how do you count the calorie? It it 200Kcal for all this recipe? Or how many serving? Thank you
Tessa says
Thank you!! This recipe makes about 12 cheese bread balls, so the nutrition information is for one cheese bread ball.