Vegetarian Arepas with Black Beans & Feta|Hurry The Food Up

May 18, 2022May 24, 2022 Stan

Home » Private » Venezuelan Black Bean Arepas con Queso (20g protein)

By Dave
Updated on May 18, 2022

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Arepas with black beans on a plate, with a bowl of green sauce, a bowl of crumbled feta, a plate of unfilled arepas, spices | Hurry The Food Up

Our vegetarian arepas recipe is inspired by traditional Venezuelan arepas recipes. Arepas are small cornmeal flatbreads fried gently and topped with all sorts of yummy goodies.

While these may usually be meaty, ours are totally meat free – topped with a delicious black bean mix, homemade guac and feta.

Arepas make a great lunch or dinner. They don’t take long to make, and they’re kind of like tacos in that they’re fun to put together, a great meal to make with friends.

Healthy Vegetarian Arepas con queso recipe

Of course, this is a healthy arepas recipe! Simple, healthy food is what we do best, and this is no exception.

We have made sure each serving of vegetarian arepas has a good amount of protein and fibre, not much fat or sugar, and a healthy serving of fresh veggies.

The protein comes to about 20g per serving, and is mostly supplied by the black beans. Beans are a great source of plant based protein, containing around 15g per cup, as well as other nutrients such as iron, phosphorus, folate and magnesium.

They are also super fibrous, and supply part of the 18g fibre per serving that this meal provides. Fibre is important to help regulate your digestion, and to keep you feeling full after eating. 18g fibre makes this a super filling meal that will keep you going for hours!

Arepas ingredients like cornmeal, vegetable broth, onion powder, white onion, black beans, avocado, parsley etc. | Hurry The Food Up

By using low fat feta and only a teaspoon of oil, we manage to keep fat levels fairly low, at 15g each, of which only 3g is saturated. The majority of that fat will come from the avocados in the guacamole.

The fat in avocados is a healthy kind of fat, and avos are generally full of goodness – so don’t be afraid of those 15g! The idea that low/no fat makes for healthy food is pretty outdated, because your body needs a certain amount of fats to function.

That’s why we keep saturated fat low, but don’t avoid unsaturated fats entirely! And where better to get your daily fat intake from than creamy dreamy avocados?

You could also try eating these black bean arepas as part of a weight loss meal plan. They are filling, healthy and at 486 kcal per serving, a light, but decent sized, meal!

Fried arepas is on a pan. There is a dough patty on a plate, tea towel, half a lemon, parsley and spices | Hurry The Food Up

How to make arepas

Easy peasy! The dough is just cornmeal, broth and onion powder, mixed together and left to rest for a while.

The black beans are fried up with onions, thyme and cumin, and the guac is just avo, lemon and parsley mashed together. If you fancy, you could make these into stuffed arepas and use the bean mix as your arepas filling.

Either shape the dough into patties around a small scoop of filling, or make thicker arepas, slice them in half and fill them like you would a sandwich.

We prepared them by shaping the dough into patties and frying until golden, then topping with beans, guac, crumbled feta and cilantro. Couldn’t be easier!

Arepas for everyone

Did you know cornmeal is gluten-free? So this recipe is already gluten-free, as the flatbreads are cornmeal based!

And for vegan arepas, just skip the feta or replace it with nutritional yeast or your fave vegan cheese alternative.

Once you’ve tried Venezuelan-inspired vegetarian arepas, why not travel up the American continent and try something Mexican-inspired, like these huevos rancheros, or these vegetarian tacos.

Arepas ingredients like cornmeal, vegetable broth, onion powder, white onion, black beans, avocado, parsley etc. | Hurry The Food Up A birds eye view of plated aripas with black beans, with a bowl of green sauce, a bowl of crumbled feta, a plate of unfilled arepas, spices | Hurry The Food Up

Venezuelan Black Bean Arepas con Queso

Looking for new lunch ideas? Try our Venezuelan-inspired vegetarian arepas – cornmeal flatbreads with beans & feta!

In a medium bowl add the white cornmeal, ½ tsp salt, ¼ cup of hot vegetable broth, onion powder and mix. You should get a soft pliable hydrated dough, if it’s too dry add a little extra broth. Mix until fully incorporated and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
⅔ cup white cornmeal, ⅓ cup vegetable broth, ½ tsp onion powder, 1 ¼ tsp salt
Dice the onion and add to a nonstick pan with a small drizzle of oil. Cook at medium low heat until the onion becomes translucent.
½ small white onion, 1 tsp oil
Add the beans, cumin, thyme and ½ tsp of salt. Mix and cook for 3 minutes. Add black pepper per taste.
1 cup black beans, ½ tsp cumin, ground, ½ tsp thyme, dried
Divide the dough in two and form two round patties (the arepas) that are about 1 cm (0.4 inch) thick.
In a large non-stick pan over high heat add 1 tsp of oil and the arepas. Cook over high heat until they are golden on both sides, then turn the heat to low and allow to continue cooking for about 3-4 minutes per side.
Meanwhile, in a bowl add the avocado, parsley, ¼ tsp of salt, lemon juice and ¼ cup of water. Mash until smooth, if necessary add a little extra water.
½ small avocado, 1 big handful parsley, fresh, 1 tsp lemon juice
Fill or top the arepas with black beans, green sauce, crumbled feta and cilantro leaves.
1.5 oz low fat feta cheese, Cilantro leaves