Alcapurrias are a Puerto Rican fritter made with masa (dough) of yautía (a root vegetable) and green bananas and filled with savory meat. They are the perfect comfort food treat and much easier to make than you think! My mom used to treat us to alcapurrias growing up, and every time I bite into one, it takes me back to my beloved Puerto Rico.
What is an Alcapurria
Crunchy on the outside and usually filled with picadillo, alcapurrias are a popular snack in Puerto Rico. Paired with a cold beer, they make the perfect beachside snack. At most beach kiosks around the island, you will find alcapurrias on the menu. There are different types of alcapurrias. This alcapurria recipe is the most common, using equal parts green banana and yautia (a root vegetable). Yuca alcapurrias are yummy as well. If yuca is easier to find in your area, substitute the green bananas and yautia for yuca.
Making Alcapurrias
Alcapurrias may seem difficult to make, but they are pretty straightforward if you have the right equipment. I highly recommend using a food processor to simplify the process. You can also be old school and use a grater if you have time. My mom told me “I haven’t used a grater since the ’80s, and they taste the same.”
Extra Tips
If you want to save some for later, make them on parchment paper, and then secure them with cling wrap and freeze them. When preparing them, unwrap the alcapurrias and fry them for around ten minutes in very hot oil. Ensure you fry them frozen, if they thaw, they will fall apart in the fryer.
Here’s a step-by-step video of how I made them, using my mom’s recipe. (I even called her during the video for help!)
PrintAlcapurrias (Puerto Rican Fritters)
Alcapurrias are a Puerto Rican fritter made with a masa (dough) of yautía (a root vegetable) and green bananas and filled with savory meat.
- Prep Time: 60 Minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Category: Appetizers
- Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Ingredients
Alcapurrias:
Masa:
1 lb green banana (around 4 bananas)
1 lb yautia (one large or two small tubers)
1 packet of sazón
2 tbsp of achiote oil (if you can’t find it, just do another packet of sazón)
Adobo to taste
Filling:
Note: you can use different fillings such as corned beef, ground beef, crab. For this recipe, I used ground pork.
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 small onion
1 lb ground pork
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 packet of sazón
1 tsp of adobo
1/2 cup of sofrito
1/3 cup of finely chopped olives (optional)
Cooking oil to fry
Banana leaf to shape the alcapurria (if you can’t find it, brush some olive oil on the parchment paper.
Instructions
To make picadillo:
- Heat olive oil in a large frying pan, add onions, and cook until translucent
- Add the ground meat and use a spatula or wooden spoon to break it down
- Add tomato sauce, sazon, sofrito and olives and stir well, until all the condiments have integrated.
- Cook picadillo until cooked through. Around 12-15 minutes. Set aside.
To make masa:
- Peel green bananas and yautia. Chop in small pieces, around 1-inch cubes.
- Add the vegetables to the food processor in small batches until a smooth masa is created. In between batches, add sazon and achiote oil. Be patient, this will take several minutes as the yautia is very tough. Keep pulsing at high until the masa is smooth.
- Place the masa in a storage container and refrigerate for an hour. You can bypass this step if you’re hangry BUT it helps make the masa more pliable. If you have the time, do it!
- In a large frying pan, add enough oil (I use canola oil) to fill the pan, and warm in medium heat.
Assemble the alcapurrias:
- While the oil heats up, assemble the alcapurrias. In a banana leaf, spoon a little bit of achiote oil (around ½ tsp) and then spoon around ⅓ to ½ cup of the masa and spread into a circle.
- Hold the banana leaf with the masa in your hand like it’s a hot dog bun and add around ¼ cup of picadillo. The key is not to overfill them because the alcapurria will break in the fryer. With a spoon, move the masa around the picadillo to cover the alcapurria. If you need to grab a little more masa to cover the meat, go ahead and do it. The key is not to leave any meat exposed because they will fall apart.
- Add the alcapurria to the hot oil. Tip: make sure the oil is HOT. Cook for 3-4 minutes on both sides until crispy.
- Transfer to a plate with paper towels to absorb the oil.
- Enjoy!
