How to Make Panamanian Tortillas (You Must Try)

Don’t you love the taste of biting into warm fried food? I definitely do! Especially for breakfast! Haha! Anyway, one thing I love about Panamanian tortillas is that they are SO EASY to make and they literally satisfy any craving for carbs you may have. These are an ESPECIALLY delicious addition to a typical Panamanian breakfast. So, what I have for you today are several recipes for how to make Panamanian tortillas that I KNOW you’ll enjoy! Keep reading to learn more!

(There may be affiliate links in this post. Read my disclosure policy to learn more).

What Are Panamanian Tortillas?

So, Panamanian tortillas are a traditional Panamanian breakfast food that EVERYONE (or nearly everyone) eats. And, it’s a SUPER easy Panamanian recipe, too.

Just to be clear, if you’re thinking that Panamanian tortillas are the same as Mexican or other Central American tortillas, you are TOTALLY WRONG.

These tortillas from Panama are SO DIFFERENT.

They are different because they are VERY thick compared to Mexican or other Central American tortillas. Also, most Panamanians fry their tortillas. Although, some people prefer to pan-fry them or bake them in the oven.

To be honest, in my opinion, Panamanian tortillas are SO VERY SIMILAR to Colombian arepas, made famous by the Disney movie Encanto.

For example, they use the same kind of corn. It’s not the corn you may be thinking of if you live here in the United States. This corn is actually hominy corn.

Hominy corn is actually BETTER for you than regular corn. The reason for this is that the process it goes through, called nixtamalization, releases more nutrients and is easier to digest than regular corn.

FYI, if you’re interested in learning more about hominy corn, you can learn more about it on my traditional Panamanian chicheme drink page.

Now, here in the United States, it can be very difficult to find golden hominy corn that Panamanians use to make their corn tortillas. For this reason, many people just use precooked cornmeal (it’s basically the same thing).

This pre-cooked yellow cornmeal, also called masarepa, is the same cornmeal you would use to make Colombian arepas (they’re SO easy to make, by the way… you should SO consider making them soon if you haven’t before).

Also, it’s the same cornmeal you can use to make corn Panamanian empanadas.

Ingredients for Panamanian Tortillas

These are some of the most basic ingredients that many Panamanian thick corn tortilla recipes require:

Precooked yellow cornmeal
Water
Salt
Oil for frying

How to Make Panamanian Tortillas

Although each family makes them differently, these are the basic steps for making some amazing easy fried tortillas from Panama.

In a large bowl, add lukewarm water and salt.
Stir.
Gradually add the precooked cornmeal to the water.
Mix.
Knead the dough with your hands.
Let the dough rest in a covered bowl for about 5 minutes.
Heat oil in a pot on the stove (enough to deep-fry the tortillas).
Tear off pieces of the dough into smaller pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into small balls (about 3 inches in diameter).
Using your palms, press each of the balls flat to form a round disk (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick).
Fry the round disks in oil until one side is golden yellow.
Flip the disk to the other side and cook until that side is golden yellow, too.
Take the disk out of the pan and let the excess oil drain on a paper towel.
Serve and enjoy!

Panamanian Tortillas Recipe #1

So, for the first Panama tortilla recipe, I will share with you the same Youtube video I shared with you on my Panamanian empanadas page.

The reason for this is because this video shows you the traditional way of making Panamanian tortillas AND Panamanian empanadas.

As you’ll be able to see from the video below, you can use the same dough for BOTH recipes.

Keep in mind that many Panamanians that are here in the United States often have a hard time finding golden hominy corn at their local grocery stores. Of course, a lot of this depends on where they live in the United States. So, a lot of people just use pre-cooked yellow cornmeal.

(Precooked cornmeal makes things so much easier and faster, too).

However, if you do have the means to make the traditional dough, you’ll use golden hominy corn (it’s the same ones you use to make Panamanian golden corn hominy drink).

Anyway, here is the YouTube video recipe by SANPAL 20 showing you how to make Panama tortillas the traditional way.

FYI, if you don’t have a manual grain grinder, you can always cook the hominy first and use a good food processor to make the dough. I’ll show you a video on doing this in a recipe further down the page.

Corn Tortillas from Panama Recipe #2

Looking for how to make Panamanian tortillas with precooked cornmeal? Well, then I recommend that you take a look at this TOTALLY easy recipe by P.A.N.

[This is the same brand that makes pre-cooked yellow cornmeal].

In my opinion, this is probably the EASIEST way to make this Panamanian recipe.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:

P.A.N. Pre-cooked Yellow Corn Meal
White cheese, grated (optional)
Water
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for frying

What you’ll like about this recipe is that it takes only about 10 minutes to cook and makes about 8 to 10 servings.

Also, here is the recipe for pan-frying the tortillas if you don’t want to deep fry them.

Panamanian Tortillas Recipe #3

Ok, so you know how I said earlier that you could use a food processor if you don’t have a grain grinder?

Well, if you want to make an authentic Panamanian tortilla recipe, but don’t have a grain grinder, check out this video below by CookingWithRody to learn just how to do that with a food processor.

P.S. the video is in Spanish, but I have included notes for you in English below the video.

Notes for Video Above

Ingredients

- 2 cups of golden hominy corn (1 bag of the Goya hominy corn will give you about 2 cups)
- 2 tablespoons of salt (or as you like)
- 12 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon of oil (for your hands to help knead the dough)
- Reserved water you used to boil the hominy
- Oil for frying

Preparing the Dough

Rinse the dried hominy 5 to 6 times.
Add 12 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of salt (or whatever measurement you like) to a pot.
Warm up the pot of water.
Add the hominy to the water.
Let it cook at medium heat for about 1 hour, and 15 minutes.
The hominy will start to open up when it’s cooked and ready.
Make sure to reserve some of the water once it’s done cooking.
Drain the rest of the water in the pot, but don’t rinse the hominy.
Add about half of the warm hominy to the food processor and turn it on.
If the hominy gets stuck, use a spatula to scrape down the edges.
Once the hominy is done processing, place the processed hominy onto a clean surface.
Add the rest of the hominy into the food processor to process (make sure it’s still warm).
Next, add the processed dough to the other batch that’s on the clean surface.
Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the reserved water to the hominy dough.
Put some oil on your hands to help you knead the dough.
Knead the dough until you form a large ball.
Put more oil on your hands as needed.
Flatten out the dough.
Make sure not to thin your dough too much.
Put a little bit of oil around the edges of the cookie cutter you’ll use to cut out the tortilla shape.
Press the cookie cutter into the dough.
Keep doing that around the dough until you have no more dough left.
Remove the round shapes from the dough.
Smooth out the edges.
You can make it thinner if you want. It’s up to you.
After you are done shaping the tortillas, you can put them in a ziplock bag and place them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them (within a few days).

Frying the Dough

To cook the tortillas, add them to a pan with hot oil (deep enough to cover the top and bottom of the tortilla).
Flip the tortillas when you see that they are golden yellow.
Once they’re done cooking, place them in paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Now they’re ready to serve!

What to Serve With Panamanian Tortillas

Panamanian tortillas go well with the following foods from Panama:

Ham
Bacon
Sausage
Chorizo
Eggs
Cheese
Panamanian hot sauce

Frequently Asked Questions for Panamanian Tortillas

Here are some FAQs and answers related to Panamanian tortillas.

What are Panamanian tortillas made of?

Typical Panamanian tortillas are made of the following ingredients:

Golden hominy corn
Salt
Water
Oil for frying

What is a typical breakfast in Panama?

A typical Panamanian breakfast consists of Panamanian tortillas with eggs, sausage, and fresh fruit.

In which country tortillas are a delicacy?

Tortillas are a staple food in Mexico and Central America. However, Panamanian tortillas are a staple food in Panama.

What is Panama national dish?

Panama’s national dish is sancocho de gallina Panameño (Panamanian chicken broth). It consists of chicken, root vegetables, corn, and chicken broth. Panamanians typically serve it for any meal of the day.

Final Thoughts on Recipe for Panamanian Empanadas

I seriously hope you consider making one of these delicious thick tortillas from Panama. They’re savory and very filling and go well with any Panamanian drink you can find (or make). You should definitely consider trying them!

What are your thoughts on Panamanian tortillas? Have you ever had them? Please let me know in the comments below!