We may earn a commission when you click on the affiliate links in this post.
Light, airy, and irresistibly cheesy—this authentic Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo) comes together fast with simple ingredients. It’s naturally gluten-free, freezer-friendly, and packed with flavor.
Table of contents
A Taste of Brazil at Home
When my husband went to Brazil back in the 90’s he fell in love with these little Brazilian cheese bread bites. He ate them every chance he could! After we were married, he tried to describe them to me but I had no idea what he was talking about. Years later we found them at a restaurant called Tucanos Brazilian Grill in Utah, and I was finally able to see (or taste) what all the fuss was about. They definitely lived up to his hype!
The smell alone was heavenly, but biting into that warm, cheesy goodness? Game over. I had to stop myself from devouring the entire basket right there. Now I make them at home along with Brazilian Rice and Beans and Brazilian Limeade, and they’re always a hit with friends and family.
I’m so excited for you to try them!
🩷 Erica
What is Pão de Queijo?
Pronounced “pow duh kay-ju”, this classic Brazilian roll translates to “cheese bread” in Portuguese. But unlike traditional bread, Pão de Queijo is made with tapioca flour instead of wheat flour, which gives it that unique chewy texture. No yeast required!
Pão de Queijo is a staple in Brazilian cuisine, often served at breakfast or as an afternoon snack. You’ll also find it at churrascarias (aka Brazilian steakhouses). The best part? You can easily make it at home with simple ingredients.
Key Ingredients
Tapioca Flour (or Tapioca Starch): The star of the show! Be sure to use tapioca flour specifically—other flours won’t give you the right texture. Two main types of tapioca flour are used in Pão de Queijo. Both types are gluten-free and contribute to the unique characteristics of Brazilian cheese bread.
- Sour tapioca flour (polvilho azedo) adds a tangy flavor and extra chewiness.
- Sweet tapioca flour (polvilho doce) offers a more neutral taste.
Cheese: Queijo Minas is traditional, but it’s hard to find in the States. The best substitute is a mix of sharp cheddar and Parmesan cheese (or Parmigiano Reggiano). This will give you the perfect blend of smooth and bold flavors. Grate it finely so it incorporates evenly.
How to Make Brazilian Cheese Bread
Traditional Method (My Favorite!)
- In a saucepan, warm the milk, oil, and salt until it begins to simmer. Remove from heat.
- Gradually stir in tapioca flour until the dough becomes grainy and gelatinous.
- Transfer to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth and cooled slightly.
- Whisk the eggs separately. With the mixer running, add the eggs in two batches, letting each fully incorporate. Then mix in the cheese until the dough is sticky and stretchy.
- Use a cookie scoop or spoon to form 1-2 inch balls.
- Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 25-28 minutes until puffed and golden.
Quick Blender Method (For When You’re in a Hurry)
This is the best way to make Brazilian cheese bread if you are in a hurry or simply want to make things easier on yourself. Here’s what you do:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Add all ingredients except cheese to a blender. Blend until smooth (about 20 seconds), scraping down the sides as needed. Pulse in the cheese 3-4 times until evenly incorporated.
- Pour the batter into a greased mini muffin tin. You may need to use a spoon to help get the batter in without making a mess.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Don’t over-bake! The texture on the outside is more dry and “bread” like and the inside is more soft and chewy.
Pro Tips
- Use high-quality tapioca flour: Not all brands are the same—Bob’s Red Mill is a reliable option for consistent texture and puff. Make sure you’re using tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch), not cassava flour, which is slightly different in grind and baking behavior.
- Shred your own cheese – Pre-shredded cheese often contains anti-caking agents that can affect how well the cheese melts and incorporates into the dough. Hand-shredded Parmesan and cheddar melt better and give richer flavor.
- Customize Cheese Blends: Experiment with different cheeses for unique flavors. Gouda
- The dough will be sticky—embrace it: It’s supposed to be a little stretchy and wet, somewhere between a thick cake batter and cookie dough. Using a cookie scoop (dipped in water or sprayed with nonstick spray) will make portioning much easier.
- Don’t Overbake – Bake just until golden to keep the center chewy.
Storing, Freezing, and Re-Heating
Brazilian cheese bread is best enjoyed warm from the oven, but it stores and freezes nicely too! Let leftovers cool completely, then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, freeze the baked cheese breads in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 2 months.
To reheat, place them in a 350°F oven for 5–8 minutes or air fryer for 1-2 minutes until warmed through and slightly crisp. For a quick option, microwave 1–2 rolls for about 10-15 second, but keep in mind, they’ll be softer and won’t have that crispy outside. You can also freeze the unbaked batter in silicone molds and bake straight from frozen, just adding a few extra minutes to the cook time!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! That gooey center is part of the charm. Tapioca flour naturally creates a chewy texture even when fully cooked.
That’s totally normal! The dough should be soft, stretchy, and sticky—somewhere between cake batter and cookie dough. Use a cookie scoop sprayed with cooking spray or dipped in water to make portioning easier.
Flat cheese bread usually means the dough was too runny. Make sure it’s thick enough to form balls. Measuring ingredients carefully will help.
Have you tried this Instant Pot BBQ Chicken? I’d love to hear what you think! Drop a comment below and let me know how it turned out—or how you made it your own! ❤️
Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe (Pao de Queijo)
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups tapioca flour (I use Bob's Red Mill in the gluten-free section of the grocery store)
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (freshly hand shredded)
- 3/4 cup sharp or medium cheddar cheese (freshly hand shredded)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Combine the milk, oil, and salt in the saucepan, and whisking occasionally, bring it to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from heat as soon as you see big bubbles coming through the milk.
- Add all of the tapioca flour to the saucepan and stir until you see no more dry tapioca flour. The dough will be grainy and gelatinous at this point.
- Transfer the dough to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (Alternatively, you can do the next few steps by hand. Be prepared for a work-out.) Beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed until it smooths out and has cooled enough that you can hold your finger against the dough for several seconds.
- Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl. With the mixer on medium, beat the eggs into the dough in two additions. Wait until the first addition has been fully incorporated into the dough before adding the second. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on medium, beat in the cheese until fully incorporated. The resulting dough will be very sticky, stretchy, and soft with a consistency between cake batter and cookie dough.
- Using a cookie scoop, a tablespoon measure, or a dinner spoon, scoop rounded portions of the dough into mounds on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Space the mounds an inch or two apart. Dip your scoop in water or spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Transfer the sheet with the puffs to the oven and bake for 25-28 minutes, until the puffs have puffed, the outsides are dry, and they are JUST starting to color. Do not over bake! Cool briefly and eat.
Video
Notes
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Add all ingredients except cheese to a blender. Blend until smooth (about 20 seconds), scraping down the sides as needed.
- Pulse in the cheese 3-4 times until evenly incorporated.
- Pour the batter into a greased mini muffin tin.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Nutrition Information
More Bread Recipes to Try
In our family, no dinner is complete without some type of bread or roll. Here are a few of our tried-and-true favorites:
Dinner Rolls
Homemade Crescent Rolls
Pani Popo (Samoan Coconut Rolls)
Mom’s Homemade Rolls
Easy Monkey Bread
Irish Soda Bread
Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread
Is the temperature without fan? I did 350 fan and it got a lot of color after 16 mins, I had to take it out but it turned out underbaked 🙁
My oven doesn’t have a fan – maybe try putting some tin foil over the top?
Having tried the other blender-style recipes, I found this recipe one to be just like what I’ve had at the Brazilian Steakhouses! It is basically a pate Choux made with Tapioca Flour. It was easy to put together; a little messy to portion out even with keeping the scoop oiled, but, hey, the end results are well worth it! The flavor and texture are superior! I’m hosting a ladies luncheon next week and I’ll be making more for that. I know that none of them have ever had these and they will be a tasty treat to accompany our meal!
I cut the recipe in half because I only had 1 cup of tapioca flour left. Mixed the ingredients with a whisk in mixing bowl, stirred in Parmesan and cheddar, baked as directed. They came out perfect. They are so good.
Finally. This is the recipe I’ve been looking for. And hand grating the cheese makes a surprisingly big difference. Thank you for the recipe. Caution though— these things are addictive!
These did come out tasting really good. Similar to a few other commenters, my batter turned out so soft it didn’t really hold its shape. When I did a test batch, my mounds of batter turned into flat, cheesy cookies in the oven. Adding more starch was helpful, though I found I needed to add quite a bit more — I used probably almost double what the recipe calls for. I am at high altitude (in Colorado) so that could be why, and it seems like a lot of other people have made this recipe with success, so maybe it’s just an issue of where I live!
Hi there
I just made these and mine turned out crispy on the outside but really gummy on the inside and not hollow at all. What did I do wrong …please suggest?
Could be an elevation issue. Do you live at a high elevation?
Why are mine hollow in the middle?
They are supposed to be hollow in the middle!
Didn’t realize that using the blender method these would be liquid. So, not having a muffin tin I just poured the batter into an 8×8 baking pan. No rolls of course but a beautifully bubbly delicious bread. Well not really bread. More like gushy cheesey pastry. Who cares? It’s low fodmap and oh so yummy. Used Gruyère instead of cheddar!
Hi, I made a batch of rolls last week and they were perfect. An absolute hit with the family. Today I made them again and had an issue were the mixture split and the oil started to separate from the milk and tapioca flour. Any ideas as to were I went wrong?
Many Thanks
Wendy
I am not sure why that happened, but I have seen some recipes that suggest adding another egg to the batter as a cure for breaking!
Hi Wendy, this happened to me initially as well, (I was using a stand mixer), so I stopped mixing and manually broke up the chunks of the starchy flour + milk mixture and then it was able to combine.
Eureka! After testing so many recipes off the internet that all turned out to be a dud, I have finally been rewarded with the best pao de queijo recipe ever. My son is obsessed with brazi bites but they are not always available the market and they’ve gotten quite expensive. I also prefer to make my own so I can use organic cheese and eggs and avocado oil. This is it!!! I would add more cheddar and less Parmesan instead of equal amounts so the flavor is less sharp. But overall… this recipe is a winner. Thank you for sharing.
Please note gluten does not come from yeast but from the grain used.
Good point. People are so easily
easily confused it’s amazing. There are people right now wondering if only Brazilians can eat these rolls or maybe Brazilian tourists!
“Is it okay for me to eat Brazilian Cheese Rolls in Canada? I don’t have Celiac.
My husband and I loved snacking on brazi bites (which came frozen ) this recipe looks so good! I wonder if I can freeze these and cook them later ? So that way I’ll always have some ready to eat if I make them ahead of time ?
Yes, you could definitely freeze them.
Hello. Can I omit the cheese altogether? I cannot have dairy.
The cheese is what makes up the texture, so it won’t work if the cheese is left out. Sorry!
I am dairy free also and I plan on using dairy free cheeses!
Is it okay to use a mixed Mexican cheese pack (jack, queso, cheddar) to substitute the two cheeses you have?
We haven’t tried it with other cheeses, but I think it would be okay!
Try with vegan cheese!
What is the serving size? Are there 9 carbs per 2 inch roll? Also, does it have to be vegetable oil? Would olive, avocado, or grapeseed oil work?
Yes, the serving size for the nutrition facts is 1 roll. We haven’t used any other kind of oil, so I can’t say if those would work.
Can you use a nut or coconut milk with this recipe?
We haven’t tried any milk substitutes with this recipe yet, but let us know how it goes if you do try it!
Well I tried this recipe for my first attempt at Pao de Queijo and they turned out pretty great! Beautiful texture! I have no idea how other commenters are saying theirs came out runny. In step 4 my dough didn’t really ‘smooth out’ until I added the eggs though. I would recommend adding a sprinkle of garlic salt on top before you pop them in the oven. Delicious, thanks!
Hi. Your recipe looks delicious especially as I am a cheese lover. I have a pack of cassava flour in my pantry. Both tapioca flour and cassava flour are from the cassava plant but there is a slight difference I think. Any advice?
I haven’t used cassava flour, but from what I can find online, you should be able to substitute it!
Can I make the dough in the morning and portion and cook later?
It will taste better if made fresh. Thanks for asking!
I love Brazilian Cheese bread and yours was so good! My whole family loved them and have already asked me to make them again. Your directions were so easy to follow..Thanks so much!
This recipe needs to come with a disclaimer warning everyone that you will want to eat every last one of these, haha! Seriously, they’re amazing!!
My husband spent time in Brazil and LOVED this snack. He approves of your version of this recipe!! SO good and SO easy to make. Thank you!
This cheese bread recipe is a family favorite! So easy to make and buns are so soft and fluffy!