Fogo de Chao Cheese Bread Puffs

Fogo de Chao is a wonderful Brazilian barbeque restaurant. Their cheese bread puffs are like pop-overs but are softer and much more delicious. They do use special tapioca flour to make them extra soft and fluffy.

A basket filled with Brazilian cheese bread puffs


Brazilian Cheese Bread Balls

You can recreate your own Fogo De Chao cheese bread puffs at home. When hard pressed some people love the variety of meat served at a Brazilian barbecue restaurant, others love the salad bar. I love these cheesy rolls.

Brazilian cheese balls (Pao de Queijo) are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They are the cousin to a popover, but these are so much better.

These light and fluffy cheese bread puffs are the perfect addition to any meal. They are gluten-free and grain-free too.

Recipe Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need:

  • Sour tapioca flour  – is also known as sour cassava starch (polvilho azedo)
  • Sweet tapioca flour – is also known as sweet cassava starch (polvilho doce)
  • Milk
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Oil
  • Eggs
  • Salt

Sweet and sour tapioca flours can be found online or at Brazilian food stores.

How to Make Fogo de Chao Bread

  1. Generously grease a mini muffin pan.
  2. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well until the batter is smooth.
  3. Fill each muffin cup three-quarters full.
  4. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
  5. Serve warm.
A basket of homemade Fogo De Chao cheese bread puffs

Favorite Bread and Rolls Recipes

Check out more of my easy bread recipes and the best copycat recipes here on CopyKat!

A basket filled with Brazilian cheese bread puffs

Fogo de Chao Cheese Bread Puffs

These hot cheese rolls fresh out of the oven are hard to beat.
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Breads
Cuisine: Brazillian
Keyword: Cheese Bread, Cheese Puffs
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 428kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cup sour tapioca flour aka sour cassava starch (polvilho azedo)
  • 1 cup sweet tapioca flour aka sweet cassava starch (polvilho doce)
  • 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • 3/4 cup corn oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  • Generously grease a 12- or 24-cup mini muffin pan or small dariole molds.
  • Place all ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Mix well until the batter is smooth.
  • Fill each muffin cup three-quarters full.
  • Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. The bread puffs should be crisp on the outside and hollow on the inside, like a popover.
  • Serve warm.

Notes

Sweet and sour tapioca starch/flour can be found at Brazilian food stores or on Amazon.

Nutrition

Calories: 428kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 94mg | Sodium: 485mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 275IU | Calcium: 172mg | Iron: 1mg

Thanks to Flori for sharing this recipe.

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Claudine

    Thank you for the recipe! You really did a great job.
    I lived in Houston for over six years. I now live in the Middle East and am always trying to make meals/food that remind me of home. So glad I came across your recipe!

    It a bit was difficult to find Tapioca Flour (let alone 2 kinds). After reading a few comments above, I incorporated 1/3 Leban (coagulated sour milk diluted with water) to 2/3 whole milk and my one kind of Tapioca Flour. Although, the bread fell flat once I removed it from the oven, it tasted delicious!!!! I really don’t care how it looks. Just wish I had a mini muffin pan. It’s hard not to eat a full size one, once you get started. 🙂

    • Claudine

      5 stars
      I had a problem with the bread getting stuck to my non-stick (dark) muffin pan as well. After a couple experiments, I think I found a great solution. I used muffin liners sprayed with cooking spray (Pam). Worked like a charm.

      Thanks again!

  2. FranD

    Wow!!! These are spot on! I have to eat at Fogo periodically for business and have decided all I really want when I go there is the salad bar, a glass of red wine, and a basket of these. I remember asking the waiter how they made them so fluffy and he told me they used ‘yucca flour’. I couldn’t believe there’s no butter in them because they taste so buttery. Now I realize yucca- = cassava= tapioca flour. The only problem I just had is that they stuck to my new mini muffin pan. Are you supposed to oil generously, or let them sit in the pan a bit to cool? I’m having to dig them out. But taste and texture are exactly like Fogos. Would they work ok if I used mini muffin liners, or would that ruin the effect?
    Like the other poster, I used regular tapioca flour and then used 1/2 whole milk and 1/2 buttermilk. I also used canola oil because I didn’t have corn oil. Could that be the problem with the sticking?

  3. Sandra

    I would like to know if anyone has tried the brazilian cheese bread made with a little cocoa powder and chocolate chips?

  4. stephaniemanley

    i will remove the photo. I am sorry, I searched for a copyright free photo according to images.google.com. I agree is absurd. I am sorry.

  5. Blake Webb

    FYI everyone – they won’t turn out quite as well as the traditional Brazilian or the Fogo versions but if you really need a fix, replace the whole milk with 2% or whole Buttermilk (if possible…don’t replace with 1% or any milk other than whole, though). Also, substitute the 1 1/2 cups sour tapioca flour with 1 1/2 cups AP flour and substitute the 1 cup sweet tapioca flour with 1/2 cup of corn starch.

    Be aware, the texture won’t quite be the same but it is pretty close. Also you may need to experiment with baking time – we did 15 min at 425 as instructed and they do have a slight dip in the center instead of the full puff so they did not turn out exact but they were great anyway! With the substitute ingredients, I’m going to try preheat at 425 and baking at 400 for 20-25 min next time. I believe that should allow them to cook a bit longer to complete the puffing action without over-browning.

  6. ATL

    Could only find one kind of tapioca flour after looking in 3 stores in the Atlanta area. No one at natural food store here had heard of “sour” or “sweet” tapioca flour. Bread ended up cup-shaped, too brown on bottom, not edible. Had plenty of batter left, am trying lower temp and less time, but not holding out hope.

    • Alisa Corso

      We have only 1 kind, too, so what I did is I used whole buttermilk and it came out sooo good!. Last time I only had 1% buttermilk so I used half that, half whole milk, and again-came out perfect!

  7. Guest

    I found the tapioca flour at my local Asian market, and then ask my Cub to stock it. I only used one kind and they turned out awesome. SO close to the ones at the restaurant. Next time I will cut back on the oil, as they were a little greasy. But, other than that, best copykat recipe I have found!!

    • Stephanie Manley

      Fiesta food stores in the Houston area carries this type of flour. I would suggestion maybe checking stores that specialize in gluten free flours.

  8. Ryan

    Mine flattened out as well. I think it’s because I used a normal size muffin pan and filled the batter up about half way. When they came out of the oven they were the size of softballs and then immediately shrunk after cooling down.

  9. Stephanie

    I am sorry your results left you with flat pancakes, I am not completely sure what happened. I have had great luck with this recipe. It is possible the ingredients may have been past their prime, or there may have been some over-beating of the batter.

  10. Cindy

    My doctor is Brazilian and he told me to go to Fogo de Chao. It was great and I loved the cheese bread. I tried a few recipes that were not close to Fogo de Chao’s. I tried this and I love it. The only thing I would mention is that when you mix it all up, it is more of a liquid batter than a dough. I also think I added about a 1/2 cup more of the sour starch because it was so thin and I thought I maybe forgot to add the half of cup. All the other recipes were more like a dough and were a lot heavier. I am going to share this recipe with my in-laws who both have celiac sprue. Thanks for the recipe that I have been looking for, for so long.

  11. melissa

    The cheese puffs, also called p̣o de queijo, can be found in latin markets (also online at brazilianshop.com) to buy as a mix, just add water, oil and eggs Рit tastes exactly the same when made from the mix.

  12. Brazilian

    Well…

    Those are called “Pão de queijo” in Brazil, and although they are very similar to the ones back home, the ones you get at Fogo de Chão are not as good as the real ones. I guess it must be something to do with the ingredients and how they age.

    The ones in your recipe are near perfect, congrats.

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