Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Chipa Guasú
A soft, savoury Paraguayan casserole of fresh sweet corn, eggs and fresh cheese, baked until golden, the juicier cousin of sopa paraguaya.
Paraguayan · easy · serves 6
prep 20 min · cook 50 min
~658 cal · 32g protein · 43g carbs · 42g fat · 4g fiber · 10g sugars · 20g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Chipa guasu, meaning big chipa in Guarani, is the fresh-corn casserole Paraguayans bake whenever the corn is sweet and the asado is lit. Where sopa paraguaya is built on cornmeal and bakes firm like a bread, chipa guasu uses whole fresh corn kernels and stays soft, moist and almost pudding-like.
The kernels are cut from the cob and roughly blended, then folded together with eggs, milk, onions softened in oil and plenty of crumbled Paraguayan fresh cheese. Poured into a tray and baked, the mixture sets into a tender, golden casserole flecked with whole kernels, slightly sweet from the corn and savoury from the cheese.
It is classic asado food, cut into squares and served alongside grilled beef, but it is just as happy as a light meal in its own right. Corn and cheese are the twin pillars of the Paraguayan kitchen, and chipa guasu is one of their happiest meetings.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
5 cups fresh sweet corn kernels (from about 8 ears)
4 eggs
2 cups fresh cheese (queso Paraguay or queso fresco), crumbled
1 cup milk
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup
1.5 tsp salt
Instructions
1
Heat the oven to 375F and grease a baking dish.
2
Soften the chopped onion in the oil in a small pan over medium heat until translucent, about 6 minutes, then set aside to cool a little.
3
Blend most of the corn with the milk to a rough, still-textured puree, leaving some kernels whole for body.
✎ Chef’s note
Stop while the corn is still a little coarse; blended smooth it bakes dense, and the whole kernels are what give chipa guasu its texture.
4
Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then stir in the corn mixture, the softened onion, the crumbled cheese and the salt until well combined.
5
Pour into the dish and bake until the top is golden and the centre is set, 45 to 55 minutes. Let it settle a few minutes, then cut into squares.
Paraguayan home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Asunción. Asuncion is the home of sopa paraguaya, a dense cornbread of cheese, onion, and milk that is famously a soup you can slice. Cassava is the daily starch, mate is drunk cold as terere through the heat, and beef from the surrounding grasslands is grilled at every gathering.
🗺️
Paraguay. Sopa paraguaya is not a soup and never was: it is a dense cornbread with cheese and onion, baked in a tray and cut into squares, and its name is one of the reliable traps for outsiders. Chipa, the cheese-and-cassava-starch ring, is the other everyday bread, sold from baskets on buses and long-distance roads.
🌍
South America. South America's cooking follows its dramatic geography, potatoes and quinoa in the high Andes, cassava and river fish in the Amazon basin, and grass-fed beef on the pampas. Indigenous ingredients like maize, ají peppers, and cacao meet Spanish, Portuguese, African, Italian, and Japanese influences brought by five centuries of migration. Ceviche, feijoada, arepas, and the smoke of the asado are its most beloved icons.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Paraguay
Sopa ParaguayaThe famous "soup you can slice": a rich cornbread of onions, cheese, and corn flour, born of a happy kitchen accident.
MbejúA chewy, crisp-edged starch-and-cheese griddle cake, gluten-free and pan-cooked to order, eaten with cocido at daybreak.
Vori VoriA golden chicken broth thick with little cornmeal-and-cheese dumplings, Paraguay's warming everyday soup.
Browse all Paraguay recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Blender, Whisk.
Storing it: Keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and reheats covered in the oven. Most bakes can be assembled a day ahead and baked when needed.
Make it a Paraguay meal
TereréDrink
Dulce de MamónDessert
So'o YosopyDinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Chipa Guasú?
A soft, savoury Paraguayan casserole of fresh sweet corn, eggs and fresh cheese, baked until golden, the juicier cousin of sopa paraguaya.
Where does Chipa Guasú come from?
Chipa Guasú is a Paraguayan dish from Asunción, Paraguay.
Can Chipa Guasú be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Chipa Guasú recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Chipa Guasú safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Chipa Guasú take to make?
About 70 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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