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Sorullitos de Maíz (Puerto Rican Cheese Corn Fritters)
Little fingers of cornmeal cooked with butter and a touch of sugar, mixed with grated Edam, rolled and fried until crisp and golden, served with a dish of garlicky mayoketchup.
Puerto Rican · easy · serves 6
prep 25 min · cook 20 min
~476 cal · 7g protein · 33g carbs · 36g fat · 2g fiber · 5g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Sorullitos de maíz, or sorullos when they are made bigger, are Puerto Rico's cornmeal fritters: crisp outside, soft and buttery inside, and faintly sweet against the salty cheese. They are eaten as an appetizer before a meal, as a side, at breakfast and as a snack with a cup of café con leche.
Unlike a batter fritter, the dough is cooked first. Water, salt, a little sugar and butter are brought to the boil, fine cornmeal is stirred in until it pulls into a thick mass, and grated cheese goes in off the heat. Queso de bola, the round red-waxed Edam that is a Puerto Rican pantry staple, is the traditional choice, though cheddar is common too.
Once the dough is cool enough to handle it is rolled into short logs a tablespoon at a time and fried at a moderate heat until golden. The dip is mayoketchup, the island's pink mix of mayonnaise, ketchup and garlic.
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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
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 cups (210 g) fine yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup (100 g) Edam (queso de bola) or mild cheddar, finely grated, traditional Edam is usually made with animal rennet; strict vegetarians should use a vegetarian-rennet cheese
- 750 ml vegetable oil, for frying
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (for the mayoketchup)
- 1/4 cup ketchup (for the mayoketchup)
- 1 small clove garlic, finely grated (for the mayoketchup)
Instructions
- 1Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup and garlic into a pale pink mayoketchup and chill it until needed.
- 2Bring the water, salt, sugar and butter to the boil in a medium saucepan. Lower the heat and pour in the cornmeal in a steady stream, stirring hard with a wooden spoon, and keep stirring for 3 to 4 minutes until the dough thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- 3Take the pan off the heat and stir in the grated cheese until it melts through. Spread the dough out on a plate and leave it for about 10 minutes, until it is cool enough to handle but still warm.✎ Chef’s noteShape the dough while it is still warm. Once cold it cracks when you roll it.
- 4Scoop up a level tablespoon of dough and roll it between your palms into a log about 7 cm long and as thick as a finger. Repeat with the rest, laying them on a tray.
- 5Heat the oil in a deep pan to 175C (350F). Fry the sorullitos in batches for 2 to 3 minutes, turning, until golden brown and crisp all over. Drain on paper and serve hot with the mayoketchup.
Puerto Rican tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
San Juan. What separates mofongo from West African fufu, and from the Dominican mangu next door, is that the plantains are fried before they are pounded rather than boiled. The tool matters too: a wooden pilon, in which the garlic, the crackling and the plantain are worked together and then packed into a dome.
🗺️
Puerto Rico. The sofrito here is recaito, and it is greener than the Cuban and Dominican versions because of the culantro and ajies dulces in it. Names matter too: pernil is the roast shoulder, while lechon asado is the whole pig turned over coals along the road to Guavate, and arroz con gandules uses pigeon peas rather than any bean.
🌍
North America. North America's table began with Indigenous foodways, the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash, plus chiles, tomatoes, and cacao, then layered on colonial, African, and immigrant influences. From Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cuisine to the Cajun and Creole pots of Louisiana and the fiery jerk of the Caribbean, the region turns ancient staples into something new. Barbecue, tacos, gumbo, and mole all carry stories of migration and adaptation.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Puerto Rico
MofongoFried green plantains mashed with garlic and crackling pork, mounded and filled with garlicky shrimp or stew.
MallorcaA soft, buttery coiled sweet bread, pressed warm and snowed with powdered sugar, the pride of Puerto Rican panaderías at breakfast.
Arroz con GandulesRice cooked with pigeon peas, sofrito, and pork in one pot, forming a prized crust, Puerto Rico's national dish.
Browse all Puerto Rico recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Puerto Rico meal
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TemblequeDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Sorullitos de Maíz (Puerto Rican Cheese Corn Fritters)?
Little fingers of cornmeal cooked with butter and a touch of sugar, mixed with grated Edam, rolled and fried until crisp and golden, served with a dish of garlicky mayoketchup.
Where does Sorullitos de Maíz (Puerto Rican Cheese Corn Fritters) come from?
Sorullitos de Maíz (Puerto Rican Cheese Corn Fritters) is a Puerto Rican dish from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Can Sorullitos de Maíz (Puerto Rican Cheese Corn Fritters) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Sorullitos de Maíz (Puerto Rican Cheese Corn Fritters) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Sorullitos de Maíz (Puerto Rican Cheese Corn Fritters) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Sorullitos de Maíz (Puerto Rican Cheese Corn Fritters) take to make?
About 45 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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