Sorullitos are fried cornmeal sticks, crisp on the outside and dense and soft inside, usually with a strip of cheese buried in the middle. They are a staple of Puerto Rican cooking, served as a side or an appetizer and often eaten with mayoketchup (source).
The dough is cooked before it is fried. That one step is the difference between a sorullito and an American corn fritter.
What are sorullitos?
The full name is sorullos de maiz, and sorullitos is the diminutive most people use for the small appetizer size. They are made from cornmeal cooked into water or milk with sugar, salt and butter, shaped into sticks or logs, and fried (source). Shaped as flat disks instead, the same dough is called tortitas de maiz.
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The flavour runs lightly sweet in most kitchens and fully savoury in others. Both are correct. Sugar in the dough is the single thing cooks argue about most, and the answer depends on whether the sorullito is going next to a fried fish or being dunked in coffee.
Cheese is the usual filling, and Edam, sold in Puerto Rico as queso de bola, is the most traditional choice (source). Cooks in practice reach for whatever melts: mozzarella, cheddar, or a processed cheese that behaves well in hot oil.
Use plain cornmeal, not the precooked kind
This is where the recipe usually goes wrong before it starts. Sorullitos need ordinary fine yellow cornmeal, the kind that has to be cooked. Precooked corn flour, the masarepa sold for arepas, hydrates instantly and gives a pasty dough that cracks in the pan.
The second half of the same rule is heat control. Bring the liquid to a boil, then take the pot off the burner or turn it off before the cornmeal goes in. The residual heat cooks the dough while you stir. Left on a live flame it seizes and scorches on the bottom while the top is still raw.
You are done stirring when the dough pulls away from the sides and bottom of the pot in one mass.
What you need for Puerto Rican sorullitos
- 2 cups (480 ml) water, or 1 cup (240 ml) water and 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups (200 g) fine yellow cornmeal, not precooked
- 2 tbsp (25 g) sugar, or 1 tsp for a savoury batch
- 1 tsp (6 g) fine salt
- 2 tbsp (28 g) butter
- 4 oz (115 g) cheese, cut into strips about 2 in (5 cm) long: Edam, mozzarella or a firm cheddar
- Neutral oil, about 2 in (5 cm) deep in the pot, for frying
For mayoketchup: 1/2 cup (120 ml) mayonnaise, 2 tbsp (30 ml) ketchup, 1 small clove garlic, grated, and a squeeze of lime.
How long sorullitos take
| Prep | 15 minutes |
| Cooking | 25 minutes |
| Cooling the dough | 15 minutes |
| Total | about 55 minutes |
| Makes | 16 sorullitos |
How to make Puerto Rican sorullitos
- Boil the liquid. Bring the water, or the water and milk, to a boil with the sugar, salt and butter.
- Take the pot off the heat. Move it off the burner, or switch the burner off, before any cornmeal goes in.
- Rain in the cornmeal. Pour it in a steady stream with one hand while stirring hard with the other. Pouring it all at once makes lumps you cannot fix later.
- Stir to a smooth dough. Keep stirring until the mixture is smooth and pulls cleanly away from the bottom and sides of the pot, one to two minutes.
- Let it cool enough to handle. Turn it out and leave it 10 to 15 minutes. It should still be warm, just not hot enough to burn your palms.
- Shape the logs. Wet your hands, take about 2 tbsp of dough, and roll it into a cigar about 3 in (8 cm) long. Rolling it back and forth on a board or the counter gives a smoother surface than rolling it in your palms.
- Stuff the cheese. Flatten the dough, lay a strip of cheese down the middle, fold the dough around it and seal the seam and both ends completely. Any gap leaks.
- Heat the oil. Bring it to about 350°F (175°C). Too cool and the sorullitos drink oil; too hot and the outside browns before the cheese melts.
- Fry in batches. Four or five at a time, turning to colour all sides, until deep golden and crisp, about 4 minutes.
- Serve hot. Drain on a rack and eat them straight away, with mayoketchup on the side.
Tips and variations
- Sweet or savoury, pick one. A sweet batch takes the full two spoons of sugar and goes with coffee. A savoury batch drops to a teaspoon and goes beside fried fish or a burger.
- Guava and cheese. Sorullos de guayaba y queso are filled with guava paste and cream cheese or queso blanco (source). Use a smaller piece of each than you think you need.
- Coconut milk instead of water. Sorullos de coco use coconut milk for the liquid and land noticeably richer.
- Cheese in the dough. Some cooks grate cheese straight into the warm dough as well as stuffing it. The outside browns faster when they do.
- Wet hands, always. The dough is sticky by design. Water on your palms keeps it manageable and keeps the surface from cracking.
Where it sits on the table
Sorullitos are a side dish and a snack. They go out with guava sauce or mayoketchup, stand in for french fries next to a burger or a sandwich, and are also dunked in coffee (source). A plate of them lands in the middle of the table and does not last.
On a fried spread they sit beside alcapurrias and bacalaitos, which come out of the same oil and want the same cold drink.
Nutrition
Estimated, for one sorullito of 16, based on the amounts above and standard ingredient labels.
| Calories | 150 kcal |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 16 g |
| Sugar | 2 g |
| Sodium | 210 mg |
Storing sorullitos
They are best in the first ten minutes and acceptable for a day. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat in an oven or air fryer at 375°F (190°C) for six or seven minutes, which brings back most of the crust.
The better plan is to shape them raw and freeze them on a tray, then bag them. Fry from frozen, adding a minute or two.
Equipment you will want
- A heavy saucepan. Thin pans scorch cornmeal.
- A sturdy wooden spoon. The dough gets stiff fast.
- A deep pot for frying and a slotted spoon or spider.
- A bowl of water within reach for your hands.
Sorullitos questions, answered
What is the difference between sorullos and sorullitos?
Size and nothing else. Sorullitos is the diminutive, used for the smaller appetizer version, which is how most people order and make them (source).
Why do my sorullitos burst in the oil?
The seam or the ends were not sealed, or the surface had cracks in it. Roll each one until it is smooth, and pinch both ends closed around the cheese.
Can I use masarepa or corn flour?
No. Precooked corn flour behaves differently and gives a pasty dough. Use plain fine yellow cornmeal that needs cooking.
What cheese should I use?
Edam, known in Puerto Rico as queso de bola, is the most traditional, and any melting cheese works (source). Mozzarella melts cleanest, cheddar tastes strongest.
Are sorullitos sweet or savoury?
Usually lightly sweet, sometimes savoury, and both versions are made in Puerto Rican kitchens (source). Adjust the sugar to what you are serving them with.
What is mayoketchup?
Mayonnaise and ketchup mixed with garlic, the standard dip for fried Puerto Rican snacks. Sorullos are commonly served with it (source).
Can I bake or air fry them?
An air fryer at 380°F (195°C) for about 12 minutes with a spray of oil works. The shell is drier than fried, and the cheese still melts.
Photograph by Roca Ruiz, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. A plate of sorullitos in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
About Isela Post
Isela is a Belizean mother who has been cooking from memory and from markets her whole life. Her recipes carry the food of the Yucatec Maya tradition, the corner store ingredients of daily Belizean life, and the party table of every celebration she has ever fed people at. She writes for the Belize News Post.
