Pastel de Choclo | Traditional Chilean Cuisine (including recipe) (2024)

Pastel de Choclo is a baked meat and corn pie, which in Chile we call “Choclo” is one of the favorite Chilean dishes of many and also mine.

In many Spanish speaking countries, corn is known as “maíz”, but in Chile is known as “choclo”, so don’t get confused.

It’s my favorite not only for the taste, but also because it reminds me of summer days, sharing with family, beach days, or bathing for long hours on the lake to after go home and eat together.

This recipe for Pastel de Choclo has been adapted over the years and today is one that I can make relatively quickly and with the ingredients I find in almost any country in the world.

It’s the star dish when sharing a dinner with friends who crave for Chilen food or with those who want to know a little more about our Chilean cuisine and is always a success!

There are some variations in the way of preparing the filling (we call it “Pino”) and for the corn puree as well, as for example, some add raisins to the beef or add sugar to the corn. You can also take chicken or even replace the beef for frayed chicken. Everyone does it their own way, but for me, this is the most traditional and I like it the most.

FOR THE EXTRAS

2 hard-boiled eggs (8-10 minutes since boiling)
6 black olives
4 roast chicken legs or a roasted and sliced chicken breast that you will have to prepare before

FOR THE FILLING OR “PINO”

300gr of ground beef
1/3 cup of water
1 chopped onion in very thin cubes
1/4 tablespoon of merquén or chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
2 tablespoons of oil
Salt and pepper to taste

It is very important to prepare the filling the previous day or early in the morning and let it cool. Thus the meat preserves the juices and when it is distributed in the pails it is much easier. (The same for pine pies!)

The first thing will be to chop the onion. I like to fry it separately to achieve a better texture and color, so it’s the first thing I do before I start cooking the meat. In a frying pan with two tablespoons of oil fry the onion until it is transparent and begins to brown. You can add some very fine garlic or crushed to give more flavor. Separate to later add them to the meat.

In a saucepan over medium heat put the oil and when hot fry the meat until it is a little golden. Remember to stir it occasionally and prevent it from sticking. After about 10 minutes add the salt, pepper, cumin and merkén stirring for a minute more. Add the water and cook for 10 more minutes. Depending on the meat, how much liquid it contains, if it is too dry, add a little more water.

Then add the onions and mix well cooking for 5 more minutes over medium heat. It will depend a lot on the size of the meat, if it is ground or chopped the time it takes to cook, so you have to adjust the times. In Germany, the ground meat is very thin and the cooking times are faster than in Chile, for example, so the times that I indicate are estimates.
Allow cooling and refrigerate.

FOR THE CORN PUREE

6 whole corns or 8 cups chopped corn. * In some countries there is no large corn as the one that exists in Chile, and you can only find sweet corn that is also very juicy and with little consistency, you can add 2 tablespoons of cornflour or polenta to thicken during cooking.
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup of milk
10-15 leaves of basil
Salt and pepper

If you have the whole choclos you have two options: the traditional one is to grate the corn on a grater to remove the grains. It’s a lot of work, time-consuming and also the whole kitchen is sprinkled with corn if you don’t know how to do it well. I used to do it like this before because it seemed to me also entertaining, but today I do it differently.

Cut the corn kernels with a knife to shed. If you have frozen corn, the next step will be the same: cook the corn in a pot with water and a little salt. Since it starts to boil the corn is cooked in 6 minutes! If you leave it longer it will get hard again and it will take more than 20 to get soft again.

Remove the excess water in a colander and add the basil. With a mini primer grind the corn kernels leaving the consistency that you like. I like to leave some more whole pieces so that you feel something when chewing. Then add the milk, butter, and pepper.

The pastry should be thick but it’s very important that it’s not dry, so you should control the thickness and add a little more water if necessary. This is when you can add the cornmeal and you can cook it for another 8 minutes.

Finally, everything is ready to put together the Pasteles de Choclo!

You put the pine in the base and on it the eggs, olives, and chicken. Then add the pastry and sprinkle a little bit of granulated sugar on the surface. This will make them brown and look beautiful!

Baked at 200º for 50 minutes with the grill on for the last 15 minutes and you are ready!

You can accompany it with a Chilean salad and it will be perfection. This is very simple, cut tomatoes into slices or quarters, onion cut into half moons or smaller, washed so that it does not “repeat” in your stomach, add some parsley or cilantro, salt, pepper, and oil.

With this, you have your very Chilean lunch ready!