Pambazos are an exceptionally tasty Mexican sandwich featuring chile-brushed bread filled with chorizo, potatoes, lettuce, salsa, crema, and queso. Try this plant-based version for a delicious twist on a classic!
Table of Contents
📖 About
There are different types of pambazos, but the saucy one we're sharing today is in the style of El Bajío (a region in Central Mexico). Named after the bread it's made with, the three main components that make up a pambazo are:
- Bread: This pambazo bread is made with wheat flour, yeast, water, and salt. It has a rather soft and light consistency, oval shape, and a chewy crust.
- Salsa: A guajillo chile salsa is typically brushed on both sides of this type of pambazo before it's crisped up on the skillet.
- Fillings: Potatoes and chorizo or just potatoes are the go-to options. Other fillings include crema mexicana, salsa verde, lettuce, and cotija or queso fresco.
This sandwich gets messy fast, especially if you eat it with your hands (which you should). But once you take your first bite, you won't even care if there's sauce all over your face!
History
The story of pambazos begins in Veracruz:
- Maximilian I and Carlota, the French emperor and empress, were visiting Orizaba, Veracruz.
- While there, they asked their chef (Josef Tüdös) to make a bread for them that resembled a nearby volcano, Pico de Orizaba.
- The first Veracruz-style pambazo was made to look like a volcano tip. The final touch was a light dusting of flour to emulate the snowy mountain tops.
Sometime before, during, or after this point, various pambazo recipes popped up in other parts of the country:
- As the name pan basso, pan bajo, and later pambazo suggests, this was a type of bread meant for the lower classes.
- Bakeries (or pambacerías) across Mexico dedicated themselves to making pan bajo with lower-quality wheat that wasn't "fit" for the upper class.
- It's speculated the chile coating was used to mask the less appetizing wheat flavor. Another theory is that it was in tribute to a volcano as well.
🌱 Is it vegan?
Pambazos are not traditionally plant-based, but we've made a few simple adjustments to ensure this recipe is vegan and vegetarian friendly:
- Chorizo: Instead of meat, use a soy or nut-based chorizo.
- Crema: We swapped out dairy-based crema for cashew crema.
- Queso: Try almond cotija instead of dairy-based cheese varieties.
- Bread: Double check the bread you're using doesn't contain eggs or dairy because some pambazos do.
🍲 Ingredients & substitutions
For complete ingredient measurements and instructions, see our recipe card
- Bread: Pambazo is of course the first choice, but you can use telera, kaiser, ciabatta, or any soft French bread.
- Guajilo chiles: Used to add flavor and color to the bread. Guajillo is preferred, but ancho, cascabel, or pasilla all work.
- Potatoes: The most popular filling is white potatoes. But, your can mix things up with Yukon gold, sweet potato, or russet.
- Chorizo: We use a meat-free soyrizo for this pambazo recipe. You can use a nut, tofu, mushroom, or tempeh chorizo as well.
- Garnishes: Salsa verde (or salsa roja), crema, cotija, shredded lettuce, and onions are top choices.
🔪 Instructions
If you have questions about this pambazo recipe, check out our FAQs or leave a comment.
Step 1: Stem and seed the guajillo chiles and add them to a pot of water with the onion and garlic. Bring it to a low boil, then turn the heat to low for 10-15 minutes, or until the chiles are soft.
Step 2: Transfer the chiles, onions, and garlic to a blender with some cooking water or vegetable broth and a generous pinch of salt. Blend on high until smooth, adding more water as needed. Strain the sauce into a bowl and set it aside.
Step 3: In the meantime, scrub and cube the potatoes into small pieces. Steam or boil them for 10-12 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.
Step 4: Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and fry the potatoes for a few minutes. Mix in vegan chorizo, season with salt, and cook until the chorizo is hot. If your potato chunks are bigger, roughly mash them in the pan.
Step 5: Heat a little more olive oil in the same skillet. Cut your pambazo bread open, leaving the top partially attached. Brush one side with guajillo paste, then add it to the skillet past-side down.
Step 6: While the first side is cooking, brush the bottom with more paste. Fry each side until they're nice and crispy. Continue this process with the rest of the buns, adding more oil to the pan as necessary.
Step 7: Add a scoop of chorizo and potatoes to the pambazo, then top it with lettuce, salsa verde, cashew crema, and queso cotija. Serve immediately while warm. Happy eating!
🥗 Serving suggestions
Serve your pambazos with any of these delicious Mexican soups:
- Sopa de coditos: Elbow macaroni and tender vegetables in a tomatoey broth.
- Caldo de albóndigas: Black bean meatballs served in a spicy broth.
- Pinto bean soup: Creamy pinto beans mixed with juicy tomatoes, savory spices, and fresh garnishes.
- Tortilla soup: Crispy strips of corn tortillas covered in a tomato and chile-infused broth.
🌡️ Storage
As long as you store ingredients separately from the bun, they will stay fresh for at least a few days.
- Fridge: Chorizo and potatoes can be stored in the same airtight container for about 4-5 days.
- Reheat: When you're ready for another pambazo, cook the potatoes and chorizo in a skillet over medium until warmed evenly. Follow the same recipe instructions for the salsa and bread.
Note: To see storage times for the salsa, see our dedicated guajillo sauce post.
♻️ Variations
- Pambazos veracruzanos: Made with the the other type of flour-dusted pambazo bread. Typical fillings include refried beans, chorizo, mayo, chipotle peppers, queso, lettuce, or avocado.
- Pambazos poblanos: A sort of mix between Veracruz and El Bajío, pambazos from Puebla are made with round bread rolls, stuffed with shredded meats or longaniza, and served with or without salsa on top. There are even some filled with shredded meat in mole.
- Others: In other regions of Mexico, you can find pambazos stuffed with all sorts of fillings like epazote, picadillo, different proteins, etc.
🧑🍳 Top tips
- Mash the potatoes. If your potato cubes are larger, mash them slightly in the pan so they stay nicely tucked inside your pambazo.
- Leave the top attached. Leave the top of the bread partially attached to hold your fillings in better.
- Make sure the bun is crispy. For the best sandwich texture, make sure you crisp both sides of the bun well.
- Switch up the toppings. Try using other toppings like pickled onions, chiles toreados, pickled jalapeños, or guacamole.
- Prep the fillings in advance. To save time putting this recipe together, prep your fillings beforehand.
💬 FAQ
Because of the wheat used in pambazo bread, this recipe is not gluten-free. To adapt the sandwich to your dietary needs, just swap in your favorite gluten-free bun.
Although pambazos contain Mexican chorizo and guajillo salsa, the spice level is relatively mild. Although subjective, we would rate it a 3/10.
The typical method of making pambazos is to lightly fry the bread, but you can definitely make an oil-free version. Swap the oil with a little vegetable broth when cooking the fillings, and toast the bread without anything.
📋 Recipe
Best Pambazos Veganos
Equipment
- Skillet
- Steamer
- Spatula
- Blender
Ingredients
Bread
- 4 pambazos, teleras, or soft French rolls ($0.70)
Sauce
- 6 guajillo chiles ($0.24)
- ¼ white onion ($0.06)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- ½ - 1 cup reserve cooking water ($0.01)
- Salt to taste ($0.01)
Fillings
- 2 pounds (~3-4) white or yellow potatoes ($0.63)
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, divided ($0.22)
- 6-8 ounces vegan chorizo ($0.66)
Toppings
- 2 cups shredded green lettuce ($0.20)
- 3-4 tablespoons salsa verde ($0.22)
- 3-4 tablespoons Mexican crema ($0.27)
- 3-4 tablespoons queso cotija ($0.39)
Instructions
Sauce
- Stem and seed the guajillo chiles and add them to a pot of water with the onion and garlic. Bring it to a low boil, then turn the heat down to low for 10-15 minutes, or until the chiles are soft.
- Drain the chiles, onions, and garlic, then transfer to a blender. Add in ½ cup of cooking water or vegetable broth and a generous pinch of salt. Blend on high until a paste is formed, adding more liquid as needed. Strain into a bowl and set aside.
Filling
- In the meantime, scrub and cube the potatoes into ½" pieces. Steam or boil them for 10-12 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.
- Heat about ½ tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Add in the potatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes, then mix in the vegan chorizo.
- Season with salt and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until the chorizo is hot. If your potato chunks are bigger, roughly mash them, then transfer everything out of the skillet.
Frying
- Heat ½ - 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same skillet over medium. Cut your pambazo bread in half, leaving the top partially attached. Brush one side with guajillo paste, then add it to the skillet paste-side down.
- While the first side is cooking, brush the bottom surface with more paste. Fry each side of the bread until crispy. Continue this process with the rest of the buns, adding more oil to the pan as necessary.
- Note: Press down on the bread with your spatula to make sure the whole surface is cooked.
- Assembly: Add a scoop of chorizo and potatoes to the pambazo bread, then top with lettuce, salsa verde, Mexican crema, and queso cotija. Serve immediately while warm. Happy eating!
Video
Notes
- Mash the potatoes. If your potato cubes are larger, mash them slightly in the pan so they stay nicely tucked inside your pambazo.
- Leave the top attached. Leave the top of the bread partially attached to hold your fillings in better.
- Make sure the bun is crispy. For the best sandwich texture, make sure you crisp both sides of the bun well.
- Switch up the toppings. Try using other toppings like pickled onions, chiles toreados, pickled jalapeños, or guacamole.
- Prep the fillings in advance. To save time putting this recipe together, prep your fillings beforehand.
- We calculate nutritional information for our recipes with Cronometer.
- Recipe cost calculations are based on ingredients local to us and may vary from recipe to recipe. All prices are in USD.
Nutrition
🍴 Similar recipes
If you enjoyed this pambazo recipe, make sure to check out some of our other fan-favorites:
- Tortas ahogadas: Jackfruit carnitas and pickled red onions served in a salsa-drowned sandwich.
- Enchiladas potosinas: Chile-infused dough wrapped around creamy queso and spicy salsa.
- Quesabirria tacos: Corn tortillas dipped in a rich, savory broth, and loaded with cheese and crispy oyster mushrooms.
- Chilaquiles rojos: Lightly fried tortilla chips tossed in red salsa, then topped with vegan cotija and crema.
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