Fogo de Chao rolls are a version of Brazilian cheese bread, also known as pão de queijo-those warm, chewy, gluten-free rolls served endlessly at Brazilian steakhouses. This copycat recipe recreates the signature crisp exterior and stretchy center, just like the restaurant version.
What Are Fogo de Chao Rolls?
If you’ve never been to the Brazilian steakhouse, you might be wondering what these rolls even are. They are the warm, chewy Brazilian cheese bread served at the popular Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo de Chão. They’re made with tapioca flour instead of wheat flour, which makes them naturally gluten-free.
Unlike standard dinner rolls, these cheese puffs have a crisp, lightly golden exterior and a soft, stretchy, almost elastic center thanks to the tapioca starch and melted cheese. They’re meant to be eaten warm, when the cheese pull and texture are at their best.
Recipe Essentials
I’d be willing to be you have almost all of these fogo de chao rolls ingredients already on hand. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Tapioca flour – This specific flour helps to give the rolls their signature chew and texture. It also makes them naturally gluten free.
- Whole milk
- Unsalted butter
- Coarse kosher salt
- Cotija cheese
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Olive oil
- Cooking spray
How to Make Fogo de Chao Rolls (Step-by-Step)
Making this Brazilian steakhouse favorite might just be easier than you think, just follow these simple steps.
- Prepare oven and pan. Preheat the oven and grease the insides of a light colored mini muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable shortening.
- Boil butter, salt an milk. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, coarse kosher salt and whole milk. Bring to a low boil.
- Slowly add flour. As soon as mixture boils, transfer it to a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, slowly add in the tapioca flour. Be very careful because the mixture can spit out and it is hot!
- Add in remaining ingredients. Blend in the grated cheese, eggs, sugar and olive oil. Mixture will be the consistency of a chunky pancake batter- pourable & thick, but liquid-y.
- Add batter to pan. Spoon or pour the dough into individual muffin tins to about 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake. Puffs will start to puff right out of the tin and be golden brown on the tops with a dimple in the center.
Tips for the Perfect Chewy Center
Fogo de chao rolls have a signature chewy center. Follow these tips to ensure yours come out perfectly.
- Tapioca flour is non-negotiable – In addition to making them gluten-free, this flour is crucial for the chewy texture we all know and love. It gelatinizes when mixed with hot liquid, thus creating the signature chew.
- Add flour while liquid is hot – This process is what jumpstarts the gelatinization noted above and creates the chewy texture.
- Don’t over mix – Mix until just combined; Over-mixing introduces excess air, which can cause the rolls to rise unevenly and collapse.
- Use finely grated cheese – Finely shredded cheese melts faster and more evenly, thus dispersing throughout the dough instead of clumping.
- Serve warm – As the rolls cool, the starches firm up, making the texture different. If you want soft, chewy rolls, serve them hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Fogo de Chao serves a version of Brazilian cheese bread called pão de queijo, made with tapioca flour and cheese for a chewy, gluten-free roll.
This usually happens if the batter is too thick, the eggs were cold, or the rolls were overbaked.
Yes. Traditional pão de queijo uses tapioca flour instead of wheat flour, making them naturally gluten-free.
More Copycat Recipes
I love recreating recipes in my own kitchen. Here are some of my favorite copycat recipes.
Cheese Puff Bread Recipe- Copy Cat Fogo de Chao Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 2 cups tapioca flour
- 5 oz Parmesan or Cotija cheese finely shredded
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the insides of a light colored mini muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable shortening.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt and 1 cup whole milk. Bring to a low boil.
- As soon as mixture boils, transfer it to a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, slowly add in the 2 cups tapioca flour. Be very careful because the mixture can spit out and it is hot!
- Blend in the grated 5 oz Parmesan or Cotija cheese, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons sugar and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Mixture will be the consistency of a chunky pancake batter- pourable and thick, but liquid-y.
- Spoon or pour the dough into individual muffin tins to about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Puffs will start to puff right out of the tin and be golden brown on the tops with a dimple in the center.
- If you've tried this recipe, please come back and leave us a comment or star rating to let us know how it was!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Love this recipe! Thank you for sharing! God bless!
Hi! Brazilian here. Your recipe is close to being perfect: we don’t use butter but vegetable oil instead, you can even use extra virgin olive oil, and no sugar is needed at all. The chewiness doesn’t come from undercooking the dough/batter but it is a characteristic from the tapioca starch, more specifically the sweet variation of the tapioca flour. If you were to use the sour variation of the tapioca flour you would have a different consistency in your pão de queijo with big pockets of air inside, being less chewy and puffing up more in the over. You could blend both types of tapioca/cassava flour to find the consistency you would prefer. And you can freeze the dough/batter and pre make little balls or nuggets and once frozen you can store them in a bag and they can straight to the oven.
I’ve made it a few times and always comes out great. Can I freeze the dough?
I’ve never tried, but I don’t see why not!
I’m looking forward to making these! Thank you for the recipe! Can you tell me with the nutrition details, how many rolls make one serving?
Hi! It makes 24 rolls in a mini muffin pan and the nutritional values for 1 roll are on the bottom of the recipe card. In my experience, plan for 3 rolls per person.
This was the most delicious recipe I’ve ever made at home! My little sister and brother were fighting over them! Thank you for this 🙂
So good! My go-to recipe, and almost any cheese works!
This recipe was right on! I only had 2% and half and half, so I used equal portions for the milk. Also from past experience, my brand of Cotija cheese is very salty, so I used half the salt. Other than that, I followed the directions exactly and these turned out delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe!
These came out perfect 🙂 but the instructions say it’s supposed be a dough, mine was definitely more of a batter and matched the consistency of the video and it was 10/10. Definitely don’t keep adding starch until it becomes a dough, the texture will turn out dryer and resemble something more like a biscuit.
Thank you! We will revise the instructions to be more clear.
Hi, I love the recipe. I can’t wait to try it out, I fell in love with those little breads the first time I tried them.
Quick questions: What temperature should the low boil be?
Can I mix the flour by hand?
You can mix by hand, the mixer just makes it a little easier.
The low boil would be a simmer around 215°F. Just wait for small, little bubbles and steam, but no big bubbles or allowing the mixture to overflow.
I actually did see a female gaucho at our Fogo in KC last night! 🙂
Yay! Progress!