An arepa is a fried or baked cornmeal cake often stuffed with cheese, meat, beans, or vegetables.
Arepas are made from ground maize dough, usually using precooked corn flour mixed with water and salt. The dough is shaped into round cakes and cooked on a griddle, baked, or fried. Once cooked, an arepa can be split open and filled, or served with toppings.
Arepas are central to Venezuelan and Colombian cuisines, where preparation styles and fillings differ. Venezuelan arepas are especially known for being opened and generously stuffed, with fillings such as shredded beef, black beans, avocado, or cheese.
Arepas are not the same as empanadas, which are filled pastries enclosed by folded dough. They also differ from pupusas, a Salvadoran dish in which the filling is enclosed inside the dough before cooking. Their deep pre-Columbian roots connect them to Indigenous maize traditions in northern South America.