When can babies eat arepas?

From around 6 months, once your baby is ready for solids, served in a safe shape and texture for their age.

Arepas

Golden corn cakes with a soft middle. Split them open and serve the soft inside in strips.

Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review

Quick answer

Babies can eat arepas from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.

From 6 monthsMedium choking risk as servedNot a common allergen

How to serve arepas by age

6 months+

Soft strips from the inside, or thin soft arepa

Make a few arepas for your baby with no salt in the dough. Cook them through, split them open, and cut the soft inside into strips, trimming off the crisp outer crust. Or mash the soft inside with something your baby already eats, like mashed avocado or mashed black beans, and serve it on a pre-loaded spoon.

Size: Strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in), or the soft inside mashed with a filling.
Check before serving: Squash a strip between your thumb and finger. It should be soft and moist all the way through, with no crisp crust and no dense, dry lump.

US and UK advice differ here. The AAP suggests mashed food or soft pieces no larger than ½ inch; the NHS suggests soft finger-sized pieces your baby can hold in their fist. Both agree the food must squash easily.

Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.

How to prepare arepas

1
Mix precooked corn flour (sold as arepa flour or masarepa) with warm water to make a soft dough. Leave out salt for your baby's arepas, or set some dough aside before you salt the rest.
2
Shape the dough into small, thin patties and cook them on a lightly oiled pan for a few minutes on each side, then finish them in the oven if needed, until cooked through and they sound hollow when tapped.
3
Let them cool: the inside holds heat. Split them open and check the middle is cooked and soft, not raw or doughy.
4
Cut the soft inside into strips (6 months) or small pieces (9 months+), and trim the crisp crust. Introduce any allergen in the filling, such as milk in cheese or egg, on its own first.

How much to offer

For the first taste, offer one or two soft strips, or a spoonful or two of mashed arepa. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth.

Common mistakes

Serving the crisp crust to a young baby

The CDC advises avoiding hard foods that are difficult to chew and swallow. Split the arepa and serve the soft inside, trimming the crisp crust until your child manages it.

Salting the dough

The NHS says not to add salt to your baby's food. Restaurant arepas are made with salt (about 270 mg of sodium per 100 g, or 0.7 g of salt), so make your baby's at home with unsalted dough.

Using unpasteurized or uncooked fresh cheese

The CDC lists soft cheese made from unpasteurized milk, such as queso fresco, as a riskier choice for children under 5, and soft cheese labeled 'made from pasteurized milk' as a safer one. Use only pasteurized cheese, and pick a lower-salt one. Queso fresco needs one more step: the FDA lists pregnant women, their unborn babies and newborns, adults 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems as higher risk of listeria, and advises them to avoid queso fresco-type cheeses, pasteurized or not, or to cook them to 165°F (74°C) and not keep opened leftovers. It doesn't name older babies or young children, but the CDC says young children have a higher risk of food poisoning, so this is our suggestion: for children under 5, stir queso fresco into a hot filling, such as beans, and heat it until steaming hot all the way through, check the middle, then let it cool before filling the arepa. See our queso fresco page.

Leaving whole beans in the filling

The CDC lists whole beans as a choking hazard for young children. Mash black beans or use refried beans with no added salt.

Questions parents ask

Can arepas be a choking hazard for babies?

Arepas are a medium choking risk. The soft inside is easy to manage, but the outer crust can be crisp and hard, and the dough can be dense and sticky. The CDC advises avoiding small, sticky or hard foods that are difficult to chew and swallow, and lists whole beans among choking hazards. Serve the soft inside in strips or mashed for babies, trim the crisp crust, mash beans in the filling, and cut arepas into pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch) for toddlers. Stay with your child during meals.

Can babies be allergic to arepas?

Arepas are made from corn, which isn't a common allergen. Corn flour is naturally gluten-free, so plain arepas can suit children with celiac disease or a wheat allergy. Corn flour can pick up gluten through cross-contact, so if your child must avoid gluten, look for a 'gluten-free' label: in the US, these foods must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten. Some arepas are made with wheat flour, milk or cheese in the dough, and fillings often contain milk (cheese) or egg, so check what's in them and introduce each allergen on its own first.

Are arepas healthy for babies?

Arepas provide carbohydrate for energy, with about 5.5 g of protein, 2.6 g of fiber and 1 mg of iron per 100 g. Restaurant arepas have about 270 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 0.7 g of salt). The NHS says babies under 1 should have less than 1 g of salt a day, and children aged 1 to 3 no more than 2 g. Fill them with iron-rich foods like beans or meat.

Can babies eat arepas?

Yes, from around 6 months. Make your baby's without salt, cook them through, split them open and serve the soft inside in strips or mashed with a soft filling. Trim off the crisp crust.

Are arepas gluten-free?

Arepas made only from corn flour are naturally gluten-free. If your child has celiac disease, choose a corn flour labeled gluten-free, because it can pick up traces of wheat, and check that no wheat flour has been added.

What fillings are good for babies?

Soft ones your baby already eats: mashed avocado, mashed black beans, finely shredded chicken in a little sauce, scrambled egg, or grated pasteurized cheese once dairy has been introduced. Mash beans, and leave out salt and spicy sauces.

If your baby refuses arepas

Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
Try another form: soft strips, mashed with a filling, or the filling and arepa offered separately.
Mix in a food your baby already likes, such as mashed avocado or beans.
Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.

Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.

Buying and storing arepas

Keep arepa flour in a sealed container in a cool, dry place.
Cooked arepas keep for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge.
Cooked arepas can be frozen for 3 to 4 months. Thaw them in the fridge, eat them within 24 hours of thawing, and reheat them only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let them cool before serving.
If you open a pack of queso fresco for the filling, don't keep leftover cheese: the FDA advises people at higher risk of listeria not to. Our suggestion is to cook the rest of the pack into family dishes when you open it, not to serve it all to your baby, whose share stays small.
Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).

When to talk to your doctor

Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if:

Your baby has had any reaction to an ingredient in the arepa or its filling, such as milk or egg, even a mild one. Stop offering it until you've talked to your pediatrician.
Your baby vomits a few hours after eating an arepa with a cheese or chicken filling. This can be FPIES, a delayed type of food allergy that milk and chicken can trigger. If they vomited once or twice and seem alert and like themselves, call your pediatrician or GP. If they vomit again and again, or are pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake, call your emergency number.
Your child is unwell after eating an arepa with queso fresco that may not have been pasteurized, or that wasn't cooked until steaming hot, even if it was pasteurized. Call your pediatrician and tell them about the cheese. If they have a stiff neck, seem confused, have a seizure, or are floppy or hard to wake, call your emergency number.
You notice mild signs of an allergic reaction after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.
You're worried about how much your baby eats, their growth, or they refuse most solid food for weeks.

Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.

Offered arepas?

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