Latin America & Caribbean

Hallaca: Venezuela's Holiday Banana-Leaf Parcels of Corn Masa and Stewed Meat

Name: Hallaca: Venezuela's Holiday Banana-Leaf Parcels of Corn Masa and Stewed Meat
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 1 h 40 min
Total time: 3 h 40 min
Yield: 8 hallacas
Cuisine: Venezuelan
Ingredients: 300 g Beef chuck or beef shank; 250 g Pork shoulder; 250 g Chicken thighs; 200 g Onion; 150 g Red bell pepper; 80 g Green bell pepper; 60 g Long green onion or scallions; 20 g Garlic; 250 g Tomato; 100 ml White wine; 300 ml Chicken broth; 30 g Capers; 24 Green olives; 50 g Raisins; 1 tsp Ground cumin; 2 tsp Paprika; 1 1/2 tsp Salt; 1/2 tsp Black pepper; 2 tbsp Neutral oil; 500 g Masarepa; 700 ml Warm chicken broth; 90 ml Annatto oil; 1 tsp Salt; 8–10 sheets Frozen banana leaves; about 8 m Kitchen string; 2 tbsp Neutral oil; 16 Green olives; 40 g Raisins; 20 g Capers; 80 g Red bell pepper strips

How to make hallaca, Venezuela's festive dish: corn masa, a meat guiso, and banana leaves, with wrapping, simmering times, substitutes for other kitchens, storage and reheating, and common failures. Includes the background of the name, annatto oil, and the roles of olives and raisins, at a size a large home pot can handle.

Published: October 24, 2026Total: 3 hr 40 minLevel: Advanced

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 8

Stew the meat guiso

55 min

Meat and aromatic vegetables simmering in the pot as guiso for hallaca — Simmer the guiso gently and cook off the liquid until it is thick enough not to run when wrapped

Heat/temperature: stir-fry over medium heat, then simmer gently over low heat

Coat the beef, pork, and chicken with 1 tsp salt, black pepper, cumin, and paprika and leave for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat, add the meat, and stir-fry about 6 minutes until the surface changes color. Add the 5 mm-diced onion, 5 mm-diced green bell pepper, half the red bell pepper, and the garlic, and cook 8 minutes until the vegetables are softened and fragrant. Add the tomato, white wine, broth, and caper brine, and when it boils, lower to low heat and simmer 35 minutes. Stop when the meat has fallen apart and about 4 tbsp of liquid remains at the bottom of the pot.

STEP 22 / 8

Knead the dough with annatto oil

18 min

Kneading yellow corn dough in a bowl with annatto oil and warm broth — The dough should have the oil and broth evenly blended and be firm enough to spread thin on a leaf

Heat/temperature: oil over low heat at about 80 degrees C; the dough is not heated

In a small pot, put 120 ml neutral oil and 2 tbsp annatto seeds and warm over low heat for 3 minutes. When the oil turns orange and fine bubbles come from the seeds, turn off the heat, strain, and use 90 ml. In a large bowl, put 500 g masarepa and 1 tsp salt and mix in 700 ml warm broth in 3 additions. Add the annatto oil and knead by hand for 4 minutes. A good sign is that the dough is softer than an earlobe and a crack made with a finger closes slowly.

STEP 33 / 8

Soften the banana leaves

15 min

Softening banana leaves near steam to make them ready for wrapping — Soften the banana leaves without scorching, until they bend without breaking

Heat/temperature: briefly warm over steam or low heat

Rinse the thawed banana leaves under running water and wipe dry with a cloth. Shave thick parts of the hard midrib thin with a knife, and cut eight 30 cm squares and a few 10 cm squares for patching. Warm each side over a steaming pot for 30 seconds, or pass each side about 15 cm above a low flame for 5 seconds. They are ready when they bend without cracking and the surface has a sheen. Stop before black scorch marks appear.

STEP 44 / 8

Spread the masa on the leaves

20 min

Spreading yellow corn dough into a thin rectangle on a banana leaf — Spread the masa to 5–6 mm thick, leaving the edges slightly thicker

Working temperature: room temperature; don't let leaves or dough dry out

Place a banana leaf on the work surface and brush the surface thinly with oil. Take about 110 g dough, set it in the center, and spread it into a rectangle 5–6 mm thick, about 18 cm tall by 14 cm wide. If the edge is made too thin it tears when wrapping, so leave the outer 1 cm slightly thicker. A little water on your hands keeps the dough from sticking to your fingers.

STEP 55 / 8

Add the guiso and garnishes

15 min

Topping the dough spread on a banana leaf with meat guiso, olives, capers, and raisins — Place the filling in a long strip down the center and leave margins at the sides so it closes easily

Working temperature: room temperature; let the guiso cool slightly

Place about 3 tbsp of the cooled guiso in a long strip down the center. Top with 2 olives, 5 g raisins, a few capers, and strips of red bell pepper. If you spread the filling to the edges it will come out at the seam, so leave at least 3 cm of margin on each side. If the guiso is hot the dough loosens, so wait until the heat has dissipated and the oil has set a little before wrapping.

STEP 66 / 8

Fold the leaf and tie with string

25 min

Tying a hallaca wrapped in banana leaf into a rectangle with kitchen string — Don't tie the string too tight; leave room for the parcel to swell a little when boiled

Working temperature: room temperature; keep a cloth over the dough while wrapping

Lift the left and right sides of the leaf and close at the center so the edges of the masa meet. Fold the whole leaf over to one side, folding in the top and bottom ends to make a rectangular parcel. Layer a patch leaf over any tears. Tie the string once lengthwise and twice crosswise, leaving enough slack for one finger to fit. If tied too tightly, the dough swells during boiling, pushes on the leaf, and splits it.

STEP 77 / 8

Simmer gently in a large pot

45 min

Gently simmering string-tied banana-leaf parcels in a large pot of water — Don't let the water rampage; keep small bubbles for 45 minutes

Heat/temperature: after boiling, medium-low heat with small bubbles at 90–95 degrees C

Bring 3 L water to a boil in a deep pot and add 1 tsp salt. Add the hallacas without overlapping, and if they float, hold them down lightly with a plate or drop lid. When it boils again, lower to medium-low and simmer 45 minutes with small bubbles rising from the sides of the pot. If the water dances violently the leaves tend to unravel, and if too weak the heat doesn't reach the center. Turn them over once midway so the whole parcel is submerged.

STEP 88 / 8

Rest, then open the leaf

10 min

Opening the leaf of a boiled hallaca to reveal the yellow dough and meat filling — Resting 10 minutes keeps the dough from collapsing when the leaf is opened

Heat/temperature: turn off the heat and let it settle on residual heat

Lift the boiled hallacas out with tongs and rest on a sieve for 10 minutes. If opened right away the dough collapses easily from the steam, so wait until the surface moisture settles. Undo the knot of the string and open the leaf wide to each side. It's done when the masa holds its shape, the guiso at the center is hot, and the leaf's aroma has transferred. At the table, use the leaf as a plate and serve from it.

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Ingredients

1 / 3

Meat guiso

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Beef chuck or beef shank	300 g	1.5 cm cubes. A cut that shreds when stewed is suitable
Pork shoulder	250 g	1.5 cm cubes. If too lean, the guiso dries out
Chicken thighs	250 g	2 cm cubes. You can remove the skin
Onion	200 g	Minced to 5 mm
Red bell pepper	150 g	Half for the guiso, half cut into strips for garnish
Green bell pepper	80 g	5 mm dice. Adds a green aroma
Long green onion or scallions	60 g	Sliced thin
Garlic	20 g	About 4 cloves, minced
Tomato	250 g	1 cm dice. If using canned diced tomatoes, 200 g
White wine	100 ml	50 ml cooking sake and 50 ml water also works
Chicken broth	300 ml	Leaning unsalted, adjusting the salt later
Capers	30 g	Also use 2 tsp of the brine
Green olives	24	Pitted ones are easier to handle
Raisins	50 g	If you dislike sweetness, reduce to 35 g
Ground cumin	1 tsp	Pulls the meat aroma together
Paprika	2 tsp	Adds color and a sweet aroma
Salt	1 1/2 tsp	If using adobo, start at 1 tsp
Black pepper	1/2 tsp	Coarsely ground
Neutral oil	2 tbsp	For the guiso

2 / 3

Corn dough and wrapping

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Masarepa	500 g	Precooked corn flour such as Harina P.A.N. Cornstarch won't work
Warm chicken broth	700 ml	Around 60 degrees C. Cold broth doesn't blend with the flour easily
Annatto oil	90 ml	Heat 2 tbsp annatto seeds in 120 ml oil over low heat and strain
Salt	1 tsp	Adjust for the saltiness of the broth
Frozen banana leaves	8–10 sheets	At least 30 cm square. Include some for patching tears
Kitchen string	about 8 m	80–100 cm per hallaca
Neutral oil	2 tbsp	Brushed thin on the leaves

3 / 3

Garnishes

Ingredient	Amount	Substitutes & notes
Green olives	16	2 per hallaca
Raisins	40 g	5 g per hallaca
Capers	20 g	Salty, so don't scatter too many
Red bell pepper strips	80 g	About 5 mm wide

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Open the Leaf and the Scent of Meat Rises

Set the green parcel from the pot on a plate and untie the string. As you peel back the banana leaf, steam carries up the scent of corn, stewed meat, olives, and sweet raisins. Venezuelan hallaca looks like a Latin American tamal, a leaf-wrapped dish, but it eats quite differently. Because meat guiso, olives, capers, raisins, and red pepper are layered inside yellow masa, each bite brings saltiness, sweetness, acidity, and the savoriness of fat in turn.

This article uses the spelling "hallaca," as it appears in English and Spanish sources, and in Venezuela it is presented as the dish that symbolizes the table from Christmas through the New Year. Compared with the everyday staple arepa or the sweet griddled corn cachapa, hallaca is a feast dish prepared by the whole family.

This recipe is sized for 8 hallacas boiled in a large home pot. It is not the scale of wrapping dozens as Venezuelan households do. Still, it keeps the backbone: stew the guiso, color the dough with annatto oil, soften the banana leaves, wrap and tie, and simmer gently.

The Story of Hallaca: A Dish Wrapped by the Family on Festive Days

Banana-leaf-wrapped hallacas on a Venezuelan table with an opened plate — Hallacas are wrapped one by one, boiled, and opened at the table

What makes hallaca interesting is that you can see a history of movement inside the dish. The base of corn dough and leaf wrapping connects to indigenous food culture, while the stewed meat, olives, capers, and raisins recall Spanish and Mediterranean ingredients. So describing it only as "the Venezuelan tamal" loses its sweet-and-salty character and the layering of its fillings.

Venezuela's Ministry of Culture treats hallaca as the country's festive dish and has also spoken of moves to present it internationally as intangible cultural heritage. Recipes on food sites share the same structure of banana leaf, corn flour, meat guiso, and olives and raisins. The contents differ greatly by household, though: some use three meats, beef, pork, and chicken, while others lighten it with just chicken and beef.

The first problem in any home kitchen is the ingredient names. Masarepa, annatto, banana leaves: words you don't see in an ordinary supermarket. But the shopping priorities are clear. The hard-to-replace items are the precooked corn flour and the banana leaves. The meat and aromatics are easy to get at a regular grocery store.

Ingredients (makes 8)

Banana leaves, corn dough, meat, olives, capers, and raisins for hallaca laid out in the kitchen — Hallaca is easier to wrap if you set out the masa, the meat guiso, the leaves, and the garnishes separately first

Hallaca can be made in one day, but to lighten the load in the kitchen, make the guiso the day before and do the dough and wrapping on the day. The amounts below make 8. The fillings include a little extra so that practicing the wrapping is easy.

For those with allergies

This recipe uses beef, pork, and chicken. Broth, olives, capers, and imported seasonings include products with ingredients derived from wheat, dairy, chicken, pork, and gelatin. Check the labels when you buy. The banana leaf is for aroma and wrapping; do not eat it.

Shopping Notes

The things that are easy to buy locally are the meat, onion, bell pepper, tomato, olives, and raisins. What is worth looking for online or at a specialty store is masarepa, imported adobo seasoning, and a deep pot that can hold large leaf parcels submerged. Banana leaves are easiest to find in the freezer section of Asian, Filipino, Thai, or Vietnamese grocery stores.

The texture of hallaca is almost entirely decided by the masarepa. Ordinary cornmeal, polenta, or cornstarch will not hold together the same way. If you also plan to make arepas or cachapa, getting a bag first makes it easy to keep going with South American corn dishes.

The guiso's flavor can be adjusted with salt, garlic, cumin, and paprika. If you can find Goya adobo at a specialty grocer, using up to 1 tsp as part of the salt helps pull the seasoning of the meat together. On that day, cut back a little on the salt in the ingredient list.

Even 8 hallacas take up room in a pot. If you don't have a deep stockpot, the lower pot of a two-tier steamer works as a large pot, so you can boil without packing the parcels too tightly. The upper tier can also be used for reheating.

Method: Guiso the Day Before, Wrap on the Day

Hallaca has many steps. But the hard parts can be separated. Cook the guiso down and cool it. Make the dough soft enough, but firm enough to spread thin on a leaf. Don't tie the parcels too tightly, and don't let the pot boil wildly. Keep to these three points and even the first attempt will come out presentable.

What to Keep and What to Swap in a Home Kitchen

Element	What to protect	How to think about substituting
Masarepa	Precooked corn flour	Cornmeal, polenta, or cornstarch make something different. Order this
Annatto oil	Orange color and an earthy aroma	On a day without annatto, make up the color only with 2 tsp paprika and 1/4 tsp turmeric
Banana leaves	Green aroma and the shape of the parcel	The aroma is weaker, but parchment and foil let you practice
Combination of meats	Layers of beef, pork, and chicken	For the first time, beef and chicken only is fine. On days without pork, add 1 tbsp more oil
Olives and raisins	Contrast of saltiness and sweetness	Keep a small amount even if you dislike them. Without them it leans toward a plain meat bun

What's best not to substitute is the masarepa. Even if you buy something labeled "corn flour" at a supermarket, if the way the flour is made is different, the way it holds together after absorbing water changes. Hallaca is a wrapped dish, so if the dough cracks you lose time repairing it.

For the banana leaves, using parchment paper to practice the first time is fine. But the aroma of the leaf makes it hallaca-like in an instant. Frozen leaves have some tear-prone spots, but layering small patch leaves inside is enough.

Common Causes of Failure

Problem	Cause	Fix
Dough cracks	Not enough moisture, edges too thin	Add 1 tbsp broth and re-knead, and make the edges thicker
Liquid leaks from the parcel	Guiso is watery	Cook down until about 4 tbsp of liquid remains on the pot bottom
Leaf tears	Leaf not warmed, midrib thick	Soften over steam and layer a small leaf over the tear
Comes undone while boiling	String loose, water boils hard	Tie with one finger of slack and lower to small bubbles at 90–95 degrees C
Too salty	Salt from olives, capers, adobo, and broth adds up	Hold back salt in the guiso and taste and add at the end
Dries out on reheating	Heated in the microwave alone	Steam in the leaf in a steamer for 8–10 minutes

Because hallaca has so many steps, the causes of failure are easy to see. Even if a parcel is slightly misshapen the first time, it is unlikely to be inedible. What to fix next time generally comes down to one of the dough's moisture, the guiso's liquid, or the suppleness of the leaf.

Storage and Reheating

Cool boiled hallacas completely and store them in their leaves. As a guide, refrigerate up to 3 days and freeze up to 1 month. To freeze, wrap each in plastic wrap, put in a storage bag, and press out the air. Moving them to the refrigerator the day before eating makes reheating more even.

Steaming in the leaf is the most reliable way to reheat. From the refrigerator, 8–10 minutes in a steamer; from frozen, 18–22 minutes over medium-low heat. If you reheat in water, check that the parcels haven't come undone, and lower to medium-low once it boils. Heating in the microwave alone keeps the leaf's aroma but tends to dry the edges of the dough.

Before freezing, wipe the outside of the leaf well. If water is left on the surface when frozen, it returns into the leaf on thawing and loosens the edges of the dough. After reheating, press the center slightly to see whether steam rises and the masa has softened again. If the guiso is still cold, steam another 5 minutes. Once reheated, flavor and safety both decline easily, so don't refreeze and eat it the same day.

One hallaca is quite filling. To serve it, add a light salad, a bean stew, white cheese, and a sour pickle so it doesn't feel too heavy. To keep reading about Venezuelan corn dishes, the everyday arepa, the sweet griddled cachapa, and reina pepiada, stuffed with chicken and avocado, show the differences clearly.

If you like meat stews, Venezuela's pabellón criollo is a close next read. For comparing leaf-wrapped dishes, New Caledonia's bougna (in Japanese) and the Central African Republic's maboke (in Japanese) give you a feel for using banana leaves as a "vessel of aroma."

FAQ

Q1. Can I make it without banana leaves?

Yes. Wrap in parchment and then in foil on the outside, and you can practice the boiling. The green aroma of the leaf won't be there, though. Treat the first time as a practice of the steps, and look for frozen banana leaves the second time to feel the difference.

Q2. Can I use cornmeal instead of masarepa?

I don't recommend it. Masarepa is precooked corn flour that becomes a wrappable dough after absorbing water. Cornmeal and polenta are coarse-grained and crack easily at the same moisture. Cornstarch is only starch and cannot substitute.

Q3. How much can I make the day before?

It is easier to make the guiso the day before. Cook it down, cool it, and keep it in the refrigerator. The next day make the dough, soften the leaves, wrap, and boil. Dough made the day before dries easily, so kneading it on the day is easier to handle.

Q4. Can I use only one kind of meat?

You can, but the layers of flavor get shallower. For the first time, reducing to two kinds, beef and chicken, is realistic. If you leave out pork, adding 1 tbsp oil to the guiso keeps it from drying out.

Q5. I don't like raisins. Can I leave them out?

You can, but the sweet-and-salty outline of hallaca weakens. Start by cutting to half, about 35 g, and scatter them near the edges rather than the center. If you reduce the olives and capers as well, the saltiness and acidity fade too.

Q6. Can I boil frozen hallacas directly?

You can, but it takes a while for the center to warm. If possible, move them to the refrigerator the day before and reheat in a steamer. On a day when you're in a hurry, warm them frozen over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes and confirm that the center is hot.

Sources

Venezuela Ministry of Culture: https://www.mincultura.gob.ve/noticias/venezuela-postulara-la-hallaca-como-patrimonio-cultural-inmaterial-de-la-humanidad-ante-la-unesc/
Goya Espana: https://goya.es/recetas/hallacas-venezolanas
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallaca
TasteAtlas: https://www.tasteatlas.com/hallaca
196 flavors: https://www.196flavors.com/venezuela-hallacas/
Recipes from Europe: https://www.recipesfromeurope.com/hallacas/