Bollo Limpio

Name: Bollo Limpio
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Colombia
Ingredients: 500 g dried cracked white corn; 12 dried corn husks; 1½ tsp salt; 1 tbsp sugar; 200 ml water; Kitchen string

This bollo limpio recipe steams a white corn roll inside a corn husk, the everyday side of Colombia's Caribbean coast since pre-Columbian times.

Published on 14 August 2026·Updated on 25 September 2026

VeganGluten-free#corn#steamed#caribbean#side#husk

Photo: George Lou , CC BY 2.0

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 45 min
Total: 70 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium

Method

Soak the cracked corn for 12 hours in cold water, then drain it.
Soak the husks for 20 minutes in hot water so they turn pliable.
Grind the corn in a food processor with the water, salt and sugar into a thick dough that holds on a spoon.
Keep grinding for another 3 minutes. A dough left too coarse falls apart in the pot.
Spoon two tablespoons of dough onto a husk, roll it into a cylinder and fold the ends over.
Tie each roll at both ends and once around the middle.
Lower the bollos into a large pan of boiling water and cook covered for 45 minutes.
Drain and let them stand for 10 minutes before opening the husks.

Bollo is eaten with queso costeño, the salty cheese of the coast. Its unseasoned dough plays the part of bread and takes up the salt from the cheese.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

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Nutrition per serving

Calories: 125 kcal
Protein: 4.3 g
Fat: 1.8 g
Carbohydrate: 27.7 g
Fibre: 2.6 g

An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.

Frequently asked questions

Can I replace the dried corn husks?

For shaping and cooking, baking parchment tied at both ends works perfectly well. What you lose is the faint vegetal aroma the husk passes into the dough during the forty-five minutes in boiling water. Banana leaves, if you can find them, are a closer substitute.

How do I know the dough is ground enough?

Take a little and rub it between two fingers: you should no longer feel distinct grains, and the mass should hold on a spoon without slumping. Dough that is still gritty does not bind during cooking, and the roll falls apart the moment you open the husk.

How do I store and reheat bollos?

Leave them in their husks and keep them for two days in the fridge. Corn firms up in the cold, but ten minutes in a steamer or in simmering water restores its softness. That is also what makes them worth preparing the night before for breakfast with salty cheese.

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