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# Memela
- URL: https://onesandwich.com/memela/
- Published: 2026-05-16T05:42:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-26T13:08:26.000Z
- Description: Thick oval corn masa base; topped with beans, salsa, cheese. Similar to sope but different shape/region.
- Author: Andrew Lekashman
- Tags: Mexico, Flatbreads, Los Antojitos de Masa, #auto-imported

**🇲🇽 Mexico** · Family: [Los Antojitos de Masa](https://onesandwich.com/tag/los-antojitos-de-masa/) · Region: Oaxaca/Central · Heat: Griddled · Bread: corn-masa

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Ingredients

corn masa · beans · salsa · queso fresco · lard

A memela is a thick oval of corn masa, griddled until it sets, with the edges sometimes pinched up into a low rim and the surface dressed simply: a smear of bean paste, a spoon of salsa, a scatter of crumbled cheese. It belongs to the broad family of masa antojitos and is a close cousin of the sope, sharing the idea of a sturdy masa raft built to hold toppings, but it reads flatter, longer, and more rustic, with Oaxaca and the central highlands as its home ground. Where a sope is small and round with a pronounced wall, a memela tends to be a hand-shaped oval, more griddle than vessel.

The craft is mostly about the masa and the fat. A good memela starts with fresh corn masa hand-pressed into that oval and cooked on a *comal* until the outside is spotted and firm while the inside stays tender, never raw and pasty, never dried to a chip. In Oaxaca the defining move is a thin layer of *asiento*, the unrefined pork lard left at the bottom of the *carnitas* pot, smeared onto the hot masa where it melts in and carries a savory, faintly smoky depth. Over that go refried beans, salsa roja or verde, and a generous crumble of *quesillo* or aged *queso fresco*. A well-made one keeps the layers thin and balanced so the masa stays the structural and flavor backbone; a sloppy one drowns it in toppings until the base goes limp, or skips the *asiento* and the toasting and ends up tasting flat. The salsa should sit in a thin coat, not a puddle, and the cheese should season rather than blanket.

Variations track region and appetite. The plain Oaxacan *memela con asiento* is the baseline, eaten as a quick breakfast or street snack; larger ones add *tasajo*, *cecina*, or chorizo to push it toward a full meal, at which point it edges close to the territory of the *tlayuda* without the crisp. Central highland versions sometimes skip the *asiento* and lean on beans and cheese alone, and some cooks fold or stack them. The *clayuda* or *tlayuda*, that enormous crisped tortilla loaded and folded like a stiff taco, is the obvious neighbor and the obvious point of confusion, but it runs on a different masa treatment and a different scale, and it deserves its own article rather than being crowded in here.

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## More from this family

Other [Los Antojitos de Masa](https://onesandwich.com/tag/los-antojitos-de-masa/) sandwiches in Mexico:

- [Chalupa](https://onesandwich.com/chalupa/)
- [Gordita de Chicharrón](https://onesandwich.com/gordita-de-chicharron/)
- [Gordita de Harina](https://onesandwich.com/gordita-de-harina/)
- [Gordita de Horno](https://onesandwich.com/gordita-de-horno/)
- [Gordita de Nata](https://onesandwich.com/gordita-de-nata/)
- [Gordita](https://onesandwich.com/gordita/)
- [Huarache con Bistec](https://onesandwich.com/huarache-con-bistec/)
- [Huarache con Suadero](https://onesandwich.com/huarache-con-suadero/)

[See all Los Antojitos de Masa sandwiches →](https://onesandwich.com/tag/los-antojitos-de-masa/)