Empanadas
From a spicy flavorful filling to a crispy flaky crust, this empanadas recipe delivers maximum flavor with minimal effort (as empanadas recipes go).
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 8 servings
- Calories
- 861
- Total Fat
- 69 g
- Saturated Fat
- 15 g
- Carbohydrates
- 44 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 3 g
- Sugar
- 4 g
- Protein
- 17 g
- Cholesterol
- 84 mg
- Sodium
- 595 mg
Article By: Krissy Downey
The perfect empanada has a crispy, flaky crust and a robust, flavorful filling. This recipe delivers on all of that: spiced ground beef in a golden, fried crust served with a punchy aioli dipping sauce.
What Are Empanadas?
Empanadas are a popular Latin American food that varies regionally but typically consists of a stuffed baked or fried pastry turnover. This recipe walks you through making beef filling, but empanadas can be filled with chicken, vegetables, cheese, chorizo, seafood, ham, guava or even apple-cinnamon. Every region and family has a different take on empanadas, and each one is more delicious than the last.
How to Make Empanadas Like a Pro
Make homemade empanada dough. Empanada shells are available at the grocery store, but there is nothing like biting into fresh, homemade empanada dough. Don’t be intimidated; this empanada dough recipe is surprisingly quick and simple.
Customize the filling. The sky’s the limit with empanadas, and this recipe is an excellent base. It is packed with spices, veggies, beef and a few condiments that come together to make a filling with layers of savory flavor. To customize, you could add more of your favorite veggies, or substitute chicken or shrimp for the beef.
Don’t overstuff. If empanadas are bursting at the seams (literally!) with filling, they will fall apart during the cooking process. Make sure you have room to seal the edges shut completely. We understand the instinct to pack in as much of that filling as possible, but don’t worry, it is so flavorful that you don’t need to overdo it in terms of filling to dough ratio.
Use a deep fry thermometer. Fit your pot of cooking oil with a thermometer to ensure your oil stays the right temperature during cooking for crisp, flaky, perfectly cooked dough.
Don’t forget the dipping sauce. Empanadas are delicious all on their own, but who doesn’t love a dipping sauce? This one is just some doctored up mayonnaise that only gets more flavorful as it sits in the refrigerator. Make the sauce before you start anything else in this recipe, and, by the time you’re finished, all those flavors will have come together perfectly.
How to Store Homemade Empanadas
Store fully cooked empanadas in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 400 degrees F oven until the empanadas are crispy and completely warmed through, about 8 minutes. Alternatively, you can even air fry empanadas for a quick re-heat.
Empanadas
- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 1 hr 25 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Inactive: 30 min
- Cook: 35 min
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 8 servings
- Calories
- 861
- Total Fat
- 69 g
- Saturated Fat
- 15 g
- Carbohydrates
- 44 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 3 g
- Sugar
- 4 g
- Protein
- 17 g
- Cholesterol
- 84 mg
- Sodium
- 595 mg
- Level: Intermediate
- Total: 1 hr 25 min
- Prep: 20 min
- Inactive: 30 min
- Cook: 35 min
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 8 servings
- Calories
- 861
- Total Fat
- 69 g
- Saturated Fat
- 15 g
- Carbohydrates
- 44 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 3 g
- Sugar
- 4 g
- Protein
- 17 g
- Cholesterol
- 84 mg
- Sodium
- 595 mg
Ingredients
Empanada Dough (see Cook's Note, below):
Empanada Filling:
Aioli Dip:
Directions
- For the empanada dough: Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the lard with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg and then whisk in the stock. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and knead until a dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, for the empanada filling: In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and garlic salt and cook until the beef is cooked completely. Drain the grease and set the beef aside.
- In the same pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the tomato paste, vinegar, cumin, chili powder, oregano, seasoned salt, garlic, bell peppers and onions. Cook until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the beef and let them love each other with fire over low heat for about 5 more minutes. The mixture should be moist but not dripping wet. Now you are ready to fill the empanadas.
- Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out 4-, 5- or 6-inch rounds, depending on how large you prefer. Add some meat filling to each empanada and fold the dough over in half to enclose the filling. Use a fork to press and seal the edges closed. You can refrigerate the uncooked empanadas for up to 3 hours.
- Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Fry the empanadas until golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes.
- For the aioli dip: Mix together the mayonnaise, adobo sauce and lime juice. (The flavor will enhance if it sits in the refrigerator.)
Cook’s Note
Goya makes empanada disks, but if you cannot find them or prefer fresh, you can make your own following this recipe.
