Empanadas are a combination of a flaky crust and a hearty filling of meat, vegetables, or cheese. You might think that empanadas require hours to make but making empanadas can be just as easy as eating them. Try out these tasty recipes and see how easy it is to make empanadas.
Quick and Easy Beef Empanadas
These beef empanadas have a classic Mexican flavor. Using premade pie crust ensures that the empanadas are flaky without requiring you to do a lot of extra work. Just make sure to select a savory pie crust instead of a sweetened one when buying your ingredients.
Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon oil
• ½ bell pepper diced
• 1 diced onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup Mexican cheese
• 1 package of readymade pie crust
• 1 egg beaten
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and heat the oil in a skillet to medium heat.
2. Sauté the bell pepper and onion for a few minutes.
3. Add the ground beef, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and salt, and sauté until meat is browned.
4. Remove the pan from heat and allow to cool slightly.
5. Flatten pie crusts and cut circles that are six inches wide from the crust. If desired, smash the leftover dough together and roll it out to create one or two extra empanadas.
6. Put three tablespoons of the beef mixture in the middle of each circle and top with the cheese.
7. Fold the dough over and crimp together the edges.
8. Place on a flat baking tray and brush with egg mixture.
12. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until crust is golden.
Cheesy Chicken Empanadas
The secret to these cheesy chicken empanadas is cream cheese. It might not be the most traditional filling, but it has a mild flavor and creamy texture that makes the filling absolutely delicious.
Ingredients
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 8 ounces of shredded Mexican cheese
• 4 ounces softened cream cheese
• ¼ red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 15 ounces refrigerated or frozen pie crust
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine chicken, cheeses, peppers, and seasonings in a large bowl.
3. Flatten pie crust and use a cookie cutter to cut circles three to four inches wide.
4. Lightly grease your baking sheet.
5. Put a small amount of the chicken filling in the middle of a circle of dough, brush the edge with water, fold over the dough, and use a fork to seal the dough. Repeat with all remaining empanada circles.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
Vegetarian Empanadas
This recipe is perfect for the vegetarians in your family. The crust is handmade to ensure it does not contain lard or other animal products, and you can leave out the eggs if you want to make this recipe entirely vegan.
Ingredients
• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup vegetable shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 bell pepper chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 tomato chopped
• ½ cup peas
• 2 cups spinach
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 hard boiled eggs chopped into pieces
• 1 egg yolk whisked with 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and shortening and pulse in a food processor.
2. Slowly add water until a smooth dough forms.
3. Knead by hand for five minutes and divided into 8 balls.
4. Use a rolling pin to flatten the balls into empanada wrappers.
5. Heat olive oil over medium high heat.
6. Sauté the onion, pepper, and carrot for a few minutes. Add tomato and let it cook down slightly.
7. Stir in the peas and spinach, and let cook for five more minutes.
8. Let vegetable mixture cool slightly before stirring in boiled egg.
9. Place dollops of vegetable mixture in center of dough circles.
10. Fold in half and seal with some hot water before crimping.
11. Brush on the egg wash and bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
30 Minute Empanadas
This recipe skips the pastry entirely and uses refrigerated biscuits for the dough instead. The end result is a fluffy empanada wrapper with a tasty southwestern filling.
Ingredients
• 1 pound ground beef or pork
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 15 ounces fresh, frozen, or canned corn
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 8 ounces grated cheese
• 1 cup of your favorite salsa
• 16 ounces refrigerated biscuit dough
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown ground meat on stove, adding salt, pepper, and garlic a minute or two before the beef is finished.
3. Let meat cool
4. Use a rolling pin to flatten each biscuit to roughly ¼ inch thick.
5. Mix together the corn, onion, cheese, salsa, and meat.
6. Put about ¼ cup of filling on each biscuit.
7. Fold biscuit over topping and crimp the edges.
8. Place on a greased baking tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the dough is lightly brown.
