Simple Beef Empanadas Recipe | Diethood
Home made beef empanadas crammed with seasoned floor beef, onions, and briny pimento olives are golden, flaky, and crispy! I make this recipe with refrigerated pastry dough, however you possibly can completely make them 100% from scratch should you’d like.

These crispy, savory beef empanadas are precisely what I search for after I organize them off the menu in a Spanish restaurant. They’re buttery, flaky, and golden exterior, with a steamy, flavorful, beefy picadillo filling inside. I may eat an entire tray of those!
Empanadas make the very best recreation day appetizer with a pitcher of sangria. I’m going to indicate you how you can make them the simple method with refrigerated pastry dough.
What Makes This Beef Empanadas Recipe So Good
- Semi-homemade. I make the bottom beef filling from scratch, and tuck it inside ready-made puff pastry. It’s not conventional, but it surely’s fast, simple, and the pastry is further crispy.
- Baked, not fried. Baking empanadas is hands-free and fewer oily than frying.
- Snackable. Beef empanadas are a preferred social gathering appetizer, and so they make an incredible starter to a seafood paella with dinner.
- Adapt the filling. You would even fill these with Mexican chilorio or leftover taco meat, or make hen empanadas with the filling from my hen flautas.
What Is an Empanada?
Empanadas are the Latin American equal of an American meat pie, Jamaican beef patty, Indian samosas, or Balkan burek. They’re made out of flaky pastry dough crammed with one thing scorching and scrumptious, normally meat, seafood, greens, beans, and cheese.


You’ll Want the Following Substances
I’ll binge on pimento-stuffed olives straight from the jar, and I like including them to the meat filling in these empanadas. The substances checklist is tremendous easy. Scroll to the printable recipe card for the precise measurements.
- Olive Oil – For sautéeing. Any cooking oil will work right here.
- Onion and Garlic – Diced yellow onion and finely minced garlic. When you don’t have recent garlic, substitute every clove with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Lean Floor Beef – You would additionally make this recipe with floor turkey, pork, or hen.
- Spices – Cumin, paprika, and freshly floor pepper. Generally, I’ll use my home made taco seasoning or fajita seasoning rather than the person spices.
- Olives – I take advantage of pimento-stuffed manzanilla olives, however you need to use any black, inexperienced, or kalamata olives you’ve got within the fridge. Take away any pits so you possibly can chop the olives into small items.
- Puff Pastry – Refrigerated puff pastry sheets work completely (and it cuts the prep time in half!). You’ll additionally discover pre-made empanada dough discs in main grocery shops. Home made pie dough additionally makes nice empanada dough if you wish to make it from scratch.
- Egg – To whisk with water for an egg wash. Brushing this over the perimeters of the dough helps seal the empanadas closed.
Simple Variations
- Tacky. Make tacky beef empanadas by stirring shredded cheese, like Monterey Jack, into the meat filling with the olives.
- Make it spicy. Add in cayenne pepper, chili powder, or chopped recent jalapeños.
- Air fryer. Prepare dinner your empanadas within the air fryer to get the outsides further crispy.


What to Serve With Beef Empanadas
Historically, empanadas are eaten as road meals or an appetizer. I wish to drizzle my beef empanadas with home made chimichurri from this churrasco steak recipe. Or, I’ll serve them with bitter cream, guacamole, creamy avocado dip, or the Peruvian inexperienced sauce (aji verde) from my Peruvian hen recipe.
Regularly Requested Questions
Related, however not fairly the identical. Conventional empanada pastry has the next flour-to-fat ratio, making it tender and durable. Nevertheless, pie dough, pastry dough, and even pizza dough are all good substitutes for empanada dough in a pinch.
Empanadas will be baked or fried. It is dependent upon the feel you’re going for. I like the flakiness of baked empanadas. Frying will make them crispier. It’s as much as you!
In case your empanadas leak whereas they’re baking, this might be as a result of over-filling or as a result of the perimeters weren’t sealed correctly. Don’t overstuff the dough, and ensure to make use of an egg wash on the perimeters earlier than you fold and seal the dough.
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Put together to bake. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease 2 baking sheets with cooking spray and put aside.
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Sauté. Warmth olive oil in a big skillet over medium-high warmth. Add the onions and prepare dinner for two to three minutes, or till translucent. Stir in garlic and prepare dinner for 15 seconds, or till aromatic.
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Prepare dinner the meat. Add floor beef, cumin, paprika, and pepper. Prepare dinner, stirring and breaking apart the meat with a wood spoon, till cooked via, about 5 to 7 minutes. Take away from warmth and blend within the chopped olives; put aside.
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Roll and lower out the dough. On a calmly floured floor, roll out one sheet of puff pastry dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Lower out 6 circles, every ought to be a few 5-inch diameter. I take advantage of a big spherical cookie cutter. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry dough.
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Add the meat filling. Spoon a few tablespoon of the meat combination onto the middle of every dough spherical; put aside.
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Add an egg wash. In a small mixing bowl, mix egg and water and calmly beat with a fork. Utilizing a pastry brush, paint the perimeters of the dough with the ready egg wash.
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Fold the empanadas. Fold the dough over the meat, shaping it right into a half-moon. Gently press down on the perimeters and twist to seal. Repeat with the remaining substances.
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Bake. Switch the empanadas to the baking sheets, leaving about 1½ inches of house between the empanadas. Bake within the preheated oven for 18 to twenty minutes, or till hyped up and golden brown.
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Serve. Take away from oven and serve instantly.
Serving: 1empanada | Energy: 305kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 12g | Fats: 20g | Saturated Fats: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g | Monounsaturated Fats: 11g | Trans Fats: 0.1g | Ldl cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 127IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 2mg
Dietary data is an estimate and offered as courtesy. Values might fluctuate in response to the substances and instruments used. Please use your most well-liked dietary calculator for extra detailed data.
Tips on how to Make Beef Empanadas
Lower out circles of puff pastry dough, fold the beefy filling up inside, and bake! Home made empanadas couldn’t be simpler, and so they’re able to eat in about 45 minutes should you make them with store-bought puff pastry. Listed below are the steps:




- Sauté the veggies. Begin by heating oil in a skillet and sautéeing the onions till they’re gentle and translucent. Add the garlic and prepare dinner for a minute, so it’s aromatic.
- Prepare dinner the meat. Subsequent, add the bottom beef and spices. Break up the meat whereas it cooks via. Then, take the pan off the warmth and stir within the chopped olives.
- Roll and lower out the pastry. Roll out the puff pastry sheets one by one, to about ⅛ inch thick. Lower the dough into six circles roughly 5 inches in diameter. Use a big spherical cookie cutter, or an egg ring can work right here, too.
- Fill the dough. Place a spoonful of beef filling within the middle of every dough circle.
- Make an egg wash. In the meantime, whisk the egg with water in a bowl. Brush the egg wash calmly over the perimeters of the dough utilizing a pastry brush or your finger.
- Fold the empanadas. Now, fold the dough over the filling, form it right into a half-moon, and press the perimeters collectively. Twist the perimeters downward to seal the empanada closed. Repeat with the remainder of the empanadas.
- Bake. Place the empanadas onto a greased or lined baking sheet. Go away 1 ½-inches or so in between to account for spreading. Lastly, bake your beef empanadas in a 375ºF oven for 18-20 minutes, till they’re puffed and golden. Serve immediately, and luxuriate in!


Tips on how to Retailer and Reheat Empanadas
- Refrigerate. Baked beef empanadas are finest served recent. Nevertheless, you possibly can retailer the leftovers in an hermetic container. Refrigerate the empanadas for as much as 3 days.
- Reheat. One of the simplest ways to get the empanadas crispy once more is to reheat them within the oven, or you need to use the air fryer when you have one.
- Freeze. You may freeze the baked empanadas for as much as 2 months. Thaw them within the fridge earlier than reheating.
