Beef Empanadas

With a golden-brown crust and a warm, flavorful filling, beef empanadas are the best excuse to eat with your hands. Depending on where you are, empanadas can vary in their filling and dough. While empanadas from Mexico are usually made with masa, my grandma—a woman who grew up in Culiacán, a city in northwestern Mexico—made hers with pot sticker wrappers.

During the creation of this dish, I figured that if you’re searching for an empanada recipe, you’re probably not looking to fry them in pot sticker wrappers, so I developed an amazingly easy and flaky homemade dough that comes together in no time. While I made some adjustments to her dough recipe to make it more classic, these empanadas still feature her iconic (and top-secret!) filling. Make them as is (or experiment to make these completely your own), and serve them as the perfect make-ahead party appetizer or handheld weeknight dinner.

What People Are Saying:
"I tried this recipe for a Cinco de Mayo party. This dough was an absolute dream to work with and the flavor of these empanada were amazing! They take some time but definitely worth it, everyone loved them!! Will be making these again. I used a margaritas glass to cut the dough! Perfect size!" - ksc6153

"Thanks so much for the recipe! Liked that it was mainly tasty beef and cheese - even my picky eater at home enjoyed these! Never thought I'd be able to make empanadas from scratch :) Didn't have tomato paste but I added a bit more oregano and garlic powder to taste. Soo delicious!" - chipochi

How To Make Beef Empanadas

INGREDIENTS

• Dough: As I said before, my grandma would opt for pot sticker wrappers when making her homemade empanadas. While I love how easy that version is, I wanted to split the difference and make a super-easy dough that comes together faster than it takes to go to the store. Composed of household staples: all-purpose flour for a pliable, yet crispy crust; cold unsalted butter for adding richness, an egg for a golden sheen, and baking powder for the all-important rise and leavening.
• Filling: This filling is loosely based on my grandma’s traditional Mexican recipe, composed of all the things you’d want in a meaty empanada, like savory alliums (yellow onion and garlic), earthy-heat from the paprika, oregano and cumin, and an egg to bind it all together. Beef + cheese is a magical duo in my book, so I’ve gone for a blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack because they melt beautifully while letting the flavor of the spices, tomatoes, and jalapeños shine. If you want to experiment with other types of cheese, you could try mozzarella, provolone, or fontina. You could even go with pepper jack for a little extra kick.
  

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

An empanada filling is only as good as the dough that holds it, so let’s get to mixing. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into dry ingredients with your hands or a pastry cutter until pea-sized pieces form. Add the egg and 3/4 cup of water and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to form and become slightly sticky.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it until smooth, which will take about 5 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 400° and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil, and add the yellow onion and cook, stirring, until softened, for about 7 minutes. Then, add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Next, add the ground beef and cook until it is no longer pink, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon as it cooks, for about 5 minutes.

Once cooked through, drain the fat, and return the pan to medium heat and stir the tomato paste into the beef. Add the oregano, cumin, and paprika; season the mixture with salt and pepper. Then, add the pickled jalapeños and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until warmed through, for another 3 minutes. When the mixture is thoroughly incorporated, allow it to cool slightly.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll one half to 1/4" in thickness. Using a 4.5" round cookie cutter, cut out rounds, repeating with remaining dough. Got scraps? Reroll them again to cut out more rounds.

Now, it’s time for the dough to meet the filling. Lightly moisten the outer edge of a dough round with water. Place about 2 tablespoons filling in the center, and top with cheddar and Monterey Jack. Then, fold the dough in half over the filling. Using a fork, crimp the edges together until sealed. Repeat with remaining filling and dough.

Once your empanadas are filled and crimped, it’s time to make sure they’re pretty enough to eat with a golden sheen thanks to an egg wash. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a splash of water. Place the empanadas on prepared baking sheets and brush them with egg wash, then bake empanadas until golden brown and the filling is warmed through, for about 25 minutes.

To serve, top your empanadas with cilantro and plenty of sour cream alongside, and enjoy!

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• Go the pot sticker route: To make these even easier, you can totally skip the dough and opt for using pot sticker wrappers. Simply fill each wrapper with about 1 tsp. meat (if you add too much filling, the wrapper will break). Dip a finger in water and run alongside the edges of the wrapper, then fold and seal with tines of a fork. Heat an inch of vegetable oil in a deep pan (or a wok, like my mom), and fry in batches until empanadas are deeply golden and bubbly on the surface.
• Change up the filling: This filling is delicious as is, but if you want to give it even more pizzazz, I highly recommend adding a splash of red wine vinegar, finely chopped capers and green olives, and a good squeeze of yellow mustard. Feel free to adjust the filling based on preferences. Not a jalapeño fan? Feel free to leave them out!
• What to serve with empanadas: Empanadas are a dream for dipping into all kinds of sauces, such as herby chimichurri, salsa verde, sour cream, and pico de gallo. Want to make this into a full meal? Serve your empanadas alongside some rice and beans.
• How to make empanadas ahead of time: If you’re planning on making these empanadas ahead of time, we'd recommend going ahead and baking them (or freeze them as I’ve outlined below). Then, on the day you're ready to serve, you can simply reheat in an oven set to 300° until warm. Exposing the raw empanada dough to the moisture-rich filling overnight will cause it to absorb a lot of the liquid, which will make your dough soggy and your filling unpleasantly dry.
  

Storage

While they’re best fresh, you can keep these cooked empanadas in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Want to freeze your empanadas? By all means, do it! You can freeze already-baked empanadas, or you can freeze the filled, unbaked empanadas. Either way, freeze the empanadas on a parchment-lined baking sheet until solid before transferring them to an airtight bag or container. This ensures they don’t get squished and will come out of your freezer as beautifully shaped as when you put them in.

To bake the frozen (and unbaked) empanadas, let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before egg-washing and baking until golden and heated through (you’ll need to add a few extra minutes to the bake time). To reheat frozen, pre-baked empanadas, let thaw completely and then pop into the oven at 400º to crisp up.