A worthy addition to the RecipeTin cult-classic collection!
Empanadas recipe
Great empanadas are hard to come by here in Sydney. They should be hot and crunchy on the outside, with juicy flavourful fillings on the inside. But all too often the pastry is dry and lacking in the signature crispiness, and the filling is dry and bland. Why-oh-why are so many empanada fillings so dry?? To protect the crispy pastry, I guess. But a dry filling is a high price to pay! So, that ranting introduction is a good foray into what to expect from my empanadas!
Empanada components
The following sections step through how to make empanadas, as follows:
Empanada Filling
Start with the filling first because the empanada dough can be made in the time it takes to fully cool the filling.
Empanada filling ingredients
Empanadas come with all sorts of fillings. Today, I’m sharing a beef one. It gets a punch of flavour from chorizo and spices.
Beef – Just ordinary beef mince / ground beef. Chorizo – The above mentioned flavour punch! We blitz it up into a paste using a stick blender for maximum effect. LOVE how it blends seamlessly into the beef! Potato cubes – A traditional inclusion in empanada filling. Starchy potatoes work best because they are fluffier when cooked but any potato really will work just fine. Herb and spices – Fresh thyme, cayenne, oregano, paprika and cumin. I am a little more heavy handed on the spices than most recipes because I like a punchier flavoured filling. Nobody has ever accused me of bland food! 😂 Tomato paste – For flavour. Tomato passata (puree) – Pureed, strained plain tomato, widely available these days in Australia in the pasta and canned tomato aisle. See here for more information. Some will argue that passata is not strictly traditional but I add it because it keeps the filling nice and juicy. Dry filling is a gripe I have with empanadas I’ve tried in my time! Water makes the filling watery which makes the pastry soggy. Chicken stock/broth – For simmering, to provide a little liquid so the potato cooks. Garlic and onion – Aromatics for flavour base. Green onion – For freshness and appealing green bits.
How to make the empanada filling
Really, it’s no different to making bolognese – except it’s less saucy and it has punchier flavours! 😎 Some will argue that passata is not strictly traditional but I add it because it keeps the filling nice and juicy. Dry filling is a gripe I have with empanadas I’ve tried in my time! Water makes the filling watery which makes the pastry soggy.
Filling add-ins
This recipe is inspired by Argentinian-style empanadas, so we also include the traditional chopped up olives and hard boiled egg. These additions add interest and make them proper South American-style empanadas, so don’t skip them! They are not mixed into the filling but sprinkled on top just before wrapping. Goal filling texture – Cool/cold but spreadable. If you refrigerate overnight (up to 3 days!) it will become a solid block which is impossible to wrap neatly. Let it come to room temp or microwave in bursts, stirring in between, until it becomes spreadable.
Empanada dough
Empanada dough is a type of shortcrust pastry. It’s buttery and flaky, similar to the pastry used for pies like pumpkin pie, apple pie etc, but it’s not sweet. You will love how it’s so easy to work with. It’s easier to work with than store bought puff pastry!
Ingredients in Empanada dough
Here’s what you need to make empanada dough.
Flour – Just plain / all purpose flour. Butter – cold, cut into cubes so it’s easy to blitz into fine crumbs in the flour. Tiny little bits of butter throughout the pastry is what makes it beautifully flaky! Egg – Eggs are not usually included in traditional shortcrust pastry. It makes the dough slightly less crumbly – intentionally, because these are hand held pies. It also has the added bonus that it’s easier to work with as it makes the dough more pliable and less prone to breaking. Warm milk – Similar to egg, this is not in traditional pastry but makes the pastry slightly less brittle than the pastry on regular pies which is what we want for hand-held empanadas. The milk is warm so it blends into the pastry more easily but because we only use a bit, it’s not enough to melt the butter.
How to make Empanada dough
While it can be made by hand, I opt to use a food processor for ease and speed, as well as to avoid the problem of my hot little hands melting the butter as I work the dough. (As noted above, little butter bits = flaky pastry!). OK! Pastry done. Let’s wrap some empanadas! Blade – Use a dough blade if you’ve got one but as you’ll see in the video, I always forget to switch it from my standard sharp “S” blade and it works just fine! It can stay in the fridge for up to 2 days but will become rock hard. Take it out around 30 minutes prior before rolling out. You’ll also notice that the dough is easy to work with, not prone to breaking like other doughs.
Wrapping empanadas – (can be) easy!
The only part of wrapping empanadas that takes practice is the pleating which is optional! For an easy, faster option, just use a fork (like most store bought frozen empanadas) or keep it flat. It does not affect the eating experience at all!! The easiest way to learn how to do the empanada pleats is to watch the recipe video – at 3 minute 29 second mark.
1. Filling empanadas
2. Pleating – optional!
As I mentioned above, pleating is optional! You can just decorate using a fork – just press down along the edge – or just leave the seam plain. It will still taste just as good! For the pleating, the fastest way to learn is to watch the recipe video. Here’s an extract for just the pleating part:
3. Baking
There’s only one thing better than the buttery smell that fills your house when empanadas are in the oven… EATING them!
Empanada dipping sauce
Hot, freshly made empanadas are wonderful eaten just plain. But a dipping sauce just elevates the experience! Here are options:
Empanada sauce (recommended) – A purpose-made spiced roasted tomato based sauce for dipping empanadas which is loosely based on a traditional Colombian sauce called hogao. I’ve published this as a separate recipe because it’s worthy. 🙂 It is my recommended option – it’s SO GOOD! Use leftovers as a dip for corn chips, veggie sticks, bread. Chimichurri – This bright green fresh parsley-garlic South American sauce is a natural pairing with empanadas! Pink sauce – Ketchup + sour cream or yogurt or mayo or any combination thereof. Avocado sauce – Yes. YES! So good. Ketchup, or spicy ketchup – I won’t judge. It works. (For spicy, just mix with sriracha).
Worth the effort
This is not a quick and easy recipe. And there will be people reading this no doubt who live in areas where excellent empanadas are abundant. Lucky you! For the rest of us poor sods, this homemade version will satisfy your empanada cravings. When they come out of the oven, hot and crispy, the buttery smell of the pastry mingling with the spiced filling…. and that moment when you bite into them….. It’s food so good it almost makes you want to weep with joy. Food that is worth the effort! This empanadas recipe is one of the best new cult-classic recipes to come out of the RecipeTin kitchen in over a year. I really hope you give them a go – and love them as much as I do! – Nagi x Recipe credit: With many thanks to RecipeTin’s Chef JB for working through so many iterations with me to create the perfect homemade empanadas! This recipe is such a great example of how we work together on more challenging recipes to achieve what we believe to be the best possible outcome for home cooks, and how having a professional chef in my team has raised the bar on the quality and type of recipes I can share on my website. And make things like empanadas accessible to everybody, of varying skills levels!
Watch how to make it
Life of Dozer
Dozer thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!! He feels very popular – there was a lot of strutting around today. 😂 Meanwhile, there was a lot of grumbling on my part! Snippet of grumbling from Instagram:
