Let’s talk about these Baked Empanadas. In the world of empanada land, I would say that these are more similar to Argentina-style empanadas. The dough is flakey and baked, not fried. I love this dough because while it’s flakey, it’s not exactly like pie dough. It’s more toothsome than that. And the filling is SO good that I often times will just make the filling and pair it with cauliflower rice or something. This is if I’m trying to be healthy. If not, I eat it this way…
Today I’m shooting and have vowed to cook nothing but cold recipes. So there’s pretty acai bowl, some s’mores (I’m just using my torch thank God) and some other fun stuff that I can’t wait to share with you soon!
Ingredients
Empanada Dough:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 large egg + 1 tablespoon water, beaten in a small bowl together for eggwash
Empanada Filling:
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- Salt
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 5 green olives, minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- Salt to taste
Directions
- To make the dough: In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Using a box grater, grate the cold butter atop the flour mixture. Working quickly, and using your hands, break the butter bits into the flour until they're evenly distributed and resemble the size of small peas.
- Add 4 tablespoons of water and mix. The mixture will be shaggy at this point. From here, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the dough comes together (I usually need to about 3 more tablespoons). Flour your counter and dump the dough onto it. Knead a few times more until it comes together. Form into a disc. Wrap the disc in plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour, ideally overnight.
- To make the filling: In a medium saucepan, set over medium heat, add the olive oil. When the oil is warm, add the ground beef. Break up the ground beef using a wooden spoon. Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Cook the meat until mostly browned. Add the diced onion, red bell pepper and garlic. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the green olives, tomato paste, cumin, paprika, crushed red pepper and a few pinches of salt. Give it a good mix and cook about 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. If the mixture seems a bit dry (this will depend on how much fat your ground beef has), add a splash of water.
- To assemble the empanadas: Roll out the disc of dough into a 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 6-inch round cutter (or you could use a bowl and trace out circles with a sharp paring knife), cut out as many circles as you can. Re-roll the scraps and cut out a few more.
- Transfer the rounds to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Lightly brush each dough round with egg wash. Add a tablespoon of the meat filling to one side of the circle of dough; fold the dough over, creating a half-moon shape. Using the tines of a fork, seal the empanada's seam together by pressing them together. Repeat until you've worked through all of the empanadas.
- Transfer the baking sheet of empanadas to the freezer to chill for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the empanadas with egg wash and using a knife, pierce the top to allow steam to escape. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Eat immediately or room temperature. Serve with salsa or chimichurri.
32 Comments
Oh my god, a heatwave?! Here in the Netherlands it’s quite the opposite, today is supposed to break a record in terms of rain coming down… 🙁 I really want to make empanadas some time, pinned!
I’m so jealous. 🙂
Thanks. I cant wait to prepare and have a bite.
Absolutely delish!!! These empanadas couldn’t sound more perfect and that flaky crust looks incredible!
It’s only 7:45am, but I could seriously go for some empanadas right now. These look so tasty!
Thanks, Gabriella!
I’m new to your blog, and WOW these look so amazing, I am definitely trying these!! Empanadas have always been very intimating to me, but these don’t seem so bad, thank you for sharing!!
You’ll love her blog, and believe me you’ll want her book. It’s super, and she seems like such a nice person. Of course, she has a cute doggie!
Awww, thank you, Karen. You’re so sweet. Thanks for being here! x
Hi Nicole. Thanks so much for being here! xo
I have never tried to make empanadas, but these look so crispy and delicious, that I am definitely going to have to try this recipe! We are also having a heat wave in Kansas City, so this will be perfect.
xoxo Mollie
http://www.molliebellezza.com
EMPANADAS YESSSSS! I love Argentina-style empanadas, canot wait to try these. Its crazy how this one dish can vary so much between countries!
Right?! So different depending on the country you go to. I love all of ’em!
These have a picadillo-esque filling, no? I’m tempted to add raisins. Gotta make deez before DC gets unbearably muggy! (Let’s build a capital in a drained swamp, why not)
Yessss, it’s picadillo pretty much. Definitely add raisins. They’d be a delicious addition.
and I feel you on humidity. I grew up in Florida so I don’t miss it AT ALL.
Hi Lydia! You definitely have to check out chilean empanadas, they have exactly that kind of picadillo filling!
Yey to oven less recipes! Today it’s not as hot so decided to make these. I made the filling super early and just finished them off. You can eat the filling alone with a spoon.
I just tasted them and they are amazing. Thank You for the always tasty recipes Adrianna!
Oh amazing! Love this, Flor! xox
I’m going to make them for the next copa america game! They look amazing and thank you for the recipe!
YAYYY!!! That sounds like an awesome idea! x
[…] empanadas from A Cozy Kitchen Bake paleo hazelnut muffins from Texanerin Baking Drink stone fruit iced tea […]
[…] Baked Empanadas look like the perfect easy weeknight dinner. Flaky pastry for life! These will be added to the […]
Thank you very much! Your blog is always full of great idea. They are really helpful
[…] http://acozykitchen.com/baked-empanadas/ […]
[…] Via A Cozy Kitchen. […]
I’ve made these amazing empanadas several times now. I didn’t have fresh red peppers so I used some marinated roasted red peppers strips I had on hand. my husband is Argentine and he swears that you need chopped boiled eggs in there too. so I added 3, but I doubled your original recipe–cuz like that I said, these are just the best. I also used frozen Goya empanadas wrappers cuz I made like 20 of these things. And lastly I found a clever little tool to make filling and sealing the empanadas. I’ll try to post it, but if it doesn’t work you can find the set of 3 sizes on Amazon.
What kind of sides can go with the empanadas ?
You can serve it with salsa!
I made these for dinner the other night and they were incredible! I had never made empanadas before and was a bit nervous to attempt them – but this recipe was so easy to follow. I did find that I needed 2-3 more T. water than the recipe notes predict in order to for the dough to come together. Other than that, no issues! Thanks for this recipe. It’ll now be in regular rotation at my house 🙂
This is such amazing news–love hearing this! 🙂
[…] recipe is from A Cozy Kitchen, but I made some modifications you’ll find […]