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Empanadas recipe - How to make empanadas with beef

Empanadas are savory pastries filled with meat, fish, or vegetables. The pastry dough of the empanada when filled, it can then be baked or fried. In this easy homemade empanada recipe, I will be using beef with some vegetables such as potatoes, celery sticks, and frozen peas.
Course Pastry, Snack
Cuisine Spanish
Keyword Easy Empanada, Empanadas, Empanadas Recipe, Homemade Empanadas, How to make empanada, Meat Pie
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 25 minutes
Mixing and Kneading 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 9 pieces
Calories 395kcal
Author Razi Brown

Ingredients

Ingredients for making the dough

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 170 grams frozen butter
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 whole egg

Ingredients for Empanadas filling

  • 600 grams ground beef
  • 1 whole chopped carrot
  • ½ cup frozen peas
  • ¼ cup chopped celery sticks
  • 2 cubes crushed beef bouillon
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • 1½ cup chopped potatoes
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp paprika powder
  • ½ tsp red chili powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon.
  • ¼ tsp thyme

Instructions

Empanada recipe

  • In a mixing bowl, add the flour and salt together; stir to combine.
  • Bring in the diced butter and mix with your hand or a food processor until the flour becomes crumbly in texture.
  • Break and beat 1 egg, and then add it to the flour mixture.
  • Add ½ cup of chilled water to the flour, butter, and egg mixture and mix using your hand or a mixer. The chilled water should be added a little at a time.
  • Once you have a thick and smooth dough, stop kneading.
  • Place in the mixing bowl and cover with a cling film.
  • Rest it in the fridge for about an hour for the empanada dough to become firm a little; this makes it easier to mold into wrappers for the empanadas.

Making the filling for our homemade empanada

  • While the empanada dough is chilling in the fridge, start making the filling. Place a large pan on the stovetop, add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
  • Once the oil is heated, add the chopped onions and saute for 2 minutes until they are slightly translucent.
  • Go in with the ground beef and break it into small pieces using a spatula. Cook for 5 minutes until it is no longer pink.
  • Add the minced garlic, chopped celery, carrots, and potatoes; stir everything to combine.
  • Season the beef and vegetables with paprika powder, red chili powder, ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp of salt, cumin, thyme, and tomato paste.
  • Mix all the seasonings to combine with the cooked beef.
  • Add 1½ cup of water to the pan and stir to combine. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes on medium heat.
  • After 15 minutes, add the frozen peas, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the empanada filling to cool off.

Wrapping the filling in the dough

  • While the filling is cooling off, start rolling the dough.
  • Divide the empanada dough into two, and work with one at a time. As you are working on one, keep the other part in the fridge.
  • Roll the dough into a flat shape of about ¼ inch thick.
  • Use a wide cookie cutter or the cover of any of your pots to cut out a circular wrapper from the flattened dough. You can cut out 2 or more circles from the rolled dough depending on how your cutting tool is. Any excess dough remaining can be remolded and rolled again to prevent wastage.
  • Using one wrapper at a time, scoop the filling to the middle of the wrapper and turn over one edge of the wrapper to enclose the filling. You can use your fingers to close and fit the edges of the wrapper together.
  • Use a fork to press against the edges to help attach the edges closely as well as making some stripes that serve as design.
  • Once done, transfer it to a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat this until you are done with the filling and the remaining dough and wrappers.
  • Break 1 egg and use it for making an egg wash; add 1 tbsp of water to the egg and beat it until it is cloudy.
  • Use a pastry brush to glaze the surface of the empanadas; do this by dipping the pastry brush in the egg wash and using it to brush over the surface of the empanadas.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 °F and bake the empanadas for 20 to 25 minutes or until they appear golden in color.
  • Remove from the oven and allow them to cool down a little bit and your easy homemade empanadas are ready.

Notes

You can choose what to add to your filling; from vegetables, fish, cheese, meat such as chicken or beef, to any vegetarian substitute to these ingredients used for the filling. If you love adding milk to yours, you can use chilled milk instead of water.