This authentic Argentine Empanadas recipe is so approachable, anyone can make them! The filling ingredients include ground beef, onion, spices, green olives and hard boiled eggs in an easy homemade empanada dough.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Refrigerate1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr45 minutesmins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: Argentine, central american, south american
Heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add garlic and diced red pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring often. Add chili powder, cumin, sweet paprika, and oregano. Cook for 2 minutes.
Increase heat to medium and add the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper and cook, crumbling into small pieces, until browned. Stir in beef boullion.
Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a bowl to cool for 10 minutes. Then, stir in green onion, olives, parsley, and hard-boiled eggs.
Cover and chill mixture for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days (depending on freshness of ingredients). It’s important that the mixture is chilled before filling the empanadas.
For the empanada dough:
Add flour and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine. Add egg and butter and stir well to combine. Add oil and warm water and stir until the mixture starts to come together into a dough ball. Add more water if it’s too dry.
Place dough in clean greased bowl and cover tightly. Allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour. (Or, refrigerate for up to 1 day, removing from the fridge 20 minutes before using.)
Assembly:
Divide the dough into two pieces. On a greased countertop roll each piece into a very large circle, about 1/8in thick (not so thin that it might break when filling or baking).
Use a small bowl or round cookie cutters to cut the dough into circles about 6in in diameter for regular size empanadas or 3 inch for mini empanadas (empanaditas).
Remove the excess dough from around the cut circles and keep the circles where they are for filling them (so they hold their perfect circle shape). Leftover scraps can be re-rolled to make more dough to cut out.
Place about 2 tablespoons of filling (for regular size empanadas) in the center of each circle, leaving plenty of space around the border. Moisten the edges of the circle with water, then fold the dough over and match the ends together to form a semi-circle.
Pinch the edges together and then seal the ends by crimping them with a fork or pinching and twisting/folding it over.
Baked Empanadas: Place empanadas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with a little bit of egg wash and bake at 375° For 25-30 minutes until golden brown and fully cooked.
Fried Empanadas: (I’ve found it best to refrigerate the empanadas for 20 minutes before frying to help the dough firm up and hold its shape before placing in the hot oil). Add several inches of hot oil to a pot and heat to about 365° F. Fry one or two empanadas at a time, flipping once, until golden on both sides (1-2 minutes per side). Place on a paper-towel lined plate.
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Notes
Other filling options: Walnuts, Raisins, Diced potatoes, Chicken or ground turkey, Carrots, Peas, Ham and cheese empanadasEmpanada dough: if you don’t want to make the dough from scratch you can buy puff pastry dough for empanadas from the grocery store.Make Ahead Instructions: Filling can be made up to 3 days in advance (depending on freshness of ingredients used), stored in the fridge. The dough can be made 1 day in advance and stored in the fridge.Freezing Instructions: Place unbaked empanadas on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months, Thaw overnight in the fridge before baking. Empanada filling can be frozen for up to 3 months, stored in a freezer safe container. Empanada dough can be frozen, wrapped tightly and stored in a freezer container, for up to 3 months.