Beef Empanadas
Updated July 27, 2022
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 4ounces lard or butter, plus more for brushing tops
- 1½teaspoons fine sea salt
- 750grams all-purpose flour, about 6 cups, more as needed
- 1pound beef chuck, in ⅛-inch dice (or very coarsely ground)
- Salt and pepper
- Lard or olive oil, or a combination, for sautéing
- 1cup diced onion
- 2ounces diced chorizo
- ½pound potatoes, peeled and diced
- 4garlic cloves, mashed to a paste
- 2teaspoons chopped thyme
- 2teaspoons chopped marjoram or 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1tablespoon tomato paste
- 1tablespoon pimentón dulce or paprika
- Large pinch cayenne
- Beef or chicken broth, as necessary, or use water
- ½cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
- ¼cup chopped pitted green olives
- 2hard-cooked eggs, sliced
For the Dough
For the Filling
Nutritional analysis per serving (36 servings)
181 calories; 9 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 138 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the dough: Put 2 cups boiling water, 4 ounces lard and 1½ teaspoons salt in large mixing bowl. Stir to melt lard and dissolve salt. Cool to room temperature.
- Step 2
Gradually stir in flour with a wooden spoon until dough comes together. Knead for a minute or two on a floured board, until firm and smooth. Add more flour if sticky. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Step 3
Make the filling: Season chopped beef generously with salt and pepper and set aside for 10 minutes. Melt 3 tablespoons lard in a wide heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and fry until nicely browned, stirring throughout to keep pieces separate, about 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Turn heat down to medium and add onion and chorizo. Keep turning mixture with a spatula, as if cooking hash, until onion is softened and browned, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes, garlic, thyme and marjoram and stir well to incorporate. (Add a little more fat to pan if mixture seems dry.) Season again with salt and pepper and let mixture fry for 2 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste, pimentón and cayenne, then a cup of broth or water. Turn heat to simmer, stirring well to incorporate any caramelized bits.
- Step 5
Cook for about 10 more minutes, until both meat and potatoes are tender and the sauce just coats them — juicy but not saucy is what you want. Taste and adjust seasoning for full flavor (intensity will diminish upon cooling). Stir in scallions and cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Step 6
Divide chilled dough into 1-ounce pieces and form into 2-inch diameter balls. Roll each piece into a 4½-inch circle. Lay circles on a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour.
- Step 7
Moisten outer edge of each round with water. Put about 2 tablespoons filling in the center of each round, adding a little chopped green olive and some hard-cooked egg to each. Wrap dough around filling to form empanada, pressing edges together. Fold edge back and finish by pinching little pleats or crimping with a fork.
- Step 8
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place empanadas on parchment-lined or oiled baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Brush tops lightly with lard or butter and bake on top shelf of oven until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
- Dough and filling may each be prepared a day or two in advance. The empanadas may be assembled several hours ahead of time and refrigerated, uncovered. Bring to room temperature before baking.
Private Notes
Comments
At the risk of being labeled a heretic, for not making scratch pastry, Goya makes a very good frozen empanada crust. Use them and empanadas are much less of a project and more of an anytime meal or snack.
This is a serious time commitment, but well-worth it if you split up the work for a freezer full of empanadas. 1) Make the dough AND filling the night before, and let rest overnight to make rolling and filling easier 2) If you want to put egg in all of them, you probably should boil 3 or 4 eggs 3) Roll out all balls and chill again before filling to avoid dough tears or misshapes 4) If you have leftover dough you can fill with cream cheese and fruit preserves 5) Double the baking time
Throughout South America they frequently add raisins to the filling.
I loved making these but it is definitely closer to three hours. My potatoes took a while to cook down and I needed to add more broth than the recipe called for. I loved the dough (used lard) and found it really silky and smooth to work with. Took forever to brown in oven….almost double the cook time at 375. Used lard to brush the dough prior to cooking…maybe egg wash or butter next time. I think mixing in the olives and egg prior to filling makes more sense than topping each empanada as you stuff them. I think I’d also use 2oz rounds because the 1oz were a little too small and the dough came out too thin. Definitely a fun weekend bake, especially if you have extra hands in the kitchen.
I know this is an oldish recipe — but here’s a tip for anyone doing empanadas: use a tortilla press instead of rolling them out! Saves a ton of time and makes uniform disks. It’ll take a couple tries to get the thickness correct (ie not too thin) but it sure works for me!
These are delicious, but something isn't quite right with the recipe. I had way too much dough compared to the filling. I added 1tbs of grated cheese to each empanada to stretch the filling further. The 15 minute cooking time is accurate of you use the oven with the grill function (I think this is what you Americans call "broil").