Description
Beef empanadas bring serious comfort to your dinner table with crispy pastry and savory meat inside. Grab some ground beef, fold it into golden dough pockets, and watch your family devour these delicious Latin American treats in minutes.
Ingredients
Scale
Filling:
- ½ pound ground beef
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 4 ounces diced green chiles
- 4 ounces diced pimento peppers
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ onion, diced
Crust and Coating:
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
- 1 egg
Serving:
- HERDEZ Traditional Guacamole
Instructions
- Heat a skillet to medium-high and brown ½ pound ground beef until it crumbles completely.
- Mix ¼ diced onion, ½ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon chili powder, and ½ teaspoon salt into the cooked meat.
- Stir 4 ounces green chiles and 4 ounces pimento peppers into the beef mixture.
- Add 2 tablespoons tomato paste and ½ cup shredded cheese to the skillet, then remove from heat.
- Unroll refrigerated pie crusts and cut 3-inch circles using a pastry cutter.
- Gather and re-roll dough scraps to maximize circle count.
- Place 2 tablespoons of beef filling onto each dough circle’s center.
- Fold dough over to create half-moon shapes and seal edges by pressing with a fork.
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Brush each empanada with whisked egg wash.
- Arrange empanadas on prepared baking sheet, ensuring they do not touch.
- Bake at 400°F for 10-12 minutes until edges turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 3-5 minutes before serving with guacamole.
Notes
- Check ground beef is fully browned and crumbled before adding other ingredients to ensure even cooking and flavor distribution.
- Work quickly when assembling empanadas so dough doesn’t dry out and becomes difficult to seal.
- Experiment with different cheese types like pepper jack or queso fresco for varied flavor profiles in your filling.
- Freeze assembled unbaked empanadas on a tray, then transfer to freezer bags for quick future meals that can be baked directly from frozen state.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Beef
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Latin American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 380 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 650 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 13 g
- Trans Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 18 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg