Selfmade beef empanadas crammed with seasoned floor beef, onions, and briny pimento olives are golden, flaky, and crispy! I make this recipe with refrigerated pastry dough, however you may completely make them 100% from scratch in the event you’d like.

These crispy, savory beef empanadas are precisely what I search for once I organize them off the menu in a Spanish restaurant. They’re buttery, flaky, and golden exterior, with a steamy, flavorful, beefy picadillo filling inside. I might eat an entire tray of those!
Empanadas make the most effective sport day appetizer with a pitcher of sangria. I’m going to indicate you easy methods to make them the simple approach with refrigerated pastry dough.
What Makes This Beef Empanadas Recipe So Good
- Semi-homemade. I make the bottom beef filling from scratch, and tuck it inside ready-made puff pastry. It’s not conventional, but it surely’s fast, straightforward, and the pastry is additional crispy.
- Baked, not fried. Baking empanadas is hands-free and fewer oily than frying.
- Snackable. Beef empanadas are a preferred get together appetizer, they usually make an important starter to a seafood paella with dinner.
- Adapt the filling. You might even fill these with Mexican chilorio or leftover taco meat, or make hen empanadas with the filling from my hen flautas.
What Is an Empanada?
Empanadas are the Latin American equal of an American meat pie, Jamaican beef patty, Indian samosas, or Balkan burek. They’re constituted of flaky pastry dough crammed with one thing scorching and scrumptious, often meat, seafood, greens, beans, and cheese.

You’ll Want the Following Components
I’ll binge on pimento-stuffed olives straight from the jar, and I like including them to the meat filling in these empanadas. The substances listing is tremendous easy. Scroll to the printable recipe card for the precise measurements.
- Olive Oil – For sautéeing. Any cooking oil will work right here.
- Onion and Garlic – Diced yellow onion and finely minced garlic. Should you don’t have contemporary garlic, substitute every clove with ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Lean Floor Beef – You might additionally make this recipe with floor turkey, pork, or hen.
- Spices – Cumin, paprika, and freshly floor pepper. Typically, I’ll use my home made taco seasoning or fajita seasoning instead of the person spices.
- Olives – I take advantage of pimento-stuffed manzanilla olives, however you need to use any black, inexperienced, or kalamata olives you’ve gotten within the fridge. Take away any pits so you may chop the olives into small items.
- Puff Pastry – Refrigerated puff pastry sheets work completely (and it cuts the prep time in half!). You’ll additionally discover pre-made empanada dough discs in main grocery shops. Selfmade pie dough additionally makes nice empanada dough if you wish to make it from scratch.
- Egg – To whisk with water for an egg wash. Brushing this over the perimeters of the dough helps seal the empanadas closed.
Simple Variations
- Tacky. Make tacky beef empanadas by stirring shredded cheese, like Monterey Jack, into the meat filling with the olives.
- Make it spicy. Add in cayenne pepper, chili powder, or chopped contemporary jalapeños.
- Air fryer. Cook dinner your empanadas within the air fryer to get the outsides additional crispy.

What to Serve With Beef Empanadas
Historically, empanadas are eaten as avenue meals or an appetizer. I wish to drizzle my beef empanadas with home made chimichurri from this churrasco steak recipe. Or, I’ll serve them with bitter cream, guacamole, creamy avocado dip, or the Peruvian inexperienced sauce (aji verde) from my Peruvian hen recipe.
Incessantly Requested Questions
Comparable, however not fairly the identical. Conventional empanada pastry has a better flour-to-fat ratio, making it tender and durable. Nevertheless, pie dough, pastry dough, and even pizza dough are all good substitutes for empanada dough in a pinch.
Empanadas could be baked or fried. It is dependent upon the feel you’re going for. I like the flakiness of baked empanadas. Frying will make them crispier. It’s as much as you!
In case your empanadas leak whereas they’re baking, this may very well be on account of over-filling or as a result of the perimeters weren’t sealed correctly. Don’t overstuff the dough, and ensure to make use of an egg wash on the perimeters earlier than you fold and seal the dough.
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Put together to bake. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease 2 baking sheets with cooking spray and put aside.
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Sauté. Warmth olive oil in a big skillet over medium-high warmth. Add the onions and prepare dinner for two to three minutes, or till translucent. Stir in garlic and prepare dinner for 15 seconds, or till aromatic.
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Cook dinner the meat. Add floor beef, cumin, paprika, and pepper. Cook dinner, stirring and breaking apart the meat with a wood spoon, till cooked by means of, about 5 to 7 minutes. Take away from warmth and blend within the chopped olives; put aside.
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Roll and reduce out the dough. On a evenly floured floor, roll out one sheet of puff pastry dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Minimize out 6 circles, every ought to be a few 5-inch diameter. I take advantage of a big spherical cookie cutter. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry dough.
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Add the meat filling. Spoon a few tablespoon of the meat combination onto the middle of every dough spherical; put aside.
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Add an egg wash. In a small mixing bowl, mix egg and water and evenly beat with a fork. Utilizing a pastry brush, paint the perimeters of the dough with the ready egg wash.
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Fold the empanadas. Fold the dough over the meat, shaping it right into a half-moon. Gently press down on the perimeters and twist to seal. Repeat with the remaining substances.
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Bake. Switch the empanadas to the baking sheets, leaving about 1½ inches of house between the empanadas. Bake within the preheated oven for 18 to twenty minutes, or till overvalued and golden brown.
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Serve. Take away from oven and serve instantly.
Serving: 1empanada | Energy: 305kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 12g | Fats: 20g | Saturated Fats: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g | Monounsaturated Fats: 11g | Trans Fats: 0.1g | Ldl cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 127IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 2mg
Dietary information is an estimate and offered as courtesy. Values could differ in keeping with the substances and instruments used. Please use your most well-liked dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
How you can Make Beef Empanadas
Minimize out circles of puff pastry dough, fold the beefy filling up inside, and bake! Selfmade empanadas couldn’t be simpler, they usually’re able to eat in about 45 minutes in the event you make them with store-bought puff pastry. Listed here are the steps:


- Sauté the veggies. Begin by heating oil in a skillet and sautéeing the onions till they’re delicate and translucent. Add the garlic and prepare dinner for a minute, so it’s aromatic.
- Cook dinner the meat. Subsequent, add the bottom beef and spices. Break up the meat whereas it cooks by means of. Then, take the pan off the warmth and stir within the chopped olives.
- Roll and reduce out the pastry. Roll out the puff pastry sheets one by one, to about ⅛ inch thick. Minimize the dough into six circles roughly 5 inches in diameter. Use a big spherical cookie cutter, or an egg ring can work right here, too.
- Fill the dough. Place a spoonful of beef filling within the heart of every dough circle.
- Make an egg wash. In the meantime, whisk the egg with water in a bowl. Brush the egg wash evenly over the perimeters of the dough utilizing a pastry brush or your finger.
- Fold the empanadas. Now, fold the dough over the filling, form it right into a half-moon, and press the perimeters collectively. Twist the perimeters downward to seal the empanada closed. Repeat with the remainder of the empanadas.
- Bake. Place the empanadas onto a greased or lined baking sheet. Go away 1 ½-inches or so in between to account for spreading. Lastly, bake your beef empanadas in a 375ºF oven for 18-20 minutes, till they’re puffed and golden. Serve immediately, and luxuriate in!

How you can Retailer and Reheat Empanadas
- Refrigerate. Baked beef empanadas are finest served contemporary. Nevertheless, you may retailer the leftovers in an hermetic container. Refrigerate the empanadas for as much as 3 days.
- Reheat. One of the best ways to get the empanadas crispy once more is to reheat them within the oven, or you need to use the air fryer when you have one.
- Freeze. You may freeze the baked empanadas for as much as 2 months. Thaw them within the fridge earlier than reheating.

