Latin Beef Empanadas
Fill this dough with whatever your heart desires and you are golden! Here you see my very own version that is sure to please a crowd!
Servings: 10 people
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef 85% preferred
- 1 tbsp corn oil only if using 90% beef
- 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice both are just fine
- 1/4 cup chopped onions
- 1/2 cup chopped peppers any colors you prefer
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp Adobo recipe here or use store bought (dry adobo)
- 2 tbsp manzanilla olives chopped, salad olives ok too
- 2 tbsp tomato sauce
- 10 empanada discs
- corn oil enough for frying
Instructions
Cooking the beef filling
- In a non-stick skillet cook the ground beef while breaking it apart. If using 90% beef, add a tablespoon of oil.
- Add lemon or lime juice, onions, peppers, garlic powder, adobo. Continue to cook the beef while stirring, until you see very little liquid.
- Add olives and tomato sauce. Stir well and cook until you see that there is almost no liquid. You'll see a very small amount of oil. That's ok.
- Set the beef aside in a bowl to cool down.
Defrosting the frozen empanada dough
- Defrost empanadas per package instructions. This is my preferred method: I cut one side of the bag and place in the microwave. Heating at 10 to 15 second intervals until the dough has warmed up enough to separate the discs.
- You can either make a full disc or cut the disc in half to create 2 small empanadas. These are great as appetizers.
Building the empanadas
- Have a small bowl filled with water ready to moisten the edges of the empanadas.
- Place an empanada disc on a cutting board, if using a full disc, place 2 tbs or so of the beef filling in the center.
- Moisten the edges of the empanada with water.
- Fold the empanada disc in half, press down and using a fork, seal all around the edges.
- If using half disc, follow the same steps but only use one tablespoon of beef filling.
Frying the empanadas
- In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat.
- Test the heat of the oil by dipping the tip of an empanada into it. If you see that there is a bubbling reaction, it is ready to start frying. It's better to have the heat lower so the empanadas cook slower rather than flash frying and burning.
- Fry both sides until golden. 3 to 4 minutes.
Baking the empanadas
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Lay the prepared empanadas on the parchment paper.
- Prepare egg wash: Beat one egg and add one tbs water. Mix well.
- With a pastry brush, brush the top of the empanadas with the egg wash.
- Bake at 350º for about 30 minutes or until golden.