Homemade empanadas! Shortcrust pastry filled with a delicious mixture made from beef mince, onions, garlic, spices, beef stock, jalapeños and cheese. An impressive snack to serve to friends.
Look how cute these Cheesy Beef Empanadas are! If you've never tried empanadas, you're in for a treat. The beef filling is flavoured with spices, onions, beef stock and jalapeños, then topped with grated cheese for good measure. All this is then wrapped in golden shortcrust pastry. Serve with your favourite condiments as a starter or add some seasonal veggies or salad to make this a main meal. For another amazing starter be sure to check out my Caponata on Crostini.
If you enjoy making these, you might also like my Pork and Ginger Dumplings. They are super fun to make, incredibly tasty and can also be used in my Noodle Dumpling Soup!
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Ingredient notes:
- Pastry: Empanadas are traditionally made with a short pastry. I've used store-bought shortcrust pastry for these but you could always make your own. Puff pastry will also work.
- Mince: I've gone for traditional beef mince in my empanadas. You could also you a combination of beef, pork, lamb or venison mince if you prefer.
- Jalapeños: These are completely optional! If you're serving kids you might want to leave them out. But they really do add great flavour to the empanadas.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card for the ingredients, quantities and the full method.
Step by step instructions:
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onion, sauté for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Add the mince to the pan, breaking it up as you go. Cook until browned. Add the cumin, paprika, tomato paste and jalapeños to the pan, cook while stirring for 1 minute.
Dissolve the beef stock cube in the boiling water, then pour into the pan. Cook while stirring for 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced a little. Season to taste with salt and pepper then remove from the heat to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake. Using a 10cm cookie cutter, cut four circles out of each piece of pastry. Place 2 tablespoons of mince onto one half of the pastry. Top with one tablespoon of grated cheese. Fold the pastry in half and pinch the edges together, then twist small sections of the edge and press down.
Place the empanadas on lined baking trays. Brush each empanada with the beaten egg. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden.
Serve warm from the oven with your favourite relish or dipping sauce.
Recipe FAQs:
Empanadas are a popular savoury pastry in many Latin American and Spanish-speaking countries. They consist of a filling made with beef mince, onions, peppers, and various seasonings, enclosed in pastry, then baked until golden brown.
Empanadas have a long history, with roots in Spain. They were brought to Latin America by Spanish colonisers and have since evolved with regional variations in ingredients and cooking methods. Beef empanadas are just one of the many empanada varieties.
Yes. Empanadas can be stored in the freezer either completely assembled or you can store the filling in an airtight container by itself.
Storage:
Store any leftover empanadas in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in the oven or microwave until piping hot.
Empanadas can also be frozen, either before or after baking. Store in an airtight container or freezer bag in the freezer for up three months. Defrost completely before reheating. You can also freeze the filling by itself. This recipe makes quite a large amount of filling so feel free to make some empanadas, then freeze the rest of the filling in an airtight container.
Top tips:
Empanadas taste great served with chimichurri sauce, salsa, guacamole, or a simple tomato relish. You could also serve these with a salad or pickled vegetables.
Related Recipes:
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Beef Empanadas
Shortcrust pastry filled with beef mince flavoured with onion, garlic, jalapeños, beef stock and spices.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 750g beef mince
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground paprika
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup jalapeños, finely chopped
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 beef stock cube
- 8 sheets shortcrust pastry, thawed
- 2 cups grated cheese or mozzarella
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onion, sauté for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
- Add the mince to the pan, breaking it up as you go. Cook until browned.
- Add the cumin, paprika, tomato paste and jalapeños to the pan, cook while stirring for 1 minute.
- Dissolve the beef stock cube in the boiling water, then pour into the pan. Cook while stirring for 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced a little. Season to taste with salt and pepper then remove from the heat to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake. Using a 10cm cookie cutter, cut four circles out of each piece of pastry.
- Place 2 tablespoons of mince onto one half of the pastry. Top with one tablespoon of grated cheese. Fold the pastry in half and pinch the edges together, then twist small sections of the edge and press down.
- Place the empanadas on lined baking trays. Brush each empanada with the beaten egg. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden.
- Serve warm from the oven with your favourite relish or dipping sauce.
Notes
- To make these more family friendly, leave out the chopped jalapeños.
- This makes a big batch so you may want to halve the recipe or freeze the empanadas uncooked to bake another day.
- Shortcrust pastry can be swapped out for puff pastry
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 32 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 181Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 45mgSodium: 164mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 10g
Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.
Thank you for checking out this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating it! If you have any questions, queries or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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Vanya
Sam says
I made these tonight! No jalapeños and I used puff pastry. I cooked half and froze half for next week. My three kids are eating them, no complaints!
VJ cooks says
That's great. Thanks for the feedback, Sam 🙂