Easy Beef Empanadas Recipe | The Modern Proper (2024)

May 7, 2024

Tender, flaky empanada dough surrounding a mixture of warmly-spiced ground beef and veggies, our beef empanada recipe is the best ever.

An Easy Homemade Beef Empanada Recipe

Empanadas are crescent-shaped, savory pastries made of dough and filled with a variety of ingredients. Empanada fillings can include anything from ground or shredded beef, chicken, pork, cheese, or vegetables, seasoned vibrantly, then baked to perfection. Our favorite beef empanada recipe is most closely related to Chilean empanadas, because they are baked and use ground beef instead of shredded. They feature a buttery, easy homemade empanada dough, wrapped around hearty beef filling, these easy beer empanadas are pure hand-held perfection. For more fun party food recipes, try our Pigs In A Blanket or our Sausage Rolls, and if you prefer chicken, be sure to try our Chicken Empanadas.

Empanada Ingredients

• Ground beef
• Potatoes.
• Vegetables! Onion, celery, peas, and carrots.
• Garlic
• Spices! Cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, cloves — yum.
• Beef stock. Just a little, to keep the ground beef empanada filling from drying out.

How To Make Empanada Dough

The internet claims that you can use store-bought pizza dough as a stand-in for homemade empanada dough. We’re usually all for shortcuts, but in this case we’re firmly in favor of making your own empanada dough. Homemade empanada crust is really just a simple pastry dough, like pie crust, and you can make it a few hours or even a few days ahead of time. To make empanada dough, you’ll need:

• Flour
• Ice water
• Salt
• Chilled butter
• Egg

How To Make Beef Empanadas

1. Make the empanada dough. We like to use a food processor to mix up the dough. Shape the dough into a ball, tightly cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

2. Prepare the empanada filling. Boil the potatoes until tender, brown the beef in a large skillet along with the onions, celery and carrots. Add the potatoes and ground beef mixture to the pan and cook until browned and tender.

3. Season the filling. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and beef broth. Then add the peas and cook, stirring until everything is well incorporated and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Roll out the dough. Divide it into 10 equal parts. Use your favorite rolling pin to roll each piece out into a circle of dough that’s roughly 7” wide.

5. Fill the empanadas: Add about one-third of a cup of the ground beef filling onto one side of each of the rounds of dough. Brush with egg wash along the exposed edges (this is your “glue”) and fold the dough over.

   See Also

   Your Guide to Authentic Beef Empanadas | El Sur - Handmade, Argentine-style Empanadas

6. Seal the empanadas! Use a fork to firmly press the edges of the dough together to seal the beef filling inside of the empanada. Repeat this process with remaining dough and filling and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet.

7. Bake the empanadas! Brush those beautiful pouches of beefy goodness with egg and bake them until they're golden brown.

How to Store Homemade Empanadas + Tips

• To freeze your beef empanadas: freeze them right before you’d bake them. Once you’re done filling and sealing the empanadas, lay them on a baking sheet like you’re about to bake them, but instead of putting the sheet in your oven, pop it in your freezer. Freeze overnight, then transfer to an airtight, zipper-top freezer bag and store for up to three months. When you’re ready to eat the empanadas, just lay the frozen empanada directly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes at 400°F.

• To make empanadas ahead of time: cover the tray of unbaked empanadas and refrigerate for up to two days. When you’re ready to eat, bake them at 400° for 40 minutes. They’ll emerge perfectly golden and steaming from the oven just as if you had baked them the same day.

• Leftover empanadas will keep, stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

More Ground Beef Recipes To Love

• Crispy Ground Beef Taco

• Gingery Ground Beef (Soboro Donburi)

• Picadillo

• Sloppy Joes

The Best Beef Empanada Recipe, Hands Down

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