Empanada
In Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines, an empanada is essentially a stuffed pastry. They are likely originally from Galicia, Spain, where they were prepared rather like Cornish pasties as a portable and hearty meal for working people and often filled with leftovers or staple ingredients. Tuna and chicken are varieties still seen in Galicia.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 tsp salt
- 2–3 cups cold water
- 1 kg (about 8 cups) flour
- 2 eggs
- 200 g (about 1 cup) butter or margarine
- Olive oil
- Cornstarch
Argentinian filling (Relleno)
- 1 kg ground beef
- 1 large onion
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground cumin (comino), optional. Cumin is very invasive and gives the filling a whole different flavor.
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ½ cup raisins
- Green olives (optional)
- Diced hard-boiled egg (optional)
- Diced boiled potatoes (optional)
Chilean filling (Pino)
- 1 kg ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 large onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground cumin (comino)
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup raisins
- Black olives
- Diced hard-boiled egg
Steps
Dough
- Dissolve salt in water.
- Mix eggs, flour, butter and 1 cup water into dough. Knead, gradually adding more water until soft and stretchy. If sticky, add more flour.
- Rest a couple minutes. Roll out to ~2–3 mm (1/10 inch) thick.
- Cut into discs roughly 10–15 cm (4–6 inches) in diameter.
Argentinian filling
- Dice onion small. Sauté in vegetable oil in large frying pan. Add ground beef. Brown.
- While beef browns, mix in salt, sugar and spices.
- When meat is cooked, remove from heat. Add raisins.
- If desired, add sliced olives, egg or potatoes.
Chilean filling
- Dice onion small. Sauté in olive oil in large frying pan. Mince garlic. Add to onions. Add ground beef. Brown.
- While beef browns, mix in salt, sugar, spices and bay leaf.
- Simmer about 20 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf. Add olives and raisins.
- Place 1–2 tablespoons filling in center of one dough disc (tapa).
- For Chilean empanadas, add one piece of diced hardboiled egg next to filling.
- Wet outer edge of tapa with cold water. Fold in half to encase filling, leaving no air inside.
- Hold empanada in palm, round edge outward. Pinch and twist a finger-sized portion of dough at the top. Continue pinching and twisting around edge to bottom until sealed. A fork may press edges together, but filling can burst through.
- Repeat with remaining filling and dough.
- Deep fry in vegetable oil on medium heat until golden brown. Or brush with butter and bake on cookie sheet at 400 °F, 8–10 minutes, until light brown.
- Cool before eating.
Notes from the original
- Empanada
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Empanada” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-10-26, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Empanadas.JPG by No machine-readable author provided. Manuel González Olaechea assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.