Homemade baked empanadas are full of amazing flavor stuffed with ground beef or turkey, corn, potatoes, and can be fried instead, if desired.

Every Christmas Eve we have a family gathering and have a huge Mexican (or at least Mexican inspired) feast. Usually we’ve gotten the empanadas from a local Mexican bakery but I wanted to be able to eat them without having to go out to that bakery.

I’ve tried making the baked empanadas a few times but the recipes I tried have never really hit the spot. I finally found a recipe off Food Network that with a little tweaking fit the bill.

I really love tomatoes and potatoes but my husband prefers them with just the meat and olives. These are really simple to customize to your liking.

Need ideas on how to help your kids love new foods like empanadas? Check out my resource guide on how to make Latin American Food Kid Friendly.

Ingredients you will need:

For the dough:

all purpose flour
salt
shortening
cold flour

For the filling:

olive oil
ground beef
garlic powder
tomato paste
apple cider vinegar
cumin
chili powder
oregano
kosher salt
garlic
potatoes
red bell pepper
medium onion
canola oil, for frying

Tips and Tricks

Dough- I use my pie dough instead of the empanada dough she suggests. I’m sure to purists this is a sin but I know I can make this pie dough without screwing it up and I often have leftovers of it floating around in my fridge or freezer so I just use that.

No need to over complicate things. If making pie dough freaks you out, go ahead and buy a couple rolls of the store bought stuff. You do what you need to do!

Substitutions– We’ve made this with both ground beef and ground turkey and either one works well.

How to make this easier?

Here are a few ways you can make empanadas less time consuming.

–Use precooked ground beef. I often buy 3 pound packages and cook it all up and divide it into 3 Ziploc freezer bags to store in the freezer for recipes like this. It helps cut down on a lot of prep time.

–Use leftover potatoes. When meal planning, if I want to make a recipe like this where I know I need cooked potatoes I’ll plan something the night before that also uses cooked potatoes. Cook once, use twice!

–Make the filling ahead. Since the filling needs to be cool before trying to fill the pie dough circle, this works out even better if you make it the night before or the morning of. Stick it in the fridge and it’s all ready to go for dinner.

How to make beef and potato empanadas

To make pie crust:

In a large bowl (or in a large food processor fitted with pastry blade), combine flour and salt. Add shortening to the flour mixture and use a pastry cutter or the food processor to combine the shortening with the flour until the mixture resembles crumbs.
Add water and combine just until the mixture can be formed into a ball. Do not over mix! Separate into 4 flattened dough balls. Chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

To make the beef and potato empanada filling:

Clean potatoes and pierce several times with a fork. Microwave for about 6 minutes, until tender, turning half way through. Allow to cool slightly and then dice.
In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Cook ground beef and garlic salt until beef is cooked completely. Drain the grease and remove beef to a separate container.
In the same pan, heat the remaining olive oil and add the bell peppers, onions, and the remaining spices. Cook for about 8-10 minutes over medium heat until they begin to soften.
Add the ground beef and diced potatoes and continue to cook over low heat for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured work surface till a 1/4 inch thick. Cut out 5 inch rounds and fill with a large spoonful of meat filling. Carefully fold the dough over the filling and pinch to seal. Using a fork, press the tines into the edges to completely seal them.

To fry the empanadas:

If frying, heat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F.
Fry the empanadas until golden brown turning over if necessary to brown the top, about 5-7 minutes.

I made the first batch fried which were amazing! Flaky pie fried pie crust with that savory filling. Yum! They do take longer to make because I could only do one in a time in my little deep fryer.

To bake the empanadas:

If baking, heat oven to 350 degrees F and place empanadas on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with an egg wash for extra color.
Bake for 20 minutes until the crust is a light golden brown color.

Baked empanadas are easier because you can bake a whole ton at once and certainly lighter without all that deep fried goodness but they don’t have quite the same flavor as the fried version. So I leave it up to you!

What to serve with empanadas?

Other Latin American inspired recipes:

Baked or Fried Empanadas

Name: Baked or Fried Empanadas
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 16 empanadas
Ingredients: 2 Tbsp olive oil; 1 lb ground beef; 4 tsp garlic powder; 4 Tbsp tomato paste; 4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1 Tbsp ground cumin; 1 1/2 tsp chili powder; 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano; 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt; 6 cloves garlic (minced); 2 small potatoes (chopped); 1 red bell pepper (chopped); 1 medium onion (chopped); Oil (if frying); 9 cups all purpose flour; 1 Tbsp salt; 2 2/3 cups shortening; 3/4 cup water (ice cold)