This recipe creates a delectable, mildly spicy filling that is loaded with bite-sized pieces of soft egg, salty olives, tender beef, and fresh vegetables. The amount of dough I had didn’t quite cover what my filling produced, so we utilized the extra meat the following day in a loose meat sandwich that was also quite excellent! If you wish to use more of the meat combination in these empanadas, feel free to double the dough. Serve alongside your preferred dipping sauce, such as salsa, sour cream, or queso.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 5 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 18 empanadas |
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
- ½ cup green olives, pitted and chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 2 large hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- ⅓ cup very cold water
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare filling: Cook ground beef, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a large, nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat until vegetables are tender and beef is browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Add olives, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir in chopped eggs.
- Scrape mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, 1 to 2 hours; this ensures the dough will not be soggy when the empanadas are baked.
- Prepare dough: Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl until combined. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Whisk cold water, egg, and vinegar together in a small bowl. Pour into the dry ingredients and blend with a fork. Use your hands to finish blending the ingredients until they come together in a ball. Flatten the ball into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut circles, rerolling the scraps as necessary. I got about 18 circles.
- Hold each circle in your hand and place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center. Gently fold the ends over the top and press to seal all the way around. Reserve extra filling for another use.
- Set empanadas on a baking sheet. Press around the sealed edges with a fork if desired.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown on the bottoms, about 18 minutes. Flip and bake until the other side is browned, about 5 more minutes.
- You can use Kalamata olives, if preferred.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of filling. The actual amount of filling used in this recipe will vary.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 535 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 40 g |
| Cholesterol | 189 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Sodium | 1051 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 32 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made these and they were fantastic. The only thing I did differently was added an egg wash before I put them in the oven.
Loved it was so good , made no changes