One of the best meat-filled pastries in the entire world is what I’m going to demonstrate to you. Or, it might be if you avoid the three most typical errors: underseasoned, understuffed, and undercooked empanadas. However, regardless of the filling you choose to use, if you apply the following method, you’ll eliminate all of those problems!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Chill Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 empanadas |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- ½ cup diced poblano pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground dried chipotle pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 3 cups diced cooked chicken
- 2 tablespoons dried currants
- 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers (such as RO*TEL®)
- ⅓ cup water
- ¾ cup grated pepper Jack cheese (Optional)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 teaspoons water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ⅓ cup cold water, or as needed
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients.
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- Pour olive oil into a saucepan; add onion, poblano, garlic, salt, pepper, chipotle, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and cooked chicken, pressing down as you go. Add currants.
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- Place saucepan over high heat; cook until onions begin to soften slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes with green chiles. Pour in 1/3 cup water and mix to combine.
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- Bring mixture to a simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquids are cooked down, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Chill thoroughly before use, 1 to 2 hours.
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- While filling simmers, combine flour, salt, and sugar for dough in a bowl with your hand. Grate in cold butter, pausing as needed to combine.
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- Drizzle in beaten egg and water. Mix with a fork until it starts to form a shaggy dough.
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- Use your hands to squeeze mixture into a lump of dough; transfer to a work surface and knead into a ball of dough, 10 to 15 seconds. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
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- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap chilled dough and transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Use a bench scraper to divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into an 8-inch circle.
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- Drain any excess juice from filling. Top each dough circle with a rounded 1/2-cup measure of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle some pepper Jack cheese over top.
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- Brush edges of each dough circle with a small amount of water to dampen; fold over and seal with fingertips, making sure to not trap in any pockets of air. Crimp using your fingertips or a fork.
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- Combine beaten egg and 2 teaspoons water for egg wash. Transfer empanadas to the prepared baking sheet and brush over egg wash. Sprinkle with cayenne.
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- Bake in the center of the preheated oven until browned and crispy on the edges, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
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- Serve warm and enjoy!
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- You can use regular oregano instead of Mexican oregano.
Reviews
Excellent filling! I do cheat and buy the frozen Goya dough from the grocery store to save time.
Shew buddy! This was such a delicious meal and was very impressive! I made as written except I omitted the currants as I did not have them. The dough was very easy to make and turned out phenomenal. The filling was flavorful and it was easy to get the right amount in the empanadas. I would add a bit more heat and cheese next time. It also makes a lot of food. The husband and I could only eat one each so I froze the rest. I served with avocado crema. Thanks, Chef John!
Made these last night for dinner. Have tried multiple empanada recipes in the past that were just so-so.. This one is absolutely a keeper! I didn’t have all of the right kinds of peppers, so used what I had. Used 2 cans of chicken breast. Dried cranberries. Mozzarella cheese. Since it was Freezing cold outside, I set the dough and chicken mixture out on our patio for an hour. The ONLY problem I (thought) I had was that I didn’t cook all the liquid off of the meat. Turned out to be a good thing, as the sauce was excellent on the empanadas! The ONLY thing I’ll change next time is to make them smaller. Took awhile to make, but absolutely worth it!!
Just the right amount of spice, and so incredibly flavorful. This recipe makes so many I had to share with my neighbors, and they had wonderful things to say too. I found that I had to bake them 10-15 minutes longer to brown the pastry as shown in your video – we’ll chalk that up to my oven being old though. Thanks again Chef John!
This turned out great! Next time though I will also use Serrano peppers along with the pasilla pepper to kick up the spice. Thanks John!
Outstanding and simple to make. Shared with family, and they were amazed! I used Anaheim chilies instead, not as spicy. I also used pre-made pie crust. Didn’t want to make the dough and couldn’t find empanada dough. But the crust was light and fluffy so not too filling. As the food is cooking, you’ll be so tempted to eat it while it’s cooling. Thanks Chef John!!
Yum. I topped with a poblano cream.
Made these this weekend. Fabulous and a big hit with family and friends. Great flavor and might be better reheated second day – all the flavors really melded. Thanks Chef John
awesome recipe — richard