Since my mother is from Chile, empanadas have always been a mainstay in our home. Here is the Chilean empanada recipe that has always been a family favorite since I have looked and looked for it and never seem to find it. We all have our own preferences; my mum likes to sprinkle sugar on hers, while I like to dip mine in a little mustard. Depending on the size, this recipe yields roughly a dozen large empanadas.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 large empanadas |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup chopped black olives
- 3 large hard-cooked eggs, chopped
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 cup lukewarm milk
- 1 cup shortening, melted
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
Instructions
- Make the filling: Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper; cook and stir until onion is golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add pork and cook until completely browned and crumbly, 7 to 10 minutes more. Drain fat from the skillet. Stir in raisins, olives, and hard-cooked eggs.
- Whisk water and cornstarch together in a small bowl; pour into the skillet and stir until liquid thickens. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Make the dough: Whisk milk and melted shortening together in a bowl until evenly blended. Stir flour and salt together in a separate large bowl. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture; whisk until well combined and a dough forms. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut into 12 circles with a round cookie cutter or glass. Spoon filling into the center of each circle. Fold each circle in half and press the edges with a fork to seal. Brush the tops with beaten egg. Place empanadas onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 530 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 54 g |
| Cholesterol | 113 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 16 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 653 mg |
| Sugars | 10 g |
| Fat | 28 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Amazing!!
After reading other comments about not enough spices, I ?substituted the salt with seasoning salt and added a fewof ?chili powder salsa.
Outstanding!
Being from Chile, our typical empanadas are made with beef, not pork. The dough should be light and flaky or it would turn too dry. I will make this recipe with beef and report the results.
Loved the flavor of the filling. I used currants instead of raisins (thought the smaller version would blend better). The dough was a bit hard to work with. I think next time I’ll use less flour or more butter. Also found that the thinner it is rolled out the better.
I loved them and so did my class thanks!
Excellent filling recipe!! I didn’t include the raisins (personal presence). I used a roll-out, prepared pie crust instead of making the dough from scratch and it turned out perfect! I suggest making them a bit larger than a cup or cookie cutter will give you. Chilean husband says it reminds him of home.
I used only the filling portion of this recipe since I already have an empanada pastry that I like. The family liked this recipe, a hit with everyone. The only thing I would do differently is use a bit less of the chopped black olives and add some chopped green chilis to the mix. There was more than enough mix to fill numerous empanadas. I make mine small, 5 inch circles and we had about 24 and enough mix left over for another ten at least. I served the remaining mix over a hot rice for a quick lunch.
Délicieux!
I was so excited to find this recipe. I lived in Chile for a year and have been craving empanadas ever since. These weren’t as good as those I had in Chile but pretty close. Since other reviewers were saying the dough was too dry I only added 4 1/4 cups flour and used 2 sticks of butter instead of shortening and the dough was not dry at all and was very easy to work with. I put the dough in the fridge while I made the filling then took it out and rolled it.
Five stars for the dough. It was so easy to make and tasted delicious. I can’t comment on the filling, because I made my own.
My mother is from Chile and this recipe is almost exactly like hers. She used green olives with pimentos instead of black olives. An easier recipe for the dough is: four sticks of butter melted one cup of milk four cups of flour mix, cover and refrigerate over night let the dough sit at room temp for about 20 minutes and it is easy to roll, flaky and perfect brush empanadas with a beaten egg lightly before baking
Excellent recipe!! I added about half of the corn starch and water. Also, I added more salt to dough and water. Turned out wonderfully!! Empanadas did not last at our house! Yum!!
This was very nice and easy to make, although I had assistance from a stand mixer to make the dough. Otherwise, I think the dough would be a lot of work. Next time, though, I’ll probably put some chilli flakes in it. There is a little bit of heat, but I like it spicier.
My empanadas came out delicious! Next time I won’t put the cornstarch in the cup of water. I had to add more seasoning after that. Didn’t really need the cornstarch. I also read how bland the dough was so I added oregano, and Italian seasoning to the flour and brown sugar to my butter flavored shortening and milk mixture. Definitely gave a great flavor to the crust of my delicious empanadas. A lot of work but worth it. Got meat leftover so I’ll make more tomorrow for work.
Excellent empanadas! I have never eaten Chilean empanadas besides this ones, but the dough of this empanada was very similar to the ones I have eaten in Argentina. My filling was a bit different: bell pepper onion, ground turkey (instead of beef or pork) with the rest of the spices. The empanadas turned out excellent! It can be used as a great base for other meat empanadas! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I made this, first time ever making Empanadas, and it was a HUGE hit. I will definately be making this again. The filling is so good – everyone asked what was the slight sweetness inside and they could not guess it was the raisins.
Im sorry that’s not the way the chilean empanada are made Im from chile. There is not milk on the dough mix.
Great recipe! I studied in Chile last fall and for my first time making empanadas they turned out pretty good. I’m not a big olive person so those were left out the only other thing I might change next time is using maybe 1/2 cup of raisins. I felt like there was a lot but they were still great. Also, I would consider getting pork and cutting it myself for the meat mixture. Thanks for a great recipe though! 🙂
The dough is dry and tasteless, even after I added more water and salt. If you would change the dough recipe, it would be much better.
I have just made these. They are delicious! I had a teacher from Chile who used to bring empanadas to class. They taste exactly the same.