Empanadas Criollas (Argentinian Beef Empanadas)
There's nothing as delicious as homemade empanadas criollas, an Argentinean empanada stuffed with ground (or chopped) beef, hard-boiled eggs, olives, and raisins.
Equipment
- Sheet pan
- Parchment paper
- Large frying pan (at least 12")
Ingredients
Beef Filling
- 1 pounds meat
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste (I needed to add a touch more when all was said and done
- ½ teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 1 pound onion finely minced (approximately 2 large onions)
- ½ sweet bell pepper red, orange, or yellow
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon minced garlic approximately 4 large cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Chile powder
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup beef broth or water
- 1-2 teaspoon sugar I used one, but depending on your tastebuds, you may wish to increase this a bit
- ½ cup roughly chopped green olives
- ½ cup golden raisins soaked in hot water for at least 20 minutes prior to using
- 2-3 Hard boiled eggs roughly chopped
Empanada Discs
Instructions
- Make a sofrito of sorts. Add onions and bell peppers and cook over medium for 6 minutes or so, then add the garlic for the last two minutes before adding the ground beef. It’s important to hold off on the garlic so it doesn’t burn.
- Add your ground beef to the pan with the sofrito. Then add the oregano, paprika, cumin, chile powder, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt. Use a spatula to break up the beef and combine the spices, the sofrito, and the meat.
- Once the beef has cooked through, add the raisins and the green olives. Then, taste. At this point, you have the option of adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar.
- Add water and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until it absorbs back into the filling. Turn off heat.
- Fold in hard boiled eggs.
- Taste and adjust salt/pepper to your personal preferences.
- Let cool before filling the empanada discs.
- Use either homemade dough, rolled (or cut) into discs or store bought discs. If using my homemade empanada dough, cut into 14 pieces and roll into discs. These will make large empanadas. Place 3 or even 4 tablespoons into the center of the disc. (If using store bought discs, you’ll probably only need 2 tablespoons, but you may need to make adjustments depending on the brand you buy.)
- Wet the edges of the dough with a little water and fold over into a half-moon crescent.
- Either use a fork to crimp the edges shut or use the ‘repulgue’ technique to fold the empanada dough (see my empanada dough recipe for step-by-step pictures).
- Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush empanadas with egg wash.
- Bake at 400F for 25 minutes or until the empanadas are golden brown. Let rest for a couple of minutes or until cool enough to handle, and serve!
Notes
VARIATION: If you have raisin, olive, or egg haters among your diners, you can sprinkle a few raisins, place a few slivers of olive, and place a slice of egg into the empanada right before folding.
Need a homemade empanada dough? This is my go-to recipe. It’s perfect for this recipe!
If you like these beef empanadas, try this recipe for caprese empanadas – such a fun summer filling chock full of basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and mozzarella.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!