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Easy Recipe for Beef and Cheese Puerto Rican Empanadas

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Puerto Rican empanadas filled with basis beef, potatoes, cheese, and enough of seasoning! Every bite of these beef empanadas is bursting with season. Perfect for luncheon, dinner, a snack, or even packing into a lunchbox! 🥟

Close up of pastelillos de carne with one split open to show the beef filling
Jump to:
  • All-time Beefiness Empanadas Recipe
  • Puerto Rican Empanadas Filling
  • What is Sofrito?
  • What is Sazon seasoning?
  • Empanada Dough Ingredients
  • How to Make Empanadas
  • Can I fry empanadas instead of baking?
  • Can yous freeze empanadas?
  • How to Reheat Empanadas from Frozen
  • All-time Beef Recipes
  • 📌 Pin it for later!
  • 📋 Recipe
  • 💬 Reviews

Best Beef Empanadas Recipe

Nosotros love Puerto Rican recipes, and this dish has to be our favorite. Using homemade dough or Goya empanada shells, you can make the most delicious meal!

Puerto Rican empanadillas de carne are similar to Cuban pastelitos de carne and Mexican empanadas de carne. Pastelitos, empanadillas, and empanadas are all little hand pies filled with different kinds of ingredients from savory to sweet.

These empanadas are the offset of a holiday meal. I made them for Christmas forth with sous vide prime rib.

Another one of my all-time favorite beef recipes is my birria tacos! I dearest making them along with these empanadas for special celebrations!

Puerto Rican Empanadas Filling

Near of the ingredients to make this Puerto Rican empanada recipe are straightforward: basis beef, diced potatoes, tomato sauce, olives, water, common salt, and shredded cheese (we utilize Monterey Jack!).

Notwithstanding, you will also demand Sazón con Azafran and Sofrito. These are easy ingredients to detect and use, simply if yous aren't familiar with them, we've written upward a guide.

What is Sofrito?

Sofrito is a Puerto Rican cooking base of operations that consists of onions, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and a alloy of spices. The International section of your grocery shop volition stock sofrito in a jar. Goya is the near common make.

What is Sazon seasoning?

Sazón literally means "seasoning" in Spanish. It generally consists of salt and pepper, garlic or garlic pulverization, coriander, and cumin, as a base of operations. Then, with seasonings like Sazón con Azafran, additional ingredients are added to that seasoning base.

Sazón con Azafran is seasoning with saffron. Look for the Goya brand xanthous and orange box in the International Aisle of your grocery store. It's very easy to find!

Empanada Dough Ingredients

You will also need the ingredients to brand Puerto Rican empanada dough, or use premade pie dough or Goya empanada dough (discos). Nosotros dearest using discos - they brand homemade empanadas recipes so easy!

If you're making it at home, this empanada dough recipe works similarly to pie crust. It'due south flaky and delicious. Plus, it's super easy to make! If you lot have the time, endeavor making your own dough - it'southward worth giving it a endeavour.

The ingredients to make the dough are very elementary: all-purpose flour, butter, egg, water, and salt. That's it!

What are Goya discos?

To simplify making your pastelillos de carne, you can use Goya discos instead of making your own empanada dough.

Goya discos are sold in the frozen food department at the grocery store and are apartment dough discs that are perfect for making empanadas.

Y'all tin can also use refrigerated pie dough. No matter which kind of dough you opt to employ, the filling is and so flavorful, these meat turnovers will be delicious!

How to Make Empanadas

How to Make Empanada Dough

If you're using refrigerated pie dough or Goya discos, you tin skip these steps. Otherwise, follow this recipe to make your own succulent, flaky, and buttery homemade empanada dough!

  1. Combine all-purpose flour and chilled, diced butter. Add egg, cold water, and a compression of salt, and so combine it all in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  2. Pour the dough mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap and class into a ball with your hands. Wrap the plastic around the brawl of dough, and so refrigerate for thirty minutes while you make the filling.
mixing the empanada dough in a food processor

How to Parboil Potatoes

Pace one of making the filling for bootleg beefiness empanadas is to parboil the potatoes.

Parboiled refers to potatoes that accept been boiled to melt partially, only not all of the way through. Cooking the potatoes office of the way ahead of time softens them perfectly to apply in your empanada filling.

  1. Place potatoes in a pot and cover them with common cold water. Add a pinch of salt, and then encompass the pot with a lid and ready it on the stove over loftier heat.
  2. Once the water comes to a boil, reduce the estrus just slightly to keep it from boiling over. Continue boiling for approximately 5-10 minutes. If you dice the potatoes pocket-size before humid, they will need less time.
  3. Exam your potatoes with a fork. If it pierces the potato with just a little resistance, they're done. Remove them from the oestrus and drain the pot. Allow the potatoes absurd a little, and so they're gear up to utilize in the empanada filling!

Spanish Beef Empanada Filling

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beefiness. Melt it completely, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain whatever backlog grease afterwards fully cooking it.
  2. Add the parboiled diced potato, Goya sofrito, and ¼ cup h2o. Melt for 10 minutes, stirring often. Afterwards 10 minutes is up, stir in a tin can of tomato sauce, Goya Sazón con Azafran seasoning packet, and ¼ cup h2o. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Finally, add 20 chopped Spanish olives to the pan, and mix through.

TIP—While you're making the filling, preheat your oven to 350°F. That way, it will exist ready to broil the empanadas!

Empanada filling in a skillet with a wooden spoon

Rolling Dough for Empanadas

If you're using Goya discos, skip this step. If you're using premade pie dough or your ain homemade empanada dough, follow these steps to roll out the dough:

  1. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and coil the dough out using a rolling pin. Try to become the dough every bit thin as possible.
  2. Next, take a minor plate or a basin around 5 to 6 inches in bore and place it on the dough. Use a knife to cut the dough with the bowl interim every bit a guide. Advisedly pick up the dough discs and set them bated.
  3. Ball up the extra dough and roll it out again for another round of discs. Practise this until all of the dough has been used. The amount of dough in this recipe should yield ten to 12 discs.
cutting rounds out of empanada dough with a rolling pin to the side

Assembling and Blistering Empanadas

Once you lot have your filling and dough set, it'due south time to bake your pastelillos de carne! Follow these instructions to add the filling to the empanada dough:

  1. Place your empanada dough discs on a clean surface. Spoon 2 heaping Tbsp. of the empanada filling into each round. Elevation with a sprinkling of Monterey Jack cheese. Be careful not to over-stuff the empanadas, or they'll break apart when you cook them!
  2. Castor the edges of each meat pie with a little bit of water on the tip of your finger. This will help hold the dough together. Then, fold one side over the other and printing the edges together with your fingers. Make certain to seal the edges tightly.
  3. Crimp the edges together using your fingers or past pressing a fork along the edge. Repeat until all empanadas are sealed.
  4. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and evenly space out the empanadas on information technology. Y'all may need two baking sheets, or you tin can bake them in batches. Pop the pan into the oven at 350°F and bake for 25-30 minutes. The crust should be nice and golden when they're done.
Filling empanada discs with cheese and beef

Can I fry empanadas instead of baking?

Yes. Traditionally, pastelillos are fried. We just enjoy the broiled version as information technology's a little healthier!

Follow all of the steps to cook and assemble the empanada filling and dough. Seal them tightly, then fry them in a deep pan using neutral cooking oil.

Fill the skillet with plenty oil to cover the empanadas. Fry them so the skillet isn't overcrowded, frying in batches if necessary. They should come out crispy and aureate brownish.

The best oils for frying are vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut oil, or any neutral oil.

Can y'all freeze empanadas?

You can freeze Puerto Rican beefiness empanadas very easily. Place them next to each other on a blistering sheet lined with parchment paper. Be conscientious not to let them touch or they will freeze together!

Place the baking canvas in the freezer for about ane 60 minutes. When completely frozen, you tin remove the pastelillos de carne from the sheet and transfer them to freezer bags or a freezer-rubber container. Make certain to label the bags or container with the freezing engagement.

How to Reheat Empanadas from Frozen

Bake Puerto Rican pastelillos straight out of the freezer, calculation five minutes to the cooking time. Yes, information technology is that easy! No demand to thaw them beforehand.

A baked empanada split open in front of other empanadas

All-time Beef Recipes

  • Birria Tacos fabricated with this amazing Beef Birria Recipe
  • Carne Asada Tacos
  • Carne Asada Tacos
  • Grilled Porterhouse Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
  • Keto Taco Casserole
  • Grilled Picanha Steak

Mexican Street Corn is the perfect side dish for these recipes!

Try more than of our nearly Popular Best Beefiness Recipes! Especially our Beef Chuck Roast and our Dutch Oven Pot Roast. They are guaranteed to get favorites!

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📋 Recipe

Beefiness Empanadas (Puerto Rican Empanadas)

Puerto Rican Empanadas made with seasoned beef, potatoes, and cheese! Like shooting fish in a barrel and so delicious. These are the all-time beef empanadas!

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 55 mins

Form: Footing Beef Recipes

Cuisine: Puerto Rican

Keyword: baked empanadas, beef empanadas, pastelillos de carne, puerto rican empanadas

Servings: 12

Calories: 298 kcal

  • Oven

Empanada Dough (or use Goya discos)

  • 2 ½ cups All purpose flour plus more for sprinkling
  • one stick butter
  • ane egg beaten
  • ¼ cup water
  • ane pinch common salt

Empanada Filling

  • 1 pound ground beefiness
  • 1 medium white potato parboiled, peeled, and diced small
  • ¼ cup Goya Sofrito plus 2 additional Tablespoons
  • 1 8 oz. can tomato plant sauce
  • 1 packet Goya Sazón con Azafran
  • twenty Castilian olives roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup H2o
  • ane teaspoon common salt
  • ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
  • Add together 2 ½ cups AP flour, 1 stick of common cold butter cut into small pieces, 1 egg, ¼ cup common cold water, and a pinch of salt to a food processor.

    Pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

    Pour dough mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap. Course mixture into a brawl with your easily.

    Wrap the brawl of dough tightly in the plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

    mixing the empanada dough in a food processor

  • Afterward thirty minutes, remove dough from the fridge. Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Curlicue the dough out with a floured rolling pin as thin as possible.

    Place a v-6 inch round bowl or plate onto the dough. Run a knife along the edges of the bowl until yous have cut a round disc. Remove the dough round and set bated.

    Repeat with the remainder of the dough. The dough will demand to exist formed into a ball and rolled out a few more times to cut the rest of the dough rounds.

    Repeat until all the dough has been cutting into rounds.

    cutting rounds out of empanada dough with a rolling pin to the side

  • Parboil a medium white potato for 7 to ten minutes, so pare and die into small-scale pieces. Mince xx Spanish olives.

    Rut a big skillet to medium and add ground beef. Melt completely and chop it into pieces as it cooks. Bleed whatever excess grease when finished cooking. Add the potato, sofrito, and ¼ cup water to the pan.

    Cook for 10 minutes, stirring oftentimes to prevent the potatoes from sticking. Add love apple sauce, 1 Sazon con Azafron seasoning package, ¼ cup water, and a compression of common salt.

    Cook for an additional v minutes, stirring often. Toss the olives into the pan and stir.

    Empanada filling in a skillet with a wooden spoon

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

    Identify the pastry rounds onto a clean surface. Spoon 2 Tbsp. or so of the meat filling into a pastry round. Superlative it with a sprinkling of Monterey Jack cheese. Rub the edges of the pastry round with a fiddling bit of h2o.

    Pull ane side of the pastry over the other and press the edges together with your fingers. Seal the edges tightly and crimp them together with your fingers or a fork.

    Try not to over-stuff the pastry rounds or they will pause as they cook. Echo with the remaining pastry rounds.

    Filling empanada discs with cheese and beef

  • Spray a blistering canvas(southward) with cooking spray. Place half of the empanadas on each pan. Place the pan(southward) in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the dough is gilt chocolate-brown. You lot can employ two split pans or broil them in ii separate batches. Serve, and enjoy!

    Baked empanadas ready to eat on a white surface

  • You tin can substitute making dough by using frozen Goya discos, found in the frozen foods section of your grocery store. Make certain to defrost for at to the lowest degree 30 minutes before you brand the empanadas.
  • Don't skip parboiling the potatoes. This is an important step that will make it and so your potatoes are perfectly cooked for the filling!

Serving: 1 one thousand | Calories: 298 kcal | Carbohydrates: 21 thousand | Fat: 18 g | Saturated Fat: 8 g | Cholesterol: 64 mg | Sodium: 477 mg

Photos past Christine Rooney.

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Source: https://bestbeefrecipes.com/pastelillos-de-carne/