A traditional and handy recipe for Empanada dough, you can use it for baking or frying. Enjoy. Empanadas are a staple of Latin cuisine, found in all countries with different fillings.
Tips for some delicious empanadas:
Can I freeze the empanada dough?
I do not recommend it. The dough gets very difficult to work.
Is this dough good for fried empanadas?
Yes, the recipe for the dough is the same. Heat the oil to 350F or 180C, no more, or the empanadas will remain raw inside and very golden on the outside.
What can I do so the empanadas do not burst in the oven?
It is essential to keep an eye on them and prick them with a toothpick when they inflate so that the steam escapes and does not burst.
Why do you recommend dividing the dough into portions, not rolling half, and cutting the rounds with a plate?
The more times you roll the dough, gather leftovers, and use it again, the more challenging to work the dough becomes. It loses flexibility, and the dough bakes hard because it develops a lot of gluten.
Do you have a sweet empanada dough recipe to recommend?
Yes, this one is easy to work with and has a great flavor: Pear Empanadas.
Uses of Empanada Dough in Chile:
The most traditional ones are the Empanadas de Pino (onion, beef, hard-boiled egg, raisins). Many families eat them every Sunday for the big family lunch. Also, Fried Shrimp and cheese Empanadas are found in coastal towns and restaurants. Kids are usually big fans of the Cheese Empanada.
For more filling recipes, I recommend:
Argentinian Empanadas (Mendocinas)
Homemade Empanada Dough Recipe
A basic empanada dough, perfect for the oven or to fry.
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 20
Ingredients
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup of hot water
• 1 tablespoon fine salt
• 1000 grams all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 180 grams lard, butter or shortening, melted
Instructions
1. Make a brine with the milk, hot water, and salt, and stir to dissolve the salt completely.
2. Mix the flour and eggs in a large bowl or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, and mix for a minute to incorporate. Add the melted shortening and work a little more. At this point, you will see only crumbs.
3. To form the dough, add the brine with the mixer running on low speed until the dough is soft and flexible. If you need more moisture, keep adding water (1 teaspoon at a time).
4. Separate the dough into 20 portions and cover with a moist cloth. Work each piece individually, rolling until thin, cut in a circle of about 7″ and fill with your choice of filling and bake.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Savory
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Chilean
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 281
- Sugar: 0.8 g
- Sodium: 357.2 mg
- Fat: 10.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 38.9 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 6.1 g
Thank you so much for sharing these recipes!!
I will try many of these when I get brave. This brings me so many memories of my childhood..
Thank you!
Meyling
I’m so glad. Let me know if you have any questions. Welcome to the blog.
Great site and recipes. Two things that I’ve found make a difference in this recipe: use real lard instead of shortening, and replace one of the egg yolks by a full egg. The egg white will add a slightly more brittle feel to the final product. Again, thanks for helping make our food more accessible to folks in English-speaking countries.
Thanks for your comments.
Can you please explain how you fold/seal the empañadas to look like the ones in the photo?
Hi, here you can see more on the pictures https://www.chileanfoodandgarden.com/chilean-beef-empanadas/
You seal them and then fold the sides. I will take a better step by step pictures of this soon.
This is my favorite recipe of the dozens i’ve tried. I use King Arthur bread flour for its higher protein content (closer to Chilean flour) and fresh pork belly lard from a local Mexican grocery. I substitute a little white wine for some of the milk. I have had more reliable results measuring the ingredients with a digital kitchen scale set to metric. Our family prefers the typical Chilean jumbo rectangular empanadas and this recipe yields about a dozen (plus a couple more from scraps) so I make two batches and freeze some.
Thanks, Rick. I developed this recipe using King Arthur so I’m not surprised you have good results. It’s my favorite flour.
Thanks for sharing your tips and coming back to comment.
It would be helpful to indicate how many empanadas this recipe makes, 1 dozen, 2 dozen ?
Depends on the size, for big (20 cm diameter) makes 12, medium (12 cm) 20.
It clearly states 20.