Baked Beef Empanada
This Baked Beef Empanada recipe features a crisp and flaky cheddar crust filled with tender potatoes, carrots, peas and raisins along with sweet, savory ground beef! Do you love baked empanadas? Try my chicken empanada too!
I love empanadas because the combo of a crisp pastry and a savory filling is just top-notch. Every now and then, we will buy empanada to enjoy a good savory pastry. However, I find that making it at home is such a joy because, first, I can enjoy them really, really fresh and warm right after cooking and secondly, once I make a batch, I can freeze some empanadas for easy baking later.
Needless to say, these baked empanadas have a special touch because it combines a cheddar crust that is crisp and flaky, and a simple beef filling that is sweet and savory.
I always love having these stocked in the freezer. They are very handy when it comes to fill my craving for a cheesy, flaky pastry! So let me show you how I make it.
Making Baked Beef Empanada
- Make the Crust.
- Make the Filling.
- Shape the Empanada.
Step by Step Process Photos
The Beef Filling. To make the filling, you will mainly sauté garlic and onion, cook the beef until tender and then cook the veggies along with it. Tomato paste acts as a nice binding agent and flavor. And the brown sugar add sweetness. Note that they may be leftover filling. You can use it in omelet or pair with rice!
Make the Crust. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the grated cheddar cheese. Using your fingers, rub the cheese against the powders until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
Add the cubed butter and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in, until the butter is reduced into little clumps. The mixture like a coarse crumbs with bits clumps of butter and cheese all throughout.
Add 7 tbsp. of cold water and mix everything, preferably with your hands, until the dough clings together when pressed with your hands. This may look still a bit crumbly. Add up to 3 more tbsp. of water if it really looks dry. However, the dough is supposed to look crumbly but mostly clings gathers together when pressed.
Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on a flat surface. Dump the dough in the middle and wrap the plastic over the dough, gathering it in the center. Press the dough down with your knuckles to knead until the dough has gathered and more compact inside the plastic film.
Shape it into a 1 ½ inch thick disc. Alternatively, you can also put the dough inside a large sealable Ziploc bag, knead with your knuckles until gathered and compact.
Chill this in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. Before rolling out later, allow the chilled dough to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes just to make it a bit more malleable.
Dust a clean surface with flour. Roll out your dough using a rolling pin until it is about ⅛ inch thick. Using a 5 inch diameter cookie cutter or any bowl or mug with a 5 inch rim, cut as many circles as you can from the dough.
Remember to keep your surface dusted to prevent too much sticking. A pastry scraper or a wide metal spatula is also handy here to lift the discs. Gather the scraps and roll it out again. Repeat until the dough is used up. I am able to make up to 12 empanadas from 1 batch of dough.
Assemble the Beef Empanadas. Preheat the oven to 400 ℉. To fill the dough, work in 2 batches. Keep half the discs in the fridge while you shape the rest.
Spoon about 1 tbsp. of filling into the center of the disc. Fold it in half to cover the filling, creating a half moon shape. Then using the tines of a fork, press down the two seams together to seal.
Repeat with the remaining discs. Arrange the shaped and filled dough in a parchment lined baking tray, leaving about 1 inch of space in between. Brush the surface of the empanada with egg wash.
Bake! Bake at 400 ℉ for 15- 20 minutes, or until lightly golden and crisp. Allow to cool slightly on a wire rack. Watch out for the hot filling. Enjoy these ultra special baked beef empanada!
Some Pointers
- Freezing the Empanada. You can freeze, shaped, unbaked beef empanada for up to 3 weeks. Follow the same baking instruction ( no thawing needed) but you may need to bake it for a little bit longer.
- Make Ahead. You can make the beef filling ahead for up to 2 days, stored in the fridge. You can make the crust for up to three days in advance. Just keep it wrapped in the film, stored in the fridge.
- Storing Beef Empanadas. Keep them in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to three days. reheat in the microwave for 15 seconds or so, or in the oven at 350 F for 7-10 minutes.
Baked Beef Empanada
Equipment
- Pastry Cutter/ Pastry Blender affiliate!
- Large Baking Pans affiliate!
Ingredients
The Cheddar Crust
- 2 cups (264.17 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp baking powder
- 1 cup (119.41 g) cheddar cheese grated
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter cut into cubes, chilled
- 7 tbsp. ice cold water plus up to 3 tbsp extra, as needed
The Beef Filling
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp onion sliced thinly
- 300 grams ground beef
- 1 small potato peeled and diced, about ½ cup
- 1 small carrot peeled and diced, about ½ cup
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup peas
- ¼ cup raisins
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
Egg wash
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 egg
Instructions
Make the Pie Crust
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the grated cheddar cheese. Using your fingers, rub the cheese against the powders until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
- Add the cubed butter and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the mixture, until the butter is reduced into little clumps and the mixture like a coarse crumbs with bits clumps of butter and cheese all throughout.
- Add 7 tbsp of cold water and mix everything, preferably with your hands, until the dough clings together. This may look still a bit crumbly. You can add up to 3 more tbsp of water if it really looks dry. But please note that the dough is supposed to look crumbly but mostly clings gathers together when pressed.
- Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on a flat surface. Dump the dough in the middle and wrap the plastic over the dough, gathering it in the center. Press the dough down with your knuckles to knead until the dough has gathered and more compact inside the plastic film. Shape it into a 1 ½ inch thick disc. Alternatively, you can also put the dough inside a large sealable Ziploc bag, knead with your knuckles until gathered and compact.
- Chill this in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. After chilling allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling it out.
Make the Beef Filling
- Heat oil in a medium skillet. Sauté garlic and onion until soft and aromatic. Add the ground beef. Cook, breaking the chunks apart, until browned and tender. Add the potatoes and carrots. Cook, for a few minutes, tossing occasionally, until soft.
- Add the tomato paste and stir it in. Add the peas and raisins. Season with salt and pepper. Add the brown sugar. Taste and season/sweeten more as desired. Turn off heat and let this cool.
Shape your Beef Empanada
- First, make the egg wash. Beat together milk and egg and set aside. Dust a clean surface with flour. Roll out your dough using a rolling pin until it is about ⅛ inch thick.
- Using a 5 inch diameter cookie cutter or any bowl or mug with a 5 inch rim that can potentally shape circles, cut as many circles as you can from the rolled out dough. Use a pastry scraper or a wide metal spatula to lift the dough discs and transfer them to a parchment lined tray. Remember to keep your surface dusted to prevent too much sticking. Gather the scraps and roll it out again. Cut as many circles as you can. Repeat until the dough is used up. I am able to make up to 12 empanadas from 1 batch of dough.
- Preheat the oven to 400 ℉. To fill the dough, work in 2 batches. Keep half the discs in the fridge while you shape the rest.
- Spoon about 1 tbsp. of filling into the center of the disc. Fold it in half to cover the filling, creating a half moon shape. Then using the tines of a fork, press down the two seams together to seal ( see photos in the post).
- Repeat with the remaining discs. Arrange the shaped and filled dough in a parchment lined baking tray, leaving about 1 inch of space in between. Brush the surface of the empanada with egg wash.
- Bake at 400 ℉ for 15- 20 minutes, or until lightly golden and crisp. Allow the empanadas to cool slightly on a wire rack. Watch out for the hot filling. Enjoy!
Cheddar cheese in the crust? Pure genius!
My favorite savory pastry! This is a must try!