These “beef” empanadas are so flavorful, you’ll forget they don’t actually have any meat inside! A simple homemade crust, a few seasonings and a lot of love are all you need to make crispy, flaky, delicious “beef” empanadas. With a few substitutions, you can make these vegan as well. This recipe is so delicious, I had to revamp it with some new pictures!
Oh empanadas…but first, a really long backstory
This is a good one fam. These “beef” empanadas are a tribute to the neighborhood I lived in when my family and I moved to America. We were blessed enough to live in a pretty diverse city, but for some reason, my mom just could not find one grocery store that had everything she needed. So Saturday mornings would be an adventure! We’d have to go to the Chinese market to get our fresh fish, then to the value supermarket store for our basic pantry items (it was a precursor to Aldi’s, meaning my mom brought me along mostly to be a bagger/grocery lugger :D), and finally to the Hispanic market (i.e. the Dominican store) where we got fresh bread for my dad, and most of our produce.
The Hispanic market was my favorite stop on our world-wind grocery tour because it usually meant I could convince my mom to give me a dollar to buy empanadas made by the Dominican store owners’ family members at the prepared food counter inside the store. Remember when a dollar could actually buy something?!
Wow, those empanadas were delicious! Just writing this brings back memories of biting into a chicken empanada (which back in my meat eating days were my favorite!). Depending on the flavor, the empanadas would be shaped a different way. Beef empanadas were usually pleated at the ends, while chicken empanadas were crimped with a fork. The women at the counter were so sweet. Orders had to be belted out in Spanish in a commanding voice, or else it would take forever for someone to even recognize you were there. Trust me, I learned to sound like a Dominican real fast so I could get what I wanted! I haven’t had an empanada quite as good as the ones I’d eat on my grocery runs with my mom, but I have to admit, this meatless version comes pretty close!
The recipe…
Empanadas are similar to turnovers or an English pasty. Empanadas can be baked or fried, and can have savory or sweet filling. Almost every Caribbean country has some form of empanadas. Some times when we share a recipe, we have a tendency to overgeneralize where the recipe comes from, so it’s important to remember the Caribbean, like Africa, is not a monolith, and all empanadas are not the same! In Jamaica, we call them patties. In Puerto Rico, pastelitos. And in Cuba and the DR (i.e. the Dominican Republic), they are commonly called empanadas. The versions I’m making today are inspired by the Dominican empanadas I grew up eating.
Empanadas are a perfect street food, because they are portable, lightweight, and mess free.
There are two components to this recipe, the crust, and the filling.
First, the crust
I decided to make my own crust for these beef empanadas, just to show you how easy it is. You can also buy the pre-made empanada discs in the grocery store, no one will fault you.
To make the dough yourself, all you need is some All-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, butter, olive oil, and ice water. I read a few recipes that used just butter, or butter and an egg, but I really wanted to cut down on some of the fat in the crust, so I swapped out some of the butter for olive oil and it turned out great!
Now, please don’t judge my recipe portions! Asking a Caribbean to measure is a TALLLL order. It is not normal for us! But I promise, I measured everything and the measurements I gave you are accurate. They just don’t divide as cleanly as they probably should lol.
To make this process easier, I made the crust in a food processor. Simply combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Then add pieces of cold butter and pulse a few times until the flour and butter are combined. The flour should look like large grains of sand at this point. Then add olive oil and ice cold water. Start with about 3 tbsp of water and add more as needed. Pulse until the dough starts to stick together and form a ball.
Next, remove from food processor and shape into a large ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and flatten into a large disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
TIP: you can prepare the dough the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight. Just remove about 15 minutes before you are ready to use it.
When you are ready to make the empanadas, remove the dough and cut in half. Cut each half into four pieces, for 8 total pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten and use a rolling pin to roll out into a large circle. I shaped my circles to around 7 inches because I wanted some extra room to pleat the dough. If you plan to use a fork to seal, roll out to about 6 inches instead. Set aside.
Now to the filling
While the dough is chilling in the fridge, prepare the filling. For this dough, I decided to go meatless. I used this plant based ground beef to make the filling. You can use another meatless substitute, or use real beef.
You don’t need many ingredients to add flavor to this dish. Usually, I am all for using fresh herbs and seasonings, but I find that when making a filling, concentrated flavor tastes best. For this filling, I used recaito and sofrito, which together essentially equate to the Hispanic version of green seasoning! A third essential ingredient is habanero, or scotch bonnet pepper. I went with a habanero hot sauce that I really love, but if you’re feeling daring, you can add a full scotch bonnet to this recipe.
Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet. Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Next, add the meat, and heat until cooked through. Mix in recaito, sofrito, and habanero hot sauce, to taste. I found that I needed to a bit of water to keep the “beef” from drying out. You don’t want a sauce, but the meat shouldn’t be too dry.
Let’s Assemble!
Once the crust and filling are ready, it’s time to assemble. This is where you should start heating up your oil.
I used 1 qt of canola oil, which is a pretty neutral high heat oil. The oil needs to be HOT! So start early and leave the heat on low so the oil doesn’t heat up to quickly, which will cause uneven frying. Heat the oil in a large 5 qt saute pan or dutch oven to give yourself space to fry each empanada. I worked in batches, cooking 2-3 empanadas at a time.
To assemble, scoop a generous amount of filling (about 1/4 cup) onto your rolled out empanada dough. Fold one edge of the dough over the filling, and seal by pleating the edges as I did, or crimping with a fork.
OPTIONAL – Beat 1 egg and brush the egg over each empanada before frying to give the empanadas their distinct bubbly texture. The egg wash is purely cosmetic and you can skip this step if you’d like.
Working in batches so as not to overcrowd your pot, fry each empanada for about 2 minutes per side, turning once. Remove and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to allow the empanadas to drain. Serve immediately. These beef empanadas will disappear in seconds.
Substitutions…
This recipe is for savory empanadas, but you can always swap out the filling for something sweet! Trying filling them with guava and cheese for a classic sweet treat.
To make these empanadas vegan, you can use a vegan butter to make the crust and skip the egg wash before frying. The top of empanadas will not bubble up and give you the distinctive look of Dominican empanadas, but they will still have a beautiful golden color.
You can also try baking these instead of frying them.
To summarize, this recipe is
EASY.
Crispy.
Customizable.
AMAZING!
Looking for more delicious recipes? Try:
Jackfruit Al Pastor Tacos with Cilantro Lime Crema
Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
Share this recipe…
If you make this recipe, be sure to let me know by rating it and leaving a comment below. I would love to hear from you. And don’t forget to tag @sweetandsorrel on Instagram!
Meatless Dominican "Beef" Empanadas
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed (sub vegan butter if desired)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup ice cold water
- salt
Filling
- 1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 (12 oz) package ground "beef" crumbles (I used this
one ) - 2 tbsp recaito
- 2 tbsp sofrito
- 1 tsp habanero sauce
- 1 tbsp canola oil, plus more for frying
- 1 egg optional
Instructions
Crust
- To make the crust, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times to combine.
- Next, add cold cubed butter to the food processor. Pulse until flour and butter combine to form large grains of sand. Add olive oil and ice cold water and pulse until dough begins to form into a ball, about 8-10 pulses. Start with about 3 tbsp of ice cold water, and add more as needed. The dough should be relatively firm and not too sticky.
- Shape dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can also prepare the dough the day before and refrigerate overnight.
Filling
- NOTE: As you prepare the filling, heat 1 qt of canola oil in a large saute pan or dutch oven. Keep the heat on low to allow the oil to heat evenly. The oil will take about 10 minutes to heat properly. I hover my hand over the pot to test the oil (sorry, it's not very scientific but it works!). You'll know the oil is ready when it bubbles after you put in an empanada.
- To prepare the filling, heat 1tbsp of oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add ground "beef" (or real beef if you prefer!) and cook until heated through, approximately 5 minutes. Add recaito, sofrito, and habanero sauce. Cook for another minute. Beef should be juicy. Remove from stove.NOTE: because the meat I was using did not release any juices, I needed to add about 2 tbsp of water.
Assembly
- Remove empanada dough from the refrigerator. Cut dough in half, then cut each half into 4 pieces, for a total of 8 pieces of dough. Roll each dough out into a 6-7 in disc.
- Scoop a generous amount of the filling (about 1/4 cup) into the middle of the dough, being careful to drain any excess liquid from the meat. Fold the dough over the meat and seal the edges by pleating the dough, or by crimping with a fork.
- Beat one egg and brush egg wash onto each empanada. This step is optional but will give the empanadas their bubbly exterior.
- Fry empanadas in hot oil for approximately 2 minutes per side, flipping once. Remove from oil and place on a towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Serve immediately.
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3 Comments
These look SO good! Can’t wait to try.
Thank you Ebony!