Easy and Flaky Beef Empanadas Recipe | Quick & Delicious Mexican Dinner
Easy and Flaky Beef Empanadas Recipe
If you know me, you know I love cooking, but I also tend to lean towards recipes that involve minimal ingredients and time. Between working part-time, blogging, looking for more work, and taking care of the household, that in itself is a full-time job.
I made these beef empanadas the other day for two reasons - one, I love Mexican food (and I'm 19% Mexican so I claim it when I can) and two, it was fairly simple with less than 10 ingredients.
14-year old Jace said he was surprised that he liked this Mexican-inspired recipe so much and I had 1.5 servings if that tells you anything about how much I enjoyed them.
• Family-Friendly: Yes, my teen and I thoroughly enjoyed them
• Difficulty Level: Easy/Intermediate
• Best Served With: I topped mine with sour cream and lettuce and Jace dipped his in Salsa Verde
• Estimated Calories: 473 estimated calories per empanada
• Serving size: This recipe makes 4 empanadas but the calorie count is for 1
Why You Will Love These Easy Empanadas
This recipe is delicious, filling, the crust was super flaky, the beef was tender, and although there was Salsa Verde in the empanada, it was so light that I didn't taste the spice at all.
This is very much a Mexican-American meal with the crust being a pie crust and not authentic, but it was still very flavorful and delicious.
The sour cream and lettuce provided a refreshing, cooling flavor to offset the warm empanada. This meal was made in less than 30 minutes and was an easy weekday dinner that the whole family loved.
What I Learned
My suggestion is to spread the ingredients out more than I did. I had mine in a small pile in the middle of the dough, and because of that, I only got a few good bites of the tender beef and gooey cheese. Make sure there are a few inches of space around the edges, but flatten the ingredients out before topping it.
Inspiration
This recipe was inspired by Just a Pinch but we added our own twists. We eliminated the green chile sauce with pork, switched out the Mexican spice blend for paprika, onion powder and garlic powder, and used less cheddar cheese than the original 8 ounces listed. We also did not use olive oil.
If You Enjoy Easy Mexican-American Meals, You May Want to Try
If you love Mexican-inspired meals like we do, you may also want to try:
Homemade Birria Quesadillas
Easy Chipotle Chicken Tacos
Viral Air Fryer Smash Burger Taco
Ingredients for Beef Empanadas
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• 2 Signature Select pie crusts - Just unroll & Bake (I purchased these at Albertsons)
• *4 tbsp salsa verde + extra for dipping
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 Hormel Beef Roast Au Jus and Savory Sauce pack
• Black pepper, to taste
• PAM cooking spray
• 4-8 tbsp cheddar cheese
• 4-8 tbsp pizza cheese blend (I purchased this bag at Albertsons)
Cook the beef roast for 4 minutes and let sit for 2 minutes. In the meantime, prepare your pie crusts.
✓ Step #2 Prepare your pie crusts
Take out both pie crusts and unroll them. You should not have to roll them out but feel free to do so if you need to. Cut them both into fourths using a pizza cutter or a knife and add them to a parchment-lined sheet pan.
As a side note, you will only be filling one side of the pie crusts. The other pie crusts will be to top it when it's filled.
✓ Step #3 Add the cheese
Add 1-2 tbsp of cheese to each fourth of the empanada.
✓ Step #4 Top with beef roast
Once the beef roast is done in the microwave, add the au jus to a bowl and shred the meat.
Top the cheese with 1-2 tbsp pot roast for each fourth of the empanada. Set the oven to 425 degrees F.
✓ Step #6 Add seasonings and au jus
Add seasonings to the top of the beef and cheese mixture followed by au jus. Then brush the edges with a little au jus as well. If you don't have a brush, you can use a spoon like I did.
✓ Step #7 Top with pie crust
Top each of the four empanadas with another pie crust, using a fork to seal the edges.
✓ Step #8 Bake
Spray the top of the empanadas with PAM or cooking spray and bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. At the 25 minute mark, ours were a tad burnt so I took them out at that point. If you want to keep them in longer, I suggest adding 5 more minutes.
Take out of the oven and let cool.
Storage & Reheating Tips
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Reheat in the microwave, oven, or Air Fryer.
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