These Spicy Beef Empanadas are made with red onion, garlic, jalapeños, potatoes, ground beef, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, limes, cilantro and bay leaves.
These empanadas are flaky and crispy on the outside with a hearty warm ground beef mixture on the inside. These are the best you have ever tasted. These are one of my favorite things to make, and can be served as an entrée or an appetizer. They are great for parties and you can save time by buying premade dough. These can be found in the frozen section of your grocery store. You can also use store bought pizza dough and divide into 6-8 individual empanadas.
Empanadas vary from country to country. In Puerto Rico you have ground beef and in Mexico you have shredded chicken and corn. They are all the same in the sense that they are homemade dough with some kind of meat or cheese, vegetable, and spices inside. My favorite empanadas consist of ground beef, red onion, jalapeños, cilantro, lime juice, and tomatoes.
How to make Spicy Beef Empanadas
Make the filling. Heat a large lidded saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil until the oil shimmers. Add the red onion and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, jalapeño, and salt and cook for 2 minutes. Toss in the ground beef, tomatoes with the sauce, chili powder, cumin, & bay leaves, breaking meat apart with a wooden spoon, for 4-5 minutes until brown and broken apart. Add the lid on the saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. Take the lid off, stir, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Allow the liquid to evaporate. If there is too much liquid, feel free to strain. Squeeze lime juice into the pot, combine, and stir in cilantro, until soft.
Make the empanadas. Place an empanada dough disc down and add two tablespoons of the meat mixture on it. Fold over and with a fork, press down to seal to prevent filling from getting out.
Bake in oven. Brush each empanada with olive oil on each side. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 40 minutes.
Air fry the empanadas. Brush each empanada with olive oil on each side. Air fry at 400°F for 15 minutes.
Can you make Spicy Beef Empanadas in advance?
You can make these empanadas and refrigerator unbaked up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready to eat them, thaw them and bake at 400°F for 40 minutes.
Tips
Use an egg wash to seal the empanadas to give them a golden-brown crust.
Firmly press with a fork to ensure all the filling stay firmly in the empanada.
You can freeze the empanadas once assembled to make another day
Other dishes to try
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Spicy Beef Empanadas
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
These Spicy Beef Empanadas are made with red onion, garlic, jalapeños, potatoes, ground beef, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, limes, cilantro and bay leaves.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for brushing on empanadas
- ½ red onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
- ½ cup diced medium red potatoes
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 bay leaves
- Juice of ½ lime
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 10 empanada dough discs
Instructions
- Make the filling. Heat a large lidded saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil until the oil shimmers. Add the red onion and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeño, potatoes and salt and cook for 10 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. Add the ground beef, tomatoes with the sauce, chili powder, cumin, & bay leaves, breaking meat apart with a wooden spoon, for 4-5 minutes until brown and broken apart. Add the lid on the saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. Take the lid off, stir, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Allow the liquid to evaporate. If there is too much liquid, feel free to strain. Squeeze lime juice into the pot, combine, and stir in cilantro, until soft.
- Make the empanadas. Place an empanada dough disc down and add two tablespoons of the meat mixture on it. Fold over and with a fork, press down to seal to prevent filling from getting out.
- Bake in oven. Brush each empanada with olive oil on each side. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 40 minutes.
- Air fry the empanadas. Brush each empanada with olive oil on each side. Air fry at 400°F for 15 minutes.
Notes
- Use an egg wash to seal the empanadas to give them a golden-brown crust.
- Firmly press with a fork to ensure all the filling stay firmly in the empanada.
- You can freeze the empanadas once assembled to make another day
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Latin
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 159.8
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Sodium: 188.3 mg
- Fat: 4.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.9 g
- Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 7.5 g
- Cholesterol: 2.2 mg
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Diana Wright
in the description it says there is potatoes in these but recipe does not reflect this. How much potato should you add in and is it cooked first. Please let me know as would like to make soon with potato added.
Maxine Dubois
Hi Diana,
Thanks for pointing that out. I used 1/2 cup red potatoes but feel free to use whatever kind you want, as long as they are diced into small pieces to thoroughly cook them. I have updated the recipe to reflect this.