9 Of The Most Tasty Empanada Recipes Ever (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular empanada? ›

Beef Empanada

This is the most popular empanada worldwide. It is filled with beef, onions, garlic, and other seasonings. It is a staple in many Latin American countries. The Beef Empanada is a savory pastry filled with a flavorful mixture of ground beef, onions, garlic, and various herbs and spices.

Both cooking methods produce delicious empanadas. If you want a healthier merienda, bake them in the oven. If you're working with less time, frying them is the way to go.

Empanadas have their origins in Galicia (Spain) and Portugal. They first appeared in Medieval Iberia during the time of the Moorish invasions. A cookbook published in Catalan in 1520 mentions empanadas filled with seafood among its recipes of Catalan, Italian, French, and Arabian food.

Argentina has become world-famous for their empanadas which are widely available in Buenos Aires and across the country as fast-food options and restaurant staples. As with many recipes, that of empanadas was shared through generations and carried to many other nations.

Argentine empanadas with beef, cheese, or chicken. Chilean empanadas with beef, cheese, or seafood. Mexican empanadas with spicy beef, potato, or pumpkin. Colombian empanadas with beef, chicken, cheese or corn.

Oil that is too cool will make your fried empanadas greasy and sad. I normally use canola oil for fried empanadas because it's flavorless and has a high smoke point. Lard tastes better, but you end up frying very close to lard's smoke point, which is tricky; when oil gets too hot it will taste acrid.

While it's quite tasty, it isn't the healthiest meal you can consume. The great news is you can still get your empanada fix with all the flavor, but less calories, fat, and more nutrition with healthier versions.

The best way to keep fried foods crispy? Just place them on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet. If you're frying multiple batches, throw the whole setup into a low oven to keep everything warm as you keep frying and adding to the rack.

Check our Mexican rice, Spanish rice, cilantro rice, yellow rice, salsa verde pinto beans, slow cooker black beans, refried beans, street corn salad (esquites from elote) and street corn skillet. Also, avocado salad and black bean and corn salad. We have fried plantains, too!

The Many Names of Empanadas

For instance, Americans call them meat pies, and Jamaicans call them beef patties. At the same time, Indians call them samosas, and people in Latin America or Spain call them pastelillos or pastelitos.

What is the fancy name for empanadas? ›

These are a few of the known names: Meat Pies (American) Empanadas (Latin/Spanish) Pastelillos (Latin/Spanish)

noun. pasty [noun] a small pie made by wrapping pastry around meat, vegetables, or cheese and baking it. pie [noun] food baked in a covering of pastry. (Translation of empanada from the PASSWORD Spanish–English Dictionary © 2014 K Dictionaries Ltd)

The panzerotto is to be found throughout southern Italy. In Naples it goes under the name of pizza fritta and in Salento calzone but his majesty the panzerotto reigns in Bari and the surrounding area. This is the version we shall be comparing with the Argentine empanada.

Though empanadas are common in Latin America and Spain, most other countries have their own version of hand pies.

1. La Paloma. La Paloma's mini beef nacho style empanadas are the undisputed champions of the frozen empanada world, earning the coveted number one spot on this list for one primary reason — flavor.

The Spanish recipe was made with bread dough, the Mexican recipe with corn masa dough. This is where Mexican empanada history takes over. Each region in Mexico has their own version of the empanada.