Argentinean-Inspired Beef Mini Empanadas

This recipe makes a delicious, lightly spiced filling, stuffed with little bites of soft egg, salty olives, and tender meat and veggies. My filling made quite a bit more than I needed for the amount of dough I had, so we used the leftover meat the next day in a loose meat sandwich which was also completely tasty! Feel free to double the dough if you want to use more of the meat mixture up in these empanadas. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce, such as queso, sour cream, salsa, etc.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins
• Calories: 535 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 large egg
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika, or to taste
• 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced (Optional)
• ½ cup green olives, pitted and chopped
• 2 large hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
• ½ cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• ⅓ cup very cold water

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Prepare filling: Cook ground beef, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a large, nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat until vegetables are tender and beef is browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Add olives, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir in chopped eggs.

Step 2

Scrape mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, 1 to 2 hours; this ensures the dough will not be soggy when the empanadas are baked.

Step 3

Prepare dough: Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl until combined. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Step 4

Whisk cold water, egg, and vinegar together in a small bowl. Pour into the dry ingredients and blend with a fork. Use your hands to finish blending the ingredients until they come together in a ball. Flatten the ball into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 5

When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Step 6

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut circles, rerolling the scraps as necessary. I got about 18 circles.

Step 7

Hold each circle in your hand and place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center. Gently fold the ends over the top and press to seal all the way around. Reserve extra filling for another use.

Step 8

Set empanadas on a baking sheet. Press around the sealed edges with a fork if desired.

Step 9

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown on the bottoms, about 18 minutes. Flip and bake until the other side is browned, about 5 more minutes.