Hatch Green Chile and Cheese Empanadas
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Updated Sep 25, 2025, Published Aug 01, 2016
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If you’ve only had sweet empanadas, you’re in for a treat. These savory Hatch Green Chile and Cheese Empanadas are made with a tender beer-based dough and filled with melty cheese and roasted green chiles. They’re flaky, flavorful, and impossible to stop eating.
Hatch chile also holds a special place in my heart. Speaking of green chile, I remember driving my grandma to a farmer in El Paso that grew Hatch chile. We would pull up to their home, honk the horn, and a sweet lady who knew my grandma would come out with freshly picked chile. She’d sell it right to our car window — true drive-through service before it even existed. Those flavors and memories are what make recipes like this so special to me.
Whether you roast your chile on a grill, a comal, or under the broiler, the smell of blistered chile skin is enough to make your whole kitchen feel alive. No matter the method, the flavor always delivers.
Table of Contents
What are Hatch Green Chile and Cheese Empanadas?
Empanadas are handheld pastries made with a soft, flaky dough that can be filled with either sweet or savory ingredients. Many of the empanadas I grew up eating were sweet, like Pumpkin Empanadas (Empanadas de Calabaza), Pineapple Empanadas (Empanadas de Piña), or Apple Empanadas.
But empanadas can also be savory, and that’s where these Hatch green chile and cheese empanadas come in. Made with roasted green chiles, melted cheese, and a tender beer-based dough, they’re a spicy, comforting twist on the classic pastry.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Tender beer dough → The beer makes the dough soft and light without being overly flaky.
- Cheesy + spicy → A mix of muenster and Oaxaca cheese with roasted chiles gives each bite irresistible flavor.
- Perfect anytime → Serve them warm for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My family devoured a whole batch in record time, and I have a feeling yours will too.
- Freezer-friendly → Bake ahead and freeze for an easy snack or meal later.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need for the dough and filling. (Full measurements are in the printable recipe card below.)
Empanada Dough
- All-purpose flour – the base of the dough
- Salt
- Lard – traditional, but vegetable shortening or butter can be used
- Egg
- Dark beer – gives tenderness and flavor; substitute chicken broth, vegetable broth, or even sparkling water if you prefer not to use beer
Green Chile and Cheese Filling
- Hatch chile peppers or Anaheim chiles – roasted and peeled; you can also use Pueblo Mirasol or poblano peppers
- Olive oil
- Onion & garlic – for flavor
- Flour – to thicken the filling
- Jalapeños – optional, for extra spice
- Milk – helps bind the filling
- Muenster cheese – melty and mild; substitute mozzarella
- Oaxaca cheese – stringy and melty; substitute Monterey Jack
- Salt
Egg Wash
- Egg white – used to seal the edges and brush on top for a golden finish
How to Make Hatch Green Chile and Cheese Empanadas
Step 1: Roast the chile peppers. Grill, broil, or char them on a comal until the skins blister and blacken. Cover to steam, then peel, seed, and chop. If you don’t have a grill, check out my full guide on How to Roast Chile Peppers in the Broiler for step-by-step instructions and a video.
Step 2: Make the filling. Cook onion and garlic in oil, stir in flour, then add roasted chiles, jalapeños, and milk. Let simmer before stirring in cheese until melty.
Step 3: Make the dough. Mix flour and salt, then add lard, egg, and beer until a soft, smooth dough forms. Tip: If you don’t have a mixer, this dough can absolutely be made by hand—just knead until smooth.
Step 4: Assemble the empanadas. Roll out dough into circles, spoon filling on one side, fold over, and seal with a fork. Brush with egg wash.
Step 5: Bake. Bake until golden brown, about 15–20 minutes. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Hatch Green Chile and Cheese Empanadas Expert Tips & Tricks
- No mixer? Make the dough by hand. Empanada dough has been made this way for generations—just mix and knead until smooth.
- Freezing: Bake, cool, then freeze in a single layer. Reheat at 350°F for 8–10 minutes.
- Roasting chiles: Grill, broil, or cook on a comal—whichever method you prefer works.
- Cheese swap: Try Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or even cheddar if that’s what you have on hand.
- Storage: Refrigerate baked empanadas for up to 3 days and reheat in the oven or toaster oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can mix and knead the dough by hand. Just work it until smooth and pliable.
Absolutely. Cool completely, freeze in a single layer, then reheat at 350°F for about 8 minutes.
You can use chicken broth, vegetable broth, or sparkling water for a similar tender texture.
Vegetable shortening works well. Butter can also be used, though it makes the dough a bit richer.
More Recipes
If you tried this Hatch Green Chile and Cheese Empanadas recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
Summarize & Save This Content On
Hatch Green Chile and Cheese Empanadas
Ingredients
Empanada Dough
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup lard, (or shortening/butter)
- 1 egg
- ½ cup dark beer, (or broth/sparkling water)
Green Chile and Cheese Filling
- 10 Hatch or Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, and chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2/3 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, roasted and chopped (optional)
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded muenster cheese
- ½ cup shredded Oaxaca cheese, (or Monterey Jack)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Egg Wash
- Egg white
Instructions
- Place chiles on a grill, under the broiler, or on a comal over medium heat. Roast, turning occasionally, until skins are blistered and charred (about 10–15 minutes). Place in a plastic bag or covered bowl to steam for 5 minutes, then peel, seed, and chop.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic until soft, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.
- Add roasted chiles, jalapeños (if using), and milk. Simmer 2–3 minutes, then stir in cheeses until melted.
- Season with salt. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Empanada Dough
- In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Mix in lard with your fingers or a pastry cutter until crumbly. Add egg and beer, mixing until a smooth dough forms. If using a stand mixer, knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes; if by hand, knead until soft and elastic.
Assemble and Bake Empanadas
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Take out half the dough and split it into 12 equal balls of dough.
- On a floured surface, roll out the dough balls into small round circles. Place a small dollop of filling on one half of each of the dough circles.
- Wet the bottom edge of the circles with egg glaze to help seal the two halves. Fold over the dough to cover filling and seal off the edges with a fork pressing down along the edges or using a pastry cutter.
- Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
- Brush each empanada with egg glaze.
- Puncture the top of each empanada with a fork to allow steam to escape while baking.
- Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet; place the empanadas on the parchment paper and bake for 15 to 20 minutes on middle rack in the oven. If after 15 minutes you notice the bottoms of the empanadas starting to brown, move the cookie sheet to the top rack and continue to bake for the last 5 minutes, until golden brown.
- Cool slightly before serving.
Video
Notes
- No mixer? The dough can easily be kneaded by hand.
- Make ahead: Refrigerate baked empanadas for up to 3 days. Reheat in a toaster oven or bake at 350°F for 8 minutes.
- Cheese swaps: Try Monterey Jack or mozzarella if Oaxaca isn’t available.
- Roasting methods: This recipe includes directions for roasting on a grill, but if you don’t have one, refer to my How to Roast Chile Peppers in the Broiler blog post and video.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Get it right, woman. Pueblo Mirasol chilies are WAY better then Hatch. If you haven’t started cooking with Mirasols, you need to! Have you never heard of the Pueblo Chili and Frijole Festival? Time to start promoting your home state!
Easy recipe to follow. Thank you for sharing a lovely recipe. Can’t wait to try. Like you grew up enjoying mom’s sweet empanadas mostly camote.
Can these be frozen after baking and cooled for future use?
I am wanting to make these empanadas so much, but I have no standing mixer. Can these be made by hand? I’m hoping they were made before mixers made life easier. Any guidelines for me?
If you don’t have a mixer, this dough can absolutely be made by hand—just knead until smooth. I will update the recipe to share this tip. Keep me posted!
These sound amazing! I’m getting my Hatch green chiles this weekend in Hatch! I’m going to have to try these as soon as I get them home.
WiWishes for tasty dishes, Linda
L
How can I make the masa for these hatch chile empanadas without using the dark beer. What do I replace with. Thank you so much, I really enjoy your delicious recipes
Hi Norma! I would suggest you follow one of my other dough recipes and omit the sugar and cinnamon for a savory dough. Try this empanada dough recipe: https://muybuenoblog.com/2016/11/apple-empanadas/
We’re vegetarians, so what should we use in place of the lard? Thanks!
Hi Dorothy: I would recommend using vegetable shortening. Best of luck!
I use butter or lard
Makes my mouth water. Have to make some really soon.
Oh, wow! My mouth is watering over these empanadas!
YUM!!! I’ve never made empanadas before but they look to be pretty simple. I feel fortunate that I have enough experience with roasting chiles (including walking by the roaster outside one of our local grocery stores) that I don’t need to scratch and sniff to enjoy the aroma of those beautiful roasted chiles. I’m really looking forward to trying these.
They are fairly similar to the German-American meat and potato pastries, many made in Kansas. My wife makes them once a year on pain-of-death from our son : )), Intensive to make, but worth it. Looking forward to the hispanic version!