Baked Empanadas with Mexican Picadillo and Cheese
Cheesy Picadillo Empanadas are filled with ground beef and stuffed with potatoes, tomatoes, and a slice of creamy Monterey Jack cheese.
Servings: 14 empanadas
Ingredients
Picadillo
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 4 tomatoes chopped
- 1 large russet potato or 2 small Yukon gold potatoes peeled and finely chopped
- 6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese sliced
Beer-infused empanada dough
- 3/4 cup Land O Lakes® Salted Butter softened
- 1 egg
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup dark beer room temperature
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
Picadillo
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 2 minutes, until translucent.
- Add ground beef and brown. Using a potato masher, mash meat so you have small pieces of meat with no big chunks. Drain off excess grease.
- Add garlic salt, pepper, tomatoes, and potato and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, until potatoes are done. Salt to taste.
Empanada Dough
- Using a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, place the butter in the bowl and turn the mixer on medium-low speed and cream.
- Add the egg and combine.
- Combine flour and salt in a bowl and add to mixer and combine.
- Add the beer, as needed, to ensure the dough is soft and smooth.
Egg Wash
- Crack an egg into a bowl and beat it thoroughly with a fork.
- Add 2 tablespoons of water. Stir until combined.
Assemble and Bake Empanadas
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Divide empanada dough into 14 pieces. Roll out the dough balls into small round circles. Place a small dollop of filling on one half of each of the dough circles.
- Place a slice of cheese over the filling.
- Wet the bottom edge of the circles with egg wash 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 wash.
- Puncture the top of each empanada with a fork to allow steam to escape while baking.
- Place the empanadas on baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes on lower 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.
- Bake for an additional 5 minutes.
- Set oven to broil and bake on top rack for 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown.
- Enjoy the empanadas warm or at room temperature.
Video
Notes
- Refrigerate baked empanadas for one week. Reheat in a toaster oven or bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.
- Refrigerate leftover picadillo or make Crispy Ground Beef and Potato Tacos (Tacos de Picadillo).
FAQs
How do you seal an empanada? The absolute easiest way that doesn't require any special equipment is lightly wetting the rim of the dough with egg wash, water, or milk, then pressing and crimping it together using a fork. You can also use an empanada press, or use any of these fancy pastry folds to repulgue the empanadas.Pro Tip: If you're serving both sweet and savory empanadas (or two different types of savory empanadas), use two different crimps to help differentiate them from one another. How do I keep my empanadas from getting soggy? First, don't assemble the empanadas until you're ready to bake them or the liquid from the filling will make the uncooked dough soggy.
Second, make sure to let the baked empanadas cool COMPLETELY on a cooling rack before storing them. If you put them into a container before they're cooled to room temperature, condensation will form and cause the dough to get soggy.
Finally, make sure you use a toaster oven, air fryer, or regular oven to reheat your empanadas. While you can technically heat them in the microwave, they won't retain their crispiness if you do.
Nutrition
Serving: 14g | Calories: 448kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 106mg | Sodium: 873mg | Potassium: 386mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 724IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 3mg