Easy Beef Empanadas
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These crispy, cheesy, 30-minute Easy Beef Empanadas are so simple to make with refrigerated pie crust and a savory beef and cheese filling. Whip up these yummy empanadas and serve with creamy, authentic Mexican guacamole for a delicious meal!
Want more recipes to try? My Chipotle Barbacoa Beef, Churros, and Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole are just a click away.
Looking for more Mexican recipes? Check out my popular posts for Instant Pot Chicken Taquitos, Super Easy Mexican Rice, and Fiesta Lime Shrimp Salad.
This post is in partnership with HERDEZ®. All opinions are my own.
I’m always on the lookout for easy recipes to make that can double as an app/snack or as part of a meal. That way, I always have an arsenal of recipes that I can make for guests, take for picnics or potlucks, or have on hand when we want to have a snacky dinner in front of the latest new animated film.
These Mexican empanadas check alllll the boxes: budget-friendly, easy and fun to make (even more so if you have little helpers like I did), filling, and delicious to eat, especially when topped with HERDEZ® authentic Mexican guacamole or dipped in salsa.
Here’s How You Make It
- First, brown the meat in a pan for about 4-6 minutes or until the pink is completely gone and the meat is cooked through. (photo 2)
- Add in the spices and stir in the chilis, pimentos, and tomato paste. Allow this to all cook together for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the cheese and remove the meat mixture from the heat. (photos 3-4)
- Next, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and, using 3-inch round biscuit or cookie cutters, cut the thawed refrigerated pie crust into circles. (photo 1)
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of the beef mixture to each dough circle. Fold in half and use a fork to seal the edges. (photos 5-7)
- Put the empanadas on a prepared baking sheet and brush each with whisked egg. (photo 8)
- Bake for 10 minutes or till golden brown. (not pictured)
- Serve with HERDEZ™ Traditional Guacamole. (not pictured)
Why This Recipe Works
Herdez™ Traditional Guacamole — Made with only high-quality, simple ingredients (like real Hass avocados), HERDEZ™ Traditional Guacamole is available in mild and spicy and carefully crafted using an authentic Mexican recipe that was handed down for generations.
Versatile — I used beef in this recipe, but you can easily substitute any ground meat you love. Chicken and turkey are wonderful, and pork empanadas would be delicious too!
Refrigerated pie crust — I can’t tell you how many times refrigerated pie crusts have come in handy when I need a recipe shortcut. I keep at least two packages in my fridge at all times, just in case. If you want really authentic empanadas and want to make your own crust that’s great too, but I tend to rely on the ease of thawing and rolling these babies out for all my crust needs.
Portable — Make them, bake them, and take them, or make them and pop them in the fridge before taking them to bake somewhere else (like that unexpected cookout where you were asked to bring an app). That way, they’re fresh and toasty right out of the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re looking for a new go-to guacamole brand, look no further than HERDEZ®. Take it from me, I’ve made my own and tried just about every pre-packaged guacamole brand out there (I am a semi-professional taco eater, afterall), and HERDEZ® is IT.
Why? Well, first of all it’s made with fresh, real Hass avocados, and you can tell. The avocados are then seasoned to perfection with Serrano peppers, cilantro, garlic, onion, and salt. Plus, it’s available in two varieties: mild and spicy.
If you’re looking to bring the authentic flavors of Mexico straight home, then you need to add HERDEZ™ Traditional Guacamole to your grocery list! You can easily find it in the deli section at select grocery stores nationwide.
Expert Tips
- After opening, HERDEZ™ Traditional Guacamole will keep in the fridge for up to 1-2 weeks, or in the freezer for 6-8 months.
- If you have leftover empanadas, first of all, I’m shocked. But secondly, you can store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to one week. I prefer to reheat them in the oven rather than microwave, but you can do either.
- If you want to make up a big batch of beef empanadas ahead of time and freeze them, work through the step of sealing them with a fork. Put them in the freezer on a sheet pan in a single layer until frozen all the way through. Then, stack them in a Ziplock bag with wax paper in between each empanada. That way, you can take out as many as you need without them sticking together. Thaw completely in the fridge before adding egg white and baking.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos
- Best Mexican Salsa Recipe for Canning
- Black Bean Enchilada
- Cilantro Lime Rice
Did you make this recipe for easy homemade empanadas? YAY! Please rate the recipe below!
Beef Empanada Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or chipotle chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces diced green chiles
- 4 ounces diced pimento peppers
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, or Mexican blend
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
- 1 egg, whisked
- HERDEZ™ Traditional Guacamole, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper.
- Unroll pie crusts on a clean, flat surface. Use a 3-inch round pastry cutter to cut circles from the dough. (If desired, combine scraps, roll out, and cut again.)
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef.
- Stir in onions, cumin, chili powder, salt, green chiles, and pimento peppers. Saute 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, followed by the cheese. Remove from heat.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the beef mixture into the center of each pie crust circle.
- Fold dough over and use a fork to seal the dough all along the curved edge.
- Arrange in a single layer, not touching, on prepared baking sheet. Brush empanadas with egg wash.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving with HERDEZ™ Traditional Guacamole. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
When you make this recipe, snap a photo and tag me on social – I love connecting with you and seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
These were very delicious. I could only fit 1 Tbs of filling in each empanada so I had plenty of filling. I will definitely make them again!
this ACTUALLY changed my life. THANK YOU. Seriously, God bless.
Wow! Thank you for such a kind comment! 🙂 So glad you loved this recipe!
Made a Cuban meal for Easter and this was a perfect and simple app to start us off. I tripled the recipe and used 6″ Goya empanada rounds. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to making these for friends.
I’m happy it was a success! 🙂
3” is too small for folding over the pie dough and crimping with a fork. I had several pop holes and the filing come-out in the process. Also, the recipe calls fow 2 pie crusts. Indeed it calls for two pie crusts that are in the rolls NOT the uncooked pie crusts in their pie forms.
Delicious, delicious, delicious. I used refrigerated pie crust and followed the directions exactly the first time I made these empenadas and they came out perfectly. I make them all the time now and no one tires of them. The only changes I have made since first making them are to double the filling and make two big empenadas instead of lots of little one 🙂 Also, it’s definitely worth getting chipotle chili powder if you don’t already have some.
Oh, and sometimes I add 1/2 cup pretty finely diced carrots and about 1 1/2 cups diced (about the size of a green pea) potatoes. I saute them in a bit of olive oil with the onions before adding the ground beef. That said, this recipe is PERFECT exactly as written!
Should the green chilis and the pimentos be drained?
If they’re in sauce, no. If they’re in water, yes.
Our son made these for Christmas and they were delicious!They were the hit of our Spanish themed party. He shared this recipe with me and I’m looking forward to more!
these were really good! It’s 627 calories for 4 empanadas, right? just want to be clear. Thanks!!
I usually get about 12 empanadas when I make this and this serves about 4 people so it would be 629 calories for 3 empanadas.
I made these and my family adores them. I use the jumbo biscuits in the refrigerated section cuz they taste better/easier to use than the ready made pie crusts. I divide them into 16 smaller empanadas to save on calories and flatten them out with a rolling pin. I do add extra cheese when stuffing the empanadas. I also added diced carrots and peas. Thanks for a great recipe.
No way 2 tablespoon of filling fit in a 3 inch cut out, aside from that delicious!
Do you think a 4in would be better?
proportions are off. to have 3 inch dough circles it is impossible to fit 2 tbls of the meat mix with out it spilling out the sides. i could fit maybe 1/2 tbls in each. the filling taste really good. when i cooked them they stayed a really ugly pale color. thought i needed more egg wash and to toast them longer but they stayed the same pale yellow/white color. very ugly looking and nothing like the photo. this recipe was definitely a flop.
We used empanada dough rounds from Goya in the refrigerator section of the grocery. They turned out beautifully!