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!
Made this last night for the family and some friends and it was a HUGE hit. My local grocery store had Goya empanada dough in the frozen section in packs of 12 individually frozen rounds, which saved me a little time, but otherwise I followed this recipe to the letter and they turned out great! These are now in the regular rotation for Taco Tuesdays!!
Made these tonight. Followed filling directions exactly, but used Goya frozen empanada wraps instead of pie crust. Put in the air fryer for 8-10 minutes turning halfway through and the family loved them. Thanks!
Sounds delicious! Great job! I’m glad they turned out well 🙂
I like how they come right to my inbox and I can choose if I want to look at it or not, and it seems like I like most of it
Making these in the next few weeks. Question, can these be fried?
I haven’t tested that out so I cannot say for sure but I think you could fry them and they’d be delicious!
The filling was delicious but the crust seemed undercooked. I left it in for almost 15 minutes. Usually pie crust takes like 40 minutes to cook. Did you roll it out so it was thinner or something?
I’m sorry this happened. There could be a few different reasons for this, your filling could’ve been too wet, the empanadas might’ve been overstuffed, or there may have been excess air in them. Each of these issues can be fixed easily. Hopefully they turn out better next time!
Didn’t like the tomato pasta flavor. Should have had more vegtables and spices. Would be better with chicken. The pie crust makes it too dry. Better with refrigerator biscuits and in a muffin pan.
Easy to make and excellent!! I made one batch and everyone liked it so much, I made a second batch the next night. Thank you!
Wow, that’s great to hear! 🙂
This recipe was okay. If I were to ever make this again, I would suggest adding 1/4 tsp of cayenne (or an 1/8 if you don’t like too much spice). Then serve it with queso instead of guacamole.
Delicious!! So I didn’t have enough pie crust to use up my doubled recipe. I happened to have a package of Puff Pastry Sheets. The results were AMAZING!!! Flakey, Delicious meaty empanadas…. who knew!! It elevates the flavor so much. I will be using puff pastry sheets from now on. Mmmmmmmm
This recipe is amazing! I have made it numerous times for guests and family. They love it! I use puff pastry instead of pie pastry making them a little lighter. They are the hit of every event!