Beef Empanadas

How To Make Beef Empanadas

We’ll show you how to make empanadas easily with our detailed empanada recipe and these tips, straight from the Pillsbury test kitchens for scrumptious results. Empanadas can be changed up to suit your tastes or what you have available. When you’re ready to branch out and fill your empanadas with your own filling recipe, use these directions as a guide for how long to bake empanadas.

Make the Filling

Cook ground beef with onion and seasonings in a skillet. It’s then simmered with tomato sauce, chili powder, and cumin, to infuse the beef with spicy flavor. Be sure to cool the filling at least 5 minutes before spooning onto the dough. If the mixture is too hot, it will make the dough soft and hard to handle.

Separate and Cut the Dough

Be sure you’re purchasing 2 cans of the kind of crescent rolls (not biscuits) specifically called for in the recipe, so that the amount of filling will fit perfectly in the 16 empanadas. Each person will get two of these tasty turnovers for dinner! Using one can of crescent roll dough at a time, unroll the dough and separate it into 4 rectangles, using the perforations. Cut each rectangle in half to create 8 squares.

Fill the Dough

Spoon 2 tablespoons of the filling onto one side of each square. (Don’t worry—you’ll use the remaining filling to fill squares you make from the second can of crescent roll dough.) Stretch one corner of the dough up and over the filling, matching the edges, to form a triangle. Press the edges with the tines of a fork to seal. Place the 8 triangles on one cookie sheet and repeat with the second can of crescent dough and the remaining filling. Place these 8 filled triangles on the second cookie sheet.

How to Make Empanada Dough

If you were making your own empanada dough recipe to make empanadas, you’d have to mix flour, salt and butter or shortening first and then add water, a tablespoon at a time to get the right consistency of dough what would bake up flaky and buttery. You’d have to roll the dough out to an even thickness and cut it into squares. That would take approximately 30 minutes additional time to get empanadas on the table! Luckily, swapping crescent rolls for this dough cuts down on the prep time dramatically.

Brush Tops with Egg

Brush the tops of the empanadas with a beaten egg—it gives the top crust a beautiful golden-brown shine to our beef empanada recipe, making them even more irresistible when baked.

How to Bake Empanadas

When made and baked fresh, empanadas only need 9 to 12 minutes to get beautifully brown—which is also your doneness cue to ensure the filling is piping hot!

What To Serve with Empanadas

Since these empanadas are hearty and filling, all you really need to make it a complete meal is either a side salad or veggies and fruit!

Terrific Empanadas Sides: You can get a clue of what to serve with empanadas from what's inside an empanada. For our hearty beef-filled turnovers, serve a light green salad, or veggie, such as our Cucumber Pepper Salad or Greek-Style Green Beans and apple slices or red seedless grapes.

Or, what goes with empanadas if they have a lighter filling, such as beans and cheese, would be a heartier salad or veggie and fruit. Try Ranch Pasta and Potato Salad and a slice of watermelon or Apple-Walnut Salad and fresh, raw pea pods.

Or use up what you have in the fridge! Toss leftover cooked veggies with salad greens and your favorite dressing and croutons. Or make a salad out of the fruit you have on hand, such as cantaloupe, grape and strawberry halves.

Sumptuous Sauces: If you’ve got sauce lovers in your family, serve up an easy sauce to drizzle or dunk bites of the empanadas in. Try salsa, sour cream, enchilada sauce, or even spicy red pepper sauce, if you like spice!

How to Store and Reheat Empanadas

Portable, hand-held and such a yummy meal idea, use these helpful tips for storing and reheating our delicious beef empanadas:

How to Refrigerate Empanadas: For the best texture, make and bake empanadas at one time. If you like, you can cover and refrigerate the unbaked empanadas up to 2 hours before baking. (Brush with the beaten egg just before baking.) Or you can prepare the filling portion only of the recipe as directed in Step 2, cooling it before spooning it into a resealable food storage bag or food storage container. It can be refrigerated 3 to 4 days before making the empanadas.

Can You Freeze Empanadas? If empanadas are frozen unbaked, they may not have the same flaky texture as they would if freshly made. For that reason, we suggest only freezing baked empanadas. Wrap them individually with foil and freeze up to 2 months. Or, if you made the filling only (as directed above), you can freeze it up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before continuing as directed in Step 3 of the recipe.

How to Reheat Empanadas: Refrigerated unbaked empanadas can be baked as directed in Steps 4 and 5, adding an additional 5 minutes of bake time to account for the cold empanadas. Frozen baked empanadas can be reheated one at a time on those days when someone needs a quick meal. Unwrap the frozen empanada and place it on a microwavable plate. Cover loosely and microwave on medium-high (70%) 2 to 3 minutes, or until filling reaches at least 165°F.

Explore Other Empanada Recipes

Once you know how to make homemade empanadas with Pillsbury™ dough (and how much your family adores to eat them), try some of our other favorite empanada recipes:

Delectable Dinner Empanadas: Beef, Potato and Chorizo Empanadas are a wonderful variation and perfect for the hungriest crowd. Looking for a meatless option? Try Black Bean and Cheese Empanadas next.

Scrumptious Appetizer or Snack Empanadas: Looking for a unique appetizer to bring to a party? Our Mini Picadillo Empanadas will be the perfect 2-or 3-bite choice!

Can’t get enough Mexican-inspired dinners? Check out these other south-of-the border favorites.