Classic fried beef empanadas
The Argentine way: a short pastry made with lard, a filling of beef and onion cooked in more lard with cumin and paprika, egg and olives, crimped and deep-fried until blistered and golden. Shown here as the comparison for the baked rebuild.
Want a more filling version?Baked beef empanadas with salsa criolla 55- Time
- 75 min (45 prep + 30 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 1062 kcal
- Protein
- 39 g
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup lard, melted
- 2/3 cup warm water water
- 1 tsp salt
Filling
- 1 1/2 tbsp lard
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 lb 2 oz ground beef (85% lean)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 2 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
- 10 green olives, chopped
To fry
- about 1/2 cup absorbed canola oil, from about 1 litre (4 cups) in the pot; only what the empanadas absorb is counted
Steps
- Mix the flour and salt, pour in the melted lard and rub it through, then add the warm water and knead into a smooth, supple dough. Rest 30 minutes.
- Melt the lard in a pan and soften the onion and pepper for 8 minutes, then brown the beef until no pink remains (160°F). Season with the cumin, paprika, chilli, oregano and salt.
- Cool the filling completely, then stir in the green onion, egg and olives.
- Roll the dough thin and cut 12 rounds of 6 inch. Fill each with about 75 g of filling, fold and crimp the edges tightly.
- Heat the oil to 350°F and fry the empanadas a few at a time for 3–4 minutes a side, until blistered and golden. Drain on a rack and serve hot.
Good to know
How is the frying oil counted?
Only what the pastry absorbs, about a tenth of the empanadas' weight. The litre in the pot can be strained and used again.
Butter instead of lard?
It works and tastes a little sweeter. Lard is what gives Argentine pastry its short, flaky bite.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 301
- Protein
- (15%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (59%)
- 20 g
- Carbohydrates
- (26%)
- 20 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 351 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 4248 kcal goes into the pot and 1743 g of ingredients comes out as about 1410 g of food: 301 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.