Empanadas stuffed with Portuguese chorizo, ground beef, spices and a creamy lemony sauce ; then baked until golden brown.
Have you ever tried an empanada? My friend Johanna makes the traditional kind and they are AMAZING! I never did get her recipe, but decided I'd try to make a Portuguese version myself.
What is an Empanada?
An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover, usually filled with meat wrapped in pastry. It's basically a meat pie and is commonly found in Latin America countries.
Most of the time empanadas are fried, but I try to eliminate extra fat and calories as much as possible so I decided to bake these and they came out SO GOOD!
Our family loves Portuguese chorizo; mainly because my father in law's family immigrated from the Azores. We don't eat it very often, but I do like to experiment with new ways to use it.
I've mentioned before that we purchase our chorizo online at a store in Fall River, MA where his family resided for years before some moving to NJ. It's better than anything we've found locally and freezes well too.
What do you need to make Portuguese Empanadas?
For this recipe you'll need pie crust, Portuguese chorizo, ground beef, EVOO, onion, garlic, bay leaf, flour, tomatoes, butter, milk, parsley, lemon juice, nutmeg and cream cheese.
To save some time I used refrigerated pie crusts, but you can make your own dough by following this recipe I found from Epicurious. First you want to cook the meat mixture.
Start by heating some EVOO in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the diced chorizo, ground beef, onions, garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside while you make the sauce mixture.
How do you make the filling?
To make the sauce, melt some butter in a small pot over medium high heat; then add flour to form a roux. Next, add milk, parsley, lemon juice, ground nutmeg and cream cheese. Whisk until the cheese is melted and the sauce is silky; then add the meat mixture and mix well.
You can prepare this mixture the day before; then refrigerate until ready to make your empanadas.
Now it's time to make the empanadas. Start by bringing your pie crust to room temperature and preheating the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray some cooking spray on two sheet pans; then make a space to roll out the dough and fill the patties.
Working with one dough at a time, roll out the dough with a rolling pin so that it's flat. Using a 3 Ā½-inch cookie/biscuit cutter, cut out circles. You will have to re-roll out the dough to cut more circles out per dough sheet and will have a little waste.
I used a total of three refrigerated pie crusts and got 36 circles for the empanadas.
How do you fill the Empanadas?
Take some of the filling and add a dollop of the filling with a small spoon on top of the dough circle. Fold the dough in half; then pinch the ends with your fingers to seal the dough and place on the baking sheet. They won't spread when cooking so you can place them close together.
Repeat for all empanadas; then make an egg wash by mixing an egg with water and brush it on top of the empanadas. Bake the empanadas for 10-12 minutes until the dough is cooked and golden brown; serve hot.
My family couldn't get enough of these Portuguese Empanadas! They would make the perfect appetizer or snack and were so rich and flavorful that you don't even need any dipping sauce to go with it. ~Enjoy!
VISIT THE RECIPE INDEX TO SEARCH FOR MORE RECIPES BY CATEGORY.
Portuguese Empanadas
Ingredients
- 3 Refrigerated Pie Crusts
- 4 ounces Portuguese Chourico small dice
- 8 ounces Extra Lean Ground Beef
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Roma Tomato, small dice
- 1 tablespoon Diced Onion,
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Ā½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Ā¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 2 tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Parsley
- ā teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- 1 ounce Cream Cheese
- Cooking Spray
- 1 large Egg (for egg wash)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the chorizo, ground beef, onions, garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Remove the pan from the heat, discard the bay leaf and set aside while you make the sauce mixture.Ā Ā
- Melt the butter in a small pot over medium high heat; then add flour to form a roux. Next, add milk, parsley, lemon juice, ground nutmeg and cream cheese. Whisk until the cheese is melted and the sauce is silky; then add the meat mixture and mix well.(You can prepare this mixture the day before; then refrigerate until ready to make your empanadas.)
- Start by bringing your pie crust to room temperature and preheating the oven to 375 degrees F.Ā Spray some cooking spray on two sheet pans; then make a space to roll out the dough and fill the patties.
- Working with one dough at a time, roll out the dough with a rolling pin so that it's flat. Using a 3 Ā½-inch cookie/biscuit cutter, cut out circles. (You will have to re-roll out the dough to cut more circles out per dough sheet and will have a little waste.)Ā
- Using a small spoon, add a dollop of the meat mixture on top of the dough circle. Fold the dough in half; then pinch the ends to seal the dough and place on the baking sheet. (They won't spread when cooking so you can place them close together.)
- Repeat for all empanadas; then make an egg wash by mixing the egg with a little water and brush it on top of the empanadas.Ā Bake the empanadas for 10-12 minutes until the dough is cooked and golden brown; serve hot
Nutrition
Sign up for my Weekly Newsletter and receive a FREE eBook!
Related Recipes
Portuguese Chorizo and Potatoes
Shop Related Products
Kitchen Warriors says
Yummy!
Kayestes says
I am excited to make these. Can they be frozen after they are cooked as we only have the two of us most of the time. Always happy to try out a new Portuguese recipe with memories of my mom.
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
Yes they can be frozen before cooking. Enjoy!
Vicky L Fougere says
I'm going to try these today. I'll let you know!