I remember these as a kid. My mother used to make them but they were filled with spicy linquicia, onion, egg and cheese. Sometimes she even tossed in a wee bit of potato. My Father is Full Blooded Portuguese so this was treat in our household. Mmmm. Try it with fruit (and yes, its much better than the Taco Bell version).

I've been wanting to give empanadas a try for a while now - yours look delicious! Thanks for the great recipe.

Empanadas can be great. I've been thinking about what I want to make when I'm at my mother's for a week at Christmas as she rarely cooks. This might be a fun one to try, thanks!

I know this is heresy, but this recipe makes me want to reach into my freezer and pull out a package of discos! They are pre-made rounds of dough that are great for quick empanadas, and as I'm not a good dough maker, using discos lets me focus on creating wonderful fillings, often from bits of this and that in the refrigerator. For the pork in your recipe, I'll substitute ground turkey, too.

These look great! I love a good turnover of any kind! I've never had curry before (strange, I know!), so this may be a good way for me to "test the water"

Wow - i never knew you used cream cheese in the pastry! Very curious to see how the pastry turns out - may have to come visit you for dinner!

They sound really wonderful. How about if I come for dinner the same night Jaden does?

Those look absolutely delicious. Curried pork sounds great. I love curry. This is a recipe that I will have to try.

These empanadas looks fantastic. I'm having a party in two week and know that my guests will love them. I'll make them ahead and then cook just before guests arrive.

ARe these freezer friendly...I would totally love to make a whole batch and freeze for later.

According to online sources, yes, you can freeze empanadas. Wrap them first in plastic wrap or foil. ~Elise

The cream cheese pastry sounds devastating, I need to try these.

I make a good cornish pasty filled with diced beef, onion, potatoes or turnip. You just reminded me I haven't made these in a long time and they are so good!

Can I come over with Jaden and Kalyn? These look amazing. Though not the healthiest of dough, I think I'm willing to eat 5 of these anyway.

I made empanadas once to have on hand for lunches. I made them big, so I don't know if you can call them empanadas at that point, but they froze well and worked great for lunch. They don't have to just be party food! I'm bookmarking this recipe to try. Sounds great! (I love anything curry.)

Julie said "Do you have any ideas for what other things I could have to serve them? I like the idea of a variety of small savory items, but I draw a blank when it comes to compiling a list of those savory items."

Have you tried googling "savory appetizers"? I know it sounds too easy to work, but it might be a good starting point to get some ideas. Also, since this recipe makes a lot of empanadas, try cutting this filling recipe in half, and then making a different kind of filling (maybe a spicy chicken?) for the other half of the batch of dough. Try picking one "theme" (mexican, indian, whatever) or one key ingredient for all of your appetizers, so that they all tie together...it'll seem more organized that way.

It can be nerve wracking having your husbands boss and co-workers over...good luck! ;)

Oooh! I always make empanadas with frozen Goya Discos (not the ones with food coloring, though, they don't brown properly) but I'm very curious about the cream cheese pastry!

My standard empanada filling is sweet potato, onions, red peppers, chicken sausage, cilantro and Lizano Sauce which has such a special can't-figure-it-out flavor.

I'll totally try this! I love the idea of the pork with raisins!

For those that are dough challenged and want something really quick egg roll wrappers are a quick way to make a light wrapper very quickly.
It certainly won't be as rich as the recipe.
Also a question.
In my family we are struggling with allergies to eggs. Could you use water to seal the edges of your empanadas?

You could try it. In that case I would also first fold over the edges of the pastry before crimping. ~Elise

Here's my go-to empanada recipe. It's a beef version, with a different dough than yours. I've incorporated your browning method, though, as I have used it in other of your recipes and it works like a charm!

Dough:
1 cup water
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp salt
a pinch of paprika

Filling:
1 lb. ground beef

2 tbsp olive oil
1 smallish yellow onion, diced
1 smallish red bell pepper, de-seeded and diced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin
1/3 cup golden raisins
handful of arbequina (or other spanish green olives), pitted and sliced
4 scallions, cleaned, trimmed and chopped

Dough:
Heat water and butter together over low heat until butter is fully melted and warm but not hot. While butter is warming, mix flour, salt, and paprika together in a large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour a bit of the warm liquid into the center and use your fingers to work in some of the flour. Continue adding liquid and then working in flour, in batched, until it's thoroughly combine and you have a wet, shiny dough. Wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours. (It can be left overnight if tightly wrapped.)

Filling:
1) Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over med-high heat. Sprinkle pan with salt. When hot, put in the ground beef, broken up into small pieces in the pan in a single layer, being careful not to crowd the pan. Cook about 3 minutes, until browned on one side, then turn and cook about 3 more minutes, or until browned on the other. Remove beef and set aside. Return pan to burner and reduce heat to medium.

2) Add 2 tbsp olive oil to pan, along with onions, red bell pepper, paprika, crushed red pepper, and cumin. Stir, and cook until onions have softened, about 6-8 minutes.

3) Add beef back into the pan and mix thoroughly, 1-2 mins. Remove from heat to a bowl to cool.

4) Once filling is cool, add in raisins, olives, and scallions, and mix thoroughly. Add salt, and any other spices to taste.

Assembly:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pull off pieces of dough and form into golf-ball size balls. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll dough into 4-inch rounds. Put a few tbsps of dough in the center of each round, then fold dough over to form a half-moon shape. Use your fingers to sort of twist the dough into a rope-like shape to seal. You can also use a fork to crimp and seal the edges. Not quite as pretty, but it does the job just fine! You can use a couple of drops of water to help seal if needed, but I have never needed to do this, as this dough tends to be sticky enough on its own. Place empanadas on a baking sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crisp on the outside. Makes about 12 empanadas.

They store well in the fridge. Just re-heat at 350 for 10 mins or so. I imagine they'd freeze well, too, but we never have enough leftovers to test that theory!

I am so not waiting for a party to make these. I use to live outside Phili where a bakery make these on Saturdays. I was skinny then and enjoyed a few every weekend. Thanks for the recipe and the memories.

There's a girl at work who makes her Costa Rican mother's recipe for every potluck we have at work. We just pressure her until she gives in and says she'll make them. Too delicious! There's never any left over.

This curried version sounds interesting. The version she makes typically has ground beef, peppers (including both sweet and hot varieties), and cream cheese. I always sneak some early in the morning before the potluck even begins. Thanks for the recipe. I'm going send her a link to this version and maybe she can make them next time. Is that wrong? :)

Yum. Brings back memories of before I was vegetarian. Actually these could probably be modified by replacing the pork with some kind of ground meat soy substitute, now that I think of it.

This is my family's recipe for empenadas:
Filling:
1 lb ground chuck or steaks cut into small cubes
1 yellow onion small dice
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp chile powder
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 chopped tomato small dice
3 large potatoes small dice
1 can whole black olives cut in half
salt and white pepper to taste
1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Dough:
basic shortening dough (bad i know!)
2 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter flavored shortening
5 tbsp ice water

Brown meat, add onions and cook till translucent, add seasonings tomato sauce and veggies along with a can (8oz) water or beef broth. Simmer until the liquid is mostly absorbed and the potatoes are tender.

Let cool and fill dough with about 2 heaping tablespoons full and pan fry or bake (350 15 mins).

Serve with fresh salsa and sour cream.

I made these tonight using light cream cheese and they were flakey and delicious. You should publish a book! Everything I have made from this site has made it into my regular rotation. Thanks for teaching me so much about food!

We have made these in my family for generations, we also call them meat pies. I often wondered how they made it into our family as we live in Louisiana and are African American / La Creole, but my mom and grandmere always said their mother made them and they didn't know. But now after reading what buki wrote, I think it may have came from our African roots. A good tip is to use a marble roller for rolling the dough and if you have one a marble slab. Fortunately I have a slab that has been passed down three generations and it stays cool all the time so it keeps the dough cool. On the fillings we use all sorts of things, including shrimp, boudin, andoullie sausage, etc. But my favorite is ground lamb with curry powder and served with mint jelly for dipping. Oh that is another thing, we always serve them with something for dipping like melted cheese, hot sauce mixed with melted butter, sour cream, etc. depending on the filling. I love all of your family recipes, I'm going to try some this weekend. Thanks for taking the time to do this, it has inspired me to start documenting my family recipes, right now they are just in our heads.

Awesome, awesome awesome. Everyone gobbled these up (I'm still munching on them!) I am not much of a cook and your site has so inspired me. I have tried 3 dishes so far and each one has been incredible. I am some what torn between telling everyone I know about you and keeping your site all to myself so everyone thinks I can finally cook. ;)

I wish I'd paid more attention to my late Mother in-law Dorothy's recipe for her empanadas, but I never thought I'd want to cook with tongue! LOL Does anyone have a recipe that is closer to mincemeat version? I know she used ground pork and beef, beef tongue, and I think sometimes kidney. It had raisins in it and I think I remember tasting cinnamon too. Please give details how to cook the tongue meat, as I've never cooked it before.

For a lighter crust it works well to use tortilla/sopapilla dough. That's what Dorothy used and it was great!