Making empanada dough correctly is the hardest part about the whole process of putting together the perfect empanada. I spent some long hours trying to get the dough just right; looking at every recipe on the internet I could find, and then some. I tried recipes with yeast, baking powder, corn flour, butter, shortening, spices, eggs, etc. None of them turned out the way I wanted. To save you time, I have put together a list of empanada mistakes so you can read them without actually experiencing the same problems I had.

Then, it just so happened that I spent some time with an Argentinean chef at one of the beaches here in Costa Rica that we know. I don’t know why I didn’t call him first without bothering with internet recipes. Once I talked to him about my recipe woes, my whole empanada world changed. If anyone knows about preparing those little pockets of heaven, it’s an Argentinian.

He explained a few things to me. First, depending on whether you’re going to bake or fry them, you need to prepare them differently. Fried dough should use solid shortening while baked dough uses butter. If you use butter in a fried dough recipe, you’ll most likely end up with it opening in the hot oil and making a crumbly mess. Shortening works okay in a baked dough, but it changes the consistency of the dough once it’s cooked so it’s best to stick to the rule of cold butter for baked and shortening for the fried variety.

The next key to the baked version of empanada dough is to keep all ingredients ice cold. So, use all purpose flour that has been kept in the freezer, butter that is fresh out of the fridge and ice water to mix. After it’s all mixed it’s crucial to keep the dough in the fridge for at least three hours before using it. This insures that the dough is the right texture and doesn’t become too elastic to work with.

Once you master the empanada dough recipe, you’ll want to explore the filling options for your taste. We have chicken empanada filling recipes, beef empanada filling recipes, pork empanada filling recipes, fish and seafood empanada filling recipes and vegetarian empanada filling recipes.

Here are the two no-fail recipes I use to get the restaurant-quality empanadas you can find at Argentinian steakhouses.

Contents

Baked Empanada Dough Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 Cups of Flour
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 1-3 Tbsp dried herbs and/or (non-salted) spices as desired
  • 1/2 Cup cold butter
  • 3/4 Cup ice water

Directions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. In a medium-sized bowl mix flour, salt and 1-3 tablespoons of herbs/spices to taste.
  2. Cut the butter into small squares and place in bowl with flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter until you have a cornmeal texture. If needed break up large pieces of butter with your hands, but don’t bring up the overall temperature of the mix.
  3. The mixture should be slightly lumpy and look like a coarse cornmeal with the butter well incorporated.
  4. Slowly incorporate 3/4 cup of ice water, adding a little at at time until a dough ball forms. The dough should not be sticky and should be kneaded about 10 times. If needed, add more flour or water to reach the appropriate consistency.
  5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or at least 3 hours).
  6. When you assemble and are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden, but not brown on the underside or the edges.

Fried Empanada Dough Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 Cups of Flour
  • 1 Tbsp Salt
  • 1-3 Tbsp dried herbs and/or (non-salted) spices as desired
  • 1/2 Cup room temperature solid shortening
  • 3/4 Cup luke warm water

Directions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. In a medium-sized bowl mix flour, salt and 1-3 tablespoons of herbs/spices to taste.
  2. Cut the shortening into small squares and place in bowl with flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, cut in shortening until you have a cornmeal texture. If needed, break up large pieces of shortening with your hands.
  3. The mixture should be slightly lumpy and look like a coarse cornmeal with the shortening well incorporated.
  4. Slowly incorporate 3/4 cup of water, adding a little at at time until a dough ball forms. The dough should not be sticky and should be kneaded about 10 times. If needed, add more flour or water to reach the appropriate consistency.
  5. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before using.