How to make empanada dough for baking
This my easy recipe for making empanada dough for baking, it step-by-step photos and video. You can make the dough by hand or using a food processor (or a stand mixer).
Making homemade empanada dough is not as hard as you might think, especially if you have a food processor. And even if you don’t have one, it is still pretty easy to make by hand because the dough doesn’t need be overworked, and requires minimal kneading.
Empanadas, also known as turnovers or hand pies, are one of my favorite foods. They’re so versatile and can be made with an infinite number of delicious fillings – you can be as creative as you want with empanada fillings. Empanadas are also the perfect way to use leftovers, especially when a) you don’t enough for a full meal of leftovers and b) you want something different.
Video Recipe
Other empanada dough recipes:
How to make empanada dough for frying
Recipe for sweet empanada dough (for dessert empanadas)
If you want more empanada recipes, you can also check out my All about Empanadas: The Empanada 101 Guide
Store bought empanada discs vs homemade empanada dough
These days it is very easy to find the empanada discs already made (frozen) in Latin grocery stores, and even though I was skeptical at first, they are actually quite good. However, homemade always taste better and fresher.
Another benefit of making homemade empanada dough for baking is that you can customize the dough by adding spices or herbs that will add flavor and complement or contrast with the fillings. You can also make a large batch of homemade empanada dough, roll it out and cut it into discs, then freeze the discs (separate with wax paper) for later use.
How to make empanada dough for baking
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ to 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 oz unsalted butter (1 stick of butter = 4 oz)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of water or milk adjust as needed to obtain a soft and smooth dough
Instructions
Making homemade empanada dough:
- Mix the flour and salt in a food processor.
- Add the butter and pulse
- Add the egg and the water or milk (in small increments) and continue pulsing until a clumpy dough forms.
- To make the empanada dough by hand, follow the same instruction but use your hands to mix the ingredients together.
- Split the dough into 2 large ball, flatten slightly into the shape of disks. The dough can be used immediately or refrigerated until ready to use (1-2 days max).
- Roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut out round disc shapes for empanadas (use round molds or a small plate). You can also make small individual balls with the dough and roll out each individual ball to a round shape (doesn’t need to be perfectly round) – if you have a tortilla press you can use it to flatten the dough balls.
- Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator/freezer to use later.
Assembling and baking the empanadas:
- To assemble the empanadas or turnovers, place a spoonful of the filling on the middle of each empanada disc. The amount of filling will vary based on the size of the empanada, but in general, it’s easier to seal an empanada that isn’t overstuffed. Also, the more you make empanadas, the easier it becomes to stuff them to the max and still seal them properly.
- To seal the empanadas, fold the disc and seal the edges by pressing the dough with your fingers. If you’re having a hard time sealing the edges, you can use brush the inside edges with egg white, it will act as a glue for the empanadas. You can also use a fork to help seal the edges, just press the top of the fork against the edges. To the repulgue or churito, the curl type seal, use your fingers to twist the curl the edges. There are also empanada molds that you can buy and will help seal the empanadas.
- For best results, I recommend refrigerating for at least 30 minutes the empanadas before baking – this also helps them seal better and prevents the filling from leaking out.
- If you want your empanadas to have a nice golden finish, then you can brush them with egg wash (a whole egg whisked or egg yolk plus a few drops of water whisked).
- Bake the empanadas in a pre-heated oven. I usually bake them at 375F-400F, the temperature will vary based on the oven and the size of the empanadas. I bake the smaller sized empanadas at 375F. The baking time also varies (again based on the oven and size), but it’s in the range of 18-25 minutes – the empanadas will be ready once they are golden.
Video
Step by step photos of how to make homemade empanada dough:
Empanada recipes (including fillings) that you might like:
Can we freeze them raw and bake when we need?
Or, would we need to bake them and then freeze them?
Either option will work. If freezing them raw just make sure the filling is fulling cooked (if using a meat filling) and also bake them from frozen (do not defrost before baking).
The dough was perfect so easy to use and I will be making this recipe for a long time
This is the best empanada dough I’ve ever tried!! EVER! And we have tried many in our household (husband is Puerto Rican). We love empanadas but the fried food of the region can just be way too heavy and greasy. This is a flawless recipe. I used milk. The recipe yielded 15 empanadas for me. Family loved them, even the pickiest eater in our family ate two! Thank you SO much Layla for sharing this recipe. It is my new go-to, after endless YouTube video watching and googling recipes, the search is over. Look no further.
Your recipe calls for less ingredients, is easier to work, and has better flavor than the recipe I’ve been using for years. This is the first time I’ve been happy with how the dough turned out. Thank you! I’ll definitely be switching to this recipe from now on.
So this was my first time making empanadas. I was on a different site and had made up all the filling – went to roll out the dough from that site and it was terrible, like wet but dry and falling apart at the same time? I don’t know how that happened. I googled a second recipe to save the dough, and yours came up Laylita! So great! This dough was so easy to work with and delicious. Thanks for saving my first attempt at these!!
Thank you for the feedback, I’m so glad you were able to save your empanadas!
Hi, was wondering if I can use a mixer instead of a food processor? I only have a small food processor and I wanted to make alot.
Yes, I’ve made it using my Kitchen Aid standing mixer and it works fine using the dough hook.
How long can you keep the disc frozen for? And what is the best way to freeze once they are in between wax paper
I keep them frozen for up 2-3 months, I wrap them in plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer bag. It’s easier to freeze them already shaped and filled (freeze them on wax paper on a tray, then transfer to freezer bags once fully frozen), then you can just bake them directly.
In your video to make the meat for the empanadas, you add garlic and achiote but I don’t see any written recipe anywhere with those exact measurements. Please advise, thank you.
Hi Thuy – The beef filling recipe is here: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/beef-empanadas/