Beef Empanadas

These Beef Empanadas (Empanadas de Res) are so tasty, hyper yummy and very simple to make.  Made with a corn masa dough and a savory beef filling.  Love, love empanadas!!

Beef Empanadas are so, so good!

It’s comfort Latin food at its best and a big staple food of Mexico, Puerto Rico and other Latin and Hispanic countries.

These here beef empanadas however, are Mexican inspired.

Think about making these for a small gathering of friends.  But know ahead of time, you will have

to double or triple this recipe because I promise you, your friends will not be able to just have one!

I make quite a few recipes with masa (corn flour dough), like these chicken sopes.

If it’s your first time making masa for Mexican empanadas, maybe the idea of making dough scares you a little.  Do not feel intimidated or hesitate about making this recipe, because I promise you, the masa is quite simple to make and quite easy to work with.

Not only are these homemade beef empanadas easy to make but even if they do not turn out perfectly shaped, they will still be delicious in the end.  Why?  Because although the masa is the star of this recipe, equally as important is the beef filling.  You cannot have one without the other!

Like anything we want to learn in life, it may take a little practice.  But I promise you, you won’t need much of it at all, as a matter of fact, I’m sure your fist batch will turn out perfectly delicious! 🙂

Even my empanadas for this recipe didn’t come out perfectly shaped and I’ve been making them forever. But you know, honestly, I believe it gives them character!

Easy Beef Empanada Recipe

Every time I make these empanadas, it’s like everyone remembers once again how much they love these and I find myself making a few batches for the next two weeks!

They’re just savory little meat pies begging you to eat them!

Thankfully with just a few steps I have myself an easy beef empanada recipe.

Storing and Freezing Beef Empanadas

One of the best things about these beef empanadas is once they are made you can freeze them for future yumminess.

You can store them cooked or uncooked.   Just wrap them individually in wax paper and then put them in a plastic container or ziploc bag.

So if you’re in the mood to make big batches one afternoon, do so and then freeze them.

You’ll then be ready for an afternoon snack or appetizer.  Great alternative.  Use that extra Saturday energy to make a big batch for future consumption!!

Sauce for Empanadas

Serve empanadas with any hot dipping sauce you like but I highly recommend a fresh homemade batch of salsa verde (green sauce).

Ok so let’s begin…..

Please Note:  The picture below of adding the empanada filling, shows you the picture of the ground beef I used in the Mexican Empanadas with Green Sauce recipe not the beef chuck I used for this recipe of beef empanadas.

How do you make empanadas with beef?

Follow masa recipe steps from recipe:

After mixing dough (masa) form into a size a little bigger than golf balls.

Get a large Ziploc bag and open sides so that you have two flaps. Place one ball on top of one side and cover with the other side of the plastic.

With a heavy pot or skillet press down to form a disc.

Add empanada filling (remember for this recipe I used beef chuck not the ground beef you see below)

Fold plastic flap over to connect with the other side of dough.  Seal by pressing down or pinching dough together with fingers.

Now remove the Ziploc cover and continue with the rest of the masa balls.

All done!

Now let’s fry these babies up!

Baked Empanadas

You can also, bake these in a 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Just make sure to seal empanada well using a fork or you stand the chance of having them open and leaking all the yumminess out during cooking.

For more delicious empanada recipes, try these:

Spicy Black Bean Empanadas

Mexican Empanadas with Green Sauce

Easy as Pie Chicken Empanada Recipe

Looking for a Vegetarian empanada recipe?  You may like this recipe by The Spruce Eats → Vegetarian Empanada.

📖 Recipe

Beef Empanadas

These Beef Empanadas (recipe) are so tasty, hyper yummy and very simple to make. Made with a corn masa dough and a savory beef filling. Serve with salsa verde, red guajillo sauce or simply hot sauce. Absolutely delicious!

4.58 from 19 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 274kcal

Author: Catherine Arena

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ½ Cups vegetable oil for frying

Dough (Masa)

• ▢ 2 Cups Maseca Corn Flour found in the Latin section of most supermarkets
• ▢ 1 ½ Cups water
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 Ziploc bag for forming empanadas

Red Sauce for Meat

• ▢ 6 Guajillo peppers stem and seeds removed
• ▢ 2 Arbol peppers stem and seeds removed
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves peeled
• ▢ 4 roma tomatoes
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin
• ▢ water

Beef

• ▢ 1 Pound beef chuck or sirloin
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves peeled
• ▢ 1 onion peeled and quartered

Instructions

Beef

• Cut beef into small 2 inch cubes. Cook over medium heat with 2 cups of water, onion and garlic cloves for 1 ½ hours or until tender.

Sauce

• While beef is cooking, place all chile peppers and tomatoes in a sauce pan with enough water to almost submerge (3 cups). Cook for 20 minutes over medium heat until softened.
• Remove peppers and tomatoes from sauce pan and place in a blender with garlic, cumin blend, salt and 1 cup of the water the peppers and tomatoes were cooked in. Blend until smooth.
• Finally strain sauce through a strainer to remove extra pepper skin and seeds. Press down with a spoon to get as much sauce as possible (could even add a little water through strainer to make it easier).
• Add sauce to the beef (can reserve a little to use for dipping once the empanadas are done). Once beef is cooked, shred beef with a fork if needed so its not in chunks.

Dough

• Mix corn flour, warm water and salt (optional) together in a bowl. Knead dough until smooth. Divide dough into 6 to 12 balls depending how big you want your empanadas to be. (form balls in between both hands).
• Cover with a damp cloth or paper towels so the dough doesn’t dry while you start to make the empanadas.

Forming Empanadas

• Take the Ziploc bag and open sides (with scissors or just pull apart with hands) so that you have two flaps (refer to pictures).
• Now place one ball in between the 2 pieces of plastic (could also use wax paper) and with a heavy pot, press down to form a round disc.
• Remove top wrap and spoon 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of the beef mixture to the center of it. Make sure to leave enough space to be able to seal the empanada. Fold over plastic to form a half moon. Press down on the edges.
• Remove empanada from plastic and set empanada aside on a tray. Cover with a damp cloth or paper towel. Repeat process with the other balls.

Frying Empanadas

• Add oil to a skillet and heat until hot. Fry empanadas until golden brown on both sides. (About 2 minutes on each side).
• Drain on paper towels. Serve warm with any hot sauce of your liking or serve with the optional sauces.  Enjoy!!

Nutrition

Serving: 6 | Calories: 274kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 539mg | Potassium: 562mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1315IU | Vitamin C: 8.9mg | Calcium: 92mg | Iron: 2.4mg

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Leave me your comments and let me know what’s your favorite beef empanada recipe or if this one is one you will be making anytime soon.