Empanadillas (fried Puerto Rican turnovers)
These Puerto Rican Empanadillas are made with fried buttery pie dough stuffed with seasoned ground beef, peppers and olives.
Many Puerto Rican recipes use the classic Picadillo filling we’re making today, like these Alcapurrias I’m sure you’ll love if you enjoy these Empanadillas. Also be sure to try these beef & cheese empanadas.
Even with all of its beauty and splendor, my fondest memories about Puerto Rico all revolve around food.
Whether it was stopping at a roadside shop to see a coconut freshly plucked from a tree, chopped open with a machete, and handed over with a straw or visiting a local panaderia (bakery), it was always an unforgettable experience.
The bakeries were usually full of amazingly decadent sweets, but I was always pulled to the savory section.
And that’s where I discovered empanadillas.
Empanadillas are a lovely blend of buttery, flaky pie dough stuffed with the most delicious ground beef seasoned with traditional Puerto Rican spices, tomato, sofrito and olives. These savory hand pies are then lightly fried until golden brown and crisp around the edges.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these:
For the dough (skip if using store bought):
- Flour
- Salt
- Butter
- Egg yolks
- Water
OR your favorite premade pie dough!
For the filling (picadillo):
- olive oil
- yellow onion, diced
- red bell pepper, diced
- sofrito
- ground beef (lean)
- sazon seasoning
- adobo seasoning
- bay leafs
- tomato sauce
- pimento stuffed olives, sliced in half
- water
- salt to taste
- cilantro to garnish
Featured Review
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I cooked it tonight and it was absolutely delicious! I swapped the ground beef for ground chicken and it blended so well with the flavors. This will definitely become a staple in my house!
Jennifer
How to Make Empanadillas
Empanadas vs. empanadillas vs. pastelillos
If you’re scratching your head trying to figure out the difference between these three… you’re not alone.
I’ve heard this popular treat being called by the name empanadas, empanadillas and pastelillos.
Originally I thought the difference was a simple change in cooking method (I thought empanadas were baked and empanadillas were fried).
Now I’m pretty certain that they are all names for the same treat.
Depending on what area you grew up or which neighborhood your family is from you may have one you grew up with.
Store bought vs. homemade dough
Let me start by saying I 100% support using store bought dough for this recipe.
Obviously freshly made pie dough is a special experience in itself and will certainly add some love to this recipe, but in a pinch I will absolutely buy a premade pie dough and cut out discs, or use this premade empanada dough if I can find it at the store.
So whether you’ve can’t find the time to make your dough from scratch or you really couldn’t care less about how it happens, know that store bought will result in equally delicious empanadillas.
More Empanada Recipes:
If you enjoy this recipe, you should also try these apple pie empanadas!
Buen Provecho,
Salima
Empanadillas (fried Puerto Rican turnovers)
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 10–12 empanadillas 1x
- Category: Dinner, Lunch
- Method: Fried
- Cuisine: Puerto Rican, Latin
Ingredients
For the empanadilla dough (if making from scratch):
-
2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
-
¼ cup melted butter
- 2 egg yolks
-
½ cup water
For the Picadillo filling:
-
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- ⅓ cup sofrito
- 1 lb ground beef (lean)
- 1 tsp sazon seasoning
- 1 tsp adobo seasoning
- 3 bay leafs
- 1 (15oz) can of tomato sauce
- ⅓ cup pimento stuffed olives, sliced in half
- ¼ cup water
- salt to taste
-
½ cup vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
-
Make the pie dough (skip to step 2 if using store-bought dough.) Start by combining all ingredients in a bowl and mixing well until a ball begins to form. Knead on a flour dusted surface until no longer sticky and chill for 30 minutes while you make the filling.
-
Make the Picadillo filling. Start with oil, onions, and peppers in a pan over medium heat. Once onions become translucent, add sofrito and sauté another minute before adding ground beef. Break the ground beef into smaller pieces as it cooks. Add sazon, adobo, bay leaves, tomato sauce, olives, and water. Bring it to a boil before simmering with a lid partially on, for 10 minutes or until the beef is fully cooked.
-
Prep the dough. Dust a clean surface with flour, divide the dough into small balls and roll the balls out into circular discs. Spoon picadillo over half of each disc, fold the empty dough over top and pinch together with a fork.
-
Fry. Heat oil to around 350 degrees before frying empanadas on each side for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on the edges. Enjoy!
I found that high heat frying was continuing cooking the dough after placing the empanadillas ro cool down
so I cook them on med to high, look for the edges to brown, turn the over and when golden color, get them out and place them on a paper towel covered plate.
Also, for a surprising little sweet taste, I add previously soaked raisins to the filling.
Either way, a great treat
Perfect recipe!
Just want to add that my grandma used to say that pastelillos dough are based on the spanish empanadas which uses corn oil instead of lard. They are more thin and turn yellowish. Empanadilla uses lard and the dough is thicker
Mine is falling apart when Rolling it out, do you know what causes this
Hi Arielle, I’m sorry to hear your dough was falling apart. This usually means you need to add more water and keep working the dough. I hope this helps!
I’m married to a Puerto Rican woman who uses eggs in the dough recipe. You mention them, but don’t include them in the recipe instructions.
Thank you for that heads up Bruce! I added them into the ingredient list – you will need 2 egg yolks for this recipe.
I’ve made these many times and loved them! Made them again tonight but felt like I was going crazy—never remembered using egg yolks or melting the butter before…the resulting dough tonight wasn’t as flaky or buttery as I recalled. I also had very little dough for the amount of filling made. Couldn’t imagine why it was so different. Then I noticed that the recipe was recently updated—what was the old dough recipe? Thanks!
Hi Sarah and thanks for your comment! The recipe was retested and revised based on some reader feedback.
Here is the old dough recipe:
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup cold salted butter
½ cup ice water
Directions:
Make the pie dough. Start by pulsing the flour and butter together in a food processor until the butter forms pea sides pieces. Slowly pulse in the water, a few tablespoons at a time until a ball of dough is formed. Chill for at least 2 hours.
Dust a clean surface with flour and roll dough out to about ¼ inch thickness and cut out circular discs using a large cookie cutter or small bowl.
Tried and enjoyed it but I cook in oven at 350 for 20 minutes.
I made this for a school project and it was very easy to bake and prepare, the only thing I would keep in mind is that I live in a MUCH dryer climate than Puerto Rico and should consider altitude.
Very tasty
very good and difficult makre
Have you tried air frying these? Just wondering if they’d turn out just as good if not trying them in oil.
I have not but I think air frying them at 350°F for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and flakey on the outside should do the trick!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I cooked it tonight and it was absolutely delicious! I swapped the ground beef for ground chicken and it blended so well with the flavors. This will definitely become a staple in my house!
Thanks again! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I only used a 1/4 c tomato sauce as I was trying to emulate my grandmother’s which I never learned. I also used plant based meat as I’m vegetarian. Put them in the air fryer for 6 minutes each side at 350 after coating with egg wash on both sides. Still need to play around with the flavor but was very happy with this as a base so I’m grateful for your share!
I am so excited to try to make these. Is there any particular veggie meat substitute you would suggest? Or maybe a lentil or vegetable filling that is vegetarian or vegan friendly.
Thank you.
I am so happy I decided to subscribe to your program, am enjoying all the posts so far and have already made and gifted the Sazon.
Julie
Hi Julie, I haven’t experimented with many savory vegetarian options yet, but if you’re looking for some sweet vegetarian options I recommend my apple empanadas or guava cheese empanadas! I think lentils or some blend of beans, corn, and peppers (maybe seasoned with sazon) would be really delicious. I hope this helps!