Meatless Dominican "Beef" Empanadas
These "beef" empanadas are so flavorful, you'll forget they don't actually have any meat inside! A simple homemade crust, a few seasonings and a lot of love are all you need to make crispy, flaky, delicious "beef" empanadas. Vegan/Vegetarian.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed (sub vegan butter if desired)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup ice cold water
- salt
Filling
- 1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 (12 oz) package ground "beef" crumbles (I used this
one ) - 2 tbsp recaito
- 2 tbsp sofrito
- 1 tsp habanero sauce
- 1 tbsp canola oil, plus more for frying
- 1 egg optional
Instructions
Crust
- To make the crust, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times to combine.
- Next, add cold cubed butter to the food processor. Pulse until flour and butter combine to form large grains of sand. Add olive oil and ice cold water and pulse until dough begins to form into a ball, about 8-10 pulses. Start with about 3 tbsp of ice cold water, and add more as needed. The dough should be relatively firm and not too sticky.
- Shape dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can also prepare the dough the day before and refrigerate overnight.
Filling
- NOTE: As you prepare the filling, heat 1 qt of canola oil in a large saute pan or dutch oven. Keep the heat on low to allow the oil to heat evenly. The oil will take about 10 minutes to heat properly. I hover my hand over the pot to test the oil (sorry, it's not very scientific but it works!). You'll know the oil is ready when it bubbles after you put in an empanada.
- To prepare the filling, heat 1tbsp of oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add ground "beef" (or real beef if you prefer!) and cook until heated through, approximately 5 minutes. Add recaito, sofrito, and habanero sauce. Cook for another minute. Beef should be juicy. Remove from stove.NOTE: because the meat I was using did not release any juices, I needed to add about 2 tbsp of water.
Assembly
- Remove empanada dough from the refrigerator. Cut dough in half, then cut each half into 4 pieces, for a total of 8 pieces of dough. Roll each dough out into a 6-7 in disc.
- Scoop a generous amount of the filling (about 1/4 cup) into the middle of the dough, being careful to drain any excess liquid from the meat. Fold the dough over the meat and seal the edges by pleating the dough, or by crimping with a fork.
- Beat one egg and brush egg wash onto each empanada. This step is optional but will give the empanadas their bubbly exterior.
- Fry empanadas in hot oil for approximately 2 minutes per side, flipping once. Remove from oil and place on a towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Serve immediately.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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