Chorizo Empanadas ( Empanadas de Chorizo )

Adding cream cheese to empanada dough allows elasticity and produces tender and flaky results. These empanadas are baked rather than fried and this Argentinian specialty takes a Tex-Mex spin with a filling of chorizo, cheese, and roasted chile peppers.

Course Appetizer Recipes

Cuisine Southwestern Mexican

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 20

Resting Time 30

Total Time 1 50

Servings empanadas

Calories 176kcal

Author Lea Ann Brown

Ingredients

For the empanada dough
8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
½ cup unsalted butter cut into cubes. Keep the butter cold until ready to use.
1-½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
For the empanada filling:
1 pound Mexican chorizo bulk, or removed from casings
½ cup cheddar cheese grated
¼ cup black olives pitted and chopped
1 clove garlic minced
4 roasted green chile peppers seeds, skin and stems removed, diced. Or 1 4 ounce can chopped Hatch chile peppers
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon Mexican Oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
For the empanada dough: In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, flour, butter and salt. Using a pastry blender, Mix all ingredients until a shaggy mass stage is reached. Press the dough into a ball, wrap in saran wrap and chill 30+ minutes. (or overnight)
For the empanada filling: Brown chorizo and remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredients and stir until well mixed.
Using a rolling pin and a floured surface, roll empanada dough very thin, ⅛ inch thick. Use a ruler to measure.
Cut the dough into circles. Use a mini-tart pan, or a bowl with a thin rim to cut into circles. Once circles are cut, gather the excess dough and roll into another ball. Roll out again and make more circles.
Add a spoonful of filling and crimp closed using the back of a fork. Place the sealed empanadas on a baking sheet as you complete them.
In a small bowl, combine 1 egg with 2 tablespoons of milk. Whisk together using a fork Brush each empanada with the egg wash.
Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

Notes

Dipping sauce for empanadas: Serve with either Tomato Salsa or Roasted Hatch Chile Sauce.

Protein: Use ground beef, ground chicken or turkey in place of the chorizo. If using a lean protein, you'll need to add a splash of oil to the pan before frying.

Make Ahead: it's actually a benefit for both the dough and the filling. Refrigerating the dough overnight will allow the dough to relax and lose its stretchiness. The filling will also be less runny and will be easier to manage when filling the empanadas.

Empanadas can be frozen.

If reheating frozen empanadas, let them thaw and then heat them on low on a sheet pan at 200 degrees until they're nice and warm. Watch them carefully, you don't want to cook them again, just warm them up. Using a microwave will compromise the flaky crispy texture of the baked empanada dough.

Depending of the size of the empanadas, this will make 15 - 20 empanadas.

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