These spicy beef and cheese empanadas are stuffed with the most delicious filling, then fried to perfection. Enjoy these with your favorite hot sauce or on its own!
If you enjoyed these homemade empanadas then you’re going to love these because they’re so much easier to make! For this recipe, I used store-bought empanada dough and have 0 regrets.
Why I Love These Spicy Beef And Cheese Empanadas
- These are very economical and feed a large crowd!
- Extremely crispy, flavorful, cheesy, and a bit spicy.
- These are so versatile, you can use ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken.
- I used my grandmothers Cuban picadillo recipe but added chili powder and calabrian chili peppers to spice it up.
Ingredient Notes
Goya Empanada Discs – These can be found in the Hispanic refrigerated section of your local supermarket.
Cheese – I used mozzarella cheese but feel free to use any type of cheese such as cheddar, Colby jack, or provolone.
Calabrian Chili Peppers – Although not authentic in Cuban cuisine, I love it and add it to most dishes.
Sofrito – I used homemade but feel free to use store-bought instead.
Top Tips
- If you don’t want it spicy, omit the chili powder and Calabrian chili peppers.
- Want to sweeten it up a bit? Add raisins to the beef mixture, it’s so good!
- Not a fan of olives? Simply omit them or use capers instead.
- Feel free to omit the cooking wine if you don’t have it on hand.
- Make sure to let the beef cool before forming the empanadas otherwise, the dough can fall apart.
- Don’t overfill these, otherwise it will ooze out while it cooks.
- Have fun making these! Don’t get discouraged if they don’t look perfect.
Is It Better To Bake Or Fry Empanadas?
Although you can bake these, I highly recommend deep frying them if you want them to be super crispy. If you want to bake these instead, make sure to brush them with egg wash before baking.
Do I Have To Add Cheese?
No, feel free to omit the cheese!
Storage
Place any leftover empanadas in an air-tight container and keep them at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can make the beef mixture ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to 3 days. Although I highly recommend frying these the same day for best results.
More Cuban Recipes You’ll Probably Enjoy
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Spicy Beef and Cheese Empanadas
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs ground beef
- 2 packages Goya empanada discs Refrigerated
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 2 tbsp sofrito
- 2 tbsp dry white wine optional
- 1 tsp sazon
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tbsp Calabrian chili peppers or to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup olives
- salt and pepper to taste
- oil, for frying
Instructions
- Start by preparing the filling. Begin by browning the beef completely.
- Add all of the ingredients except for the goya empanada discs and mozzarella cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes check for seasoning and let it cool.
- Place each empanada disk on a lightly floured surface. Put about 2 tbsp of the beef mixture and 1 tbsp of cheese in the center of each disc. Wrap the dough around to form the empanada and press the edges together. Use a fork to press down on the edges.
- Fry the empanadas in oil for 2-3 minutes on each side. The oil should be at about 375 degrees F. Let the empanadas cool for a couple of minutes before enjoying.
Notes
- If you don’t want it spicy, omit the chili powder and Calabrian chili peppers.
- Want to sweeten it up a bit? Add raisins to the beef mixture, it’s so good!
- Not a fan of olives? Simply omit them or use capers instead.
- Feel free to omit the cooking wine if you don’t have it on hand.
- Make sure to let the beef cool before forming the empanadas otherwise the dough can fall apart.
- Don’t overfill these, otherwise, it will ooze out while it cooks.
- Have fun making these! Don’t get discouraged if they don’t look perfect.
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