Spicy Beef and Cheese Empanadas

5 from 1 vote
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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!

Four spicy beef and cheese empanadas with hot sauce on the side.
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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.

ingredients for empanadas. Beef, olives, cheese, spices, sofrito, cooking wine, onion, garlic, dough, sofrito, chili paste.

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.
collage with two photos showing how to prepare the empanadas.

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!

The inside of an empanada.

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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Four spicy beef and cheese empanadas with hot sauce on the side.
5 from 1 vote

Spicy Beef and Cheese Empanadas

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!
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 0
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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.

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Cuban
Servings: 0
Keyword: how to make beef empanadas, spicy beef and cheese empanadas, spicy beef empanadas
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