Puerto Rican Empanadas - Empandillas/Pastelillos
Puerto Rican Empanadas, sometimes known as Empanadillas or Pastelillos are turnovers filled with beef, chicken, cheese or even pizza toppings. These crispy empanadas can be fried or oven baked.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of lean ground beef
- 1/3 cup of homemade sofrito
- 1/3 cup of tomato sauce
- 1 packet of sazon con achiote
- 1 tablespoon of adobo all purpose seasoning
- 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- 2 1/2 cups of small diced potatoes (frozen potatoes work too)
- 1 package of Goya Brand- Empanada Discos con Achiote
Instructions
- Defrost frozen empanada dough for 2-3 hours.
- On medium heat cook homemade sofrito with tomato sauce until fragrant. Then add lean ground beef.
- Crumble the meat and season with sazon, adobo, cumin, dried oregano and red pepper flakes.
- Once meat is brown add diced potatoes and allow remaining liquid to steam potatoes until tender. Cool your mixture.
- On a flat surface, sprinkle some all purpose flour and lay out your empanada dough.
- Add a tablespoon of the meat mixture in the center of the dough. Fold over the dough and firmly press with your thumbs. To properly seal the seam, crimp the edges with a fork.
- In hot oil, fry the empanadas for 1 minute on each side. Let them rest on a paper-towel and enjoy!