A corn dough shell filled with potato mashed into seasoned beef or chicken, folded into half-moons and fried. Fifteen empanadas, and the filling has to be dry before it goes near the dough.
Beef or chicken, not both
The ingredient list on this page asked for a pound of ground beef and, on the next line, a pound of shredded chicken breast. Anyone shopping from it came home with two pounds of filling for fifteen empanadas.
The giveaway was the first line, which ended with a dangling 'or': it had been split across two rows and the connection between them was lost. The fourth instruction confirms it, asking for the ground or shredded beef or chicken breast.
One pound of either, with two cups of potato, is the filling.
The filling has to be dry
The fourth step says to cook until the mixture is dry and that instruction decides whether the empanadas work.
A wet filling steams inside the sealed shell as it fries. That steam softens the dough from the inside and pushes at the seam until it opens, and once an empanada opens in hot oil there is nothing to be done.
Give it the full 13 to 15 minutes and let the liquid go. It should look like a thick paste, not a stew.
Masarepa, not cornmeal
The dough is three cups of precooked yellow corn flour with three cups of water, a tablespoon of oil, salt and a little achiote for colour.
Precooked is the word that matters. Masarepa, sold as areparina or harina de maíz precocida, has already been cooked and dried, so water alone turns it into dough. Ordinary cornmeal or corn flour has not, and no amount of kneading will make it behave.
Twenty minutes of resting under plastic lets it hydrate fully, which is what stops the edges cracking when you fold them.
Sealing them
Roll a ball of about two teaspoons of dough, flatten it between two sheets of plastic, put a tablespoon of filling in the middle, and use the plastic underneath to fold the dough over into a half-moon.
Then press the edge all the way round with your fingers, and press again after the plastic comes off. A gap anywhere along the seam fills with oil and empties the empanada.
Three or four at a time in the oil, two minutes a side.
More things to fry
- Colombian ají — what they are dipped in.
- Cambray empanadas — the sweet ones.
- Ripe plantain empanadas — no corn dough.
- Carimañolas — the cassava version.
Colombian Empanadas FAQ
One or the other. A pound of either fills fifteen empanadas alongside the two cups of potato. The ingredient list used to show both, which was a single line split in two with an 'or' left dangling.
Precooked yellow cornmeal, masarepa or areparina, the same kind used for arepas. Ordinary cornmeal has not been precooked and will never form a dough that holds together.
Either the filling was wet or the seal was not tight. Cook the filling until it is dry, and press the edges all the way round with your fingers after peeling the plastic away.
Between two sheets of plastic. Flatten a ball of dough with your fingertips or a rolling pin, put the filling in the middle, and use the plastic underneath to fold it over into a half-moon.
About an hour and forty minutes. The potatoes alone take 25 minutes, the sofrito 20, the meat 15, and then there is the frying. The card used to claim an hour.
The dough rests 20 minutes so it hydrates fully and stops cracking at the edges. That happens while the filling cooks, so it costs no extra time.
Ají and a wedge of lemon, which is what the last step says and what every Colombian street stall does.
📖 Recipe
Colombian Empanadas (Beef or Chicken)
Imprimir Pin ComentarIngredients
For the Filling
- 1 pound ground beef or shredded chicken breast (one or the other, not both)
- 2 cups potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 1 cup tomato (chopped)
- ½ cup white onion (chopped)
- ¼ cup scallion (chopped)
- ½ cup cilantro (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons red pepper (finely chopped)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 bouillon cube (Maggi or Ricostilla)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Dough
- 3 cups precooked yellow cornmeal (masarepa, the kind for arepas)
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Achiote or annatto colouring ('color' in Colombia, to taste)
- Vegetable oil (for frying)
- Lemon and chilli (for serving)
Notas
Instructions
To prepare the dough
- Put the cornmeal in a large bowl with the achiote colouring and the salt and mix well. Add the water and the oil and mix until it comes together into a dough. Roll it into a ball and knead for 3 minutes, until it is smooth. Cover it with plastic and let it rest for at least 20 minutes.
To make the filling
- Cook the potatoes in a pot of water with the bouillon cube for 25 minutes, or until they are soft. Drain them and mash them. Set them aside.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan. Add the onion and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Then add the tomato, the scallion, the garlic, the red pepper, the cilantro, the salt and the black pepper, and sauté for about 15 minutes.
- Add the ground beef or the shredded chicken. Carry on cooking for 13 to 15 minutes, until the mixture is dry.
- Mix the meat and the mashed potato together.
To fill and fry
- Go back to the dough and roll about two teaspoons of it into a ball with your hands.
- Put each ball between two sheets of plastic and flatten it with your fingertips into a circle, or use a rolling pin. Take off the top sheet and put 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle.
- Using the plastic underneath, fold the dough over the filling into a half-moon and seal the edges tightly with your fingers.
- Fill a large pan or pot with oil and heat it over medium heat.
- Lower 3 or 4 empanadas into the hot oil and fry for about 2 minutes a side, until golden. Be careful putting them in so the oil does not splash.
- Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Serve with chilli and slices of lemon.
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