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Argentine

Baked beef empanadas

Non-vegetarian

Empanadas de carne al horno

Golden half-moon pastries filled with juicy spiced beef and onion, chopped hard-boiled egg and green olives, crimped shut and baked.

Baked beef empanadas is an Argentine pastry from Argentina, ready in about 2 hours 20 minutes and made with ground beef, all-purpose flour and butter. It serves 8 and is rated intermediate to cook.

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Close-up of freshly baked Argentine empanadas on a decorative plate, perfect for food lovers.
Photo: Paul Espinoza / Pexels · Pexels License
Prep
45 min
Cook
35 min
Rest
1 h
Total
2 h 20 min
Serves
8
Level
Intermediate
Calories
498

Ingredients

8 servings (16 empanadas)

For the dough

For the filling

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Make the dough: mix the flour and 1 tsp salt, add the melted butter (opens in a new tab) and warm water and knead briefly to a smooth, soft dough. Wrap and rest 30 minutes.

    • 10 min
    Hands kneading dough on a floured surface
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onions (opens in a new tab) slowly until very soft. Add the beef, breaking it up, and cook until browned. Stir in the paprika (opens in a new tab), cumin (opens in a new tab), chilli flakes (opens in a new tab) and 1 tsp salt. Take off the heat and add the spring onions (opens in a new tab).

    Food safety: Cook the beef through before cooling.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Spread the filling on a tray and chill until cold, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile hard-boil 2 eggs (opens in a new tab) for 10 minutes, cool and chop.

    • 30 min

    Cold filling keeps the pastry from going soggy and makes sealing easier.

  4. Step 4

    Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 200 °C. Roll the dough 3 mm thick and cut 12 cm rounds. Put a heaped spoon of filling on each with some egg (opens in a new tab) and olives, fold over and crimp the edges with a fork or a twisted rope pattern.

  5. Step 5

    Place on a lined tray, brush with the beaten egg (opens in a new tab) and bake until golden.

About this dish

Origin
Argentina · Commonly attributedFilled pastries of this kind arrived from Spain and are made across Latin America; this filling is typical of Argentina.Also popular in Chile, UruguayMore food from Argentina
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Snack · Pastries · Finger food · Main courses
Cooking method
Oven-baked, Sautéed
Taste
savoury, rich, spicy (chilli heat)
Diet
No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · High-protein · Calorie-conscious
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Freezer-friendly · Make-ahead · Portable / lunchbox · Festive & celebration
Cook more with
Ground beef · All-purpose flour · Butter · Onion · Paprika · Cumin
Techniques
Baking · Sautéing · Kneading

Allergens

  • Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom butter
  • Contains: Eggsfrom egg
  • Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
  • Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

498 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 219 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 17%
  • Carbohydrate 38%
  • Fat 45%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy498 kcal227 kcal
Protein20.5 g9.4 g
Carbohydrate47 g21.4 g
Net carbohydrate44.3 g20.2 g
Sugars1.7 g0.8 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre2.7 g1.2 g
Fat24.9 g11.4 g
Saturated fat11 g5 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol139 mg63 mg
Sodium852 mg389 mg
Salt equivalent2.1 g1 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
358 mg
Calcium
53 mg
Iron
4.8 mg
Magnesium
34 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
140 µg
Vitamin C
4 mg
Vitamin D
0.4 µg
Vitamin B12
1.5 µg
Folate (DFE)
187 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Red chilli flakes: Ground cayenne (FDC 170932) used as a stand-in for dried chilli flakes such as pul biber or Aleppo pepper.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • A splash of the filling's juices, but not too much, keeps empanadas jugosas (juicy).

Common mistakes

  • Overfilling makes the edges split open in the oven.

Serve with

  • Serve warm with chimichurri or a simple salad.

Storage

  • Freeze unbaked empanadas on a tray, then bag; bake from frozen adding 5–8 minutes. Baked ones keep 3 days refrigerated.

Reheating

  • Reheat in a 180 °C oven for 10 minutes.

Variations

  • Empanadas salteñas (Argentina): Hand-cut beef with potato and cumin, from Salta.
  • Empanadas de pino (Chile): The Chilean version with beef, onion, raisins, olives and egg.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

  • Egg3 piece · 150 g
Used in step 3

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 45 min

    Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.

  2. Rest · about 30 min

    Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.

  3. Bake · about 18 min at 200 °C

    Puffed with golden-brown spots on both sides.

  4. Start to finish: about 1 h 33 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
IngredientRoleWeightBaker’s %
All-purpose flourFlour450 g100%
WaterWater180 g40%
ButterFat100 g22.2%
Total flour
450 g
Hydration
40%
With milk, eggs…
40%
Wholegrain
0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

  • Stiff dough (under 55% hydration) — firm, easy to roll; typical of bagels, pretzels and many flatbreads.
  • Fat 22.2% — a rich, tender dough.

If something goes wrong

  • Pale crust

    Likely causes

    • Oven too cool
    • Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
    • Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)

    What to do

    • Check the oven with a thermometer
    • Brush with egg wash or milk
    • Shorten the fermentation
  • Burnt bottom

    Likely causes

    • Tray too close to the heat
    • Dark tray absorbs more heat
    • Too much sugar in the dough

    What to do

    • Bake on the middle shelf
    • Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
    • Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
  • Crust too hard or thick

    Likely causes

    • Baked too long at too low a temperature
    • No steam at the start

    What to do

    • Bake hotter for a shorter time
    • Add steam for the first 15 minutes (tray of boiling water, or a covered Dutch oven)
    • Cool under a tea towel for a softer crust

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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