Beef Empanadas (Real Food, Paleo)

An empanada is pretty much a hand-held pie, with fillings ranging from savory to sweet.  Usually fried, I baked these flavorful beef empanadas, and they came out darn good that way!

For the dough, I used Primal Palate's wrapper dough recipe from their book Make it Paleo II.  I have listed a few options for dough below.  If you are not following any dietary restrictions, wonton wrappers should work well here (these are NOT Paleo, though).

Leftover empanadas store beautifully in the refrigerator and can be eaten cold.  They are also portable, making them a great lunch-box option.


Beef Empanadas

For the dough:

Yucca dough by Predominantly Paleo
Cassava flour dough, also by Predominantly Paleo
AIP pie dough by Eat Heal Thrive (omitting the maple syrup and vanilla)

Or 1 package prepared wonton wrappers (not Paleo)

For the filling:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, or cooking fat of choice
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb organic ground beef
• 3 teaspoons ancho chile powder
• 3 teaspoons raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Make the filling first by warming the oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic, and saute until soft, taking care not the burn the garlic.

Add the beef to the pan and brown the meat, breaking up any large chunks, until most of the pink is gone.  Add the chile powder, apple cider vinegar, salt, and oregano to beef; stir well.  Continue cooking until the beef is fully cooked.  Taste the filling and adjust any seasonings.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Prepare the dough, using one of the options above.  Form the dough into a ball and place it in between two sheets of parchment paper (for easier rolling).  Roll the dough until it is uniformly about 1/8 inch thick.  Using the lid of a large mason jar, cut out circles of dough.  

Carefully picking up one circle at a time, fill the center with about one tablespoon of filling.  Fold the dough over and crimp the edges with a fork (easiest), or fold and twist the edges (see picture above). Place each empanada onto the prepared baking sheet.

Remove any scraps of remaining dough, form into a ball and roll out again.  Use the lid to make more circles and them fill them, until all of the filling is used.

Bake the empanadas for about 20-25 minutes, or until the dough is a light golden brown.

Refrigerate any leftovers.