Vegan Empanadas
Posted: 04/26/22
Updated: 01/14/25
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Comforting and delicious homemade vegan empanadas! This restaurant-quality recipe is bursting with flavor. A perfectly flaky empanada dough, and a savory, well-seasoned plant-based filling.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- It easily walks you through the steps needed to make your own homemade vegan empanadas! And trust me, it’s a lot easier than you think. Start by making the dough, then the filling, lastly cut and fill the dough before baking – that’s it!
- They’re much healthier than all other empanadas! The plant-based filling is loaded with healthy veggies and vegan protein. We also bake these empanadas, as opposed to deep-frying them.
- It’s a vegan take on a non-vegan favorite! Traditional empanadas are stuffed with meat and/or cheese, neither of which are very vegan-friendly. However, these vegan empanadas are friendly to all sorts of diets!
Chef’s Tips
- Avoid overworking and/or over-mixing your empanada dough! Over working/mixing the dough will cause the vegan butter to melt, which would result in a tougher crust. Therefore, work with cold ingredients and keep the exposure of heat from your hands to a minimum.
- Feel free to freeze these vegan empanadas if you’d like! You can either freeze them before baking, or after baking. If frozen before baking, you’ll want to defrost them completely in your fridge before baking as instructed in this recipe.
- Serve these empanadas by themselves, with a side of your favorite salsa, or rice and beans! They’re the perfect grab-and-go meal, simply reheat then enjoy!
More Delicious Vegan Recipes
- Vegan Coconut Cream Pie
- Vegan Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Easy Vegan Cottage Cheese
- Vegan Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
- Perfect Vegan Pound Cake
- Magic Vegan Birria Tacos
- Easy 10-Minute Vegan Garlic Bread
- Vegan Seitan “Chicken”
- Easy Vegan Tofu Cream Cheese (4 Flavors)
- Crispy Vegan Chicken Sandwich
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Vegan Empanadas
Comforting and delicious homemade vegan empanadas! This restaurant-quality recipe is bursting with flavor. A perfectly flaky empanada dough, and a savory, well-seasoned plant-based filling.
empanadas
Ingredients
- neutral oil optional, for top of empanadas
For the Empanada Dough
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup cold vegan butter cut into ¼-inch cubes
- ½ cup cold water
For the Empanada Filling
- 1 large russet potato peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ of one onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot grated
- 1 celery stalk finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 15.25-ounce can black beans drained and rinsed well
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
Equipment
- Food processor
- Plastic Wrap
- small pot
- Colander
- Large skillet
- Rolling Pin
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Fork
- Basting brush optional
Instructions
For the Empanada Dough
- Add flour and salt to food processor and pulse to combine. Add cold vegan butter and water to food processor. Pulse until until mixture is coarse and crumbly.
- Transfer dough from food processor to sheet of plastic wrap. Form dough into large ball and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
For the Empanada Filling
- Fill small pot with water and bring to boil. Add potato cubes to water and boil until fork tender, approximately 3 minutes. Carefully pour water and potatoes into colander to drain. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot and shimmering, add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until veggies are tender, approximately 2 minutes.
- Add black beans, boiled potatoes, frozen peas, cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper to skillet. Cook until all ingredients are heated through and fragrant. Remove skillet from heat and set aside to cool.
For the Empanadas
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove dough from fridge and roll into large, flat disc approximately ¼-inch thick. Cut dough into 4- to 5-inch circles, then transfer circles to baking sheet.
- Place 3 tablespoons empanada filling on one half of each dough circle. Fold other half of dough circle over filling to cover, forming half-moon shape. Use fork to press edges of each half-moon to seal.
- Lightly brush oil on tops of empanadas if desired. Place baking sheet in preheated oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until empanadas are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, then serve alone or with salsa.
Notes
- Make it Gluten Free: Use gluten-free all purpose flour.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1empanada | Calories: 242kcal | Protein: 7g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Total Carbs: 36g | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 1g | Net Carbs: 31g | Vitamin C: 5mg | Sodium: 71mg | Potassium: 331mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 3mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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