Empanadas Venezolanas

Empanadas Venezolanas is a crescent-shaped pastry, made from corn flour. It has a tender, crunchy crust with a delicious hearty mixture of ground beef. This easy homemade pastry is the perfect party food or even the perfect breakfast which makes you full, and ready to start the day with energy. Not to mention, this version of empanadas is gluten-free.

How easy is it just to buy the empanada pastry dough from the store, having it ready just to add the filling, right? Of course, it is. Sometimes when I don’t have time to make it at home, I buy it too. But I prefer always to make my dough at home.

It’s not because I don’t have anything else to do, or definitely not because I want to sell my recipe… I have a simple reason why I do it from scratch whenever my time allows me.

First of all, I love to make dough with corn flour. It just gives the taste of what I want to experience with the empanadas, tortillas, or even cornbreads. Empanadas Venezolanas is the perfect recipe for that because it includes this ingredient.

Second of all, and also the main reason is that so much better and tastier. This is the same formula as any other things made at home. Anything made from scratch is more authentic, and tastier. This formula includes corn flour dough also.

Why is it all time, when we go to our grandparent’s house the food is always better? Why? Does somebody have an answer for that? That’s because they do it from scratch. Everything. They do it how it should be.

Today there is a lot of quick solution, like buying pre-done ingredients or foods, even if it comes with a good idea, the result is not the same as what we get.

I’ll say what difference I get when I do with store-bought dough or homemade. Let’s say at a party when I prepare empanadas with store-bought dough, people consume it, as usual, nothing different…

But when I make it with dough from scratch, everybody praises them for how good it is. At the end of the night, this food will be the highlight of the foods that I made.

So, hope I could explain the difference.

What You’ll Need For This Recipe

• Cornmeal
• All-Purpose Flour
• Salt
• Water

These are the ingredients for the empanada dough that you need.

The Filling

• For the filling, I used the Ground Beef Taco filling that you can make following the instructions.
• Another filling you can choose is Cheese. The best cheese for empanada filling is Mozzarella Cheese or any white cheese that can melt beautifully.
• Other fillings that you can use are shredded chicken, shredded turkey, or vegetables.

Instructions for Empanadas Venezolanas

1. In a medium size bowl, add the cornmeal, all-purpose flour (or cornstarch), and salt. Add the water and mix until all the ingredients all combined, then knead well by hand until you get a soft dough, like plasticine. If the dough is too dry, add more water and if it is too runny, add more cornmeal. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. Take a portion of the dough and make a ball, and place it on the flour-sprinkled plastic. I used a Ziploc plastic bag.
2. Spread the dough by a plate or board. Some people do it by hand. But I prefer to spread it with a medium size plate.
3. Place a spoonful of filling in the center and fold it into a crescent shape, with the plastic help. 
4. You can use a container to shape and cut the empanada, this helps to keep them the same size and the edges are well sealed so that the filling does not come out.

Frying vs. Baking in The Oven

Whatever you choose, it will super delicious. People mostly fry them in oil, that’s more popular in the Latin community. But if you look for a healthier choice, baking in the oven is the one.

• Fry the empanadas in hot oil for approximately 4-5 minutes, until they look golden in color and crispy.

Transfer to a plate with a paper towel to absorb the oil.

• Bake the empanadas at around 400° F for about 20-25 minutes, until they look golden brown.

Here you can read more about Frying vs. Baking Empanadas.

How to Store

Make sure when you are ready, but you don’t want to fry them right away, add flour under and on top of the empanadas, so they don’t stick to the surface.

I don’t recommend putting the empanadas on top of each other because they are very breakable and especially if you made them ahead. They will break. Of course, if you baked them or fried them already that’s different.

Also, you can make them ahead up to 3 days, just make sure it doesn’t stick anywhere and the flour will help to achieve that.

You can also freeze them for up to 3 to 4 months before frying them.