Description
These perfectly seasoned hand held cast iron beef empanadas are tender, flavorful, and super easy to make and then reheat in the toaster oven for a quick lunch or easy family dinner.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 package store bought pie crust, or favorite from scratch
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup minced Shallot
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 2 Tbsp Homemade Taco Seasoning
- 2 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack
- 1 cup Salsa (pick your spice level)
- 1/4 finely chopped Cilantro
- 1 Egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- Prepare pie crust, or allow prepared store bought crust to rest at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with the oven rack on the middle setting.
- In a cast iron skillet heated over medium high heat, add in a couple tablespoons of olive oil or other neutral oil and heat until shimmering. Add in ground beef, garlic, shallot, and baking soda. Cook until the ground beef is nearly cooked through and only a small amount of pink remains. Drain off any remaining liquid.
- Add in homemade taco seasoning, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook ground beef until cooked through.
- Stir in salsa, monterey jack cheese, and cilantro. Set aside.
- Using a 5 or 6-inch diameter cookie cutter cut out circles, if necessary reroll crust to create about 8 rounds of dough. Fill one half of each round with 1/4 to 1/3 cup of filling. Using a pastry brush, or clean finger, brush water along the edge of the pastry round. Fold the other half of the pie crust over the filling and lightly press the pie crust together. Using the tines of the fork seal the empanadas together.
- Brush each empanada with egg. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes, or until deep golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet prior to serving.