Empanada Dough Recipe

In a large bowl, combine your flour and cold, cubed butter. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter into the flour until it’s crumbly. If you’re using your hands, work quickly to keep the butter cold. You want a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Sprinkle in the salt, then pour in the whisked egg and about ½ cup of warm water or milk. Stir it all together until it starts to come together into a clumpy dough. If it’s too dry, add a little more water, up to ¾ cup total.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 5 minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic. Don’t skip this step! Kneading helps the dough develop the right structure so it won’t fall apart when you fill and cook it.

Divide the dough into 22-25 small balls (about 1.5 oz each). Roll each ball out into a 5-6 inch circle using a rolling pin on a floured surface. Or, if you have a tortilla press, you can use that to make perfect circles in seconds. You want the dough to be about ⅛-inch thick.

Now comes the fun part—filling and folding! Add about 2-3 tablespoons of your chosen filling to the center of each circle, then fold it over. Pinch the edges together, and for a classic look, use a fork or your fingers to crimp the edges. From here, you can either bake or fry them, depending on your mood (or how much oil you feel like dealing with!).