Frugal Empanadas

Easy Baked Empanadas (Meat Pies)

This is a super easy & frugal empanada recipe!!!

Empanadas can be filled with almost anything. Spicy meat, seafood, fruit and savory meats are among the most common. This recipe is for a savory meat empanada (Cuban style), but the technique is the same for any filling. For this savory recipe I’m using ground beef; however you can use leftover chicken or shredded pork. The possibilities are endless.

Ingredients

• ½ lb ground beef
• ½ cup tomato sauce
• Salt/pepper to taste
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I like mozzarella)
• 8 large refrigerated biscuit dough rounds (or you can make your own)

Directions

Brown the meat. Add salt, pepper and tomato sauce, mix and let simmer about 5 minutes.

Roll each biscuit out into ¼” thick circles.

Put a large spoonful of the meat mixture and some shredded cheese on top.

Fold each round in half over the meat, making a half circle. Pinch the edges together with a fork.

Bake at 400 for about 8 minutes, until dough is brown.

Frugal Tip

Empanadas freeze amazingly. I wrap them individually in parchment paper and store several in a zip top freezer bag. I just leave them out on the counter to thaw then heat in microwave.

Let me know what you’re favorite empanada filling is, I’d love some new ideas.