Skip to content

Argentinian Baked Empanadas

📍 Argentina
⏱️Prep: 45 min
🔥Cook: 20 min
Total: 65 min
🍽️12 servings
Difficulty: Medium

Baked Argentinian empanadas are the most classic snack and bite of the Río de la Plata: a flour dough with lard or butter, filled with seasoned ground beef flavored with paprika, cumin, onion, olives and hard‑boiled egg, and baked until golden. The braided crimp is the hallmark of each region, and many households make them in bulk to store and reheat in the following days.

🛒 Ingredients

12 servings
  • For the dough: 500g flour, 150g lard or butter, 1 egg, warm salted water
  • For the filling: 400g ground beef, 2 onions, 2 hard‑boiled eggs, olives, raisins, paprika, cumin, salt

👨‍🍳 Step-by-step instructions

  1. Dough: mix flour with cold fat. Add egg and salted water until a workable dough forms. Rest 30 min.

  2. Filling: sauté onion until translucent. Add meat and spices. Cool.

  3. Add chopped hard‑boiled eggs, olives and raisins.

  4. Roll out the dough and cut 12 cm circles.

  5. Place filling, fold and make the crimp (decorative folds).

  6. Brush with egg. Bake at 200 °C for 20 minutes until golden.

💡 Chef's tip

The filling must be completely cold before assembling: if it’s warm the dough softens and the empanadas break.

📝 Our take

Argentinian empanadas are a culinary and social event. The crimp is an art learned only by doing. These Tucumán versions with raisins and olives are the best.

🍷 Wine & food pairing

Young Argentine Malbec from Mendoza: the quintessential Argentine grape paired with beef. A fresh Torrontés also works if you prefer white wine and an aromatic contrast.

Suggested wine: Mendoza Malbec

⭐ Have you tried this recipe?

Select a rating

🍳 Did it turn out well? Share it in the chat!
Share your version, tips or questions with the cooking community.
Enter chat →