Vegan Puerto Rican Empanadas Recipes

EMPANADILLAS (FRIED PUERTO RICAN TURNOVERS)

Steps:

• Make the pie dough (skip to step 3 if using store-bought dough.) Start by pulsing flour and butter in a food processor until pea sized pieces begin to form. Pulse in the water a few tablespoons at a time until a ball of dough forms. Chill for at least 2 hours.
• Make the Picadillo filling. Start with oil, onions, and peppers in a pan over medium heat. Once onions become translucent, add sofrito and sauté another minute before adding ground beef. Break the ground beef into smaller pieces as it cooks. Add sazon, adobo, bay leaves, tomato sauce, olives, and water. Bring it to a boil before simmering with a lid partially on, for 10 minutes or until the beef is fully cooked.
• Prep the dough. Dust a clean surface with flour and roll dough out to about ¼ inch thickness and cut out circular discs using a large cookie cutter or small bowl. Spoon picadillo over half of each disc, fold the empty dough over top and pinch together with a fork.
• Fry. Heat oil to around 350 degrees before frying empanadas on each side for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on the edges. Enjoy!

QUICK VEGETARIAN PICADILLO EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add lentils, sofrito, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper; cook for 4 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in potatoes, tomato sauce, and olives. Simmer until mixture is warmed through, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Fill a deep skillet or frying pan with 2 inches vegetable oil and place over medium heat while you assemble the empanadas.
• Set empanada discs on a clean work surface. Add 1/4 cup of lentil-potato mixture to the center of one half of an empanada disc in a half moon shape (so it follows the curve of the wrapper). Wet your fingers in a bowl of water and run them around the entire edge of the wrapper to moisten. Fold the wrapper in half to cover the filling and pinch the edges of the dough together to seal, then use a fork to crimp the edges to secure the wrapper further. Repeat with the remaining discs and filling.
• Once oil has reached 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), add empanadas in a single layer; do not overlap. You will need to cook in batches.
• Fry until empanadas are golden brown and crispy, flipping once or twice so they brown evenly while frying, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat to cook remaining empanadas.