Latino Foods
- Feb 26, 2021
- 2 min read

How to Make Colombian Empanadas

Empanada is a popular snack in Colombia and it is served by most Colombian restaurants and Latin American Restaurants in New Zealand. Many countries in Latin America have different versions of the 'Empanada'. Today, we will share with you a traditional recipe of the Colombian Empanada with this Empanada flour:

Ingredients:

1 cup Mezcla lista para empanada su sabor flour
2 ¾ cups of water
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped tomato
½ cup cubed potatoes
1 Garlic clove
Oil
1 Lemon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste
Meat (pork, chicken or beef)

See video of how to make Colombian Empanadas below:

Directions:

Step 1 – The filling

Meat (pork, chicken or beef) – simmer meat until very tender when pierced with a fork, about an hour.
Place cubed potatoes in medium pot with 2 cups of water and add a hint of salt; add enough cold water to cover potatoes completely. Place pot over medium-high heat for 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and set aside.
Put in a panfry a teaspoon of oil with ½ cup of chopped onion, ½ cup of chopped tomato, 1 teaspoon of chopped garlic, ½ cup of cubed potatoes. Add pepper, cumin and salt to taste and stirring, until cook for about 10 minutes.
Transfer all the filling ingredients to large pot and mash all the ingredients until you get a consistent mix.

Step 2 - For the dough

Add Empanada flour to medium bowl and pour in ¾ cup of water, ¼ cup of oil, lemon to taste, salt and pepper. Using hands, knead dough until soft and smooth. Form dough into large ball. Divide dough into portions about the size of a golf ball.
Use a piece of plastic to put on the bench to assemble the empanadas, place the ball between the plastic wrap, cover the ball with it and use a rolling pin to press the ball into 4" diameter circle. Remove top plastic and add 2 tsp of the filling in the centre of the dough.
Fold dough in half to form half-moon shape; cover again with the plastic. Seal edges by pressing with fingers. Or, using open side of drinking glass/cup, press firmly on edges of dough to seal (remove any overhanging scraps of dough). Repeat with remaining dough and filling to make your empanadas.

Strep 3 - We are almost there, now is time to fry our empanadas!

Heat 2 cups of oil in large heavy pot over medium-high heat until oil registers 350°F on deep-fry thermometer. Alternately, to test the temperature of the oil place a small ball in the oil, if this floats it means that the temperature is right, and you can start frying the empanadas.
Fry empanadas in batches until their colour change from pale yellow to golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per batch.
Transfer empanadas to paper towels to drain.