Easy Brazilian Empada Dough Recipe With a Savory Ground Beef Filling Beef Appetizers Snacks

An empada is a stuffed dough that comes with various fillings – from cheese to beef to seafood to vegetables – and is a popular street food in Brazil. In other Latin American countries, similar foods are known as empanadas.

This Brazilian empada recipe has a ground beef filling and is easy to make. What's your favorite filling for empadas?

Cuisine: Brazilian / Portuguese
Prep Time: 20 minutes plus 2 hours to chill the dough
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours and 5 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Dough

• 3 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 stick butter
• 3 eggs

Ground Beef Filling

• 1 large potato, peeled and diced into small 1/4-inch cubes
• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 rib celery, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Egg Wash

• 1 egg yolk

Here's how to make it: 

1. For the filling, boil the potato until just tender. Drain and set aside. In a Dutch oven, cook the ground beef, onion, carrot and celery until beef is browned and vegetables soft. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and broth. Return the potatoes to the pan. Stir in the peas and simmer until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper. Cool the mixture while you make the dough.
2. To make the dough, cut the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles peas. Add the eggs, one at a time, until a dough forms. Flatten the dough into a disc, cover and let it rest for about 2 hours. 
3. Roll the dough into balls and then flatten and place in muffin tins. Use your fingers to spread the dough to cover the tin. Fill with the cooled filling. 
4. Make more dough balls, flatten and use to cover the top of the filling. Seal the edges, then brush the tops of the pies with the egg yolk. 
5. Bake in a preheated 400-degree F oven for about 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue to cook for about 30 more minutes. 

Need help converting cooking and baking measurements? Here are some handy kitchen conversion charts.

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