Air Fryer Beef Empanadas take a flaky pastry crust and fill it with deliciously seasoned ground beef. These little Mexican-style meat pies are a great alternative to tacos or burritos.
Traditional empanadas are made with a pastry crust that is less delicate and flaky than pie crust. You can buy empanada dough in rounds, ready to fill with your filling. Or, of course, you can make your own empanada dough.
Whether you use store-bought or homemade, proper empanada dough or pie crust, these delicious Mexican-style hand pies are a delicious meal.
This is a great recipe to pull out when you get tired of tacos on Taco Tuesday (wait, what? Who gets tired of tacos?!)
About Time
- Prep Time 15 mins
- Cook Time 5 mins
- Total Time 20 mins
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ½ onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 (1-ounce) package taco seasoning (or use 1 ounce homemade seasoning mix)
- 3 tablespoons beef broth
- 1 package refrigerated pie crusts (2 9-inch crusts) or homemade pastry dough, at room temperature
- 1 large beaten egg
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 350°F for 5 minutes, if necessary (see note below).
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, until the bell pepper softens and the onion is translucent.
- Add beef, taco seasoning, and broth to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browned, 3 to 5 minutes more.
- On a lightly floured surface using a rolling pin, roll out one of the pie crusts, rolling it just a couple of times to make it a little thinner.
- Using a round cutter or a bowl or cup that is about 8 inches in diameter, cut out 4 rounds of dough. Set the rounds aside, gather up the excess dough that was cut off and set it aside as well. Repeat rolling and cutting rounds out of the the second pie crust. Set those rounds aside along with the first 4. Gather up the excess dough and add it to the first pile of excess dough. Knead the excess dough into a ball and roll it out on the lightly floured work surface. You should be able to cut 2 more rounds out of the remaining dough.
- Set out a small dish of water that you can use to seal the dough around the filling.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture to one side of each of the dough rounds. Wet your fingertip in the bowl of water and use your wet finger to moisten the edge of the dough round. Fold the dough round over the filling to form a half moon, pressing the edges together to seal them. Use the tines of a fork to help seal the edges together and form a decorative border.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the tops of the unbaked empanadas.
- Transfer the empanadas to the air fryer, arranging them in a single layer (you’ll need to cook them in batches).
- Cook at 350°F for about 5 minutes, until golden brown. Repeat steps with the remaining empanadas.
- Serve warm.
Amount Per Serving