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Beef and chorizo empanadas are savory meat pies that come together with ease by using pre-made refrigerated pie crusts. The meat filling is the real star with a mixture of lean ground beef and chorizo. The meat cooks down with onions, garlic, green chiles and a ton of seasonings plus jarred birria sauce. I get this at Kroger. I highly recommend using a meat masher to break up all that meat. It gets it minced quickly. The recipe calls for pre-made pie crust to make life easy. If you want to make homemade pie crust, I recommend the one that’s featured in my skillet apple pie recipe.
This empanadas recipe will make a lot of meat. Much more than what you need for the empanadas themselves, but when you taste this meat, you’ll be so glad you have extra. It can be used on tacos, nachos, enchiladas, chimichangas or quesadillas. A really fun way to prepare tacos is baked in the oven with cheese. The soft corn tortillas get crispy and the cheese burns and tastes amazing. Follow the preparation in my crispy cheesy chicken tacos recipe with this beef and chorizo filling. Also, you could use the leftover meat in my taco tater tot casserole.
Beef and Chorizo Empanadas
Ingredients
- 1 2 pack refrigerated pie crusts
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb chorizo
- 1 onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small can green chiles
- 1/2 c birria sauce jarred or canned
- 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
Seasoning
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 c water if needed
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Break up lean ground beef and chorizo in a pot over medium heat.
- Add a diced yellow onion and a small can of green chiles.
- Continue breaking up the meat, onions and green chiles.
- Cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir often.
- Remove excess fat with paper towels but don't drain all the fat out.
- Add minced garlic and cook 2 minutes.
- Add seasoning, birria sauce and tomato paste. Mix and cook over low medium heat until the meat starts sticking to the pot. If that happens sooner than 15 minutes, add the 1/2 c water. Cook until the meat starts to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Remove the meat off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Remove pie crusts from the refrigerator 30 minutes before unrolling.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- Unroll and cut into 4 equal pieces.
- Fill each piece with 2 tbsp of meat filling and pinch of shredded cheese.
- Fold the side over, press the edges together then crimp with a fork.
- Beat egg and water together to create the egg wash.
- Brush each empanada with the egg wash and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 20 minutes.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes.