Bean and Corn Empanadas are made by sautéing onions and garlic in a skillet before adding black beans, corn, and chipotles. Spoon the mixture onto your crust, and add shredded Monterey Jack cheese before closing and baking until the crust is golden brown.
This recipe is just one of many types of empanadas that can be made. You can use almost any type of meat and vegetable mix for a delicious snack.
Black Bean and Corn Empanadas
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp chipotle chile in adobo sauce chopped
- 1 cup black beans
- ½ cup corn
- 1 box refrigerated pie crust
- 1 cup monterey jack cheese shredded
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°F. Line a large cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper.
- In a nonstick 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir for 4 to 6 minutes or until softened. Add chili powder, salt, and chipotle chile; cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in black beans and corn.
- On a lightly floured surface, unroll 1 pie crust. Roll to a 14-inch circle. Cut out four 6-inch circles. Repeat with the remaining pie crust. Spoon about ¼ cup black bean mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese over half of each round to within ½ inch of edge.
- Brush edges with water. Fold dough over filling; press edges firmly with fork to seal. Place on cookie sheet. Cut 3 small slits on top of each empanada.
- Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until golden brown and filling is hot. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Did You Know?
Empanadas are a type of baked or fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in Southern European, Latin American, and the Philippines cultures. The name comes from the Galician verb empanar, and translates as “enbreaded”, that is, wrapped or coated in bread. They are made by folding dough over a filling, which may consist of meat, cheese, tomato, corn, or other ingredients, and then cooking the resulting turnover, either by baking or frying.
The origin of empanadas is unknown but they are thought to have originated in Galicia, a region in northwest Spain. A cookbook published in Catalan in 1520, Llibre del Coch by Robert de Nola, mentions empanadas filled with seafood in the recipes for Catalan, Italian, French, and Arabian food.
Belize
In Belize, empanadas are known as panades. They are made with masa (corn dough) and typically stuffed with fish, chicken, or beans. They are usually deep fried and served with a cabbage or salsa topping. Panades are frequently sold as street food.
Cape Verde
Cape Verde cuisine features the pastel, as well. Cape Verdean pastéis are often filled with spicy tuna fish. One particular variety, the pastel com o diabo dentro (literally: Pastel with the devil within), is particularly spicy, and is made with a dough made from sweet potatoes and cornmeal.
Chile
In Chile, empanadas are a staple part of the national cuisine. Commonly consumed in large quantities during the country’s national day celebrations, many Chileans consider this to be their most representative dish. The most common type of Chilean empanada is what is referred to as the empanada de pino, it is a baked empanada filled with diced or ground beef sautéed with onions and spices, half of a hard boiled egg, an olive and raisins (although the latter is not liked by a sizable portion of the population). In the coastal regions of the country, seafood empanadas are also very popular.
Ecuador
Ecuadorian empanadas are called “empanadas de viento” and often fried and filled with stringy cheese and sometimes a touch of onion. Granulated sugar is sprinkled on top after cooking.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, empanadas are known as panada. It is especially popular within Manado cuisine of North Sulawesi where their panada has thick crust made from fried bread, filled with spicy cakalang fish (skipjack tuna) and chili, curry, potatoes or quail eggs. The panada in North Sulawesi was derived from Portuguese influence in the region. This dish almost similar to karipap and pastel, although those snacks has thinner crust compared to panada.
Philippines
Filipino empanadas usually contain ground beef, pork or chicken, potatoes, chopped onions, and raisins (somewhat similar to the Cuban picadillo), though in a somewhat sweet, wheat flour bread. There are two kinds available: the baked sort and the flaky fried type. To lower costs, potatoes are often added as an extender, while another filling is kutsay (garlic chives).
Empanadas in the northern part of the Ilocos usually have savory fillings of green papaya, mung beans, and sometimes chopped Ilocano sausage (chorizo) and egg yolk. This particular variant is fried and uses rice flour for a crunchier shell. There have also been people who make empanada filled with mashed eggplant, scrambled eggs, and cabbage, which they call