Beyond Beef Vegetarian Empanadas
As I mentioned in my Tortilla Española recipe, so much of my cooking inspiration comes from my abuela.
As a Cuban immigrant to the US who was born in Spain, her cooking fuses together the best of so many cultural culinary traditions. Each brings something unique and beautiful to the table. As a kid, when we went to Tita’s house (what we call my abuela), we knew 2 things were going to go down. Croquetas and empanadas. If you asked me to describe my childhood in 2 foods, this would be the 2 I’d choose.
However, both of those dishes are meat focused, as is much of Cuban food. As a vegetarian, I feel I have lost some of my cultural culinary traditions. Even though I must say my wonderful, sweet abuela makes sure I don’t ever go hungry. Ever since I’ve been a vegetarian, she has made either vegetable or cheese empanadas for me at parties, which is SO above and beyond. But I wanted something a little closer to what I ate as a kid. That childhood nostalgia came from the juicy ground beef in the empanada and the ham in the croquetas. There is no good veggie sub for ham, but there are great subs for beef, so I decided the give empanadas a shot.
These use Goya empanada discos because that is what my grandmother always uses, however if you want this to be vegan (the discs have whey), you can always search a recipe for vegan empanada dough to make it yourself.
I diced an onion, a bell pepper, used half a container of Beyond Meat’s Beyond Beef and chunky salsa, along with some spices as the base of the filling. My grandmother never used cheese, so I didn’t add any, however, you can add cheese if you prefer these this way. You can also use soy chorizo, a chicken substitute or even scrambled tofu and this would still be delicious. But with the beef, to me, it is pure nostalgia.
Another thing is, to me, empanadas need to be fried or they aren’t worth the hassle. I added a few inches of canola oil to a pan, allowed the oil to come to temperature and fried each side of the empanada until golden and crispy like my childhood. I added baking instructions to the recipe if you prefer baking, but I really really recommend frying.
My grandmother’s cooking has always been my favorite part of family gatherings and it brings me right back to childhood Noche Buena celebrations and households of the yelling Cubans I love so much (I promise, we’re not angry, thats just our volume). Make these empanadas, say a heartfelt gracias a mi abuela while you eat and call your grandparents if you’re lucky enough to have them around.
Beyond Beef Vegetarian Empanadas
Ingredients:
- 1 pack Goya empanada discs **To make this vegan, you can make your own disks, but these contain whey.
- 1/2 container beyond beef
- 1/2 spanish onion
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup mild chunky salsa
- cumin to taste
- onion salt to taste
- garlic powder to taste
- red pepper flakes to taste
- paprika to taste
- oregano to taste
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 tbsp canola oil If baking instead of frying, replace this ingredient with an egg wash
Instructions:
- Allow your goya discs to defrost in the fridge overnight.
- Dice onion, garlic and bell pepper.
- Put a pan on medium heat with olive oil. Sauté onion, garlic and bell pepper with a few pinches of salt.
- Add 1/2 container of beyond beef to the onions and peppers with all the spices to taste.
- Once the "beef" is cooked, add salsa and allow to simmer another 3-4 minutes to combine all the flavors
- Roll out goya disc to be just a bit larger in diameter. Add 1 tbsp of the mixture to the disc and fold over, closing together with a fork. Repeat with each disc.
- Add canola oil to a pan on medium high heat.
- Allow oil to heat before adding your empanada. Allow to fry 30-45 seconds on each side.
- Drain excess oil on paper towels or a cooling rack.
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Poke a few holes with a fork in the top of the empanada and brush with an egg wash.
- Bake 30-35 minutes, rotating tray halfway through.
- Allow to cool & serve
