Homemade Empanadas Dough (4 ingredients)
Making this dough from scratch transforms your empanadas from good to extraordinary. Use butter for a rich, flaky texture, or lard (beef tallow) for classic, incredibly tender ones.
Servings 14 empanada discs
Ingredients
- ¾ to 1 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 7 tablespoons beef tallow, lard, or unsalted butter almost ½ cup, melted and warm
Instructions
- In a small bowl stir 1 teaspoon salt in ¾ to 1 cup warm water until completely dissolved. Don't skip this step.
- In a large bowl, place 4 cups all-purpose flour and add 7 tablespoons beef tallow, lard, or unsalted butter, melted and warm.
- Gradually add the warm salted water. Start mixing from the center outward, incorporating flour from the edges. When you can't mix any more, transfer the shaggy mass to a work surface or clean counter.
- Knead by hand for about 3-4 minutes until a smooth, uniform dough forms. It should not be sticky. Don't overwork it.
- Cover the dough with a clean towel or plastic wrap (I transfer it again to the same bowl, but you can use a clean one) and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. This resting time helps relax the gluten and makes the dough easier to roll out.
- With a large kitchen knife or dough cutter, divide the dough into 1 ounce (30 grams) pieces. On a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin, roll each ball from the center outward, until it’s about 2-3 mm thick, rotating the dough frequently to maintain a round shape. Aim for 5-6 inch circles. You can also roll the whole dough (like you would pie dough) and use a 5.5-6 inch round cutter (12 to 15 cm in diameter) to cut out discs.
- You can stack them with a bit of flour or parchment paper in between so they don’t stick.
- If oven-baking the empanadas, the dough should take from 20 to 30 minutes to be golden and fully baked. For fried empanadas, about 5 minutes, turning them a few times. It depends on the type of oil or lard you use and the temperature. No matter what fillings you use, they are pre-cooked already or cook quickly (ham and cheese, for example). So the empanadas are ready when the dough is ready.
Notes
To summarize: The dough balls should be about 1 to 1.5 ounces (30 to 40g) each with a thickness of about ⅛ inch (3mm), and 5½-6 inches (14-15cm) diameter.
Types of fat: Beef tallow produces more authentic results and handles beautifully when sealing empanadas. It's the best option for baked empanadas. Butter adds richness and creates slight layers, though it can be trickier to work with in warm weather. It's the best option for fried empanadas as it can be rolled thin.
Make-ahead tip: Both fat versions freeze exceptionally well. Make large batches of discs and store them individually between freezer sheets—trust me on this! If you stack them without separation, you'll remember me when they freeze together into an inseparable mess. Once individually separated, you can stack and wrap them together before freezing.
