Easy Vegetarian Empanadas with Pie Crust

These savory mini vegetarian empanadas use ready-made pie dough and a quick filling of refried beans, corn, cheese, green chiles and taco seasoning. The original AGT ingredients and instructions were recovered from the site's recipe archive.

Why use pie dough?

Refrigerated pie dough is a shortcut to flaky mini hand pies without mixing or rolling homemade pastry. You'll cut small circles, add a spoonful of filling, fold, seal with a fork, brush with egg and bake until golden.

What goes in the filling?

The original filling uses refried beans, cheese, sour cream, corn, canned green chiles, taco seasoning and fresh cilantro. The combination is creamy enough to hold together inside the pastry without being runny.

Three tricks for neat mini empanadas

• Keep the filling small: about 1 to 1½ tablespoons per round; overfilling makes sealing difficult.
• Seal the edges: brush the edge with beaten egg and crimp firmly with a fork.
• Vent the tops: make a couple of small slits so steam can escape.

Make-ahead and food safety

You can prepare the filling in advance and keep it refrigerated. Bake the empanadas until the pastry is evenly golden and the filling is thoroughly heated. Food Safety Tip: refrigerate within two hours and reheat leftover empanadas until the center reaches 165°F. Keep hot party food at 140°F or hotter if holding it for service. See the USDA temperature chart.

For another handheld party bite, try our sweet dessert empanadas.

Easy Vegetarian Empanadas with Pie Crust Recipe

AGT Editorial Team

Easy Vegetarian Empanadas (with Pie Crust)

4.84 from 6 votes

These Vegetarian Empanadas are a delicious finger food appetizer that your guests will love! Made with pie crust dough, they are simple, easy and super flaky! Serve with a side of sour cream and dip away!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Calories: 449

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 7 oz. pie dough
• 1 egg scrambled
• ½ cup sour cream for dipping

Empanadas Filling

• ⅓ cup shredded Kraft Mexican Style Four Cheeses (Monterey jack & cheddar works too)
• ¼ cup refried beans
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup canned corn
• 2 oz. canned green chilis
• 2 tablespoon Old El Paso taco seasoning
• 1-2 tablespoon freshly chopped cilantro

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Whisk your egg in a bowl and set aside.
3. Mix together your veggie filling in a medium bowl and set aside.
4. Unroll your pie dough and use a 3½ inch biscuit or cookie cutter to cut out 8 rounds from your pie dough. Brush outer edge of each round lightly with your egg.
5. Add about 1-1½ tbsp. of filling to each round and close in half. (You want to fill them up as much as you can.) Use a fork to seal the edges together. It's okay if some filling spills out.
6. Cut 2-3 small slits in the top of empanadas and then brush more egg onto each one.
7. Bake at 425°F for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
8. Serve hot with sour cream.

Notes

Yield: 8 empanadas

You can also use your own empanadas dough if you wish. Puff pastry dough would be another option.

Editorial note: This AGT recipe was recovered from its original saved WordPress recipe card and imagery. Serving and storage guidance has been refreshed.