Citric Acid Free Easy Empanadas
Golden, flaky, and packed with a savory beef filling layered with smoky spices, briny olives, and hearty chopped egg, these empanadas are the kind of hand-held meal that disappears fast at any table. For anyone avoiding citric acid, packaged and processed foods can be a minefield — preservatives and flavor enhancers sneak into the most unexpected places. This recipe sidesteps all of that by building everything from scratch with clean, whole ingredients you can actually read on a label. The buttery dough comes together with flour, cold butter, egg, and a splash of white vinegar for tenderness, while the filling relies on ground beef, fresh vegetables, and warm spices like cumin, smoked paprika, and oregano to deliver serious depth of flavor. Folding in the olives and hard-boiled eggs at the end keeps the filling textured and interesting rather than flat. A hot oven does the rest, turning each crimped half-moon a deep, satisfying golden brown. These are the kind of empanadas that make you wonder why you ever reached for a store-bought version in the first place.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
For the filling
- 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ⅓ cup green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and roughly chopped
For assembly
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- 1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and use your fingertips to work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. In a small bowl, stir together the cold water, beaten egg, and white vinegar, then pour over the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until the dough just comes together — it should be shaggy but hold when pressed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead 3–4 times until smooth, then flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- 2
While the dough chills, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned throughout with no pink remaining, about 6–8 minutes. Drain off excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.
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