Highlighting Hispanic heritage in art, music, poetry, and food.
Even with the enormous landmass that is Latin America—from Mexico down through South America—and the enormous range of cultural influences, there’s one dish you’ll find in a lot of these countries: empanadas! This delicious baked or fried pastry treat is thought to originate with the Galician empanada of Spain, which dates back to the 1500s and which were traditionally made with chicken or cod.
With other cultural influences, empanadas in Latin America today feature a range of fillings, preparation methods, or names. Depending on their filling, they can be a breakfast meal, an appetizer, or a dinner entree. Or, if you fill it with fruit? Dessert!
In Mexico, empanadas are often filled with sweet ingredients, like pumpkin and cream. But head south to South America, and many empanadas are stuffed with, unsurprisingly, meat. Even so, each country seems to have their own variation of this delicious pastry.
Below you will find a few variations of empanada recipes:
- Peruvian empanadas: https://www.eatperu.com/peruvian-empanadas/
- Argentinian empanadas: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/argentinian-beef-empanadas
- Mexican empanadas: https://www.mylatinatable.com/authentic-mexican-fried-empanadas-recipe/
- Dessert empanadas: https://www.isabeleats.com/baked-apple-empanadas/