Chicken and Chorizo Empanadas

$best-chicken-and-chorizo-empanadas-recipe$

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American, Argentinian Inspired, Southern, Spanish Inspired

Keyword empanada-recipe, tex-mex-chicken-chorizo-empanadas

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 22

Total Time 47

Servings servings

Calories 204kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large skillet, cook the diced onion and peppers in a few drizzles of olive oil over medium high heat. Season with salt and black pepper to your taste. Cook for 3-5 minutes until softened and beginning to brown. Add the minced garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
To the skillet add the ground chicken, ground chorizo, taco seasoning and cumin. Cook until no pink remains and the meats are fully cooked. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your taste. Drain any excess fat from the pan.
Next, add the corn, softened cream cheese and chopped cilantro. Continue to cook on low heat just until the cream cheese has melted.
Remove from the heat and cool slightly. (If making the filling in advance, cover and chill or freeze.)
Assemble Empanada Recipe: Thaw the puff pastry per the package instructions. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface to roughly a 10x10-inch square.
Use a 5-inch cookie or biscuit cutter to cut into 6 rounds. Re-roll the scraps and cut 2 more rounds from each sheet.
Place a heaping Tbsp of the filling mixture into the center of each round. Brush the edges with egg wash and fold over crimping the edge to seal. Place side by side on prepared baking sheet. Brush all over with the beaten egg wash.
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.
Serve hot with a salad as an entree or as an appetizer with your favorite dipping sauce.

Pastry - Empanadas can be prepared using refrigerated pie crusts or homemade pie crust dough. In this recipe, I chose to use puff pastry. Either will work.
Protein - You can use ground turkey or ground beef in this recipe in place of ground chicken.
Adjust According to Servings Needed - When developing this recipe I purposely made it so it could be cut in half for a smaller batch. Even better, consider making a full batch and freeze half for future use!
Peppers - You could use poblano pepper in place of jalapeno pepper and a spice red pepper in place of sweet red bell pepper.
Serving Option - I like to serve these empanadas with a side of my Homemade Avocado-Lime Ranch Dressing for dipping and there are never any leftovers.
Freezing Unbaked Empanadas - If you'd like to make a full recipe in advance, fill the pockets, place onto a wax paper lined baking sheet and into the freezer. After they freeze, carefully place into plastic storage bags or a freezer safe container and freeze until you're ready to entertain or busy day snacking. Thaw in the fridge or allow them 15 minutes on the counter, brush with egg wash (one large egg beaten with cold water) and bake accordingly. It's a fantastic time saver during the holidays or entertaining.