The Best Fried Empanada Recipe With Less Mess!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post and contains affiliate links. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Growing up my abuela made incredible food that I didn’t always appreciate. Our house always smelled like arroz con pollo, pasteles, or plátanos. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized the deep connection between our meals and our Puerto Rican culture. Learning to try new recipes and cook those same meals along with favorites from my husband’s country, Nicaragua are something I’ve been working on. Good thing I still know her best fried empanada recipe.

Thankfully my kids favorite foods are ones from our culture. One of our favorites is truly her emapandas. We LOVE them! I probably cook empanadas bi-weekly, simply because it’s requested. But, I despise the frying process – because it’s so messy. Even with perfect heat temps I still have hot oil splattering everywhere. It’s a love/hate deal, until recently.

My Knight and Shinning Splatter Screen

When Zulay Kitchen reached out to me offering one of their products, I didn’t realize they had the answer to my empanada problem! Who knew my kitchen desperately needed a Splatter Screen (okay maybe you did, but I didn’t!). Honestly I had no idea these wonderful items existed.

What’s even better is I didn’t realize their extensive collection of kitchen gadgets that are available. From milk frothers to sustainable cooking utensils, Zulay Kitchen is a wonderful family owned business that provides quality budget friendly and time saving kitchen items.

This time around frying our savory empanadas was a breeze! From barely any mess to much safer we may need to move empanada night to every week!

Simple Empanada Recipe

I hope you didn’t think I was going to forget to share my simple empanada recipe! Empanadas are delicious and not difficult to make. The work truly is in the preparation and seasoning. I encourage you to try them and let me know how it goes!

Ingredients: What You Need!

• 1 package of Ground beef
• 1/4 cup of Recaito Cooking Base
• 2 tablespoons of Sofrito Cooking Base
• Salt
• Pepper
• Adobo
• Goya empanada discos
• Olive Oil

Instructions: What to Do!

1. Set your pack of Goya discos out to defrost. You can make your own dough, there’s a recipe here for that!
2. Brown the beef in a saute pan over medium heat along with your recaito and sofrito cooking base. Cook your beef thoroughly. Add salt, pepper, and adobo to taste.
3. Take an empanada disc and place a spoonful of beef in the center. I add cheese separately since not everyone likes their with beef and cheese.
4. Place your ground beef-filled empanadas on a hard surface and firmly press the edges together with your hands then with a fork to ensure that all of your filling stays firmly inside!

5. Fill a large saucepan with olive oil or a cooking oil of your choice. Make sure the temperature isn’t too hot or you’ll easily burn your empanadas.
6. Place your empanadas into the pan and cook on each side until golden brown. That’s approximately 3/4 minutes per side. Be sure to use your Splatter Screen!

Set your cooked empanadas on a plate with paper towels to soak up the extra oil.

Once you’ve cooked all of your delicious empanadas you can pair it with pico de gallo, rice and beans, or even tostones! Whatever your heart desires friend! A major thank you to Zulay Kitchen for making our favorite meal safer and even better than before! You can find this Splatter Screen and more here.