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A chicken and chorizo empanada with crispy pastry.

Baked Chicken Empanadas with Chorizo

These irresistible chicken empanadas are deliciously crisp and absolutely loaded with flavour! Featuring a perfectly spiced chicken and chorizo filling encased in a golden homemade pastry and baked to absolute perfection.
5 from 18 votes
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Course: Dinner, Snacks
Cuisine: savoury snacks
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Resting Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 18 serves
Calories: 321kcal
Cost: $10

Equipment

  • Stove-top or Thermomix
  • Food processor or Thermomix
  • Oven

Ingredients

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 1 chorizo chopped into small pieces
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 350 g chicken mince
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 100 g sun-dried tomatoes finely chopped
  • 1 tbs chicken stock

For the pastry

  • 750 g (6 cups) plain flour
  • 150 g olive oil
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 300 g cold water
  • 1 egg for brushing the pastry

Instructions

Conventional Method

  • Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. 
  • Add the onion, chorizo and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. 
  • Add the chicken mince, paprika, cumin, sun-dried tomatoes and chicken stock and cook for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through. 
  • Set the mixture aside in a bowl to cool completely.
  • To make the pastry, place the plain flour, olive oil, baking powder, salt and water into a food processor and mix until combined. 
  • Knead on a lightly floured surface for 2 minutes or until it comes together in a bowl. Allow the pastry to rest for 30 minutes. 
  • Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (fan-forced). 
  • Roll the pastry out until it's 2mm thick. Cut out 12cm diameter circles and set aside. 
  • Place a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into the middle of each one of the pastry circles. 
  • Brush the visible pastry around the edges with water. 
  • Fold the pastry over to make a half-circle shape. Use a fork to crimp the edges together. 
  • Place onto a flat baking tray and continue with the remaining pastry circles and mixture. 
  • Brush the pastry with a lightly beaten egg. 
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. 
  • Serve with condiments such as chutney, guacamole or spicy sauce. 

Thermomix Method

  • Place the onion and chorizo sausage into the Thermomix bowl and finely chop for 5 seconds on Speed 8. 
  • Add the olive oil and the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes on 90 degrees, Reverse, Speed Soft. 
  • Add the chicken mince, paprika, cumin and cook for 8 minutes on 100 degrees, Reverse, Speed Soft. 
  • Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and chicken stock and mix for 1 minutes 100 degrees, Reverse, Speed Soft. Set the mixture aside to cool completely. 
  • To make the pastry, place the flour, baking powder and salt into a clean and dry Thermomix bowl and set the machine to Knead (Interval function), 1 minute and 30 seconds. While the machine is kneading, slowly add the olive oil through the hole in the lid. Continue mixing until the dough resembles crumbs. Knead for a further minute while adding the water through the hole. 
  • Place the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead into a ball. Set aside for 30 minutes. 
  • Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (fan-forced). 
  • Roll the pastry out until it's 2mm thick. Cut out 12cm diameter circles and set aside. 
  • Place a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into the middle of each one of the pastry circles. 
  • Brush the visible pastry around the edges with water. Fold the pastry over to make a half-circle shape. Use a fork to crimp the edges together. 
  • Place onto a flat baking tray and continue with the remaining pastry circles and mixture. 
  • Brush the pastry with a lightly beaten egg. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. 
  • Serve with condiments such as chutney, guacamole or spicy sauce. 

Notes

RECIPE NOTES & TIPS
  • Make sure the filling is not too moist or it will make the pastry soggy.
  • Let the filling cool before enclosing in the pastry. The steam from a hot filling can cause the pastry to be soggy and fall apart.
  • Don’t overload the empanadas with too much filling. You don't want them to burst open while baking!
  • Cut the onion, chorizo and sun-dried tomatoes finely for a consistent texture. Since there is only a small amount of filling in each, you want flavours to be evenly distributed so you have a little taste of everything in each bite.
  • Storage - store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
  • Freezing - there are a couple of ways to freeze them. You can freeze already-baked empanadas, or you can freeze the filled and un-baked empanadas. Either way, lay the empanadas flat on a lined baking tray and freeze until solid. Then, transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag. Freezing them flat first ensures that they won’t stick together or get squashed. To bake the frozen empanadas, add a few extra minutes to the baking time and bake until golden and heated through. To reheat already-cooked empanadas, place them into the oven at 180 C for around 8 minutes, or until crisp and heated through.
  • Air frying - to cook these empanadas in the air fryer, follow the steps to assemble the empanadas and pre-heat your air fryer to 200 C. Place the empanadas in a single layer in your air fryer basket (you may need to cook in batches depending on the size and brand of your air fryer) and cook for 5 minutes. Flip the empanadas and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until crisp, golden and heated through. Repeat with remaining empanadas. To cook from frozen, add a few extra minutes to the cooking time.

Nutrition

Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 164mg | Potassium: 387mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 225IU | Vitamin C: 2.8mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 3.1mg