Veggie Empanadas

On Saturday mornings we sometimes go to the Farmers Market near our home and one of the only “ready to eat” foods we get are veggie empanadas from a local couple that makes them fresh. This Saturday morning I woke up to clouds and rain so I wasn’t feeling inspired to make the trip. So, we made our own empanadas that are filled with veggies and baked to golden perfection.

This is one of those recipes that seems like a lot of work, but really doesn’t take all that much time or effort afterall. The dough comes together in minutes so the real time consumer is the prepping of the filling. I chose garam masala roasted sweet potatoes and sautéed kale for the filling, but there really are almost limitless options.

Another thing to do, and in my opinion a must, is to make a good dipping sauce. I love sauces so I made two. First I made an herby green sauce out of cilantro, dill, and parsley with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. The next sauce was a creamy sauce made from tahini, lemon, salt and water.

These empanadas would be great to take on a picnic, to the beach, or on a road trip. They’re self contained, wholesome, and surprisingly filling. This recipe makes somewhere between 10-12 empanadas. I got 12 because I kept kneading and rolling the scraps of dough until nothing remained. You can brush the empanadas with oil or milk before putting them in the oven to encourage browning.

Another thing to mention is the butter ingredient. I used a plant butter, but regular butter, ghee, or even coconut oil would likely work- just make sure it is cooled when used in this recipe.

I think that covers it. Happy Cooking! :)