In this post, we’re going to talk about empanadas, but only Colombian empanadas, which are very special. We continue our series of posts on Colombian culture with recipes for typical Colombian dishes.
According to a serious study, Colombians eat 12 million empanadas every 24 hours…! Now that we’ve said that, it’s easy to see why the Empanada is such an emblem of the country.
Disclaimer: we apologize in advance for any grammatical or syntactic errors, as our native language is not English (we're a Colombian-French couple), so we hope you'll forgive us and still enjoy the information we share with you! Please note that all the information on our blog is based on our own experience, and is checked and updated regularly.
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Colombian empanada
Recipe for Colombian dishes
Empanadas are everywhere in Colombia, at all hours of the day, mainly thanks to street vendors. Selling empanadas is an activity that enables many Colombian families to survive.
Originally, empanada (literally “bread roll”) was a technique for preserving food. Then we thought we could eat it as is by cooking the ingredients with the dough.
Before arriving in Colombia, empanada came from wheat flour. When we came into contact with the indigenous culture, we used corn flour and added potatoes to the ingredients. With the contribution of African culture, cooking evolved from baking to frying.
Origins of the Colombian empanada
Like everything else in Colombia, Colombian empanadas have a mixed origin: a heritage blending Arab, European, indigenous and African contributions.
- Arab, because in the end, the principle of eating little different things rather than one big dish comes directly from Mezze, which then spread all over the world (tapas, antipasti, etc.)
- Indigenous, because the dough of the Colombian empanada is made from corn, and the potato is also an indigenous ingredient.
- African, because the frying technique was brought by slaves from Africa.
- European, as the staple dish was brought over by the colonists.
To sum up the uniqueness of the Colombian empanada: it’s fried and made with corn flour.
The different types of Colombian empanada
The classic empanada is beef and potatoes, but there are many others!
In Colombia, almost every region has its own empanada recipe! It’s impossible to list all the empanada possibilities here… The small map above shows a few other typical empanadas from different regions of Colombia.
How to make empanada dough
Recipe for a Colombian dish
Here’s a recipe for beef/potato empanada, a mix of information from Angelica’s brother Andres and our friend Viviana, a Colombian from Cartago who’s been living in France for a few years now and, above all, is a great cook!
If you’d like to share your recipe for Colombian empanadas in the comments, don’t hesitate to do so.
Ingredients to make the dough (for about 20)
- 75 cl warm water
- Approx. 750 g pre-cooked corn flour (Harina PAN brand), to be adjusted according to texture
- a spoonful of olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Tips: we insist, but you can’t make empanadas with the corn flour found in “normal” supermarkets. You need “pre-cooked corn flour”, which ican be found under the name PAN in Latin or “exotic” grocery stores, or on the Internet.
Step-by-step recipe
Making the dough is really simple, you just need to pay attention to the final texture of the dough.
- Pour the flour into a bowl and mix with the salt
- Add a little water (colored beforehand with turmeric, for example, if your flour is white) and start mixing with the flour
- Repeat the operation, massaging the dough well each time
- Add the olive oil while the mixture is still warm, and continue kneading
- Finish adding water to the flour if you feel your dough still needs it
- Knead the dough well for at least 10 minutes to achieve the right texture (like modelling clay: if it’s too dry, it crumbles, if it’s too wet, it sticks)
- Leave the dough to rest while you prepare your guiso or filling
Tips: if you’re using white PAN flour (yellow packet), you’ll need to add color with turmeric, for example; if you’re using yellow PAN flour (orange packet), it’s already colored.
How to prepare guiso
Colombian empanada recipe
The guiso is the filling that goes inside your empanada. In this recipe, we’ll explain how to make the beef and potato mixture.
Ingredients to make the guiso (filling)
- 6 potatoes
- 250 g Burgundian-style meat
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 and a half onions
- Coriander
- Garlic
- Salt and pepper
- Spices to taste (in Colombia, cumin is the main ingredient)
- Frying oil
Variation: If you don’t have bourguignon-style meat, you can also use ground meat
Step-by-step recipe
- Boil your potatoes. Once cooked, mash them with a fork
- Cook your beef until tender
- Shred your meat by hand
- Confit your tomatoes and onions in a pan with a dash of cumin
- Mix well in a large bowl
How to make Aji
Colombian empanada recipe
Aji is a spicy sauce that accompanies the empanadas as they are eaten. Here again, there are several ways to make Aji, and we give you Viviana’s recipe.
Ingredients to make a good Aji (sauce)
- Fresh coriander
- 1 fresh tomato
- 1/2 white onion
- 1 lime
- Salt and pepper
- Hot pepper (to taste)
- White vinegar and/or a little water
Step-by-step recipe
- Finely chop all ingredients (tomatoes, coriander, onions)
- Mix everything together in a bowl
- Add lime juice and your choice of chili pepper
- Cover with white vinegar or water if you prefer
Adjust the quantities of chilli, lemon and white vinegar to suit your personal taste.
How to shape the Colombian empanada
Colombian recipe
Once your dough, guiso and aji are ready, it’s time to make the empanada!
- Cut a plastic bag and spread it out on the work surface
- Form the dough into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand
- Place the dough in the middle of the plastic bag
- Fold the plastic bag over the dough
- Stretch dough with rolling pin
- Lift the plastic and place a little of your guiso in the middle of the dough
- Close the pastry with the plastic bag over the guiso and press it tightly around the preparation, making sure that the filling is well covered by the pastry
- Take a wide glass or small bowl and cut the dough into a half-moon shape
- Lift the plastic and remove the cut-out empanada
- Repeat until all ingredients (pastry or filling) have been used up
This whole step is well explained by Viviana in the video above.
How to cook Colombian empanada
Colombian recipe
If you’ve read the history of the Colombian empanada, you’ll know that the Colombian empanada is fried. From there, it’s easy to cook your empanadas.
- Heat a frying pan with plenty of oil
- Once the oil is hot, place the empanadas in the pan
- Turn the pan from time to time to ensure even cooking, especially if the oil doesn’t cover the empanadas
- When the empanadas are golden brown and the dough looks crisp, they’re ready!
Serve the empanadas
Colombian recipe
Empanadas are eaten with a little lime and Aji!
Buen provecho!
And as always in Colombia, we end with a song about the Empanada, because in Colombia there’s a song for everything!
