Empanadas

Name: Empanadas
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 23 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Argentina
Ingredients: 500g All purpose flour; 200g Butter; 120ml Water; 1 tsp Salt; 500g Ground Beef; 2 chopped Onion; 4 Chopped Egg; 100g Green Olives; 1 teaspoon Cumin; 1 teaspoon Paprika; To taste Salt; To taste Pepper

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Beef recipe with Argentina flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 57 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 35 min total

500g All Purpose Flour
200g Butter
120ml Water
1 tsp Salt
500g Ground Beef
2 chopped Onion
4 Chopped Egg
100g Green Olives
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Paprika
To taste Salt
To taste Pepper

Step-by-step instructions

Make the Dough: Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Add butter, using your fingers to blend into a crumbly texture. Gradually add water, mixing until a dough forms. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Prepare the Filling: Cook onions in a pan until translucent. Add ground beef, cooking until browned. Stir in spices, then remove from heat. Once cooled, mix in eggs and olives.
Assemble: Roll out the dough and cut into circles. Place a spoonful of filling in each, fold over, and seal the edges.
Cook: Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.
Pro Tips:.
For a flakier crust, incorporate a tablespoon of vinegar into the dough mixture. This helps prevent gluten formation.
Seal the edges of the empanadas with a fork to ensure they do not open during baking or frying.

Why this works on a weeknight

Empanadas lands at about 35 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Empanadas actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Beef Argentina