I absolutely love empanadas. Let's start there. In Puerto Rico they are also called empanadillas or pastelillos. While I was there on vacation, I ate so many of them that I lost count. It's kind of embarrassing. I could. not. stop. eating. them. So of course I had to try my hand at Puerto Rican Style Chicken Empanadas. Here we go!
What are Empanadas?
In short, they are a type of pastry stuffed with savory (sometimes sweet) ingredients and fried in oil. Yes, they can be baked if you use a certain kind of dough, but the *best* empanadas in my world are fried.
Their origin is a little fuzzy according to Wikipedia, but it's believed that they are originally from Spain. They are popular in Argentina, Beliz, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Venzuela.
What are Puerto Rican empanadas like?
Oh, man. I will say right off the bat that Puerto Rican empanadas/empanadillas are the best I've ever had. Anywhere. Including all empanadas I've ever eaten in my whole life. Yes, I know, dramatics. I have more predominantly seen beef empanadas than chicken so I was thrilled when I arrived in Puerto Rico and found chicken empanadas everywhere.
They are filled with the most delicious, fresh and juicy chicken and spices then fried to perfection. Inside you will commonly find shredded chicken, Sazon Goya seasoning (the cilantro and annatto version), Sofrito (Spanish tomato sauce), sometimes onions and peppers, sometimes not. One ingredient I wouldn't have thought about is olives! Some more traditional places may also include olives in the filling. I will admit that I tested a version with the olives and it wasn't my favorite. But you can certainly add them if you're an olive fiend!
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How to Make the chicken for empanadas
There are a lot of ways you can do this. Since this is a recipe with a lot of steps, I tried to make the chicken part easier. I've tried this new method a few times and I'm loving the simplicity. All you have to do is:
- Trim that little bit of fat from around the chicken breast.
- Boil a pot of water big enough to fit two medium-to-large chicken breasts.
- Once the water is boiling, turn the heat off and add the chicken.
- Put the lid on and let it sit in the hot water (off the heat) for 30-35 minutes.
- After the chicken is cooked all the way through, chop and shred it.
There's an even lazier way to prepare the chicken if you want to save a little time. Buy a rotisserie chicken, pull the meat off and chop it. Make sure you have a big enough chicken that you get about 4 ½ cups of chopped chicken.
For Puerto Rican Style Chicken Empanadas you need to Mis En Place
In order for empanada making to be a seamless process, you've got to get organized with your prep. Mis en place is French for everything in its place (loosely). It basically means get everything together for your cooking (prepped, diced, chopped, measured, etc,), and make sure it's ready when you need it. Once you start an assembly of empanadas you want all your ingredients ready and within reach. So get organized and have your ingredient ready so when you reach for it - there they are.
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Puerto Rican Style Chicken Empanadas (Empanadillas)
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 20 empanadas 1x
Description
A trip to Puerto Rico left me craving their incredible chicken empanadas. So here’s my take on Puerto Rican style chicken empanadas. So yum!
Ingredients
- 4-4 ½ cups chopped, cooked chicken (2 medium/large boneless chicken breasts - mine were 1.63 lbs)
- 1 tablespoon garlic, finely diced
- ½ cup green poblano pepper, diced small
- ½ cup red pepper, diced small
- ½ cup onion, diced small (I used a heaping cup)
- 1-2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped and OPTIONAL
- 1 Sazon Goya packet season (cilantro & annatto and totals about 1 heaping teaspoon)
- 2 teaspoons Adobo seasoning
- ½ cup tomato Sofrito (jarred)
- 1 can pigeon peas, drained and rinsed (15-ounce can)
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil for cooking onions and peppers
- 1 bunch of chopped scallions, optional garnish
- ¼ cup water or chicken broth mixed with 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 egg beaten with splash of water (egg wash)
- 20 Goya empanada shells (large 6” size)
- Neutral oil for frying empanadas (vegetable or canola works well)
NOTE: You will need parchment paper
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Instructions
- For the chicken: Boil a pot of water big enough to place two medium-to-large boneless chicken breasts into. While the water is heating get your ingredients ready. Take a minute to trim fat from edges of chicken. Once the water is at a boil, turn the heat off. Place the two chicken breasts in the water, put the lid on the pot and let it sit on the stove top (again OFF THE HEAT, NO HEAT). Just the hot water will cook the chicken all the way through. Takes about 30-35 minutes depending on the thickness.
- If you don’t have time to cook the chicken. Get a medium rotisserie chicken at the store and pull the meat off. You’ll need about 4 ½ cups of chopped chicken.
- Finely dice two or three large cloves of garlic to make one tablespoon.
- Dice the green and red peppers. Cut a chunk off of each pepper, cut into thin strips then dice into smaller bits.
- Small dice the onion. I used a little less than half a medium-to-large onion. You’ll need to run your knife over the onion a bunch of times to get that small dice. My video shows this well.
- If using the optional cilantro and scallions, chop those. I like to add ½-1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro to the chicken mix. Then garnish with cilantro and chopped scallion if you want.
- When the chicken is done, pull out of water and blot dry. Cut into larger chunks, shred a little with your hands and rough chop it into smaller pieces. Bite-sized pieces work well for empanadas/empanadillas.
- Mix together the tomato paste and chicken broth (or water).
- Measure out the tomato sofrito.
- Heat a large pan on medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the peppers and onions. Cook a couple minutes until they start to soften.
- Add can of drained and rinsed pigeon peas and stir a minute.
- Add the garlic, mix again for a minute.
- Then add chopped chicken to the pan along with the adobo seasoning, Sazon Goya packet (cilantro & annatto), tomato paste and water mixture, tomato sofrito sauce. Mix well to combine and make sure all the chicken is coated.
- Add ¼ cup water to the pan, stir, then cover for a few minutes and turn heat to low.
- Remove from heat and transfer chicken mixture to a bowl. This needs to cool down before we make the empanadas/empanadillas. I usually just stick it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes and toss once.
- Beat one egg with a splash of water for an egg wash to brush around the edges of the empanadas.
- Lay out some parchment paper on your cutting board and a sheet pan. Open your packages of Goya empanada shells. You should put these in your refrigerator the night before to defrost them since they are sold frozen.
- Once chicken mixture is cooled mix in the fresh cilantro, if using.
- Lay out a few empanada shells on the parchment paper. The parchment paper is easier to peel the empanadas off rather than a cutting board. My video shows the process well.
- Put a couple of small spoonfuls of chicken onto one side of the empanada. Fold the dough over the chicken and press a fork around the edges. Brush the egg wash around the edges. Set aside.
- While you’re stuffing empanadas, heat some oil in a large pan. This is a shallow fry so maybe an inch or so of oil. Get it nice and hot.
- Once you have 5-6 empanadas stuffed, start frying them. The first batch always takes the longest. Plan about 4-5 minutes on the first side. When they are golden brown, turn them and cook another couple of minutes.
- While one batch of empanadas are cooking, stuff more empanadas for the next round of frying.
- As you transfer the cooked empanadas onto a paper towel lined sheet pan, place new empanadas in the oil. Carefully. The oil is hot and dangerous. I usually slide them in from the side so they don’t splash.
- Repeat the process until all empanadas are cooked.
- Serve on a platter and garnish with cilantro and scallions if you want.
- These freeze very well so if you don’t finish them, put them in the freezer for a night you don’t feel like cooking or pack for lunch at work. I usually just double zip lock bag them.
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