
Ah, empanadas. So may ways to make them, so many options. And filipino pork empanadas are no different. All around the world nearly every culture has some sort of small, hand-pie type of dish. Many latin countries have a deep fried empanada, while these are baked empanadas. This Filipino pork empanada recipe shares a lot with its spanish cousins. The raisins in this recipe make it “special” and gives it a hint of sweetness, balancing out the salty, savory notes of the pork and cutting through the rich, flaky filipino empanada dough recipe that holds together the buttery goodness of the flaky crust. Add them to your feast, or make a few ahead of time to have a handy on-the-go snack or light lunch/breakfast. So versatile, so delicious!
And like most Filipino recipes, this filipino empanada recipe is going to be different from the next one. When you have over 7,000 islands, that’s going to happen.
While you’re at it, some Lumpia will go well along side these (and even has some of the same ingredients)!
- Your Veg
- Your meat
- Your veg and meat!
And rest…
- D’oh!
- Roll
- Fill
- Flip
- Prick
- Cut

Filipino Pork Empanadas
Ingredients
]Filling
- ¼ lb Pork Ground
- 2 Potatoes Medium Sized
- ½ Carrot
- ½ Celery Stalk
- ¼ Onion
- Garlic Powder
- 1 Raisins Handful
Crust
- 4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Sticks Butter
- ½ tsp Salt
- ⅓ Cup White Sugar
- 1 Egg Yolk
- ½ Cup Water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
FIlling
- Dice potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions
- Sautee vegetables until softened
- Add ground pork and cook until browned
- Season with garlic powder and add raisins
- Drain mixture in a collander and allow to cool completely
Crust
- Combine flour, sugar in salt in a bowl
- Cut butter into flour until you get pea-sized crumbles
- Gradually add water, mixing with a fork until the dough comes together
- Knead until smooth, 5 - 10 minutes
- Divide into 30 equal sized pieces
- Roll each piece into a circle approximately 4" - 6"
- Fill each circle with approximately 1/4 cup of pork filling
- Close empanada and prick the top 3-4 times with a fork
- Using a dough or pizza cutter, trim the edges to an even rounded cut
- Using your fingers, seal the edges of the dough and roll the edges slightly
- Using a fork, crimp the edges all the way around the sealed side
- Brush with egg yolk
- Place empanandas on a baking sheet in the pre-heated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Nutrition
all images credit to Jenno