Cheesy Empanadas

Latkes, sufganiyot… but why stop there? This Chanukah, bring a new spin to the Festival of Lights with ooey-gooey, cheese-filled Cheesy Empanadas that will melt hearts and light up your table! These empanadas are fried to golden brown perfection, filled with fresh mozzarella and tangy goat cheese for the perfect blend of cheesy flavor.  Dip them in your favorite marinara, take a bite and close your eyes to savor the flavor and think about the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days!

When you need a break from latkes, or just want to add something new to your Chanukah repertoire, Cheesy Empanadas are just the thing. 

Coming up with Cheesy Empanadas

We were recently in Miami for a family simcha, and we took Mary to Fresko for lunch.  Now Mary is Dear Daughter-In-Law’s sister, absolutely making her family, and like Dear Daughter-In-Law, is from Venezuela.  At the restaurant we ordered the Empanadas, excited to see how “authentic” they were to a true South American.  We were expecting more than two empanadas for around $20, but even so, Mary was really impressed with how they tasted, especially the flavor of the cheese. 

She said that there is a special cheese in Venezuela that is used for empanadas, and she has yet to find it here in the US.  The cheese in the Fresko empanadas was the closest she’s ever had.  We asked what kind of cheese was in the empanadas and were told that it had fresh mozzarella and goat cheese.

I knew that I had to reproduce them at home.

Making Cheesy Empanadas

I spoke to Dear Daughter-In-Law, and asked her to poll her Venezuelan family for their recipe for empanadas.  We had a good laugh when she said that none of them could give her an exact recipe… it’s all by feel.  Kind of sounds like my Ashkenazi grandmothers (z”l).  I knew that I wanted to make them with corn flour, similar to the Fresko ones, because I felt they were very authentic and also gluten free.  Additionally, because Dear Daughter-In-Law used to live in my house and had a huge influence on my cooking, I conveniently had corn flour in my pantry!

 

What type of Corn Flour should you use?

When making this recipe is is essential that you use pre-cooked corn flour/meal.  I can’t stress that enough.  There are several brands you can use, like Pan (which is what I used) or Goya but DO NOT use regular corn meal.  It wont work.   Trust me.

This is the same flour I used to make Epic Gluten Free Pizza and, when I wrote for the Chicago Tribune Chicago Now website under the everydaygluten-free.com, the recipe for Sloppy Arepas.  It’s really versatile and absorbs warm water very well to make all sorts of awesome corn based dishes.

Making Cheesy Empanadas

Here’s how I made the Cheesy Empanadas.  If you want to get fancy, you can watch some videos and folding the edges of the empanadas to create a beautiful edge.  

For the Cheesy Empanada Dough

The empanada dough is very similar to Arepa dough.  I did some research and found that Tasty AZ used baking powder and corn starch in the dough to help crisp it.  I thought that made a lot of sense.  The baking powder to give the dough a little “poofiness” and lightness and the corn starch to really help brown it.

Super simple.

For the Cheesy Empanada Filling

I wanted to emulate the filling from the Fresko empanadas.  Dear Husband went to the store and bought me some mini fresh Mozzarella balls and goat cheese.  I wasn’t really sure how much I’d end up using and it was better to have more than less.

 

In the end, I used three mini fresh mozzarella balls and a chunk of goat cheese.  Even though I made several batches using this method, I think you could probably use a large slice of fresh mozzarella and some goat cheese, or even some shredded pizza cheese with some goat cheese for a punch of flavor.

 

Folding the Cheesy Empanadas

The first thing I tried were the molds that people use to make pastries.  For me it was a disaster.  I sprayed the molds and the dough completely stuck to the molds.  

 

It was very sad.

 

Then I started doin them by hand, flattening them in my palm first.

 

Folding them was interesting…they got much better as I had some practice.

Then I got a little fancier after I watched some videos online of how to fold the dough over to make a “ruffly” edge.  They were pretty good, and I even got a thumbs up from Michael Barnatan of Evita’s Argentinian Steak House and Shanghai Kosher Chinese Chicago.  I felt fantastic about them after that!

The frying oil

It’s important to use a high smoke point oil.  That means that you can get the oil nice and hot and it won’t smoke up your house.  My favorite frying oil is peanut oil, but I also use avocado oil as well.

And when you’re done they come out golden brown…

And… super cheesy!!!

You have to see how cheesy they are on the inside!

I like to serve them with marinara sauce.  That’s the best!

Here’s the recipe for Cheesy Empanadas

Feel free to make these empanadas with the fillings that your family loves.  The options are endless once you make the dough.  You can fill them with different cheeses or a delicious meat filling.  You are the Executive Chef in your kitchen.  Enjoy!

Print

More Fabulous Fried Foods for Chanukah!

 

You can see ALL the amazing Kosher Everyday Chanukah recipes here!

 

Check out the Kosher Everyday Amazon Chanukah Shop!

Make sure to check out the Kosher Everyday Amazon Chanukah Shop!  I’ve curated a bunch of fun Chanukah stuff that is perfect for the Holiday.  I recently added a portable, foldable, fit-in-your-pocket travel menorah by Emanuel!  My kids in Israel found it there and sent me a picture.  It’s super cool and I was able to find it on Amazon… just for you!

 

See anything you want to add?  Let me know!

 

FOLLOW ME!

Don’t forget to follow Kosher Everyday on Instagram @koshereveryday! and on Facebook  You don’t want to miss all the fun and interesting posts and reels that can be found nowhere else!You can find reels showing how to make most of my recipes on Instagram!Also, make sure to tag @koshereveryday when you make Kosher Everyday recipes!  I LOVE to see your creations!!!Please note that this post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for your ongoing support!