Authentic Argentinian vegetarian empanadas, three ways {Veg}

Authentic Argentinian vegetarian empanadas are little pockets of joy, in whichever one of my three customizable vegetarian fillings you choose. 

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• Authentic Argentinian vegetarian empanadas are little pockets of joy, in whichever one of my three customizable vegetarian fillings you choose. 
• International friendships
• For more International Jewish recipes:
• Immigrant Cuisine Spotlight: Argentinian Cuisine
• Why you should make these veggie Argentinian empanadas
• Ingredients
• Directions for making Argentinian empanadas
• Bake veggie empanadas
• Serve empanadas
• Scaling the Recipe
• Storage
• Making in Advance
• Heating instructions
• Adaptations
• Equipment
• Savory vegetarian empanadas filling combinations and variations
• Check out our Web Story for these Vegetarian empanadas
• Accompanying Dishes
• Updates
• Pin for Later!
• Recipe

International friendships

Last night I got one one of those Facebook reminders. "Ksenia and Mara have been friends for 2 years!"

For a moment, my heart skipped a bit because I realized I have been keeping this authentic Argentinian veggie empanadas recipe from you for over a year - and this morning, I just had to right that wrong.

I met Mara at a work meeting. She was a newly arrived immigrant from Argentina, having just recently moved to Montreal to be with her husband. I was a newly arrived transplant from Winnipeg, having just recently been hired to plan a Jewish cooking school for the local community.

She was a classically trained pastry chef in need of work, I was a classically disillusioned former professional writer in need of rehabilitation. We both were doe-eyed and just a little bit lost, hopeful and scared.

Naturally, we became colleagues - and friends.

The Jewish Food Project Experience

Mara worked on two ambitious events for the Jewish Food Project - an Argentinian cooking workshop, and an elaborate four-course dinner inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi's dishes. Both were a huge success, but what impressed me the most was her dedication, work ethic and perseverance.

Here was a girl that could spent hours tempering chocolate, watching the beads coalesce on cooling cocoa while just barely holding her breath, taking care not to disturb a single molecule in the delicate chemical processes required to produce her creations. Her chocolate and sea salt tart still fills my dreams.

Between Argentinian chimichurri and elaborate desserts, Mara and I struck a careful friendship.

We spoke of what it's like to not know your place in your new home, to maintain a relationship across controls, to be an immigrant. We laughed and ate raw vegan food. We drank wine and commiserated.

We bonded - and naturally, we cooked together.

These Argentinian vegetarian empanadas were the product of one of those cooking nights.

For more International Jewish recipes:

Immigrant Cuisine Spotlight: Argentinian Cuisine

I went to Argentina with JDC Entwine in 2015. While there, I discovered a country full of immigrants - from Morocco, Italy, Poland, Russia, Chile, Colombia and many more places.

Argentinian cuisine is a melange of those cultures and flavors.

Yes, everyone knows asado and Argentinian beef. But did you know Argentina is also famous for Italian food and pasta?

Did you know about Argentinian flan and Argentinian bread pudding?

Have you ever tasted good chimichurri?

And how about alfajores?

Since visiting Argentina, and cooking with Mara, I have fallen deeply in love with Argentinian cuisine. I have many Argentinian recipes in my archives. I dream about going back, and visiting the Iguazu Waterfalls. Exploring other areas except Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata. Discovering more of the rich history of Argentinian Jews, and Argentinian Jewish cuisine.

But meanwhile, I'll just have to live through these vegetarian empanada recipes.

For more Argentinian food posts:

Why you should make these veggie Argentinian empanadas

Mara has graciously shared her empanada dough recipe with me, and it's divine! We are also happy to offer three vegetarian empanadas filling recipes. You should make them RIGHT NOW because this vegetarian empanada recipe is:

• cheap
• filling
• exotic
• delicious
• vegan - the dough is vegan, and two of our fillings are vegan
• so fun to eat
• kid-friendly
• portable
• good for freezing
• keep well
• easy to make (though they take some time, nothing here is complicated)

Ingredients

For dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup cold water

For onion and cheese vegetarian empanadas:

• 2 onions sliced into crescents
• 1 cup Gouda cheese shredded
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• Salt & pepper to taste

For mushroom and kale vegetarian empanadas:

• 1 pound mushrooms sliced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 4 leaves kale
• 1 lime juice of
• salt and pepper to taste

For vegetarian empanadas sweet potato & lentil:

• 1 onion chopped finely,
• 1 sweet potato shredded
• ½ cup lentils cooked
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

For serving:

• 1 Egg
• Sesame seeds, optional

Directions for making Argentinian empanadas

Make empanada dough

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine the flour with the salt in a large bowl. Add the oil and the water and knead until dough forms. If the dough requires, add more water. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Form the empanada dough mix into ping-pong-sized balls. Flatten each ball with a rolling pun.

Make onion and cheese filling

preheat a large pan to medium heat. Add 2 TBs grapeseed oil. Sautee onion until it turns golden, 10 minutes. Remove from heat and season with oregano, salt & pepper. Set aside. When making empanadas, layer 1 TB of onion mixture per empanada and top with a sprinkle of cheese. Repeat with remaining filling and dough.

Make mushroom and kale vegetarian empanadas

preheat a large pan to medium heat. Add 2 TBs grapeseed oil. Sautee mushrooms until they begin to brown, 10-15 minutes. Add kale and garlic, mix well to combine and sautee an additional 3 minutes. Remove from heat and season with lime, salt & pepper. Set aside.

Make vegetarian empanadas sweet potato and lentils

preheat a large pan to medium heat. Add 2 TBs grapeseed oil. Sautee onion until it turns golden, 10 minutes. Add sweet potatoes, lentils and seasonings. Cook until sweet potatoes cook fully, about 15 minutes. When making empanadas, layer 1 TB sweet potato and lentil mixture per empanada. Repeat with remaining filling and dough.

Fill empanadas

When making empanadas, layer 1 TB of filling per empanada dough circle. Repeat with remaining filling and dough.

Seal empanadas

Seal veggie empanada and set aside. To seal veggie empanadas, the easiest thing to do is crimp the sides with your fingers. You then have a few options for ornamental seals:

• gently press a fork against the edges, leaving the fork imprint along the border
• roll little bits of the empanada edge on itself, like in the fold above.

Bake veggie empanadas

When ready to bake, arrange Argentinian empanadas on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush tops with egg wash, and sprinkle sesame seeds (optional). Bake at 400F until golden brown, rotating sheets halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve empanadas

Serve these Argentinian empanadas with chimichurri, or your favourite hot sauce.

Scaling the Recipe

This recipe makes approximately 24 vegetarian empanadas, each one about the size of your palm. You can double the dough quantities for more, or scale down for just a few empanadas of one filling type. It's totally your call!

But because these are so tasty, we recommend making more of your favourite savory vegetarian empanadas and saving them for later.

Storage

But how to save them for later, you ask? These veggie empanadas will keep in the fridge for up to a week. They are perfect if stored in the freezer in a sealed container, and will keep for 6 months.

Making in Advance

Though fresh Argentinian Empanadas taste amazing out of the oven, especially the cheese empanadas, you really can make them ahead of time and just reheat before serving! Sweet potato vegetarian empanadas are also great in room temperature.

Heating instructions

You can reheat vegetarian empanadas in the microwave, or in the oven at 200F for 10 minutes.

If frozen, bring vegetarian empanadas to room temperature or defrost them in the fridge overnight before heating in the oven. You can also pop them in the microwave from the freezer.

Adaptations

Vegetarian

After Mara's Argentinian cooking workshop featured only meat Argentinian empanadas, I began fantasizing about the veggie empanadas she mentioned - and after sufficient nagging, Mara agreed to share her favourite vegetarian empanada recipe with me.

Vegan

Two of these recipes are for vegan empanadas! The dough is fully vegan, and two of the fillings I provide below (mushrooms + kale empanadas and vegetarian empanadas sweet potato and lentils) are vegan. Plant-based eating is not a foreign concept to Argentinian food! Just avoid the egg wash before baking.

Gluten-free

The empanada dough we initially used was store-bought, perfectly calibrated for veggie empanadas and cheap - but if you're looking to make your own dough, I've got Mara's recipe below for you.

Unfortunately, I haven't yet tried making these gluten-free - but that's coming!

Paleo, keto and Whole 30

I don't have a good adaptation for making these paleo, keto or Whole 30. My best suggestion would be to use something like cheese wraps or daikon slices for raw empanadas.

Equipment

We used our hands to pinch our veggie empanadas, but if you make a lot of dumplings you may want to invest in a set of molds.

Savory vegetarian empanadas filling combinations and variations

There are many veggie empanadas filling combinations you can use to stuff our empanada dough! Our favourite savory vegetarian empanadas, three of which you will find below, are:

• onion and cheese empanadas - see recipe below!
• vegetarian empanadas sweet potato - we have a recipe for this below!
• vegetarian potato empanadas
• mushroom empanadas - see recipe below, or use the filling from my vegan mushroom bourekas
• corn empanadas
• butternut squash empanadas - you can use the filling from our Bosnian pita

Check out our Web Story for these Vegetarian empanadas

Get the low down on how to make these Argentinian empanadas with a mouthwatering, photo-laden web story.

Accompanying Dishes

You can serve this vegetarian empanada recipe with:

Updates

A lot of water has flowed in the St. Lawrence river since we made this vegetarian empanada recipe. When cooking these, Mara was six-months pregnant. In December, we celebrated her son's Bruno's first birthday. Then she had another daughter.

Today, Bruno is 5 years old. Olivia, her daughter, is three. My own son is one.

And in case you are wondering - I am sure they are all eating a great deal of vegetarian empanadas.

Pin for Later!

Recipe