"Empanadas with Corn Dough” or “Quesadillas” are a delicious snack which can be eaten any day. They can be filled with a variety of fillings from farmer fresh cheese, squash flowers, potatoes, ground meat, shrimp, chicken, etc.
If you visit Mexico City or any small town, you will not have trouble finding a stand serving a variety of delicious empanadas. You can invite friends for a casual dinner any evening and present them with these empanadas. Believe me, they will not be disappointed!
Empanadas with Corn Dough / Empanadas con Masa de Maíz
Today’s corn empanadas are filled with “Tinga Poblana”, but you can also use fresh Mexican cheese, shredded cooked chicken, shrimp or cooked ground meat. Fillings vary from region to region, so here you can be creative and set your imagination free. I saved some of the “Tinga Poblana” from last week to cook these empanadas because the flavor of corn dough complements them very well.
Actually, the main reason for making these corn empanadas with “Tinga Poblana” is because I remember eating them in a small restaurant with tables and chairs outdoors. No, I am not talking about a fancy Paris-like restaurant, I’m talking about a run down place with ugly plastic furniture with good cheap food. The dough is very crispy and the Tinga is really flavorful. Enjoy!
How to make Empanadas with Corn Dough
- Prepare the dough in a bowl, mixing the masa harina, salt, and warm water to form a ball, knead dough until smooth. Divide the dough into 12 balls, and flatten and slightly cover with plastic wrap. Set aside. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Place one ball of dough between two pieces of plastic and press using a tortilla press, a heavy skillet or a dish. I know, you have seen the tortilla press, but somehow I love to use my glass dishes for this step. So, do not be afraid, use whatever you have.
- Remove the top piece of plastic and spoon some of the stuffing onto the tortilla. Leaving enough room to seal the edges.
- Using the piece of plastic fold the dough over to make a half moon shape turn over. Pinch the edges, making sure they seal to avoid any leaking of the mixture while frying. Remove the empanada from the plastic set aside on a large plate or tray and cover with a plastic wrap. Keep working with the rest of the dough making the empanadas.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. It's frying time!
- Deep fry the empanadas one or two at a time until golden brown.
- About 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot topped with lettuce and avocado. Eat them adding some salsa. After that, take a long walk.
Did you like the recipe? Please let me know in the comments section, do you have questions, or share the link with your friends. I hope you have an incredible time cooking!
Provecho!
Mely Martinez, the cook at Mexico in my Kitchen!
More recipes:
Crab Empanadas Recipe
Tuna Empanadas
Receta en español Empanadas de Maíz.
Empanadas with Corn Dough
Ingredients
- 2 cups of masa harina
- 1-¼ cups of warm water amount may vary depending on air humidity and other wheatear conditions.
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 pieces of round plastic cut out from a bag. freezer bags are ideal for this purpose.
- 2 cups of filling cooked chicken, ground meat or grated cheese
- 2 cups of shredded lettuce
- 1 avocado diced
- About 1 ½ cup of vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Prepare the dough in a bowl, mixing the masa harina, salt, and warm water to form a ball, knead dough until smooth. Divide the dough into 12 balls, and flatten and slightly cover with plastic wrap. Set aside.
- Place one ball of dough between two pieces of plastic and press using a tortilla press, a heavy skillet or a dish. I know, you have seen the tortilla press, but somehow I love to use my glass dishes for this step. So, do not be afraid, use whatever you have.
- Remove the top piece of plastic and spoon some of the stuffing onto the tortilla. Leaving enough room to seal the edges.
- Using the piece of plastic fold the dough over to make a half moon shape turn over. Pinch the edges, making sure they seal to avoid any leaking of the mixture while frying. Remove the empanada from the plastic set aside on a large plate or tray and cover with a plastic wrap. Keep working with the rest of the dough making the empanadas.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. It's frying time!
- Deep fry the empanadas one or two at a time until golden brown.
- About 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot topped with lettuce and avocado. Eat them adding some salsa. After that, take a long walk.
Natalie
Can you bake these or oven fry?
Mely Martínez
Hello Natalie,
Many readers have tried those options, even air frying, and non-work. Only regular frying.
Skim
Hello!
I can't wait to make these for the family. I was wondering can you make the empanadas ahead of time and fry before serving? Just trying to figure out how to make big batches at a time.
Thank you!
Mely Martínez
Hello,
It is better to make them and eat at the moment. Unless you want to make them and then reheat them in the oven.
Liz
I've made these empanadas twice now & they are fabulous! 1st time I used a shrimp + poblano Chile filling, 2nd time I used some leftover lamb roast which I minced fine + added gravey. The shrimp were by far the best! Suprisingly they do not soak up the oil when frying them! Well worth the effort to make this treat. The corn masa is so much tastier than wheat flour dough for meat empanadas. Thanks for this recipe + the photos.
Mely Martínez
Hello Liz,
Thank you for visiting and trying the empanadas. I'm glad to know you like the flavor and taste of the dough. Shrimp empanadas are delicious!
Deli
What an inspiration you are! We just ordered the Comal Cazo Griddle Fryer from Amazon and can hardly wait to use it! We made our very first corn tortillas yesterday and are hoping they'll turn out better the second time around. Thanks, too, for the empanada recipe!
Mely Martínez
Hello Deli, make sure you order the 16 inches.
Jeff
These were delicious! I made them using blue corn masa, and filled them with a combination of some leftover taco meat, some quesadilla cheese, and a little bit of habenero jack cheese. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!
Sara K
These were fabulous - glad my first attempt was a success. I added a bit more liquid - my dough was a bit dry. Made a filling of minced chicken, grated cheese, cumin, garlic salt and pepper with a spoonful of yoghurt to hold it together. I fried half and baked half - we preferred the fried ones. 🙂
Amber Freet
Thank you for sharing your recipe and instructions on how to make empenadas! Your photos and step by step instructions were very helpful (this was my first time making empenadas). I followed your recipe for the tinga poblana filling, except I used chicken instead of pork and left out the chorizo. They were amazing and spicy! I can only imagine the heat if I had added the chorizo! My whole family enjoyed them (10 & 12 yr old sons included). My youngest son was not sure he would like the spiciness, but he ate two. 🙂
Mely Martínez
Hello Amber,
Thank you for using the recipe for corn empanadas. BTW Chicken or Pork tinga empanadas are very popular in central Mexico.
cindy
Oh Geez!!! These are so wonderful!!! I am eating them now for dinner - so crispy and I stuffed them with seasoned bean/beef mix to give it a try - they are delicious!
helen annison
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. I love your pan to cook the empanadas in. 🙂
Karen
Hi could you stuff with bean and cheese?
Mely Martínez
Hello Karen,
Yes, you can, you can stuff them with many types of things, like chicken, beef, pork, cheese, mushrooms, etc.
Marisa Baskaron
Hola Mely. Can I use premade masa for tortillas?
mmartinez
Hi Marisa, you mean the nixtamal masa sold at the molinos or some latin stores. Sure!
Ed
Oh Mely, these are amazing! I used chicken broth instead of water and a pinch of sazon seasoning in the dough. I may have used a bit too little broth or allowed it to dry out because the dough easily cracked, may have over filled too. I used seasoned chopped cooked chicken and shredded sharp cheddar for the filling. Yes these can be baked and I may have gone too high temp. 425 for 30 min. They browned nicely and very crispy, especially where the crimp was. Baked though they seemed on the dry side. Maybe less heat next time. I did pan fry one with some bacon fat I had in tbe fridge and my oh my....frying is vastly superior in results. Simply amazing fried but I want to try and stay away from deep frying. Over all these came out great and will try again tweaking the bake time and temp a bit. Oh....I'll still pan fry one or two.
mmartinez
Hello Ed,
Thank you for sharing your experience baking corn empanadas, it is always interesting to see all the ideas.
Have fun cooking!
Kristine
Hello there. On the very top you put masa harina. Is it maseca (corn) or is it harina ( regular flour)
mmartinez
Hello Kristine,
It is referring to any brand of corn flour, it could be Maseca or Minsa.
Gene Ware
Can the filled empanadas be frozen? Uncooked most likely? And for how long? And, would they need to be thawed before cooking? Thank you. G
mmartinez
Hello Gene,
I had never tried to freeze uncooked corn empanadas. Corn masa for empanadas tend to dry and break easily. I guess that will happen if you freeze them for many days. If you freeze them let me know.
Christina
I made these tonight using chicken stock instead of water and a simple beef, carrot, onion and cheese filling. They were amazing! I will be adding this to our dinner go to recipes. Especially happy that I have another way of getting my kids to eat veggies!
mmartinez
Hello Christina,
Thank you for taking the time to comment and share the additions/changes you made. I'm sure they will be very helpful for other readers. Happy cooking!
Erin
I have never worked with masa before, never had corn empanadas before. But I made these last night and they were incredible! I was really intimidated by the masa, and while the first one was definitely off, I was able to add some water and get the dough the right consistency and the rest were great. I’m excited to try all sorts of other fillings now (we did barbacoa filling last night), and other things with masa!