Empanadillas are the small, hand-held cousins of Galician empanada — half-moon pastries of dough filled with tuna, tomato, and pepper, or with minced meat, sealed and fried or baked. They are the most common tapa and picnic food across Spain, found in every bakery and bar, eaten cold from the hand.
Empanadillas are the small, portable form of the great Galician empanada — the large savory pie of the northwest. While the empanada is a centerpiece, cut into wedges for a crowd, the empanadilla is individual — one per hand, eaten cold, taken on trips. The dough is similar (wheat, with lard for crispness), and the classic filling is the tuna-tomato-pepper sofrito that travels well. They are found in every Spanish bakery.
A crisp, half-moon pastry, golden from the fry or bake. Bite in: the dough flakes; inside, a savory heap of tuna bound in a jammy tomato-pepper sofrito. Eat it in three bites, then reach for another. Cold, room-temperature, hot — all work.
The dough uses lard (or olive oil) which makes it both flaky and sturdy enough to hold the wet filling without going soggy. The filling is fully cooked and cooled before filling (hot filling would melt the dough). Sealing with a fork-crimp presses out air and prevents bursting in the fry. Frying gives the classic crispness; baking is the lighter modern option.
Variations
Fillings vary: tuna-tomato, minced meat, chorizo and potato, salt cod, or spinach; some are fried, some baked.
On the Palate
Where Empanadillas sits in the Spanish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour active + 30 min waiting
- 132 min
Make dough: knead flour, lard, warm water, and salt; rest 30 minutes.
- 214 min
Make filling: sauté diced onion and red pepper 6 minutes; add grated tomato; cook 6 minutes; add drained tuna; cook 2 minutes; cool.
Watch outCook and cool the filling completely before it touches the dough — warm filling melts the fat in the pastry and you get soggy, split empanadillas.
- 35 min
Roll the dough thin; cut 10-cm circles.
- 45 min
Place a spoonful of filling on each circle; fold to a half-moon; crimp edges with a fork.
Watch outPress the fork-crimp firmly along the whole edge to seal out air — any gap and the empanadilla bursts open in the hot oil.
- 512 min
Heat olive oil to 170°C; fry empanadillas in batches 3 minutes until golden; drain.
Watch outHold the oil around 170°C — a dropped scrap should sizzle up steadily; too cool and they drink oil, too hot and they brown before the dough cooks.
- 618 min
Or bake at 200°C for 18 minutes on a lined tray.
- 710 min
Cool on a rack.
- 82 min
Serve warm or at room temperature.
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