The name "empanada" designates a food that is wrapped in bread or dough, which essentially, the pastry is. Costa Rican empanadas have corn flour dough wrapped around cheese or cheese and beans, and fried, and they are some of the easiest ones to make. Following are preparation instructions for making about 5 Costa Rican empanadas.
Costa Rican Empanada Recipe: Ingredients and Materials
- 2 cups corn flour
- 1-1 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon chicken or beef flavoring, if desired
- 1/2 cup grated cheese, any type
- 1/2 cup black beans
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large trash bag
- vegetable oil
- scissors
How to Make Empanadas
- In a large bowl, add the corn flour, chicken or beef flavoring (such as a flavor packet from ramen noodles), and salt. Mix these dry ingredients around together. Pour in most of the water, and work it around with hands to make a soft dough. If the dough is still somewhat dry, and can crack apart (test this by making a ball and pressing down on it) add a little more water. If it becomes so sticky that it sticks to your hands as you knead it, add a little more corn flour.
- Take a large, clean trash bag, and cut a few 12 inch (in diameter) circles out of it. Spread a very little bit of oil on the circles. Then, roll balls of corn flour dough that are slightly larger than golf balls, and place them on the center of the trash bag circles.
- Press down on the dough balls with fingers to make them into wide, flat circles of dough that are 6-8 inches in diameter, and 1/4-1/2 inch in thickness.
- Place about one fifth of the cheese and of the beans on the center of each dough circle, and then fold the larger bag circles that the dough is on over. Press down, through the bags, on the edges of the folded dough, now shaped like empanadas (semi-circles). Unfold the trash bag circle, and the empanada should remain sealed. Use a fork to gently press the edges of the raw empanadas before their frying. The raw snacks can be placed on a plate before frying so that the trash bag circles can be reused to prepare the rest of the empanadas.
- Heat about one cup of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Fry each empanada for 1-2 minutes on each side, until everywhere has become golden-brown. Set the fried snacks on a paper towel to cool and loose their excess oil.
Getting the dough right is the hardest part of making Costa Rican empanadas at home. If it is too wet, it can easily rip, or break after it is filled with cheese and beans and folded. If the dough is too dry, it can crack or crumble. Although the recipe for empanadas is fairly basic, it will likely take a few tries to get the dough down right.
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Thomas Wyatt - Tom Wyatt grew up in Virginia. He has been interested in the outdoors (fishing, birding, camping, and other such activities) since he was ...
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