Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Empanadas Colombianas
Crisp golden corn-dough turnovers stuffed with shredded beef and potato, fried until they shatter and dipped in a bright cilantro ají.
Colombian (Paisa) · medium · serves 4
prep 40 min · cook 30 min
~753 cal · 40g protein · 80g carbs · 30g fat · 7g fiber · 5g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Empanadas are Colombia's favourite street food, sold from glass cases and roadside fryers in every city and town and eaten by the handful with a squeeze of lime. What sets them apart from empanadas elsewhere in Latin America is the dough: not wheat pastry but masarepa, precooked yellow corn flour, which fries into a thin, deeply crunchy, golden shell and happens to be naturally gluten free.
The filling is the paisa classic of shredded beef cooked down with potato and a hogao of onion, tomato, scallion, and garlic, seasoned with cumin and a little for color. The mashed potato binds everything into a soft, savory center that steams inside the crisp corn crust.
No Colombian empanada is served without ají, the fresh, fiery table sauce of cilantro, scallion, lime, and hot chili that cuts the richness of the fried dough. Small, crunchy, and messy in the best way, they are party food, snack, and light meal all at once.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 lb beef chuck or flank steak, for boiling and shredding
2 cups masarepa (precooked yellow corn flour)
1 lb russet or yukon potatoes, peeled and diced
1 white onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
3 , chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin and a pinch of or for color
3 cups , for frying
to taste salt
a bowl for the ají: cilantro, scallion, lime juice, white vinegar, and hot chili
Instructions
1
Simmer the beef (or the lentils and mushrooms) with a little salt until very tender, about 90 minutes for beef, then shred it and keep a cup of the cooking broth.
2
Boil the diced potatoes until soft, drain them well, and mash them roughly, leaving a little texture for the filling.
3
Make a hogao: cook the onion, tomato, scallion, and garlic in a little oil for 10 minutes until soft, then stir in the cumin and achiote.
✎ Chef’s note
The hogao is the flavor base of countless Colombian dishes. Cook it slowly until the tomato breaks down and the mixture looks glossy rather than watery.
4
Fold the shredded beef and mashed potato into the hogao, season well with salt, add a splash of broth so it stays juicy, and let the filling cool completely.
5
Knead the masarepa with warm salted water into a smooth, soft dough, then press golf-ball pieces thin between two sheets of plastic.
6
Spoon filling onto each disc, fold it into a half moon, and press the edge firmly to seal, trimming with a bowl rim for a clean crescent.
✎ Chef’s note
A fully cooled filling and a well-sealed edge keep the empanadas from bursting in the hot oil. Seal firmly and patch any cracks with wet fingers.
7
Fry in oil at 350F, a few at a time, until deep golden and crackling, about 4 minutes, then drain on paper and serve hot with the ají and lime.
Antioquia street-food tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Antioquia. Each component of the bandeja paisa is old on its own: beans cooked with pork, rice, chicharron, fried egg, plantain, avocado, arepa. What is modern is the tray, which appeared in Bogota restaurants in the 1960s and at roadside stops in the 1970s and does not show up in nineteenth-century Antioquian writing at all. Some paisas will tell you nobody ever ate it that way at home.
🗺️
Colombia. Arepas are shared with Venezuela and the two countries argue over them without resolution; what changes is the corn, the thickness and what goes inside. Bandeja paisa, the loaded platter, belongs to Antioquia and the coffee-growing hills rather than to the country at large, and the coasts cook with coconut where the highlands cook with potato.
🌍
South America. South America's cooking follows its dramatic geography, potatoes and quinoa in the high Andes, cassava and river fish in the Amazon basin, and grass-fed beef on the pampas. Indigenous ingredients like maize, ají peppers, and cacao meet Spanish, Portuguese, African, Italian, and Japanese influences brought by five centuries of migration. Ceviche, feijoada, arepas, and the smoke of the asado are its most beloved icons.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Colombia
Arepas con Quesito & HogaoGriddled corn cakes split and filled with fresh cheese, spooned over with a warm tomato-scallion sauce.
Ajiaco SantafereñoBogotá’s three-potato chicken soup thickened by the potatoes themselves, perfumed with guascas, finished with cream and capers.
Bandeja PaisaA groaning platter of red beans, rice, chicharrón, beef, chorizo, fried egg, plantain, and arepa.
Browse all Colombia recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Colombia meal
AguapanelaDrink
Natilla ColombianaDessert
Bandeja PaisaDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Empanadas Colombianas?
Crisp golden corn-dough turnovers stuffed with shredded beef and potato, fried until they shatter and dipped in a bright cilantro ají.
Where does Empanadas Colombianas come from?
Empanadas Colombianas is a Colombian (Paisa) dish from Antioquia, Colombia.
Can Empanadas Colombianas be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Empanadas Colombianas recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Empanadas Colombianas safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Empanadas Colombianas take to make?
About 70 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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