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This Easy Chicken Empanadas recipe can be made in about 30 minutes and is a dinner that the whole family will absolutely love! The chicken empanada filling is so delicious that you’ll want to eat it all by itself!

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A few months ago, I did a video for one of my clients which used THESE Goya empanada disks. I immediately became obsessed with how delicious and how easy these discs made the whole empanada process. Naturally, I knew that I wanted to use these discs to create my own baked empanada recipe. I wanted to keep it simple with an easy to make chicken empanada filling. TA DA! Here they are and they’re delicious!

chicken empanada recipe

I mean. LOOK at that cheesy goodness! ^^^^^^

I’m hoping to re-create this recipe in a vegetarian form as well. That’s likely to be coming to the blog very soon because I am currently empanada obsessed.

This Easy Chicken Empanadas recipe can be made in about 30 minutes and are a dinner that the whole family will absolutely love! The chicken empanada filling is so delicious that you'll want to eat it all by itself!

Chicken Empanada Filling

The chicken empanada filling recipe is basic which is part of what I love about this recipe. You just mix everything into one bowl before adding it into the empanada discs. To make it extra (extra) easy, you can pick up a rotisserie chicken and shred that for the chicken empanada filling. You could also use leftover chicken. When I know I’ll be making these chicken empanadas, I try and bake the chicken ahead of time so that when it’s time for dinner, all I have to do is just shred the chicken.

The greek yogurt and the Monterey jack cheese make the filling so creamy and gooey. Every time I’ve made these, we end up eating part of the filling all by itself because it’s just SO GOOD!

I only put in a small amount of sriracha because I don’t handle heat all that well. I add JUST enough to give it a little kick and to be able to taste the sriracha. Feel free to add a bit more if you want the empanadas to be spicier though.

This Easy Chicken Empanadas recipe can be made in about 30 minutes and are a dinner that the whole family will absolutely love! The chicken empanada filling is so delicious that you'll want to eat it all by itself!

How to Make Chicken Empanadas

Once the empanada filling is made, you’re almost all of the way there. Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling on to one half of each empanada disc. Fold the empanada shut and crimp the edges with a fork (after brushing them with a bit of an egg wash).

Then all they need is a nice bake in the oven and just like that: Easy Chicken Empanadas! I wish I could explain to you how much I love these.

This Easy Chicken Empanadas recipe can be made in about 30 minutes and are a dinner that the whole family will absolutely love! The chicken empanada filling is so delicious that you'll want to eat it all by itself!

Can you freeze chicken empanadas

One of the things I wanted to test out when making this chicken empanada recipe was how well, if at all, they would freeze. Good news: they freeze extremely well! I keep thinking how amazing these would have been in the freezer while I was on maternity leave. I bought a few extra packets of the empanada dough and plan to make a big batch of these soon to keep in the freezer for quick dinners.

When freezing them, I recommend placing them in the freezer on a flat baking tray. After they’re frozen most of the way through, you can then place them in a tupperware container or in a plastic baggie to store in the freezer.

This Easy Chicken Empanadas recipe can be made in about 30 minutes and are a dinner that the whole family will absolutely love! The chicken empanada filling is so delicious that you'll want to eat it all by itself!

If you end up making this Chicken Empanadas Recipe, please let me know by tagging me on social media! And if you like this recipe, I highly suggest trying out my Loaded Veggie Enchiladas and these delicious Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos!

See How To Make The Empanadas

empanadas stacked up on a back tray with salsa in the corner

Chicken Empanadas

This Easy Chicken Empanadas recipe can be made in about 30 minutes and are a dinner that the whole family will absolutely love!
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Author: Brita Britnell

Ingredients

  • 10 empanada disks I prefer the Goya brand in the freezer section, thawed
  • 2 cups of cooked chicken shredded or diced (I baked mine in the oven with a little salt and pepper, and olive oil)
  • 1 ½ cups of shredded monterey jack cheese
  • 4 oz can of diced green chiles
  • ½ cup of Red bell pepper
  • ½ cup of greek yogurt I used non-fat 0%
  • 1 tablespoon of cumin
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • ½ teaspoon of pepper
  • ½ teaspoon of paprika
  • Optional: 1-2 tablespoons of sriracha for heat
  • 1 Egg beaten for wash

Instructions

  • Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.
  • In a large bowl, combine chicken, cheese, green chiles, bell pepper, greek yogurt, cumin, S&P, paprika, and sriracha.
  • Take your thawed empanada discs and spoon about 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto one side of the disk. Leave about ¼ inch clean around the edge.
  • Brush egg around the edges of half of the disc and fold the circle over top of the filling. If the filling is coming out the sides at all, gently stuff it into the empanada and make sure that the edges are completely sealed.
  • Crimp the edges with a fork and brush the top of each empanada with the egg wash. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the tops of the empanadas just start to turn golden.
  • Let cool slightly and ENJOY!