Easy Air Fryer Empanadas
Want an easy air fryer recipe?
Try making these quick and simple ground turkey empanadas as a delicious snack or main dish recipe using your air fryer! Empanadas are a Spanish or Latin American pastry turnover filled with a variety of savory ingredients and baked or fried – and they are DELICIOUS. Here’s a fun and easy way to make a similar version at home!
Try this flavorful empanada filling!
There are so many different ways to fill empanadas! You can make your favorite taco meat, use leftover shredded chicken, or even make a sloppy joe filling if your family would like that. A simple rice and bean mixture would be a yummy vegetarian option, too.
Today I’m sharing a quick skillet picadillo inspired meat sauce I made featuring green olives, garlic, onion, cilantro, and tomato sauce. It has a delicious flavor, and you can use ground turkey or beef.
Hip Tip: To make things even easier, I cut circles out of store-bought pie crust to make these empanadas. You can create a homemade dough, or some stores carry pre-made empanada dough already cut into disks.
Easy Air Fryer Empanadas
yield: 15 SERVINGS
prep time: 20 MINUTES
cook time: 8 MINUTES
total time: 28 MINUTES
Soft pie crust with savory ground beef filling for a quick air fryer appetizer, or main dish.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 pound ground turkey or beef
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- pinch of ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 tablespoons chopped green olives
- 1/2 teaspoon juice from the olive jar
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 package of store bought refrigerated pie crusts (2-ct)
- coconut oil (for greasing air fryer inner-basket)
Directions
1
Heat the olive oil in a skillet on the stove on medium heat, and add onions and garlic. Saute those for a few minutes, then crumble and cook ground turkey.
2
To the skillet, add in tomato sauce, seasonings, green olives, juice from jar of olives, and chopped cilantro. Stir and heat.
3
Unroll pie pastry on floured counter top or cutting board. Use a 4-inch wide cup or round cookie cutter to cut circles in the dough. Roll out scrap pieces of dough for more circles.
4
Place a couple teaspoons of filling inside each circle. Fold over and use a fork to press down and seal edges.
5
Grease air fryer inner basket using coconut oil to keep the dough from sticking. Set a single layer of empanadas into the air fryer.
6
Cook at 330 degrees for 8 minutes, until dough is cooked and slightly browned. Carefully remove and serve warm. This made about 15 empanadas for me.
Additional Notes
Don’t have an air fryer? Alternative Oven Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place each empanada on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 13-15 minutes, until browned.
Make these empanadas ASAP!
My kids loved helping me make this recipe, and they tasted so yummy. Plus, I love that this is a pretty easy idea with simple ingredients. I love using my air fryer and this is such a fun recipe to try!
Make these Keto Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers ASAP!
