Chile's classic oven-baked empanadas with a flaky lard-enriched pastry packed with the traditional pino filling of beef, onion, olives, raisins and hard-boiled egg.
Chilean empanadas al horno are the undisputed king of the Chilean bake — larger, fatter and more generously filled than their Argentine or Colombian cousins, with a distinctive pastry that is enriched with lard or shortening for exceptional flakiness and color. The filling — pino — is a lightly spiced mix of ground beef, white onion cooked low and slow until silky, cumin, ají de color, raisins and black olives. A quarter of hard-boiled egg is nestled inside each empanada before sealing, so cutting into one reveals a cross-section of filling and egg that is immediately recognizable as Chilean. The pastry is mixed with warm (not hot) beef fat or lard and a little warm water to produce a dough that is pliable, easy to roll and crisps to a deep golden shell without becoming dry or brittle. Chilean empanadas are sealed with the repulgue — a distinctive rope-braid fold along the curved edge that requires practice but becomes effortless with repetition. A final glaze of egg yolk mixed with a teaspoon of milk gives the shell its characteristic mahogany sheen in the oven. Empanadas chilenas are the food of September 18th, Chile's Independence Day, consumed by the millions at fondas (outdoor celebration stalls) and family asados. They are eaten standing up, usually with a glass of chicha (fermented grape juice) or red wine, with the filling hot enough to be blown on before each bite.
Serves 12
Heat oil over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, 20–25 minutes until very soft, golden and sweet — do not rush this step. Raise heat to medium-high, add ground beef and cook, breaking up, until no pink remains. Season with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir in raisins and 2 tbsp water. Cook 5 more minutes. Cool completely before filling empanadas.
Pino must be completely cold when filling — hot filling makes the pastry soggy and impossible to seal.
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Rub the lard into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add warm water gradually, mixing until a smooth, non-sticky dough forms. Knead 5 minutes. Wrap in plastic and rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 200°C. Divide dough into 12 equal balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a circle about 20 cm in diameter and 3 mm thick. The dough should be thin enough to see your hand through it very faintly.
Place 2 generous tbsp of cold pino in the center of each disc. Add one olive, one egg quarter and 2 more olives alongside. Leave a 2 cm border clear all around.
Fold the dough over the filling to form a half-moon. Press the edges firmly to seal. To make the repulgue, fold the edge over itself repeatedly in small pleats — about 10–12 pleats along the curved edge — pressing firmly as you go.
Wet fingers help seal the pastry firmly and prevent it opening in the oven.
Place empanadas on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Brush generously with egg yolk glaze. Bake 30–35 minutes until deep mahogany brown.
Rest 5 minutes on the baking sheet — the filling will be scalding hot. Serve warm, not piping hot, so the flavors come through.
Chilean pino uses far more onion than beef by volume — this is not a mistake. The onion breaks down and enriches the filling; cutting it short makes the pino dry and bland.
Rest the dough a full 30 minutes — relaxed gluten produces a pastry that holds its shape without shrinking back when you roll it.
Use lard, not butter — butter's water content creates steam that can make the pastry tough. Lard produces the flaky, golden shell that defines Chilean empanadas.
Freeze unbaked empanadas in a single layer on a tray, then transfer to bags. Bake from frozen at 190°C for 40–45 minutes.
Empanadas de queso y jamón: fill with diced ham and mozzarella — popular in Chilean bakeries year-round.
Empanadas de camarones: fill with shrimp sautéed in butter, garlic and white wine — common in coastal Chilean cities.
Empanadas fritas: deep-fry instead of bake for a crispier shell — traditional in the north of Chile.
Baked empanadas keep refrigerated up to 3 days. Reheat in a 180°C oven for 10 minutes — they crisp back up perfectly. Do not microwave as the pastry turns rubbery. Unbaked empanadas freeze up to 3 months.
Empanadas arrived in Chile with Spanish colonizers who brought the tradition from Moorish-influenced Iberian cooking, where 'empanar' means to wrap in bread. The Chilean adaptation diverged from Spanish versions by incorporating indigenous ingredients — corn, Andean spices, and the abundant onions and raisins of the Central Valley. By the 18th century, Chilean empanadas al horno were documented in Jesuit mission records, and they became the mandatory dish of Chilean Independence Day celebrations declared in 1818. Today Chile produces an estimated 10 million empanadas for the September 18 festivities alone.
The filling was either too hot when assembled, or too wet. Cool the pino completely in the refrigerator before filling. If the mixture looks very oily, drain it briefly through a colander. A wet filling generates steam in the oven that softens the pastry from inside.
You can, but the result will be drier and less flaky. Butter contains water (about 16%) that creates steam during baking, making the pastry puff unevenly. Lard produces a more tender, cohesive crust. Vegetable shortening is the best non-animal substitute.
Moisten the edge of the disc, fold it over to make a half-moon and press the seam closed. Starting at one corner, fold a small flap of the edge toward you, press it flat, then fold the next small section over it and press again, working around the curve. Each fold overlaps the previous one — think of braiding rather than crimping.
The combination reflects the Arab-Moorish influence on medieval Spanish cuisine — sweet raisins balanced against salty olives is a classic flavor pairing of Al-Andalus cooking that crossed to the Americas with Spanish colonizers. In Chile it became canonical; removing either ingredient produces what Chileans call an 'empanada sin gracia' (a graceless empanada).
Per serving (180g / 6.3 oz) · 12 servings total
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