Baked Turkey Curry Empanadas

Do you ever have those childhood memories that distinctly revolve around food?

For me, one of those distinct memories involve a beef curry puff, pocket, turnover, empanada, or whatever else you want to call it. It was something that my aunt would make.

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I don’t know why this memory has stuck around with me this long. We never saw my dad’s side of the family very often, but I always think of her when I make these.

I tried her recipe a couple of times in the past, but it never turned out as good as I remembered. Does that every happen to you too? You have something that you remember as being so great, but then it’s never the same?

I’ve been craving the curry beef curry puffs from my childhood for a while. So I started my search for the perfect recipe and I think I found it!

When I found this Chinese beef puff recipe and I knew I had to give it a try. I made quite a few tweaks to the recipe to fit our tastes. We generally eat a lot of ground turkey so I used that instead of the beef. I also cut way down on the salt as there is already a lot of soy sauce in the recipe.

I am so glad that I found this recipe because I have made them more times that I care to admit. For some reason they don’t get old, I could eat these all day long! Baked Turkey Curry Empanadas have also been a crowd pleaser!

This recipe is pretty versatile, you can use whatever kind of ground meat you would like. You can also make the empanadas larger for more of a main meal, or you can make them small appetizer portions.

Empanada Sizes

I used two different cutters to test out the different sizes. I thought I would like the larger empanadas because there’s more filling, but I liked the smaller ones better. The ratio of meat to pastry was better in the smaller ones. Who doesn’t like more flaky empanada crust?

I recommend a 3 1/2 inch cutter, but you can just use what you have on had. I improvised and used a wide mouth mason jar lid and a mini tart pan. No fancy tools required here!

I ended up with 21 Baked Turkey Curry Empanadas, but yours could vary depending on the size. You may have some leftover dough, as I usually do. There are a few great recipes that I came up with to use up the leftover dough so there’s no waste! I will be sharing those in the next couple of weeks.

Do you have a favorite way to use up leftover dough? Let me know!

Don’t like curry and craving something sweet?

Try these snickerdoodles or white chocolate macadamia nut cookies!

Baked Turkey Curry Empanadas

Amy

Buttery, flaky, and crispy pastry filled with a fragrant turkey curry mixture. So good that you can't just have one!

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Chilling time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 12 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Dinner, Snack

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 24 Empanadas, approximately

Ingredients

  

Pastry Dough

• 3 cups (15 oz) All purpose flour, see note below
• ¾ tsp kosher salt
• 9 oz unsalted butter, chilled & cut into small cubes
• 8-10 tbsp cold water

Turkey Curry Filling

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 tbsp curry powder, divided
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 4 tbsp soy sauce, I use low sodium
• ½ tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• 1 egg yolk or egg wash to brush, see notes

Instructions

 

Pastry Dough

• Mix flour and salt into a large bowl.
• Cut the chilled butter into the flour mixture until the butter is about pea sized.
• Add the water until it comes together. I like to add 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time so I don't add too much water. The dough should just come together when you squeeze it in your hand. If there are little pieces at the bottom of your bowl, just gently knead it into the dough.
• Once the dough has come together, divide into two pieces and wrap in plastic wrap to chill. Chill for at least 1 hour, up to two days.
• While your dough is chilling, you can make your filling.

Turkey Curry Filling

• In a medium sized pan on medium-high heat, heat oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and 1 tablespoon curry powder. Cook until the onions begin to sweat.
• Add the ground turkey, remaining curry powder, and soy sauce. Cook until turkey is browned, about 5-10 minutes. Taste and add salt if needed.
• Let the filling cool completely before filling the empanadas

Assembling the Empanadas

• Preheat the oven to 450° F.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. 1/8" should be about the perfect thickness.
• Cut out rounds of dough with a 3 1/2 inch cutter. (See above for what I used.)
• Holding the dough circle in the palm of your had, add a heaping tablespoon of the cooled filling. Starting at one end, bring the dough together while using your other had to push the filling into the dough.
• Once your dough is closed, you can either crimp with the tines of a fork or fold over the dough empanada style. I like folding the dough over as it makes for a better presentation.
• Starting at one end, you simply fold the edge of the dough on itself until you get to the other end. Tuck the end of the dough onto the empanada. Repeat until you have used all of your filling.
• Placed the finished empanadas onto a parchment lined baking sheet spaced about 1/2" apart. You don't want them to touch each other.
• Brush the empanadas before baking with the egg yolk.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

1. I used 12 oz all purpose flour and 3 oz whole wheat flour this time, but generally just use all purpose flour.
2. Sometimes I make the dough the night before to save on prep time the next day. 
3. This dough freezes well if you have any extra or if you want to make a double batch and freeze some for later.  I am all about stocking the freezer to make meals in the future a little easier.
4. Your filling should not be too wet, if it’s too wet then your empanadas may leak resulting in soggy pastry.
5. When you roll out your pastry dough, make sure it’s pretty thin. You don’t want to have your pastry dough too thick, otherwise it won’t be cooked in the middle.
6. I’ve made this with both and egg wash and an egg yolk brushed on top.  Both work if you don’t want to waste your egg white.  The egg yolk will give the empanada a slightly darker finish.
7. These freeze really well, I like to cook them and then freeze.  You can reheat them in a toaster over, air fryer, or oven.  I would not recommend microwaving them, they will become soggy.

Keyword Curry, Empanadas, Ground Turkey