One thing I’ve come to realize about myself is, I love empanadas! I appreciate how versatile they are, with the ability of being stuffed with virtually anything you can think of. I’ve made them with oxtails, curry chicken, beef and even fish. But this cheesy chicken and rice recipe holds a special place in my heart, for not only being delicious, but extremely easy – and it doesn’t hurt that my children love them too.
I won’t hold you with a long drawn out post explaining the origin of empanadas or anything like that (lol), so we’ll jump right into the recipe.
Chicken Empanadas my way…
Ingredients:
• 2- 10 pack Empanada Shells
• 1-2 large red onions
• 2 Cans of Beans (I used pink here, but any kind of beans will do)
• 5 large Chicken Breasts
• 1 Jar Salsa Verde or Green Seasoning
• 12 oz Colby Jack shredded Cheese
• 2 Boxes Yellow Rice
• 1/4 cup Sour Cream (for a little razzle dazzle and extra creaminess).
• 1 -28 oz can of diced tomatoes (drain juice)
• Vegetable Oil for frying
• Sweet Chili Sauce or Duck Sauce and Guacamole for dipping
**FEEL FREE TO CUT THIS RECIPE IN HALF, AS IT MAKES A LARGE AMOUNT. YOU CAN COMFORTABLY FILL ABOUT 25-30 SHELLS USING THESE MEASUREMENTS** I made 20 and had enough filling leftover to make a couple more.
Directions:
– Season and pan sear chicken breasts thoroughly.
– Cook rice according to it’s packaging.
– After the chicken breasts are done, shred them to pieces. You don’t need a fancy tool to do this. I use two forks. You can even use your hands if you’re cooking for yourself.
– Slice onions.
– In a large pot or bowl, mix your rice, shredded chicken, onions, tomatoes, beans, cheese, sour cream and green sauce, altogether.
***For a nice stretch of cheese with every bite, you can skip adding the shredding cheese to mix, and instead, as a slice of cheese as a layer inside the empanada when you stuff them***
– Next, grab your defrosted shells.. it’s time to stuff! I like my empanadas double stuffed 😋. So it helps to stretch them out a little before adding the filling.
– Stuff the dough to your liking.
– Seal the dough by pressing ends together with fork, or twisting it by hand (the method I usually do, because it’s much prettier 😊).
– Heat oil. Just enough to fully cover the empanadas when frying to avoid flipping them.
– When oil is hot enough, place no more than 3 empanadas in at at time, for about 5 minutes. THEY FRY VERY QUICKLY!
– Remove empanadas when golden brown.
– ENJOY! Try pairing with a nice salad, you can’t go wrong 😉
What do you like in your empanadas?
TTYL,
LEXI 💋
