Air fryer black bean empanadas
Flaky puff pastry turnovers stuffed with smoky black beans, melty cheese and green onion and baked golden in the air fryer, a fun hand-held dinner that also freezes well.
- 65 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.39 a serving
- 770 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 puff pastry sheets
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- ½ cup salsa
- ¼ cup sour cream (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, for dusting
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 770 calories, 23 g protein, 70 g carbs and 46 g fat, and costs about $2.39 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No black beans? Pinto beans or kidney beans work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No salsa? Pico de gallo works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Take the puff pastry out of the freezer to thaw on the counter for about 40 minutes.
Timer: 40 min
Dolly’s tip: Cold but bendy is right. If it cracks when you unfold it, give it 5 more minutes.Mash half the beans in a bowl, then stir in the rest of the beans, cheese, green onions, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and the lime zest and juice.
Dust a board with flour, unfold each pastry sheet on it, and cut each sheet into 4 squares.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of filling onto the middle of each square, brush the edges with water, and fold it into a triangle. Press the edges with a fork to seal.
Heaping. Heaping means a rounded mound piled above the rim of the spoon or cup, not leveled off. It’s a little more than the measure, on purpose.
How you’ll know: The pile sits above the edge of the spoon, and you leave it there instead of scraping it flat.
Dolly’s tip: Don’t overfill. A leaky empanada spills cheese and sticks to the basket.Cut a small slit in the top of each one and brush with the oil.
Air fry at 375°F in a single layer 10 to 12 minutes, until puffed and deep . Work in batches.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 11 min
Let them cool 5 minutes, since the filling is very hot, then serve with salsa and sour cream.
Timer: 5 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
