Air fryer tuna empanadas
Golden hand pies filled with tuna, sweet pepper, tomato and olives, in the style of Spain’s empanada de atún, made easy with a can of biscuit dough.
- 55 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.66 a serving
- 480 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
- ½ red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp tomato sauce
- 2 cans canned tuna, drained well
- ¼ cup black olives, chopped
- 1 can refrigerated biscuit dough, 8 biscuits
- 1 large egg, beaten
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, for the counter
Each serving has about 480 calories, 21 g protein, 54 g carbs and 20 g fat, and costs about $1.66 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No canned tuna? Canned salmon works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a over medium heat. Cook the onion and pepper for 6 minutes, until soft, then add the garlic for 30 seconds.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
in the tomato sauce, smoked paprika and salt and cook 2 minutes, until thick.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Take it off the heat, in the tuna and olives and let the filling cool for 10 minutes.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Warm filling makes the dough sticky and hard to seal. Cool filling keeps it easy to work with.Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Dust the counter with the flour, separate the biscuits and press or roll each one into a thin round about 5 inches across.
Spoon about 3 tablespoons of filling onto half of each round, brush the edge with egg, fold it over and press the edges shut with a fork.
Dolly’s tip: Don’t overfill. A little less filling means no leaks.Brush the tops with the rest of the egg and the air fryer to 350°F for 3 minutes.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Timer: 3 min
Air fry 4 at a time for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway, until deep and the dough is cooked through.
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: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Break one open to check. The dough inside should look bready, not raw.Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Let them cool for 5 minutes before eating, because the filling stays very hot.
Timer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: To freeze, cool the cooked empanadas, then bag them. Reheat from frozen in the air fryer at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes.
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.
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