Happy Birthday To Me – Part 2- Steak and Olive Empanadas

Where do I begin? I prepared quite a feast for my birthday. There was so much food. I would much rather have too much than not enough. 🙂 I am going to start with the steak empanadas. I made these ahead of time then deep fried them when we were ready to eat, so they were fresh and hot for everyone to enjoy.

We love empanadas and I cook them quite frequently. You can fill them with anything you like, from sweet to savory, and believe me, I do too. This time I filled them with steak and olives. Spanish food from Spain, is very heavily meat oriented. There is always lots and lots of meats served with any Spanish meal. I served them with a smoky salsa rojo or red sauce.

Empanadas are found in every part of the Latin world, as well as the Philippines. They originated in both Medieval Spain and Portugal and were more than likely influenced by the meat pies introduced by the Moors, with roots as a portable, baked dish. The word empanada means to wrap in bread. The earliest forms appeared in Galicia, Spain, where they were large, pie-like dishes meant to be sliced for travelers. Depending on where you are eating them, they are either baked or fried. I have had and enjoyed them both ways, but I prefer them fried over baked.

Steak and Olive Empanadas with Salsa Rojo

They key to great empanadas is to have a very light and flaky dough. The best way to ensure a light and flaky dough is to start with cold butter that is cubed when making the dough, then rolling it out very thin before filling them and shaping them.

There are many different dough recipes, but I stick with my tried and true go-to dough. You have seen this recipe many, many times for many dishes.

The Dough

I doubled the recipe for this one.

1 1/2 cups flour

6 TBSP cold butter, cubed

1 tsp salt

1 egg

5-6 TBSP heavy whipping cream

Pulse the flour, salt and butter together in a food processor until it resembles coarse sand. Add the egg and cream then mix until it forms into a dough ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

Steak and Olive Filling

2-3 lbs steak, cut into small cubes

1 red bell pepper, diced fine

4-5 garlic cloves, sliced very thin

1 cup olives, sliced and/or olive tapenade – I used both

1 onion, diced fine

1/2-2/3 cup toasted pine nuts

1 cup cooked rice

salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste

olive oil

Cook the meat, onions, garlic, peppers and seasonings together until the meat is completely cooked. Mix in the rice and olives.

Let the dough rest at room temperature before rolling out and shaping. I used a round cookie cutter for these. Let the dough rest again for a few minutes, then roll out nice and thin again.

Add a heaping TBSP of filling to the center of each thin round then fold over in half. Crimp the edges firmly to seal. You can make these a couple of days in advance at this point, like I did, and just cover and refrigerate until ready to cook.

You can bake or fry these. If baking, preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C, brush with an egg wash and bake until golden brown. If frying, heat the oil to the same temperature, and fry for about 5 minutes. We have a small deep fryer that completely covers them. Do NOT over crowd the fryer and cook in batches. You can also fry them in oil in a deep skillet or pan.

Larry was frying them up, small batches at a time.

Smoky Salsa Rojo

There are many, many variations. For this particular version, I roasted my vegetables first.

3 TBSP olive oil

1 onion, cut in quarters

1 TBSP minced garlic

4-5 tomatoes, roasted – I used both Campari and heirloom tomatoes

1-2 roasted bell peppers

3 chipotle chilies, with sauce

salt & pepper to taste – I used my chipotle and bacon infused salt

1-2 tsp cumin

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

2-3 sprigs fresh oregano

Roast the vegetables first, until nice and caramelized. I used my indoor grill that I placed over the burners of my my stove.

Once the vegetables are roasted to your liking, rinse and cut into large chunks, then place in the food processor.

Process until it is smooth and creamy.

Serve warm. I made my salsa rojo ahead of time as well, then heated it up when I was ready to serve it.

I used some of this same salsa rojo for my patatas bravas too, but more on those later. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it it, so make it fantastic. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.