Empanadas De Pollo (Chicken Empanadas)

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Empanadas De Pollo, or Chicken Empanadas, are savory hand pies filled with Mexican seasoned chicken, cream cheese, and corn that make great appetizers or a delicious weeknight dinner!

These hearty, savory Mexican chicken hand pies, or empanadas, make great hand-held appetizers for a game day, or tailgating party, or as the main course for a weeknight dinner.

At a game day party years ago, my friend brought these amazing little savory hand pies filled with seasoned chicken, cream cheese, corn, and more cheesy. She told me that they were Enchiladas De Pollo, or in English, Chicken Empanadas!

These Easy Chicken Empanadas were delicious! Paired with the Empanada dipping sauce AKA salsa, or sour cream, and they were one of the most popular appetizers at the party!

My friend shared her recipe, which I tweaked over the years, and it has become one of my family’s most requested Mexican Recipes! They are also a great way to use up leftover chicken from one of your favorite Chicken Recipes!

Table of Contents

• Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• Why This Recipe Works
• What Are Empanadas De Pollo?
• How to Make Chicken Empanadas
• Recipe Tips
• More Empanada Filling Ideas
• What To Serve With This Recipe
• Where Do Empanadas Come From?
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• More Recipes You’ll Love
• Recipe
• Reviews

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Handheld hearty appetizers that are perfect for a party!
• Easy to make ahead of time for a freezer meal.
• Flavorful and delicious with Mexican seasoned chicken, and a delicious filling.
• These Empanadas De Pollo are baked instead of fried so they don’t have the extra fat and calories that go with frying.
• All of the above makes this the best empanada recipe!

Why This Recipe Works

• It is a tried and true recipe that has been family taste-tested many times over the last several decades.
• The sweet, salty, smoky flavor makes it taste delicious.
• There are so many possibilities for using leftovers. Sometimes that is the best part!

What Are Empanadas De Pollo?

Empanadas De Pollo, or Chicken Empanadas, are savory hand pies, consisting of pastry dough filled with seasoned chicken, and the Empanada filling of your choice.

In this recipe, for the empanada filling, I added corn, shredded pepper jack cheese, and chipotle chilies in adobo sauce to the chicken! Yum!

How to Make Chicken Empanadas

Equipment

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• Cast Iron Skillet – I like to use a cast-iron skillet because it keeps the cheese warm and melted for a longer period of time.
• Baking Sheet – I like these nonstick cookie sheets with handles on the side to make them easier to work with.

Chicken Empanada Ingredients

Below, I discuss the ingredients and possible substitutions if you don't have a specific ingredient. However, if you are looking for the specific measurements of each ingredient, scroll down to the bottom of this article, just above the comments, for the printable recipe card, which includes all the ingredients and the specific amounts of each one.

Empanada Dough Ingredient Options

For empanada dough, you have several choices as described below.

• Homemade Empanada Dough – You can make your own Empanada Dough Recipe, like I did in my Potato and Chorizo Empanadas.
• Store-Bought Empanada Dough – Yes, you can buy pre-prepared empanada dough at the Mexican Market, or in the Mexican aisle of large grocery stores, or online.
• Refrigerated Pie Crust – As a shortcut, you can use a store-bought refrigerated pie crust.
• Puff Pastry – Another option to use for the empanada dough is store-bought puff pastry. These make a flaky hand pie crust. You can find puff pastry online as well.
• Egg white – this is used to brush over the tops to help give the empanadas a lovely golden brown color.

Empanada Filling Ingredients

• Cooked Chicken – Cooked, shredded chicken breast or chicken thighs can be used. You can use rotisserie chicken, or leftover chicken from Rotisserie Chicken Breast Tenders, Skillet Chicken Fajitas, Instant Pot Chicken Tinga, or Crock Pot Chicken Tacos.
• Corn – Feel free to use canned, frozen, or fresh corn.
• Onion – I like to use white or yellow onion. However, you could use Vidalia or chopped green onions.
• Garlic – Fresh garlic or pre-minced garlic works well in this recipe.
• Cilantro – Use fresh cilantro, if desired. If you prefer, you can leave it out.
• Cream cheese – regular cream cheese works best, but you can use low-fat cream cheese.
• Pepper Jack Cheese – Monterey Jack cheese with peppers adds a bit of spice to the cheese. However, you can use any shredded cheese you prefer.
• Chipotle chilies – I used chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. However, chipotle salsa could be substituted.
• Salt and pepper 

Directions

Make The Empanada Filling

• Spray a saute pan or skillet with nonstick spray, or use a little oil, and place on the stove over medium heat to cook onion until it is translucent.  Add the garlic and cook another minute.

• Add the chipotle, cream cheese, and pepper jack cheese and cook until it is melted and combined.
• Add the chicken and corn and heat for 2 minutes.

• Remove from the heat and add the cilantro.
• Preheat the oven to 400°.

Assemble The Empanadas

• Roll out the pie crust and use a large circle cutter or turn a bowl upside down and cut around it with a knife.

• Place a large spoon of chicken filling in the middle of each pastry dough circle. 
• Pull up the two sides of the circle and pinch the sides together, then use a fork and crimp the edges to seal well.

• Brush the tops with egg white.

How Long To Bake Empanadas

• Place the empanadas in the oven and bake until they are golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes.

• Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Recipe Tips

• Heat Level. Be sure to keep the skillet on medium heat. Don’t get in too big a hurry when making these chicken empanadas because you need the cheese to melt slowly and thoroughly.
• Keep stirring. Stir continuously to keep the cheese from burning on the bottom, and to ensure that all the ingredients of the empanadas combine completely and the cheese melts evenly.

More Empanada Filling Ideas

• Picadillo Con Papas – Taco meat with potatoes that can be used as a filling for enchiladas, tacos, burritos, empanadas, and more!
• Potato and Chorizo Empanadas – Stuffed with a spicy chorizo and potato filling, and wrapped in a buttery, golden, flaky pastry, these Potato and Chorizo Empanadas make awesome Mexican appetizers or a main dish.
• Creamy Poblano
• Caleta

What To Serve With This Recipe

• Red or Green Salsa
• Sliced Avocados or Guacamole
• Pico De Gallo
• Tortilla Chips
• Mexican Shrimp Cocktail
• Mexican Rice
• Mexican Cabbage Slaw

Where Do Empanadas Come From?

After my friend introduced me to this recipe, I did a little research on them. According to Wikipedia, empanadas are believed to have come from a Northwest region of Spain called Galicia. Empanadas first appeared in a cookbook in 1520 and they were filled with seafood.

Today, empanadas are found in many countries of the world, including Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and in certain cities in the United States, like my hometown, San Antonio.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

More Recipes You’ll Love

• Baked Green Chile Chicken Empanadas
• Crab Cake Mac and Cheese Empanadas
• Picadillo Con Papas
• Strawberry Bread (With Fresh Strawberries)

Recipe

Published March 21, 2021, and Updated with step-by-step photos and a video on July 14, 2021.