When I started thinking about this website, I never imagined I'd end up uploading a recipe for ham and cheese empanadas . It's all your fault, guys, you're so lazy. I thought about it. I even started a series, " Paulina Para Giles ." I had planned to teach people how to cook pasta, how to fry an egg, how to make white rice. After a couple of videos, it remained unfinished.
Why? Because they didn't pay attention to me. Mom, I'm grown up now. I know how to cook, teach me something else. Great, let's get on with the recipes.
And now I find out you're all searching Google for how to make ham and cheese empanadas. 3,600 times a month you search for the recipe for ham and cheese empanadas, to be exact. In other words: you can make a fried egg, but a ham and cheese empanada, watch out, haute cuisine, let's go to Google.
Anyway... you guys make me dizzy.
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About these ham and cheese empanadas
For those who have made ham and cheese empanadas many times, I have a very simple trick that will make them much tastier and juicier.
Let me explain: Have you ever seen when you bite into a ham and cheese empanada and a little bit of white juice oozes out around the edges? Do you know what I'm talking about? Well, that's it. They're delicious like that. I explain it in the recipe; it's a silly thing.
Another thing I'd like to clarify regarding the cheese. May the Gourmet Police forgive me, but I like them with buttery, creamy cheese, not mozzarella. This is, first, because they're juicier. And second, because I don't like to pull the empanada like it's a pizza . No, no, no.
And regarding the ham: you can use small diced cooked ham. I like it better this way, with the sliced ham cut small, since it blends better with the cheese. I just made up that last bit. It's actually because I ate them that way when I was little. Don't let anyone say this website isn't honest.
Ham and cheese empanadas recipe
Ingredients for half a dozen
- 6 empanada covers (homemade or store-bought)
- 150g of sliced cooked ham
- 150g of cream cheese or other melting cheese
- 1 tbsp. cream cheese (Philadelphia or similar)
How to make ham and cheese empanadas
- Cut the ham into thin strips and the cheese into more or less small cubes.
- Mix everything well in a bowl.
- Tip : Add the tablespoon of cream cheese to this mixture and mix well. It shouldn't be a paste, just a little sticky.
- Place each empanada shell on the counter and 1 tbsp of ham and cheese filling in the center.
- Wet half of the empanada crust with water and close, pressing the edges firmly.
- Make the right repulgue. Repulgue is important for these empanadas, as cheese tends to be claustrophobic. If you don't know how to repulgue, you can close them with a fork, pressing lightly, but I'd like you to publicly admit you're a fake .
- Bake the empanadas in a medium-high oven until they look golden brown on the outside. Be careful not to burn them on the bottom!
- Send me this tweet:
[Tweet “Thanks Paulina for making ham and cheese empanadas. I’m a trout and I accept it.”]
Here is the video recipe
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And here are my ham and cheese empanadas, and my chocolate candies ♥
Hello everyone, my name is Joaquín. I'm a 26-year-old biotechnologist and food engineer, the grandson of a chef and pastry chef, and the son of a lawyer who cooks like a chef. My last name begins with Q, so it's no coincidence that my initials are J and Q, and my favorite food is ham and cheese empanadas, a dish I've cooked countless times.
The most classic recipe I know is the following: machine cheese and cooked ham (in my case, the proportions are 50/50, but everyone chooses their own). Stack everything together and cut it into thin strips lengthwise, then cut it into thin strips widthwise. Add the small squares to a bowl of a beaten egg, a little salt, pepper, oregano, and Provençal herbs. Stir well and add to an empanada shell (in the quantity that each person likes according to the proportion of filling and dough they like) and close it with the classic meat repulgue (the most classic and closed repulgue, which is why it is the best for retaining the melted cheese).
The first footnote I make is that the egg is added to add flavor and at the same time generate that all the filling is amalgamated and does not spill.
The second recipe has an A and a B, it is made with mozzarella or cream cheese. The easiest way is to wrap the cheese in a slice of ham and put it directly on the shell, the downside of this technique so used in commercial empanadas is that the ham is sometimes overcooked and the flavors, instead of mixing together, feel clearly separated. It is not my favorite. The B way is to cut the cheese into small pieces and create a homogeneous filling (it can have egg or not). The trick with these two very moist cheeses is to pierce each empanada with a fork, this way the steam generated by such moist cheeses won't explode the empanada.
Finally, my favorite recipe: I cut the ham into very small squares as explained above. I add plenty of grated red-rind cheese (Pategras, grated by hand). I add the filling to a beaten egg with a tasteful amount of powdered flavoring of my choice (mine is Alicante fine herbs), and I add this to each empanada shell with a tasteful amount of filling.
As a second footnote, the oven should be at medium-high temperature for between 15 and 20 minutes, so that, depending on the oven, each empanada is slightly toasted.
March 2025, 10 years after I've been looking at this recipe. You're the best, Paulina.
You're an idol. My problem is that sometimes the cheese sticks to the dough. I must have used sliced cheese.
Thanks, Paulina. You make me laugh so much at my ignorance.
You are a genius Paulina!!!, I make them almost like this, but instead of cream cheese, I put beaten egg, but I don't like it, I'm going to add cream cheese which I love! Thanks for telling us, at least I made the tapas homemade ha!???????⚘?
I'm going to replace the ham with Torrendos and add pepper, which always gives it a different flavor. Thanks for the clarification about the cheese.
Hi Paulina.
I didn't know about spreadable cheese.
I used to flour the cheese to keep it from leaking.
But it still comes out empty, leaving the ham uncovered.
I'll try it that way. Thanks for the good vibes!
Dear Paulina… EVERYTHING happens first through PAULINA COCINA.
We love you!
Good recipes. I don't like your style.
You're being funny, and well, you're going too far with the bard.
Me. I felt so identified with the first part... thanks genius
The teacher is really funny. Hahahaha. I love you... the kind of character I love in a person. Charisma... humor... and a lot of cool...
Question: How do I keep the cheese from melting into the dough and ending up with nothing but ham and dough? What's the secret to making them like they do at pizzerias? Thank you so much, you're a genius.
Perfect!!!
I've always made them this way, but I also add hard-boiled eggs. They come out delicious.
I have a kitchen. I see all kinds of recipes. Once cooked, the cheese always escapes.
So I add a little sautéed onion, a tablespoon of flour, and that's it.
Hahaha, I need your approval before I can make my recipe... Nooo nooo, it's not that I don't know... it's that I need Paulina's approval?! We love you even if you're insulting us, haha.
Your way of explaining killed me!!
Absolute genius!!
Am I the only one who makes JyQ empanadas with onion and chopped red snout?
To prevent the cheese from settling, a tablespoon of flour is worth 20
Why do they explode in the oven?? ??♀️??♀️??♀️??♀️
The cheese must be passed through flour and it does not escape.
Thanks Paulina, I'll make them and tell you.
Greetings from a trout
Your cutie, Paulina, is beautiful!
I follow you everywhere.
What a crazy recipe LOL and I loved it!! LOL I came in because I only put JyQ in it but I thought they also put a touch of egg in it... I wasn't expecting the cream cheese, I'm going to try it right away... you're a genius!!!
I'm going to try it next time I make it, since with cream cheese, they end up puffy but empty. I just eat ham with air and rolled dough. Thanks!
Super thanks, let's talk about empanadas!!!
I see people often complain that the cheese tends to escape. Wouldn't it be a good idea to let the empanadas cool thoroughly in the refrigerator before baking them?
Another secret after the ham and cheese are all cut is to beat an egg and stir it so that it doesn't become dry.
I'll be Paulina, you're such a brat
, lazy, fake,
what else are you going to say now that I'm a mortadella?
Whether the cheese is creamy, buttery, sardonic or provono-sour... I'm wondering what the attempt at an empanada would be like, regardless of the filling (I've tried them all). What trick, ingenuity, maneuver or million-dollar secret can you give me so that I don't end up eating my empanada without filling and lifting the cheese from the tray? Hehe, thanks, genius!
For ham and cheese empanadas, there's a lot of salami here... thanks Paulina! I was looking for cheese and onion, but your spreadable cheese tip applies.
I make homemade cheese and sausage. I make a dough and moisten it with egg. It comes out delicious.