I absolutely love Colombian food, but finding vegan Colombian food is nearly impossible. So it’s always a treat when making these tasty vegan gluten free empanadas at home. Albeit a bit time consuming, these empanadas are freezer friendly so it’s great to make a large batch of these and freeze half. Nonetheless, they’re really delicious though, and most go to my stomach and not the freezer 🙂
I’ll go ahead and apologize for my ingredient measurements. I’ve made these empanadas many times and always like to add something different. The recipe is really flexible, you can make them with just veggies or vegan meat substitutes. You could even make them with all purpose flour instead of corn flour and bake them Argentinian style. This time I made them with a Venezuelan sauce called Guasacaca but traditionally Colombian empanadas are enjoyed with Aji. There are plenty of recipes for Aji if you prefer to make that sauce, just google it.
Ingredients
oil for frying
Empanada Filling:Â
1 bell pepper (any color)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper flakes
bag of Beyond Meat vegan ground beef (or vegan meat crumble of choice)
pinch of salt and pepper
I like to make the filling first. Basically chop the vegetables and saute them in a little bit of olive oil with cumin, red  pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. When the veggies are cooked through, add the vegan meat crumbles and continue to cook thoroughly. Set aside.
Empanada Dough:Â
2 cups arepa flour
pinch of salt
pinch of cumin
2 1/2 cups of water
To make the dough, mix together the flour, salt, cumin and water. Knead until well combined. Add a little extra water if the dough seems dry.
To Assemble Empanadas:
 Roll out a two inch round ball of dough, like a small pizza. Place 1/4 cup of filling in the center of the dough and pinch to close.
Very carefully, place the empanada in pot of heated cooking oil and fry until gold brown (about 5 minutes). Remove with slotted spoon and let cool on paper towels to absorb extra cooking oil.
Guasacaca Sauce Ingredients: r
Ripe avocado
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
a few sprigs of parsley
splash of red wine vinegar
splash of olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 squeezed lemon
Finally, for the guasacaca sauce, simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl and using an immersion blender, blend until creamy.
Enjoy!
