If you are looking for an easy but impressive pizza recipe as an appetizer for or a light lunch, you have to try these Pizza Empanadas! Flaky, buttery pastry stuffed full of gooey mozzarella cheese and lots of mini pepperoni make a fun snack for any occasion!
We love everything pizza! We have our Pizza Stuffed Meatballs (a family favorite), our Cauliflower Pizza (for a low carb option) and who doesn’t love dessert pizza? That’s why we were so excited to try these delicious Pizza Empanadas!
Pizza Empanadas
These Pizza Empanadas have been an idea in my mind for months now. I absolutely love chicken empanadas and I knew that my kids would love a pizza version of my favorite pastry.
Everyone loves pizza recipes right? You know I do since this is the third creative pizza recipe that I have shared here on Jen’s blog! The flavors of pizza are just so good and I love coming up with unique ways to serve up pizza!
While you know that I am a blogger, you may not know that I am also a Spanish teacher, so my love of all things Mexican food run deep!
Over the years, I have had the privilege of trying some delicious empanadas made by my Hispanic students and I love trying all the different versions from their respective countries.
What is an Empanada?
If you are new to the empanada, they are a pastry stuffed with different fillings, traditionally with some type of meat and vegetable. My favorite have ground beef, potato, and some vegetables.
While I would love to learn how to make the empanada dough from scratch, I have found that store bought pie crust is a great alternative!
How to make Empanadas
If you are lucky enough to live by a Mexican or Hispanic market, you can find empanada discs in their refrigerated section. If you cannot find the discs, just use your favorite pie crust and use a biscuit cutter to make the discs.
While the texture will be different than the classic empanada, you will still get the same effect and result!
Looking for more pizza recipes? Try my favorite pizza stuffed meatballs!
Love Mexican food? Then you have to try these Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs!
If you love pizza (of course, you do!) and flaky pastry, than these easy Pizza Empanadas are the perfect recipe for you! Serve these up for lunch or for a party, and I guarantee people will be impressed with this recipe!
What do you serve with Empanadas?
Empanadas can make a great appetizer on its own, or they even make a terrific meal! We love serving empanadas with our Mexican Street Corn Salad, Feta and Bacon Green Beans or our Tomato and Cucumber Avocado Salad!
How to Make Pizza Empanadas
Pizza Empanadas
Ingredients
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese cut into small cubes or shredded
- 1 cup mini pepperoni
- pizza sauce for serving
Olive Oil Topping
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
- Lay your crust out on a non-stick surface such as a pastry mat or parchment paper. Using a large biscuit cutter, cut out 5 circles from the dough. Lay out the other crust, and repeat.
- Mix together the olive oil topping ingredients and then spread a small amount on each circle. Add 7-8 mini pepperonis to each circle and then top with a small amount of cheese. Keep filling away from the edges.
- Fold top of crust over and seal edges with a fork.
- Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes, to set up, before serving.
I’m Pinning this! These empanadas look much like my m-i-l’s! They’re in the oven now. Thanks for posting!
Hope you loved them!