Last updated on February 6th, 2020 at 12:15 pm

Freezer-friendly and easy Spicy Sausage Empanadas! These hand pies are spicy, creamy, cheesy, and sure to be a hit at your game day spread!

Hello, Take-Two Tapas Readers!

This is Dini from The Flavor Bender, back with another fantastic recipe to share with you!

Game day is all about the snacks and drinks for me. 🙂 I’m not really into the actual game, but I’m all for making a party out of it! And these Spicy Sausage Empanadas are the PERFECT snack for any kind of party!

These from scratch empanadas are filled with a spicy sausage and cheese filling, and they are really easy to make. I used a from scratch empanada dough that comes together easily.

If you don’t want to make the dough yourself, you can substitute with a store-bought pie crust in a pinch too. I made my empanada dough with butter here, but you can use lard as well if you like. There will be a difference in taste, but regardless of how you make the dough, the star in this recipe is definitely the spicy sausage filling!

I cooked some spicy ground sausage meat (I removed the casings from the sausages), added some extra seasoning, cream and mixed it all up with a generous amount of cheese.

The result? A glorious, spicy, creamy, cheesy, meat filling! This filling is so good, I made extra and made grilled cheese sandwiches with the leftovers! 🙂

These spicy sausage empanadas are freezer-friendly too. So you can make them ahead of time and freeze for up to a whole month. Plus, you can fry them directly from frozen.

As long as you freeze them properly (lay out the empanadas in a single layer, with some space between each so that they don’t stick together), you’ve got a delicious snack on hand, ready to go, whenever you fancy!

And since we love spicy food, we pair these spicy sausage empanadas with sriracha sauce or spicy chili sauce. A creamy ranch dipping sauce, or a sweet chili sauce, or a cheesy dipping sauce would also be perfect for these spicy sausage empanadas.

If you’re looking for more great options for game day snacking, check out Jennifer’s Honey Mustard Beer Cheese Ball, her Pepperoni Pizza Packets, or you can use the Ranch dip from her Steakhouse Tater Tots with Jalapeño Ranch Dip (imagine these spicy sausage empanadas in that jalapeno ranch dip? Yum!)

Spicy Sausage Empanadas

Yield: 16

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Freezer-friendly and easy Spicy Sausage Empanadas! These hand pies are spicy, creamy, cheesy, and sure to be a hit at your game day spread!

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Ingredients

Sausage filling:

• ½ small red onion, chopped finely
• ¾ lb spicy sausages, casings removed
• ½ tbsp chili pepper flakes (or less)
• ¼ cup cream
• 1 ½ cups shredded cheese (I used Monterey Jack)

For the empanadas:

• 1 recipe for empanada dough
• 2 cups canola oil

Instructions

Sausage filling

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a skillet.
2. When the oil is heated, add the onions and saute until they are softened.
3. Add the sausage meat and pepper flakes and cook making sure to break the sausage into pieces while stirring so that it isn’t one big clump of meat.
4. Once the sausage is cooked, taste and season with extra salt if necessary.
5. Add the cream, and stir to combine.
6. Remove the cooked sausage from the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.
7. Stir the cheese into the cooled down sausage filling. Set aside until ready to make empanadas.

Empanadas

1. Make the empanada dough as written here, and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.
2. Roll out the chilled empanada dough until it’s about 2 - 3 mm thick.
3. Cut 3.5 inch circles from the rolled out dough.
4. Fill the middle of each circle with a little sausage filling.
5. Dab the edges of the empanada dough circle with water and fold over the pastry to seal in the filling.
6. Press down the edges to seal, and use a fork to crimp the edges.
7. Place the empanadas in one layer, on a baking tray.
8. Keep it covered with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to fry, IF you will be frying these within 24 hours.

To fry from fresh

1. Heat remaining oil to deep fry the empanadas to 350°F / 180°C.
2. Fry the empanadas in the hot oil, 2 minutes per side, until the pastry turns a golden brown.
3. Drain excess oil by placing the fried empanadas on paper towels or newspaper.

To fry from frozen

1. Heat remaining oil to deep fry the empanadas to 350°F / 180°C.
2. Fry the frozen empanadas for about 4 minutes per side, until the pastry turns golden brown (maybe slightly darker).
3. Drain excess oil by placing the fried empanadas on paper towels or newspaper.
4. Enjoy while hot with dipping sauce!

Notes

TO FREEZE - cover the tray of empanadas with plastic wrap and keep the baking tray in the freezer until the empanadas are frozen (a few hours). Place the frozen empanadas in a container (freezer friendly), until needed.

*If you like this recipe, leave a comment and rate it with some stars!!!

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 409Total Fat: 41gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 31gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 307mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 7g

This nutrition information was generated via a third party, Nutritionix, and can not be held liable for any discrepancies in the information provided.