Quick answer
An empanada is a filled pastry sealed with a traditional repulgue fold. The word comes from the Spanish empanar, meaning to wrap in bread. Argentinian empanadas are the most well-known style: a wheat-flour, half-moon pastry with a pre-cooked filling of beef, chicken, cheese, or vegetables, and a crimped edge that seals the filling in. They are usually baked, occasionally fried, and sized to be eaten in three or four bites.
Empanadas are one of the most widely eaten foods in the Spanish-speaking world, and their reach extends further than most people realise. Every Latin American country has its own version. Spain has its own. The idea traces back through Middle Eastern fatayer and sambusak. Related forms exist in India (samosas), England (Cornish pasties), China (jiaozi), and Eastern Europe (pierogi).
This is a complete guide to what an empanada actually is: origin, dough, filling, regional styles, how they are cooked, how they are eaten, and where the Argentinian version sits in the global family.
The short definition
An empanada is a small, portable, filled pastry. Dough on the outside, cooked filling on the inside, sealed with a crimped edge and cooked in an oven or fryer. In Argentina, that seal has a name: the repulgue. It is not decorative. It is what keeps the filling in place during cooking and it is the mark of a properly folded empanada.
Empanadas are almost always pre-cooked before they are wrapped. This is a defining feature. Unlike a raw pie or a stuffed pasta, the filling of a proper empanada is finished before it enters the dough. The oven or fryer only cooks the pastry and warms the filling through.
Where empanadas come from
The word empanada is Spanish. The idea is older than Spanish. The technique of wrapping filling in bread dough was documented in Persian and Andalusian cooking centuries before the Spanish word existed. As Moorish influence moved through the Iberian peninsula, filled pastries became part of Spanish and Portuguese cuisine. From there, colonisation carried the idea across the Atlantic, and every Latin American country adapted it independently.
The oldest documented Spanish empanada recipe appears in a 1520 Catalan cookbook, Llibre del Coch. By that point, filled pastries had already been part of the Iberian food landscape for centuries. Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela all built distinct empanada traditions from the same starting point. The word travelled with the ships. The recipe was rewritten in every port.
For a deeper history, see our piece on where empanadas really come from.
Regional Argentinian styles
Argentina is not one empanada culture. It is many. Each province has its own recipe, and the differences are meaningful. The four best-known regional styles:
| Region | Signature style | What defines it |
|---|---|---|
| Salta (Salteña) | Beef cubes, potato, cumin, hard-boiled egg, green onion | Hand-cut beef (never minced), always fried, juicy filling. Considered by many Argentinians to be the definitive style. |
| Tucumán (Tucumana) | Minced or hand-cut beef, spring onion, boiled egg, sometimes olive | Small, thin dough, deeply spiced. Considered a close second to Salteña. |
| Mendoza | Beef with raisins and olive, sometimes hard-boiled egg | Sweet-savoury balance from the raisins. Baked. Paired traditionally with Malbec. |
| Córdoba (Cordobesa) | Sweet beef filling, often with sugar dusted on the pastry | The outlier. Sweet and savoury on one plate. Divides opinion nationally. |
Buenos Aires, being a city of internal migration, borrows from all of them. Most Buenos Aires empanaderías (empanada shops) sell three or four regional styles side by side.
How empanadas differ from other pastries
The half-moon shape and the filled-dough structure are shared with several other food traditions. What makes an empanada distinct is the combination of features.
- Dough: Wheat flour with fat (butter, lard, or oil). Sometimes egg. Not shortcrust like a Cornish pasty, not thin like a samosa, not raised like a bao. Slightly enriched, thin enough to be a wrapper but sturdy enough to hold up.
- Fold: The repulgue, a rolled or crimped edge that seals the filling in. Argentinian pastry chefs use different repulgue patterns to signal which flavour is inside the dough, especially when serving a mixed batch.
- Filling: Always pre-cooked. Usually meat (beef, chicken, ham), cheese, or vegetable-based. Spiced with paprika, cumin, garlic, and onion. Rarely sweet, except in Córdoba.
- Cook method: Traditionally baked in Argentinian home cooking. Fried at markets and street stalls, especially the Salteña style. Rarely steamed, boiled, or grilled.
- Size: Made to be eaten in three or four bites. Larger than a pierogi. Smaller than a Cornish pasty.
Our detailed comparison of the empanada vs Cornish pasty and meat pie vs empanada covers the structural differences in more depth.
How Argentinians eat empanadas
Empanadas are not restaurant food in Argentina. They are everyday food. Kitchens make them for a Sunday lunch, a picnic in the park, a birthday, or a football match. Bakeries sell them by the dozen. Corner stores heat them for lunch.
They are eaten with your hands. Not with cutlery. The dough is designed to be a handle. You bite into one end, let the steam escape, and eat over a napkin, because the juiciest ones will run. A proper Salteña is expected to drip.
They are usually served with chimichurri on the side, and they pair extraordinarily well with Argentinian Malbec, sparkling water, or a chilled beer. Sweet Cordobesas are eaten at the end of the meal or with afternoon coffee.
The Argentinian empanada in Sydney
Argentum Empanadas makes Argentinian empanadas in a commercial kitchen in Bondi Beach. Six active flavours, all made in Bondi Beach:
- Carnivore. Slow-cooked grass-fed brisket, onion, garlic, capsicum. The Argentum most-ordered flavour.
- Athlete. Free-range chicken, lemon, curry, mozzarella, green olives.
- Classic. Three cheeses (provolone, parmesan, mozzarella) with caramelised onion. Vegetarian.
- Patagonia. Vegan, in a signature green dough: grilled mushroom, spinach, kale, carrot, and potato cheese.
- Habibi Yalla. Open-top Middle Eastern style: beef, tomato, lemon, parsley, onion.
- Hamazing. Smoky leg ham and mozzarella cheese. The crowd-pleaser: kids love it, offices order it twice.
All six are delivered frozen across Sydney by default. Bake at home from frozen at 190C for 18 to 22 minutes, or air fry at 180C for 12 to 15 minutes. For catering, they are baked on arrival or fried in beef tallow on request. At Northside Produce Market in North Sydney (1st and 3rd Saturday of each month), they are served baked or fried, ready to eat.
Frequently asked questions
What is an empanada?
An empanada is a filled pastry sealed with a traditional repulgue fold. The word comes from the Spanish empanar, meaning to wrap in bread. Argentinian empanadas are the most well-known version: a wheat-flour, half-moon pastry with a pre-cooked filling of beef, chicken, cheese, or vegetables, baked or fried and sized to be eaten in three or four bites.
Where do empanadas come from?
Empanadas originate in Spain, with roots in the earlier Middle Eastern tradition of fatayer and sambusak. The oldest documented Spanish recipe dates to the 1520 Catalan cookbook Llibre del Coch. Spanish colonisation carried the idea across Latin America, where Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela each built distinct empanada traditions from the same starting point.
What is in an Argentinian empanada?
A typical Argentinian empanada contains a pre-cooked filling of beef, chicken, cheese, or vegetables, wrapped in a wheat-flour dough and sealed with a repulgue fold. The most common flavours are Carnivore (slow-cooked beef), Athlete (chicken), Classic (three cheeses), Patagonia (mushroom, kale, spinach, vegan), and Habibi Yalla (Middle Eastern beef). Regional variations across Argentina add cumin, olives, raisins, or hard-boiled egg.
Are empanadas baked or fried?
Both. Argentinian tradition splits between baked (most common in home cooking and in Mendoza and Buenos Aires) and fried (traditional for Salteña and market-style empanadas, and preferred in northern Argentina). Argentum empanadas are delivered frozen across Sydney by default. Bake at home from frozen at 190C for 18 to 22 minutes, or air fry at 180C for 12 to 15 minutes. For catering, choose baked on arrival or fried in beef tallow on request.
How do you pronounce empanada?
In Argentinian Spanish it is pronounced em-pah-NAH-dah, with the stress on the third syllable. The final A is a soft, open A, not an EE sound. Australians often say em-pa-NAH-duh, which is close enough. The plural is empanadas. There is no accent mark on the letter N.
Are empanadas the same as samosas?
No. Both wrap filling in dough, but samosas are Indian, triangular, deep-fried, and usually filled with spiced potato and peas. Empanadas are Argentinian or Spanish in origin, half-moon shaped, traditionally baked, and usually filled with beef, chicken, cheese, or vegetables. The doughs and the seasoning profiles are distinct.
Where can I try Argentinian empanadas in Sydney?
Argentum Empanadas makes Argentinian empanadas in a commercial kitchen in Bondi Beach. Six active flavours delivered frozen across Sydney, with a minimum order of $48 and delivery Sydney-wide. Pre-arranged Bondi pickup is free. The Chef's Box at $85 is the standard first-order sampler.
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Six flavours, made in Bondi Beach, delivered frozen across Sydney. Bake at 190C for 18 to 22 minutes.
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