Chicken Empanadas

I like the whole concept of food that is dippable and easy to hold. I love the little fruit empanadas that you can get at different locations but hadn't ever tried to make little meat pies so when some extra time presented itself this weekend I decided to give it a shot. After cruising the internet for inspiration I decided that I could figure out a better filling than anything I had seen and hit my "laboratory".

All in all I was very pleased and will definitely do this again. I loved the filling, it was moist and flavorful which was what I was worried about. I'm not a fan of the big glob of boring chicken inside things. :)

Because I had biscuit dough that needed to be used and time was short I used that rather than making pie crust but next time pie crust for sure. Even refrigerated would work if you aren't confident about your crust making skill.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and taco sauce. Yum!

Chicken Empanadas

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped, cooked chicken

2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese

4 oz lt cream cheese, softened

¼ c. chopped sweet pepper (I used yellow but you could also do red)

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

½ med onion diced small

1 ½ tsp cumin

1 ½ tsp chili powder

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ cup taco sauce

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Either refrigerated biscuits or pie crust dough

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook chicken and chop. I cut it into a small dice and boiled it in Maggi Chicken and Tomato Bouillon as the chicken was frozen and I was in a hurry. Typically I put it in the oven and bake it.

Sauté onions and peppers in a bit of olive oil until tender.

Put chicken and all other ingredients except dough in a large bowl. Mix well.

On a floured surface roll out pie crust and cut into approximately 3 inch circles. I used biscuit dough because I had some in the fridge; it was good but pie crust would be better. Put a small amount of filling on the circles; Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Fold dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with remaining filling and dough. (At this point the empanadas can be frozen for up to 1 month)

Arrange on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.