U.S. Lentil Chicken Empanada

US lentils chicken empanada

Here’s a healthier version of your favorite Empanada. This U.S. Lentil Chicken Empanada recipe is a new recipe that you can prepare for your family. With all the health benefits that lentils provide, you can be sure that you’re serving them with healthy and nutritious food.

U.S. lentils are known to be an excellent source B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. It can also be a good substitute to meat because it contains 25% protein. So you have all the reasons to add this to your menu list. You can learn more U.S. lentils and other pulses on the pulses.asia website or its Facebook page.

The process in making this delicious U.S. Lentil Chicken Empanada is not that complicated, and it wouldn’t take much of your time. You can either have it baked or fried. I’ll show you the step-by-step process so you can follow through easily.

Here’s How to Make U.S. Lentil Chicken Empanada:

Filling:

1 cup U.S. Lentils
220g Chicken Breast Fillet
1 medium-sized Carrot
1/2 cup Green Onions
1 Onion
3 cloves Garlic
1 tbsp. Oyster Sauce
1 tsp. Soy Sauce
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Oil

ingredients

Empanada Crust:

2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
45g Butter
1 tsp. Sugar
Pinch of Salt
2 Eggs
5-6 tbsp. Water

Process:

1. Wash the lentils thoroughly. You might want to soak it for a few minutes before cooking if you need to reduce the cooking time by half.

2. In a pot, pour 3 cups of water. Add the washed/soaked lentils and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Make sure to use a large pot since lentils will double their size when cooked.

boil lentils

3. Remove from heat and drain the water. Set aside.

4. In a pan, saute onions and garlic. Add in the chicken and cook and carrots. No need to add water. Cook for about 5 minutes.

5. Add in the cooked lentils. Season it with oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, and pepper.

6. Finally, add in the green onions. Cook for an extra 3 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside, and let it cool.

cooked lentils

Let’s make the dough:

1. In a bowl, mix in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

2. Then add in the butter (room temperature). Mix thoroughly with the flour mixture.

3. Add in 1 egg and 6 tablespoons of water. Mix and knead lightly until it forms a dough.

4. Make small balls of dough (depending on the size that you want).

empanada dough

5. Dust some flour on the board and roll to create discs of dough. Don’t worry if you have rough or not perfect circle discs. We can fix that later.

Let’s start wrapping:

1. Just place a good amount of filling in the middle of the dough disc.

2. Flip one side to seal. Initial sealing; just do some pinching on the edges. Then finally, use a fork and press the edges.

seal the empanada

3. Brush the empanadas with egg wash (water and egg yolk mixture).

eggwash

4. Your first option is to bake them for about 20 minutes at 125°C.

bake empanada

5. Or you can also fry them until golden brown.

fried empanada

Enjoy it with your favorite vinegar dip!