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Meg is Well

Leftover Creations

Shredded Pork Empanadas with Adobo Aioli Dip

July 26, 2016

Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce. | www.megiswell.com
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS WHICH WON'T CHANGE YOUR PRICE BUT WILL SHARE SOME COMMISSION.

These Shredded Pork Empanadas might look a little intimidating because of the ingredient list and different components, but I swear it isn’t as scary as it looks.

Jump to Recipe

Using Leftover Pulled Pork to Make Empanadas

One night we had pulled pork for dinner. It was one of those really simple dinners where the pork cooks in the crockpot with packaged seasoning all day. Ta-da!

By dinner time you have slightly sweet pulled pork ready for consumption on sandwiches topped with coleslaw. It was good but there was a TON of leftovers and I was tired of sandwiches and the slightly sweet taste of it.

I wanted some smoke and fire. And that’s how I finally latched onto the idea of shredded pork empanadas.

Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce. | www.megiswell.com

Shredded Pork Empanadas with Adobo Aioli Dip

Whenever I do something with leftovers, I try to keep it simple. Usually, I don’t change the original flavor profile too much because that’s more work. But I needed to make the pulled pork taste different. I also needed to use a lot of veggies that were about to go bad.

I thought empanadas were a good idea because you can make a filling that combines everything together in one delicious bite.

Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce. | www.megiswell.com

To make this easier, use pre-made empanada dough. The only reason I didn’t use it was because I couldn’t find any. I guess I could have tried using puff pastry dough or potsticker wrappers. But I made my own empanada dough using a recipe from the Food Network.

Blackened tomato and onion, homemade chicken stock, canned fire-roasted tomatoes, and chilies in adobo sauce mixed in a blender created a nice smoke and fire taste for the filling sauce.

For the filling, I sautéed poblano peppers, russet potatoes, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms and then added the pork and the filling sauce. You can use whatever you have on hand. But I do think the poblano pepper is important for adding that smoky flavor.

Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce. | www.megiswell.com

Finally, the adobo aioli sauce is just a simple combination of the filling sauce, lime juice, and mayonnaise. Dicing all the veggies really small and assembling the shredded pork empanadas probably takes the longest. But because the empanadas are fried, the cooking time is very short, usually about 1 minute for each side.

The Not-Really-Intimidating Recipe

Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce. | www.megiswell.com
5 from 1 vote
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Shredded Pork Empanadas with Adobo Aioli Dip

Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce.
Course Main Dishes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 8 -10

Ingredients

Empanada Dough (from Food Network, curtesy of Dee Dee Pujols)

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup chicken stock

Filling Sauce

  • 1/2 an onion quartered
  • 1 small tomato quartered
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
  • 3 to 4 chilies in adobo sauce
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons adobo sauce

Filling

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 poblano pepper finely diced
  • 1 russet potato finely diced
  • 2 zucchini peeled and finely diced
  • 1 carrot peeled and finely diced
  • 4 small mushrooms diced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 cups leftover shredded pulled pork
  • 1 cup of Filling Sauce
  • oil for frying

Adobo Aioli Dip

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • juice from 1/2 a lime
  • 1.5 to 2 tablespoons Filling Sauce or to taste

Instructions

Empanada Dough

  1. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with two forks or a pastry blender until it resembles cornmeal.
  2. Beat the egg and chicken stock together until well mixed. Add to the flour mixture and knead until dough forms and there are no streaks of egg color. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling Sauce

  1. Heat the tomato and onion on high in a skillet until roasted and blackened. Add to a blender along with chicken stock, fire roasted tomatoes, chilies, and adobo sauce. Blend until completely smooth and set aside.

Aioli Dip

  1. Mix together all the ingredients and place in the refrigerator.

Filling

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. When it is hot, add the diced poblano pepper and potato and cook until the potato has softened. Add all the veggies and sauté until tender. Add the salt and pepper and 1 cup of the filling sauce, stirring often.
  2. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and when you scrap the bottom of the pan with a spatula, it leaves a dry path.
  3. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely.

Assembly

  1. Lightly flour your counter top and roll the empanada dough out until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut out into circles (4, 5, or 6 inches is good). Put a heaping tablespoon of filling on one side (or however much you can fit in), fold the dough over, and use a fork to seal the edges together. You can refrigerate the empanadas for 3 hours before frying them.
  2. Heat enough oil in a frying pan to cover at least half of the empanadas. Place the tip of a wooden spoon on the surface of the frying pan. If bubbles rise, the oil is hot enough. Fry each side of the empanada for 1-2 minutes, until golden brown. Watch the heat. You might have to lower or raise it depending on how many empanadas you are frying. If they are frying too fast, lower the heat.

Recipe Notes

The prep time if you are making the empanada dough includes 30 minutes of wait time.

If you are using pre-made empanada dough, the prep time is decreased to 35 minutes.

Over the Rainbow

I finally feel like I’ve passed over to the other side of the healing rainbow: I’m on greener pastures now. I’ve solved the ostomy bag leaking mystery.

Apparently the key is to put it on while I’m laying down and I have a system in place that works. And although my skin around the stoma still looks raw, I’ve either become accustomed to the pain or my skin has adapted to its new environment.

Soon I’ll be experiencing my first long commute with an ostomy bag. I’m going to Reedsport, Oregon where my grandparents live. It’s an eight-hour drive and to reduce the number of times I have to empty my bag, I’m planning on eating very little the day before and nothing the day of travel.

I’m a little bummed that I won’t be able to crab because lifting anything over thirty pounds is still a big no-no. I’m still going to post but the content might be a little different and more spontaneous. Hopefully, I’ll share some tasty fresh seafood recipes with you as I enjoy the cool Oregon coast (goodbye awful 108 Cali weather).

Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce. | www.megiswell.com

Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce. | Pulled Pork Recipes #leftovers #leftoverrecipes | www.megiswell.com
Use your leftover pulled pork for these Shredded Pork Empanadas. Fire roasted tomatoes and chilies in adobo sauce create a fiery sauce and poblano peppers add smoky flavor to the filling. Dip them in a delicious Adobo Aioli Dip made from the sauce. | Pulled Pork Recipes #leftovers #leftoverrecipes | www.megiswell.com

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  1. Kevin | Keviniscooking says

    November 15, 2016 at 10:36 am

    Man, you had me at empanada! I love them and make them often myself. Great mix for the stuffing and the flavors… oh my. Nicely done. Cheers!

    Reply
  2. Meghan | Fox and Briar says

    August 12, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    5 stars
    Pulled pork is magic, right? Love all the flavors you have going on in these empanadas. And yay for the Oregon Coast! It is the most wonderful place on earth. Have a fantastic time!

    Reply
    • Megan Wells says

      August 28, 2016 at 8:31 am

      Thanks Meghan-and it really is the most wonderful place.

      Reply
  3. Pang says

    August 1, 2016 at 7:37 am

    This is a FANTASTIC way of using leftover, but I will be happy making it from scratch as well. It looks so delicious, Megan. The flavor combination seems off the hook. I LOVE LOVE LOVE. 🙂
    XOXO

    Reply
    • Megan Wells says

      August 28, 2016 at 8:36 am

      Haha, thanks Pang. I haven’t had pulled pork in a while so I think I would make it from scratch too.

      Reply
  4. mira says

    July 31, 2016 at 5:23 pm

    Love empanadas! These look delicious! Great pictures! Glad you are doing better!

    Reply
    • Megan Wells says

      August 28, 2016 at 8:36 am

      Thanks Mira!

      Reply
  5. Demeter | Beaming Baker says

    July 28, 2016 at 5:37 am

    These empanadas look so scrumptious! My family and I would eat so many empanadas growing up. 🙂 My mom even made Vietnamese versions. 😉 Glad to hear that you’re feeling better. Best of luck on that long commute to Oregon. xo

    Reply
    • Megan Wells says

      July 28, 2016 at 1:49 pm

      Oh my gosh, Vietnamese versions sound awesome! And thank you!

      Reply
  6. Sarah says

    July 26, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    I love this leftover series Meg! I’m constantly trying to use up leftover food so that nothing gets wasted. And that aoli looks amazing!
    Glad you’re feeling better! Enjoy your vacation! I’m jealous of the seafood!

    Reply
    • Megan Wells says

      July 27, 2016 at 5:00 pm

      Thanks! Sometimes the whole leftover creations series gets neglected because of the lack of leftovers but recently there has been a lot and I’ve gotten to create a lot. And the aoli was really tasty ?

      Reply
  7. Claudia | The Brick Kitchen says

    July 26, 2016 at 3:52 pm

    Wow I would never have thought of making empanadas! So impressed that you made your own dough, and the filling sounds so warm and hearty with all the veggies and shredded pulled pork – such a good use for leftovers! Glad you are feeling better this week and hope you have a lovely time with your grandparents 🙂 x

    Reply
    • Megan Wells says

      July 27, 2016 at 4:57 pm

      I really loved the filling-especially the potatoes. Honestly it made me crave fall a little because of how hearty it was. Thanks Claudia!

      Reply
  8. thefolia says

    July 26, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    Yummy…viva la empanada!

    Reply

Hello!

Hi! I’m Megan Wells. Food, photography, and writing is how I deal with life’s struggles, mainly ulcerative colitis and living with a j-pouch. Read more…

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