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Six golden brown fried Pasteis on rack over sheet pan for traditional Brazilian Pastel Recipe with ground beef filling.
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5 from 1 vote

Brazilian Pastel Recipe with Beef Filling

get ready for the most delicious, flaky, crispy, savory, fried pastry! This is the traditional Brazilian Pastel Recipe! Pasteis (the plural of pastel in Portuguese) are light, thinly rolled pastry dough pockets filled with a variety of ingredients, but most notably with cheese (queijo) and/or beef. This version is the simple, but flavorful ground beef filling with just a few perfect seasonings. The pastry is fried until it puffs and bubbles for the most beautiful flaky and crispy crust. The inside of the crust gets these amazing soft layers and then the filling is hot and delicious.
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine Brazilian
Keyword brazilian dinner, brazilian recipes, empanadas, fried pastries, pasteis, pastel
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Dough resting time 1 hour
Servings 24 Pastels
Author Carrie Tyler

Equipment

Ingredients

Pastel Dough

  • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 Egg, yolk only
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter, softened (I used salted, but unsalted is fine too)
  • cup Water, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon Salt

Filling & Frying

  • 1 lb Ground Beef (I used 90% Lean)
  • 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
  • 2 Cloves Garlic, minced (or 2 teaspoon garlic powder)
  • 2 Scallions, sliced thin
  • 2 tablespoons Fresh Cilantro, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Chili Powder
  • 1 tablespoon Cumin Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon Ground black pepper
  • Water to help seal the pastel edges
  • Oil for frying (I used Soybean Oil)

Instructions

Make Dough

  • Add the salt to the water and set aside.
  • Sift the flour into a large bowl or flat surface. Make a well in the center and add the egg yolk and softened butter. Using a fork, combine the flour with the egg yolk and butter.
  • Add the salted water and continue to mix until it starts to pull away from the sides and stick together. Then switch from fork to hands and knead (in the bowl or lightly floured surface) until the pastry is elastic, about 4-5 minutes. Let stand for 1 hour, covered with a cloth or plastic wrap. If longer than an hour, wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Make Filling

  • Mince the garlic. Thinly slice the scallions. Chop the cilantro.
  • Make the ground beef filling by first preheating a medium-large pan on high heat. Add 1 teaspoon Olive Oil, then the ground beef. Break up the beef and add the minced cloves garlic, sliced scallions, cilantro, chili powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Transfer the filling to a bowl and let it cool in the fridge.

Make Pastels

  • Roll the dough out using a pasta roller machine or attachment (see notes for rolling by hand): If the dough has been in the refrigerator, then bring it out to room temperature. Cut the dough into 4 equal parts and let it rest for 20-40 minutes to make it easier to roll.
  • Start with one section of the dough and flatten it with your hands to about ¼ to ½ inch thick so that you can fit it into the pasta roller. Flour both sides of the dough before inserting it into the pasta roller. Start with the thickest setting, slowly working your way to the thinnest setting. You should end up with a long and very thin wide strip that you will use to cut into the pastel rectangles. If the sheet breaks, simply patch it back up together.
  • Cut into large squares that are between 5-6 inches x 5-6 inches. This should be about the width of the sheet of dough, so that you are simply cutting 5-6 inch sections along the length of the sheet. I can usually get 4-5 squares per sheet (4 sheets = total of 16-20 pasteis).
  • Take the cooled beef filling and add a heaping tablespoon or so to the pastel dough, just to the left of the center of each square so that you can fold over the right side, making pastel rectangles.
  • Using your fingers, moisten the edges of three left edges of dough with water. Carefully fold over the right side keeping the filling inside away from the edge so that you get dough on dough to seal. Push down to seal with fingers. Then use fork tines dipped into the cold water to crimp around the edge.
  • Place on a sheet pan or floured surface until ready to fry. Now, either fry them (see below) or place the sheet pan in the freezer and then transfer the pasteis to a storage container after frozen.
  • Heat a large, deep pot of vegetable oil to 360 F to 375 F degrees. Add 1-2 pastels at a time, lowering each carefully into the hot oil and frying for about 15 to 20 seconds until golden brown. Then place the Pastel on paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

Video

Notes

  • Rolling the Pastel Dough by Hand:
    • If you don't have a pasta roller, then you can roll it out by hand using a rolling pin. If the dough has been in the refrigerator, then bring it out to room temperature. Cut the dough into 4 equal parts and let it rest for 20-40 minutes to make it easier to roll.
    • Flour your clean surface and then press the dough flat with your hand. Flour both sides of the dough and begin to roll the dough out from the center away from you.
    • Continue to roll each of the 4 sections of dough until the dough is very thin (about thickness of a dime).  If the dough breaks or rips, simply patch it back together again.
    • One the dough is rolled out, you can cut it into squares that are 5-6 inches by 5-6 inches.  Follow the rest of the instructions in the recipe.
  • Alternative Fillings:
    • Chicken: For chicken, you use either ground or shredded. For ground chicken, simply swap in the chicken in place of the beef in this recipe. For shredded, you can shred the cooked chicken and then mix it with the seasonings in the pan as you would the the ground chicken. For the shredded chicken, you can also add in shredded cheese or ¼ cup cream cheese just to help bind the filling a bit.
      Vegetarian: Rather than the ground beef, you can use veggies or a plant-based meat alternative. For veggies, I love a sauteed combination of 2 cups raw chopped mushrooms, 1 diced bell pepper, and 1 cup diced zucchini along with the onions, garlic, and seasonings. It will seem like a lot of veggies, but they will cook down. Follow the rest of the recipe instructions for filling the pasteis.