They are made by folding dough over a filling, which may consist of meat, cheese, tomato, corn, or other ingredients, and then cooking the resulting turnover, either by baking or frying.

An empanada (empãada) is mentioned in the Cantigas de Santa Maria 57:VI (c. 1282):Entr' esses roubadores / viu jazer um vilão / desses mais malfeitores, / ũa perna na mão / de galinha, freame / que sacara com fame / entom dũ' empãada | que so um seu çurame/ comer quisera, / mais nom podera, / ca Deus nom queria.

"federal cake" or empanadas de Misia Manuelita, famous because pears boiled in wine with cloves were added to their filling.

In the Litoral, where immigrants from various parts of the world predominated, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Corrientes fill them with river fish, such as surubí (catfish) or dorado, or with white sauce and Goya cheese.

: pastéis) and consists of half-circle or rectangle-shaped thin crust pies with assorted fillings, fried in vegetable oil.

The most common fillings are ground meat, mozzarella, catupiry, heart of palm, codfish, cream cheese, chicken and small shrimp.

Commonly consumed in large quantities during the country's national day celebrations, many Chileans consider this to be their most representative dish.

[19] The most iconic variety is the oven-baked empanada de pino, which is filled with ground beef, minced onion, half or a quarter of a hard-boiled egg, and a single unpitted black olive.

The empanada can be filled with plenty of foods, although beef, pork or chicken meat, but also with cheese, palm heart or different kind of vegetable hashes (called picadillo) or refried beans are the most common ones.

In Havana, the most common variant is filled with picadillo or shredded chicken, often mixed with ingredients like cumin, garlic, onions, raisins, and green olives.

[21] A popular sweet variation, empanadas de platano are torpedo-shaped dumplings of dough made from very ripe plantains, filled with vanilla custard, fried, then rolled in sugar.

[22] They may alternatively have a filling made from refried beans rather than milk-based custard, but the flavour profile remains sweet rather than savoury.

[23][24] In France, the traditional chaussons are made with a puff pastry dough filled with stew such as daube or confit, or a bechamel sauce mixed with ham and/or cheese.

The history of this dish in the region dates back to the Visigothic era in the 7th century, when rules for their preparation were decreed.

Galician empanadas appear sculpted as early as the 12th century on the Portico of Glory in Santiago de Compostela.

They are especially popular in Manado cuisine of North Sulawesi where their panada has a thick crust made from fried bread, filled with spicy cakalang fish (skipjack tuna) and chili, curry, potatoes or quail eggs.

The Sicilian 'mpanatigghi are stuffed, consisting of half-moon-shaped panzerotti filled with a mixture of almonds, walnuts, chocolate, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and minced beef.

They are usually filled with taco ingredients, such as refried beans, boiled chicken, boiled chopped potato with white cheese, pork belly and ground beef, and are typically garnished with pickled cabbage salad, white cheese powder, cream and spicy tomato sauce.

[36] It is commonly served, along with flautas, as a cheap appetizer in fair stands and other outdoor events due to its quick preparation.

Filipino empanadas usually contain ground beef, pork or chicken, potatoes, chopped onions, and raisins (picadillo-style),[37] in a somewhat sweet, wheat flour bread.

These empanadas are characterized by savory fillings, typically including green papaya, mung beans, and sometimes chopped cabbage.

The empanada is deep-fried and made with glutinous or rice flour (galapong) combined with annatto, which gives the dough its distinct orange color and contributes to a crunchier texture.

[41] Dessert versions of empanadas also exist, notably empanaditas, which commonly have a filling of latik (coconut caramel), honey and nuts, or peanut butter.

The empanada resembles savory pastries found in many other cultures, such as the molote, pirozhki,[51] calzone,[51] samosa,[51][52] knish,[51][52] kreatopitakia,[51] khuushuur, Jamaican patty and pasty.

[52] In most Malay-speaking countries in Southeast Asia, the pastry is commonly called epok-epok or karipap (English: curry puff).