Whole Wheat Arab Empanadas Recipe. Amazing!

I could not miss on this website one of the recipes that I love the most and make this version of whole wheat Arab empanadas. An easy recipe to make, really tasty and totally addictive!

I learned how to make this recipe a few years ago by watching my husband’s family make them. From a large family and with the tradition of preparing these typical meals all together as a family. So today this publication is dedicated to them and especially to “the mother-in-law”.

Arab empanadas or as they call them “safijas” are exquisite and very easy to make. Clearly this is a modified version that I make for this website with totally whole wheat dough. Which has nothing to envy to those made with refined all purpose flour.

I hope you like it and are encouraged to make this recipe because they do not compare at all with some bought Arabic empanadas. It is worth preparing these meals at home with quality ingredients and above all well done.

Let’s talk a bit about the recipe:

Today I am going to teach you how to make these whole wheat Arabic empanadas just as I learned them to do (or quite similar). I must confess that throughout the years of preparing this recipe the result is increasingly similar to those made by the family.

Originally they are prepared with a kind of sour and acid yogurt called leban but it is not always available or can be made at the moment. So what they usually use is light cream cheese (choose one that is acidic) that gives it that necessary acid touch.

There are other recipes that add fresh tomato but the result is not the same. Although each one prepares them to their liking, it would be interesting for you to try this version and then you can compare which one you liked the most. I particularly like them with this cream cheese.

Other characteristics of these Arabic empanadas is that the meat is not previously cooked like the traditional picadillo (filling) for Argentine empanadas. It is macerated with enough lemon juice to tenderize the meat and in the oven everything is cooked together.

Always try to use good, fat-free meat. It is preferable to buy a cut of meat and the butcher grinds it or if you have a food processor, do it yourself. It will not be the same result if you use ground beef that can contain a lot of fat. The difference in quality is very noticeable and it is not worth ruining a recipe like this.

Besides not cooking the meat. The onion that is used to prepare the filling is also not cooked beforehand. Maybe you think that it can make you feel bad because it gives you the impression that it is raw. But this is not really the case. This helps the empanadas come out juicy and very delicious.

Once the empanadas are ready before consuming, you cannot miss the lemon juice to put them at the moment (each one adds the amount of lemon juice to their liking, it is not added to all the empanadas when they take it out of the oven).