“Yammy” Barbecue Chicken Empanadas
My friend, Hector, makes really good empanadas. It’s a fact. It’s always a treat when I walk into the office where he works and he’s got food! The office happens to be literally across the street from the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle so in support of me and what I’m building here at Hungry Fan, Hector popped over there and picked up one of each of my blends. He started tinkering in the kitchen a bit to try to find good ways to use the blends and thus was born Hector’s “Yammy” BBQ Chicken Empanadas. (Get it? Yammy? Like yummy but with an ‘a’ for yams)….? [Wink, wink].
These empanadas call for store-bought empanada discs because let’s face, that’s a heck of a lot easier than making them yourself. (And on game day, this is probably welcomed). But if you’re good at making empanada discs from scratch, please don’t let me stop you!
Just as a heads up, you can buy both the Pumpkin Spice Blend and the Barbecue Blend, along with the Cin Chili cayenne pepper hot sauce in the Hungry Fan Store. We’ll ship to you and make gearing up for game day that much easier. ;)
Happy football weekend, Hungry Fans! I hope this recipe helps make it a little bit yammier…
Yammy Barbecue Chicken Empanadas
Makes 10
2 medium yams
1/4 cup sour cream
½ teaspoon Hungry Fan™ Pumpkin Spice Blend
4 chicken thighs
1 (2-ounce) pouch Hungry Fan™ Barbecue Spice Blend
1 cup Cin Chili’s Cin-Fully Hot (Cayenne Pepper) Hot Sauce
1/2 cup honey
10 (store-bought) empanada discs
Avocado oil or vegetable oil for frying
Fine sea salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Prick the yams several times each with a fork and place them onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tender.
Let the yams cool enough to handle, then remove skin. Place into a mixing bowl and mash well with a fork or potato masher. Add sour cream and Pumpkin Spice Blend and mix until incorporated.
Generously rub chicken thighs with Hungry Fan™ Barbecue Spice Blend.
Place the thighs into the refrigerator, covered, let allow them to marinate at least 30 minutes. (They’re best overnight).
In a bowl, combine the cayenne pepper sauce with the honey and another tablespoon of Hungry Fan™ Barbecue Spice Blend. Place the chicken thighs into the mixture and toss to coat.
Transfer the now coated chicken into a large skillet and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat. Flip the chicken over and cover the skillet. Simmer until the liquid has thickened. Remove from skillet.
Use a fork to shred the chicken. Combine the chicken and any sauce left in the skillet into the yam mixture and mix.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the chicken and yam mixture into the middle of an empanada disc. Fold the disc in half to form a moon shape. Moisten the edges of the disc with and pinch to seal closed, or seal with a fork.
Fill a deep saucepan with oil to a depth of 2 ½ inches. Heat the oil until hot (350 degrees) over medium-high heat.
Cook the empanadas until golden brown, flipping once, for about 4–6 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-covered plate to drain then, while still hot, sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Serve and enjoy!
