Pastelillos de Pollo (Puerto Rican Chicken Empanadas)

The pastelillos de pollo are a great snack or appetizer to make and save for later. Then just fry and enjoy!

📝 Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (260g)
• 1/2 tablespoon achiote oil
• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 1/4 small green pepper
• 1/4 small red pepper
• 1 pound chicken thighs (492g)
• 1/2 teaspoon adobo
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sazon
• 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed oregano
• 1 tablespoon sofrito
• 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2-4 cups vegetable oil (to fry)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- Pastelillos dough ---
2. 2In a big bowl, add the water, shortening, flour, and salt. Mix everything together until most of the water is incorporated. Then add the achiote oil and mix to distribute the color.
3. 3Place the dough on a flat surface and knead for 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Make your chicken while the dough rests to save time.
4. 4--- Chicken filling ---
5. 5Cube the onion and peppers into about 1/4 inch pieces. Set them aside for later.
6. 6Remove any excess fat from the chicken. Season the chicken with the adobo, sazon, chicken bouillon, oregano, and garlic paste. Mix until all the chicken is well seasoned.
7. 7In a medium-sized pan over high heat, add the oil. Add the chicken and sear for 6 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the sofrito, tomato sauce, and the onion and peppers. Mix everything, cover, and finish cooking for 8 minutes.
8. 8Use a chicken shredder to shred the chicken, or use your hand, once the chicken has cooled off.
9. 9--- Making the pastelillos ---
10. 10Lightly flour the surface and roll the dough until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Use a 4-inch round cutter or a small round dish and cut the disks. Take the scraps of dough, roll and cut again until there's no more dough left. Place each disk on wax or parchment paper to separate them.
11. 11Take one dough disk and add about 2 tablespoons of the shredded chicken in the middle. Use a fork to seal the border of the pastelillo by pressing down on it to about 1/4 inch in the border. Do this until all the border is sealed. Flip the pastelillo and repeat the same process on this side of the border. You can also use an empanada press to make the closing job easier.
12. 12In a big pan, add the oil over medium-high heat. Let the oil get hot and add all your pastelillos. Fry for 2 minutes on each side or until they're golden brown. Remove from the oil onto a plate with s paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Enjoy!