Vegan Pepperoni Pizza Empanadas are crispy, flavorful finger food, snack, appetizer, or light meal. They have a crispy puff pastry shell and a delicious vegan pepperoni pizza filling. Plus they can be made gluten-free, baked, oil fry, or in the air fryer.
I used my puff pastry recipe for these vegan empanadas. Find it under my Vegan Quesitos recipe. Storebought empanada disks are a good option but they contain milk. If you follow a vegan diet it’s best if you make your own.
This Vegan Arroz con Gandules is my meatless version of our traditional Puerto Rican recipe. Arroz con gandules is a signature dish in our Puerto Rican cuisine. It is usually made with pork fat however this recipe is filled with traditional flavors without the need for meat.
A Puerto Rican fiesta without arroz con gandules is not a fiesta. This delicious rice is popular during the holidays or any other celebration during the year. This vegan Arroz con Gandules requires simple ingredients that are easy to find at your local supermarket.
This recipe is excellent as a side dish or main dish. It goes well with mofongo and some sautéd veggies. You can use long-grain rice, but in my household, we always use medium-grain rice, which works better. For the sofrito, you can check my recipe or if you don’t have time to make it, use the following veggies; onions, green pepper, cilantro, culantro, and garlic. However, the sofrito is a star ingredient and the base of all Puerto Rican savory dishes. I recommend you always have sofrito ready in your refrigerator or freezer.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your delicious creations!
1/3cupsofrito or a mix of (onions, green peppers, sweet red pepper, garlic, cilantro, and culantro if available)
1/2white onion, chopped
1 - 2 red sweet peppers, chopped
1cubanelle pepper, chopped
1cupchanterelle mushrooms (optional)use your favorite mushrooms or skip this ingredient
1 - 2tbspsazon I use the brand Chuleria en Pote.
1 tspadobo
pinchsea salt
pinchdried-oregano
1canpigeon peas - gandules
2cupsmedium grain ricewashed and rinsed
1/2cuptomato sauce
1tbspolives stuffed with minced peppers
2cupsveggie broth
1handfulcilantro leaves, chopped
Instructions
In a dutch oven or caldero heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sofrito and sauté for about 3 minutes.
Add onion, peppers, and mushrooms. Cook for 3 more minutes until fragrant. Stir in pigeon peas and, add sazon (adjust to taste), adobo, salt, oregano, or any other seasoning you would like to add.
Add rice, using a spoon or spatula fold rice to incorporate. Immediately add the veggie broth, tomato sauce, and olives. Stir just once and let it cook over medium heat until the liquid is evaporated. This will take about 8 to 10 minutes.
Gently stir the rice from the bottom up. Lower heat to low and cook, covered, until rice is tender, about 15 minutes.
Remove rice from the heat and turn off the stove. Gently using a spoon turn the rice from the bottom up. Cover and allow the rice to sit for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
Adjust seasonings depending on your taste.
Keywords arroz con gandules, Puerto Rican Food, vegan arroz con gandules
Empanadas are usually filled with ground beef or other different fillings. These empanadas are my vegan version. You can enjoy them as an appetizer, main dish or main course. They go well with my easy guacamole recipe.
Hello, my beautiful friends! Here’s my Puerto Rican Black Beans Empanadas. You can make your own dough or buy store-bought at your local supermarket in the Hispanic or international frozen aisle. They are easy to make and you can add other ingredients if you want. Empanadas are great for breakfast, brunch, or as a main dish. In Puerto Rico, we called them “empanadillas” or depending on the dough “pastelillos”. They sell them around the island almost everywhere.
I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!
Sauté garlic, green peppers and onions for 2 minutes.
Add beefy crumbles and cook for about 4 minutes. Stir in marinara sauce, nutritional yeast and garlic powder. Cook for about 3 minutes.
Lower heat to medium-low, add sweet plantains and fold until well incorporated.
Add black beans, corn, salt & pepper, cayenne pepper if using, cook for another 3 minutes.
Fold ingredients in cheese, turn stove off and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll out discos until ½” larger in diameter. Spoon about 1 tbsp. mixture into middle, fold in half to form a half moon; seal with a fork.
You can also deep fry but I prefer to bake them for about 15 minutes, flip over and bake for another 10 minutes or until they have a light golden color.
Let if cool for about 10 minutes, serve with salsa or guacamole.
For my Easy Guacamole:
Ingredients:
2-3 Avocado Hass
¼ cup red onion, chopped,
Salt & Pepper to taste
½ fresh squeezed lime
Instructions:
Mix all ingredient and stir together until well incorporated.
**Notes: You can find the empanada dough at your local supermarket in the Hispanic or International food aisle. I also use sofrito as a seasoning, you can find the recipe on my blog.
This easy pesto is ready in less than 10 minutes and it has so many uses. Pour over your favorite pasta, eat with crackers or veggies.
Use it on your pizza, wraps, sandwich even as a base when making savory meals. This pesto is similar to my sofrito recipe, but it uses different ingredients and purposes. I use cashews instead of pine nuts because we had allergy reactions with pine nuts. Also, I find that cashews give the pesto more consistency and a nutty flavor that I love.
Enjoy this pesto with your favorite pasta.
When making the pesto you can adjust the ingredients depending on your taste. I love making a big jar and have it available all the time. I adjust the amount I’m using depending on the recipe that I’m making. For example, if I’m using it on a pasta, I add a little bit more of olive oil. But if I’m using it on pizzas, bread or as a dip, I add more cashews or greens.
RECIPE VIDEO:
I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!
Puerto Rican Pigeon Peas Soup with Plantain Dumplings
Asopao is a Puerto Rican word for a stew thickened with rice. Asopaos of many different kinds are very popular in Puerto Rican cuisine.
Asopao de gandules is typically combined with onions, ham, sofrito, chicken stock, rice, tomato sauce, and olive oil. My version is completely vegan, but you can always add your favorite ingredients.
Plantain Dumplings – Bolitas de Platano
The plantain dumplings or bolitas de platanos are easy to make. You can chop the plantain in tiny pieces and shred it in a food processor, but I prefer to use a hand shredder. See the picture and video for more details.
Making Plantain Dumplings
This soup has a thick consistency and goes well with tostones on the side, but bread is always welcome.
I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!
1 green plantains – peeled and shredded in food processor or using a hand shredder
½ tsp. garlic powder
dash of salt
Asopao – Soup
1 can gandules – pigeon peas
1-quart veggie broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup sofrito or green pepper, red pepper, onion, garlic and cilantro, finely diced
½ cup tomato sauce
½ cups short-grain rice
1 carrot, diced
1 medium yellow potato, diced
1/2 tablespoon salt, or to taste
½ tsp nutritional yeast
½ tsp sazon
olives and capers
1 bay leave
1/3 cup chopped cilantro for topping
Instructions:
Form dumplings from a 1/2 tablespoonfuls of shredded plantain, garlic, and salt. Set aside. See video and pictures for more details.
In a large caldero or saucepan, combine the gandules and the veggie broth. Heat until boiling.
While the stock and gandules boil, add the sofrito and cook about 4 more minutes. Add tomato sauce and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the broth and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the rice is cooked and the soup has thickened. Add the cilantro just before serving.
