Brazilian

Serving

Empada de Frango (Brazilian Chicken Hand Pie)

Name: Empada de Frango (Brazilian Chicken Hand Pie)
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Brazilian
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1 cup cold butter, cubed; 1 egg yolk; 1/2 cup cold water; 1 tsp salt; 2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 cup canned diced tomatoes; 1/2 cup chopped hearts of palm; 1/4 cup diced green olives; 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

Buttery, flaky individual pies filled with saucy shredded chicken, olives, and hearts of palm — a party-table favorite.

90 minutes

Serves 8

Snack

31 min prep

50 min cook

Contains common allergens

Egg Dairy Wheat

In the app, Listahan checks these against your household automatically.

Instructions

7 steps

1
Make the dough by pulsing flour, butter, and salt in a food processor until crumbly, then add the egg yolk and cold water and pulse until it forms a dough; wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
2
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté onion and garlic until soft, then add tomatoes and cook until thickened, about 8 minutes.
3
Stir in the shredded chicken, hearts of palm, and olives, and cook for 5 minutes until well combined; let cool.
4
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
5
Roll out the dough and cut circles to line individual empada molds or muffin tins, pressing dough up the sides.
6
Fill each with the chicken mixture, top with a smaller dough circle, and pinch the edges to seal, brushing tops with egg wash.
7
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown, then cool slightly before unmolding and serving.

Empada de Frango (Brazilian Chicken Hand Pie) — plated and served — Serving moment. How Empada de Frango (Brazilian Chicken Hand Pie) looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

72/100

Good fit for most families

Allergen-friendly 70

Kid-friendly 85

Weeknight-easy 61

Budget-friendly 80

Great leftovers 93

Pantry-friendly 40

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

500

Calories

19 g

Protein

38 g

Carbs

30 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

Empadas arrived with Portuguese colonists but Brazilians reshaped them into something distinct: smaller, thicker-walled, and baked in individual molds rather than the larger open Portuguese empada. They are a fixture of Rio de Janeiro bakeries and birthday buffets, prized for a sturdy, slightly crumbly crust that can hold a wet filling without collapsing when eaten by hand. Hearts of palm, a distinctly Brazilian ingredient harvested from palm trees, is what gives the filling its regional signature.

Listahan note

This version builds a from-scratch butter crust around a chicken, tomato, and hearts-of-palm filling, closer to a bakery-style empada than a quick puff-pastry shortcut, so it rewards the extra chilling and resting time.

Technique cues

The dough is pulsed just until it forms crumbs before the egg yolk and water go in; overworking it at this stage builds gluten that makes the baked shell tough instead of short and crumbly.
Cooking the tomato base until it visibly thickens before adding the chicken matters, a wet filling steams the bottom crust and leaves it soggy after baking.
Chilling the dough for the full 30 minutes relaxes the gluten and firms the butter, both of which keep the crust from shrinking or slumping in the mold during baking.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Start the dough chilling first, then use that 30 minutes to cook the chicken filling and let it cool before assembly.
Make-ahead: Both the dough and the cooled filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated separately, then assembled and baked fresh.
Leftover move: Baked empadas reheat well in a 350F oven for 10 minutes to re-crisp the crust; microwaving leaves the pastry soft.
Cleanup rhythm: Clean the food processor bowl right after making the dough before the butter residue hardens on the blade.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

cold butter, cubed

fat that creates a short, flaky-tender crust

Purpose: keeping it cold means it stays in small solid pieces through mixing, which melt during baking and create pockets of tenderness rather than a dense, greasy dough

Handling: cube it straight from the fridge and work quickly so it doesn't soften before baking

Adaptation: a firm dairy-free block butter substitute works but produces a slightly less flaky texture

cooked shredded chicken breast

the primary savory filling protein

Purpose: pre-cooked chicken means the filling only needs to warm through and absorb the tomato sauce rather than cook raw meat inside a delicate pie shell

Handling: shred it into small, even pieces so each bite of filling distributes evenly

Adaptation: shredded rotisserie chicken or leftover roast chicken both work and add extra flavor depth

chopped hearts of palm

a distinctly Brazilian textural addition

Purpose: hearts of palm add a mild, faintly briny crunch that is a signature of Brazilian empada fillings and sets it apart from a generic chicken pot pie

Handling: drain and chop into small pieces similar in size to the shredded chicken

Adaptation: canned artichoke hearts are the closest textural substitute if hearts of palm are unavailable

diced green olives

briny, salty punctuation

Purpose: the sharp saltiness of green olives cuts through the richness of the buttery crust and creamy tomato-chicken filling

Handling: dice small so a bite of olive doesn't overwhelm any single mouthful

Adaptation: capers in smaller quantity give a similar briny hit if olives aren't on hand

Technique notes

Press the bottom dough circles up the sides of the mold firmly so there are no thin spots that could tear or leak filling during baking.
Let the filling cool before it goes into the shells, a warm filling can soften the raw dough and make it harder to seal the top crust cleanly.
Pinch the top and bottom crust edges together firmly rather than just resting the lid on top, a loose seal lets steam escape and dries out the filling.

Ingredient swaps

Gluten-free direction: A 1:1 gluten-free flour blend can replace the all-purpose flour in the dough, though the crust will be slightly more delicate to handle.
Dairy-free option: Use a plant-based butter block for the crust and skip a dairy egg wash in favor of a plant-milk brush for color.
Lower-sodium direction: Reduce or omit the olives and use low-sodium canned tomatoes to bring the salt content down significantly.
Make-ahead freezer batch: Assemble unbaked empadas, freeze them on a tray, then bake straight from frozen with an added 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve alongside

farofa
Brazilian potato salad (salpicao)
a simple green salad with palm hearts
chilled guarana soda
passion fruit juice (suco de maracuja)
a cold chopp (draft beer) for an adult gathering

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Refrigerate baked empadas in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Reheat in a 350F oven for 8 to 10 minutes to restore a crisp crust.
Unbaked assembled empadas freeze well for up to 2 months; bake from frozen adding extra time.

Equipment

food processor
empada molds or a standard muffin tin
rolling pin
pastry brush for the egg wash

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