Leftover Cranberry Sauce and Cheese Empanadas

When you have leftover cranberry sauce from your holiday dinner and don’t know what to do with it, make these cranberry sauce and cheese empanadas. They’re sweet, savory, a little tart, and the perfect texture.

A blue and white plate with leftover cranberry sauce and cheese emapandas.
Leftover Cranberry Sauce Empanadas

Leftover Cranberry Sauce

We’ve all been there, made a little too much cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Let’s face it, not everyone likes cranberry sauce – I happen to love it so always make too much on purpose.

There are countless ways to use this leftover cranberry sauce and today I’m going to share my favorite way.

Homemade cranberry sauce with a Mexican touch inside a white and blue bowl.
Mexican Cranberry Sauce with Piloncillo

Cranberry Sauce and Cheese Empanadas

A few years ago after our Thanksgiving feast I had a too much leftover cranberry sauce and I knew I wanted to make a dessert with it since I had no more turkey roast.

Amigos, honestly these empanadas came to exist purely out of leftovers in my refrigerator.

Luckily the combination turned out to be mouthwatering and the it became a tradition to make these empanadas after Thanksgiving.

Mexican Thanksgiving Recipes

Are These Empanadas Vegan or Vegetarian?

The great thing about this recipe is that you can choose whether to make them vegan empanadas or vegetarian empanadas.

To make them fully vegan use vegan empanada dough or vegan puff pastry and use a vegan cheese that melts but doesn’t liquify.

For the vegetarian version use butter based empanada dough or puff pastry. Use a dairy cheese and whole fat milk or egg wash to brush the empanadas with.

Leftover cranberry sauce, cheese slices, piloncillo, soy milk and empanada disks on a cutting board.
Cranberry and Cheese Empanada Ingredients

Ingredients Needed

  • Mexican Cranberry Sauce: This is my own recipe and it’s sweetened with piloncillo and flavored with aromatic Mexican spices. You could use whatever sauce you have leftover.
  • Cheese: I used a cheddar cheese from a local Mexican brand called “Planet Vegan”. You could use Manchego or Chihuahua or Asadero for a very melty cheese.
  • Empanada Disks: I just buy them from the grocery store but you can also use homemade or use puff pastry or homemade pie dough instead.
  • Grated Piloncillo: You can substitute with brown sugar or dark muscovado.
  • Soy Milk

How To Make Leftover Cranberry Sauce Empanadas

This dessert couldn’t be easier!

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C and line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper. Have all ingredients ready to use.

Filling a small empanada dough with leftover cranberry sauce.

Step 2: Add about one tablespoon of the cranberry sauce to the empanada disk then add a large pinch of the grated piloncillo over the cranberry sauce.

Two unbaked empanadas filled with leftover cranberry sauce, cheese and piloncillo.

Step 3: Place a piece of cheese on top of the cranberry sauce, and you can add more piloncillo if desired. Brush the edges with a little soy milk.

Mexican sweet empanada filled with cranberry sauce and cheese.

Step 4: Fold in half then press edges down and use a fork to fully seal the empanada pocket. Brush top of the empanada with milk then sprinkle a generous amount of grated piloncillo.

Six unbaked empanadas on a baking sheet ready to go in the oven.

Step 6: Place in the center of the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Closeup view of fresh out of the oven empanadas.

Step 7: Allow to come to cool slightly before serving – careful not to burn your hands or mouth. Serve with extra cranberry sauce for dipping, if desired.

What Do These Empanadas Taste Like

Cranberry and cheese empanadas are sweet, a little tart, savory, with hints of orange and aromatic spice. The savory cheese compliments the sweetness of the piloncillo and tart cranberry sauce.

The empanada dough I used are just those store-bought disks that have a slight crispness to them. Which I happen to love the soft and crisp textures in these empanadas.

A blue and white plate with leftover cranberry sauce and cheese emapandas.

How to Serve

Serve on their own or with coffee or tea if desired.

I love to eat these empanadas when they’re still a little warm out of the oven with a cup of café con leche.

They make a delicious dessert or sweet treat.

Close up view of a crispy empanada turnover filled with cranberry sauce and cheese.

How to Store

You can store any leftovers in a sealed container or a covered dessert platter. You can also store in the fridge and warm up slightly before serving if desired.

These empanadas will keep fresh for about 3.

A blue and white plate with leftover cranberry sauce and cheese emapandas.

Leftover Cranberry Sauce and Cheese Empanadas

Nancy Lopez & MexicanMadeMeatless.com
When you have leftover cranberry sauce from your holiday dinner and don’t know what to do with it, make these cranberry sauce and cheese empanadas. They’re sweet, savory, a little tart, and the perfect texture.
Be The First, Rate This Recipe!
Pin Recipe Leave a Review
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Mexican, Vegan Mexican Recipe, Vegetarian Mexican Recipe
Servings 12 servings
Calories 64 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ cup to 1 cup Mexican Cranberry Sauce from my recipe
  • 12 pieces of cheese vegan or vegetarian
  • 12 empanada disks or puff pastry or pie dough
  • ½ cup grated Piloncillo
  • ¼ cup Soy Milk or dairy milk

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C and line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper. Have all ingredients ready to use.
  • Add about one tablespoon of the cranberry sauce to the empanada disk then add a large pinch of the grated piloncillo over the cranberry sauce.
  • Place a piece of cheese on top of the cranberry sauce. Brush the edges with a little soy milk.
  • Fold in half then press edges down and use a fork to fully seal the empanada pocket.
  • Brush top of the empanada with milk then sprinkle a generous amount of grated piloncillo.
  • Place in the center of the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Allow to come to cool slightly before serving – careful not to burn your hands or mouth. Serve with extra cranberry sauce for dipping, if desired.

Notes

Please notice that the calorie and nutritional information is not accurate. This will highly depend on the what cranberry sauce you use, what cheese and what brand of empanada dough or pie dough.
To make these vegetarian use puff pastry or pie dough made with butter and use Manchego cheese. 

Nutrition

Serving: 10servingsCalories: 64kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 1gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 200mgFiber: 1gCalcium: 14mgIron: 0.3mg
Tried this recipe?Leave me a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and tag me on social media @MexicanMadeMeatless or tag #mexicanmademeatless!

More Delicious Dessert to Try

FREE GUIDE:
5 Essentials of Meatless Mexican Cooking
Featured Image

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate This Recipe!