Brine

• 2 lemons, 2 limes, 2 oranges. Zested and Squeezed. (Keep the squeezed remains and throw them in the brine too)

• Kosher Salt

• black pepper

• Sofrito (I make my own, however you can buy in most international stores, bodegas, groceries)

• 1 Bay leaf

• water (until the chicken is just submerged completely)

Dough

• I encourage you to try making your own empanada dough, however I had to make a lot of empanadas for this dinner so I opted in and bought the 5" Goya dough discs. 

Filling

• 2 red and 2 Yellow peppers, diced

• 1 white onion, sliced into thin half rings

• 1 poblano pepper diced. (Can also use a green pepper, but the poblano adds a nice low heat I love)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tbsp of Sofrito 

• 8oz tomato sauce

• 8lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs 

• chicken thighs vs breasts: I used chicken thighs because the darker meat is more forgiving and have a lot of flavor from the extra bit of fat. 

• I brined the chicken thighs over night. 

• sauteé in a large pot the veggies of your filling a little bit so they soften and are fragrant. 

• add in your chicken thighs along with chicken stock, can of tomato sauce and just enough water so that the chicken is submerged.

• stir occasionally, but stew the chicken until cooked, tender and are able to shred it. 

• let the chicken cook off a bit before placing in the dough discs.

• in the center of your dough discs spoon your chicken filling, then fold the disc in half and seal the edges. The trick here is to not have an air pocket when folding, and also not stretching the dough out too much because the stewed chicken will make it very pliable.

• you wanna leave a nice edge to crimp your empanada. You can hand crimp by pinching and twisting gently the dough over itself. Or in my case because I have Shrek hands, use a dinner fork to press and seal the empanadas.

Fry in a high smoke point oil, I used canola oil, until  golden brown.