Cheesesteak Empanadas Recipe

All the flavors of a Philly cheesesteak — ribeye, sautéed peppers and onions, melted provolone — tucked inside a golden, flaky empanada. Ready in under 40 minutes.

Empanadas have been a personal favorite for as long as I can remember. There’s something about a perfectly sealed, hand-held pocket of savory filling that just works — for a party, for a weeknight dinner, for a snack that disappears the second you set it on the table. I’ve made them with all kinds of fillings over the years, but this cheesesteak version might be the one my family requests most.

The concept is exactly what it sounds like: the filling of a Philly cheesesteak — thinly sliced ribeye, sweet onions, green peppers, and two kinds of melted cheese — packed into empanada dough and baked until golden. The shortcut here is using canned biscuit dough instead of making dough from scratch, which cuts the prep time significantly without sacrificing anything in the final result. These are the kind of appetizer that makes people ask you for the recipe the same night you serve them.

What ingredients do you need for these cheesesteak empanadas?

• Ribeye, thinly sliced
• Sweet onion, chopped
• Green bell pepper, chopped
• Can of biscuits
• Provolone cheese slices
• Shredded mozzarella
• Unsalted butter
• Garlic, pressed
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder

What You’ll Need — And Why Each Ingredient Matters

Ribeye, thinly sliced (6 oz) Ribeye is the traditional cut for a Philly cheesesteak, and for good reason. It has enough fat marbling to stay tender and juicy even when cooked quickly over high heat. Ask your butcher to slice it thin, or partially freeze the steak for 20–30 minutes before slicing yourself — it makes thin cuts much easier. In a pinch, shaved beef from the grocery store works too.

Sweet Onion, chopped (¼) Sweet onion caramelizes beautifully in butter and adds a mellow, slightly jammy sweetness that balances the savory beef and cheese. Yellow onion works as a substitute, though it’s sharper. Don’t skip the onion — it’s a load-bearing ingredient in a cheesesteak filling.

Green Bell Pepper, chopped (¼) Green pepper adds color, a little crunch, and a subtle bitterness that cuts through the richness of the cheese and beef. If you prefer a sweeter flavor, red or yellow bell pepper works great here.

Canned Biscuits (1 eight-count can) This is the shortcut that makes the recipe accessible on a weeknight. Refrigerated biscuit dough presses out into a round disc that bakes up golden, flaky, and slightly buttery — a perfect stand-in for traditional empanada dough without any of the from-scratch work. Grand-style or flaky-layer biscuits both work. The key is pressing or rolling them thin enough that the edges seal properly.

Provolone Cheese Slices (4 slices) Provolone is the classic Philly cheesesteak cheese — mild, creamy, and it melts into the hot beef mixture smoothly. It goes directly into the skillet with the cooked meat so it’s already melted and incorporated into the filling before you assemble the empanadas. This means cheesy filling in every single bite, not just where a slice happened to land.

Shredded Mozzarella (¾ cup) A teaspoon of shredded mozzarella goes inside each empanada on top of the filling before sealing. Mozzarella has a higher melt point than provolone and gives you that stretchy, pull-apart cheese moment when you bite in. The two cheeses together are the reason these taste as good as they do.

Unsalted Butter (2 tbsp) The butter goes in the pan first with the garlic, and it’s what you sauté the onions and peppers in. It adds richness and helps the vegetables soften and develop flavor without burning. Unsalted so you can control the overall salt level of the filling.

Garlic, pressed (1 clove) One clove of fresh garlic, pressed or minced, goes into the butter at the start. It perfumes the whole pan and adds a savory depth to the filling that you’d immediately notice if it were missing. Don’t substitute garlic powder here — it’s added separately as a dry seasoning on the meat, and the fresh garlic in the butter serves a different purpose.

Kosher Salt, Black Pepper, and Garlic Powder (¼ tsp each) These season the ribeye before it hits the pan. Salt draws out moisture and helps the meat brown properly. Black pepper adds a little heat. Garlic powder on the meat, combined with the fresh garlic in the butter, layers the garlic flavor so it comes through in the filling without being overpowering.

How do you make cheesesteak empanadas?

Preheat your oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set it aside.

Start with the filling. Season your thinly sliced ribeye on both sides with the kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Set the meat aside while you get the pan going.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the pressed garlic and let it cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant — you’ll smell it immediately. Add the chopped onion and green pepper and sauté for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and just starting to get a little color on the edges. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set them aside.

Add 1–2 teaspoons of olive oil or avocado oil to the same pan and turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the seasoned ribeye and cook until fully browned, breaking it up as it cooks if needed. This should take about 3–4 minutes. Once the meat is browned, add the onions and peppers back in and stir to combine.

Lay 4–5 slices of provolone over the top of the meat mixture and let it sit for about 30 seconds, then stir until the cheese is fully melted and worked through the filling. Take the pan off the heat.

Now for assembly. Open your can of biscuits and separate them. On a lightly floured surface, press or roll each biscuit out into a flat round disc, about 5–6 inches in diameter. They don’t need to be perfect circles — close enough works fine.

Place a heaping spoonful of the cheesesteak filling onto one half of each biscuit disc, leaving about a half-inch border around the edge. Add 1 teaspoon of shredded mozzarella on top of the filling.

Fold the empty half of the biscuit over the filling to create a half-moon shape. Press the edges together firmly with your fingers, then go back around with the tines of a fork and crimp the entire edge. This double seal is important — the filling is heavy and moist, and a weak seal will open in the oven and spill.

Place the sealed empanadas on your parchment-lined baking sheet with a little space between each one. Bake for 15–18 minutes until the tops are deep golden brown. Let them cool for 5 minutes before serving — the filling inside will be extremely hot.

Tips for Perfect Cheesesteak Empanadas

Slice the ribeye as thin as possible. Thick chunks of meat make it hard to seal the empanada and create uneven bites. Thin slices cook faster and distribute more evenly through the filling. Partially freezing the steak for 20 minutes before slicing makes this much easier.

Don’t overfill. It’s tempting to pack as much filling in as possible, but overfilled empanadas won’t seal properly and will burst open in the oven. A heaping spoonful per empanada is the right amount.

The fork crimp is not optional. Pressing with your fingers seals the dough, but the fork crimp locks it. Skip it and you’ll have empanadas that open up during baking.

Press the biscuits thin. Thick biscuit dough means too much bread relative to filling, and the edges won’t seal well either. Press each one out until it’s noticeably thinner than it came out of the can.

Let the filling cool slightly before assembling. Very hot filling makes the biscuit dough soft and harder to work with. A few minutes off the heat makes assembly much cleaner.

Make ahead: Assemble the empanadas completely and refrigerate on the baking sheet, covered, for up to 24 hours before baking. Add 3–4 minutes to the bake time when cooking from cold.

Reheat in the air fryer at 350°F for 4–5 minutes. They come back crispy and hot, almost as good as fresh. The oven works too — 375°F for about 8 minutes. The microwave is the last resort; it works but makes the crust soft.

Standout Tips

Make a cheese sauce for dipping. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter, whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour, add ½ cup of milk and ½ cup of shredded white American or provolone cheese, and stir until smooth. It takes 5 minutes and makes these feel like a restaurant-level appetizer.

Try it with different cheeses. White American cheese is what they use at most authentic Philly cheesesteak spots and it melts even more smoothly than provolone. Cheddar gives a sharper, more pronounced flavor. All three are worth trying.

Freeze them for later. Assemble, bake, and cool completely. Wrap individually in foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat from frozen in the oven at 375°F for 15–18 minutes or the air fryer at 350°F for 8–10 minutes.

Make it a kid activity. The assembly step — spooning filling, folding the dough, pressing the edges — is genuinely fun for kids to help with. Give them their own biscuit disc and let them build their own. They’re more invested in eating it when they made it themselves.

FAQs

If you make these, I want to know. Drop a comment below — especially if you tried a different filling or a cheese swap. And if you’re a cheesesteak person in general, check out my Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers and Philly Cheesesteak Sliders — same flavors, different formats, all worth making.

Where can you serve these tasty treats?

Enjoy!

Here are some more fun appetizer recipes to try: