Typical chilean empanada: empanada de Pino a la horno

A favorite snack food in Chile, these baked pies or empanadas are available pretty much
everywhere. You will not miss them.

In Chile the most traditional empanada filling is called “pino.” These empanadas de pino are
made of a mixture of minced meat, onions, raisins, black olives and hard boiled eggs.

Having discovered Argentina through empanadas, we were quite eager to experience the
Chilean version. The empanadas in the two countries are completely different. The most
obvious difference is the size.

In Chilean cuisine, the empanadas are huge. Almost double the size you find in Argentina. The
second difference is the shape. In Argentina the empanadas are half-moon shaped, while in
Chile they are squared off.

Empanadas are typically cooked “al horno”, which means baked in a wood burning oven, or
deep fried.

fried seafood Chilean Empanada by AuthenticFoodQuest

Fried seafood Chilean empanada

We tried several empanadas as a street food in different cities. We enjoyed the traditional
empanadas de pino which we had “al horno.” We found the seafood or mariscos empanadas
absolutely delicious. These ones were typically fried.

And finally, we savored the vegetarian or verdura options as well. All in all, don’t expect them
to be anything like the ones you would find in Argentina, but they are deserving in their own
right