A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of traveling over to Spokane, Washington to visit the Zaycon Foods offices and meet the Zaycon team! The weather was beautiful, and I was even sitting on the mountain side of the plane and had such a beautiful view. There’s really nothing like snow covered mountains.
It was such an awesome trip, and I had such a great time. I knew I loved Zaycon Food’s product before this trip. After, I’m fully on board with the whole team and the business. Everyone was really warm, welcoming, and friendly! Thanks to the entire team for an awesome couple of days. I can’t wait to come back!
While I was there we got together in the Zaycon kitchens to prepare a little meal for the crew, and share this awesome recipe for Easy Greek Freak Zaycon Ground Beef Empanadas.
There was much debate over just what to call these little pockets of fusion. Zaycon Ground Beef is seasoned and combined with onion, garlic, some awesome Spiceologist Greek Freak seasoning, olives, and feta cheese.
Then we stuffed it into puff pastry pockets, baked it, and served it up with some homemade tzatziki whipped up by the talented CSO (Chief Snack Officer) Matt!
The hardest part about these was stuffing the pockets, and that was actually simple. Just stuff them, crimp the edges, bake on parchment paper, and you are DONE.
If you are like me and like to pre-brown a bunch of your Zaycon Foods Ground Beef when you pick it up before you freeze it, these will be even faster. I LOVE freezing some pre-portioned pre-browned ground beef to pull out of the freezer and add to spaghetti sauce, mix up into sloppy joes, make a quick beefy noodles, or tacos on busy nights. It also works really well to toss into crock pot soups and stews. You can even add in some onions and garlic while you are browning it so you don’t need to saute those while you are whipping up your quick and easy dinners.
These greek freak zaycon ground beef empanadas would also be fantastic stuffed, and then frozen so you can toss them right into the oven.
- 1 pound Zaycon ground beef
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons Spiceologist Greek Freak Seasoning Rub
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 cup of chopped olives – we used a mix of black olives and kalamata
- 1 package of frozen puff pastry – thawed according to package directions
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Place ground beef, onion, garlic, and seasonings in a large frying pan and brown well. After the meat is browned, remove from pan and mix in the olives and feta.
- Unfold your puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface, and roll out slightly to enlarge. Cut 3-4″ circles out of the sheet, and place a few heaping tablespoons on one side. Brush one half lightly with the egg wash, and fold over and pinch shut. Repeat with the remaining filling and pastry circles. Crimp edges completely shut with a fork. Brush lightly with egg wash.
- Bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed.
Need more ideas of things to make with your Zaycon Ground Beef order? Check out this awesome ground beef round-up!
Nicole Johnson is a Zaycon Foods Ambassador and blogs at Or Whatever You Do. You can also find her on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, G+, and Instagram.
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