Kids’ Chicken Empanadas with Magic Sauce
+ Snack: Pretzel Bites with Cheddar Sauce
- Milk
- Wheat
- Eggs
Empanadas (meat pies) are perfectly portable for lunchboxes, and great fuel for zooming out into the backyard. These heat-and-eat hand pies are filled with gently seasoned chicken and vegetables, and baked to golden perfection. You’ll just whip up a ketchup and mayo “magic sauce” for dipping, and serve with sliced apple, mandarin oranges, and grape tomatoes. But just you wait, it’ll be snacktime in no time—so we’ve included kid-pleasing chewy-soft pretzel bites with our chefs’ shortcut to a velvety cheese sauce for dipping. Yup, we’re thinking outside the lunchbox! This recipe is designed to provide lunch and snack components for multiple days. For each lunch and snack meal, 3 servings and 6 servings are provided for a 2 person and 4 person box respectively. Nutrition information under the Nutrition Values section below is for the lunch portion. The following nutrition information is for 1 serving of the snack meal: Calories: 320, Fat: 18g, Sat. Fat: 9g, Chol: 45mg, Sodium: 610mg, Carbs: 31g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Protein: 9g. Download the nutrition labels to see final nutrition information for both lunch and snack components.
Ingredients
½ cup
Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Pretzel Bites
(Contains: Wheat)
4 ounce
Grape Tomatoes
1 unit
Ketchup
1 unit
Apple
2 tablespoon
Mayonnaise
(Contains: Eggs)
3 unit
Mandarin Orange
7.5 ounce
Chicken Empanadas
(Contains: Wheat)
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Halve, core, and thinly slice apple. Peel and separate oranges into segments if desired (or simply pack whole oranges in lunch bags to peel later!). • In a small bowl, whisk together ketchup and mayonnaise until combined.
• Place empanadas in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate (you may need to work in batches for 6 servings). Cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave until warmed through, 60-90 seconds. • AIR FRYER ALTERNATIVE: Coat an air fryer basket with cooking spray; arrange empanadas in basket. Coat tops with cooking spray. Air fry at 375 degrees until golden brown, turning halfway through, 10-12 minutes. Work in batches if necessary.
• To serve: Divide empanadas and magic sauce between plates. Serve with apple slices, orange segments, and tomatoes on the side. • To stash: Let empanadas cool completely. Refrigerate empanadas, magic sauce, apple slices, mandarin oranges, and tomatoes in separate containers and pack as desired!
• Spray tops of pretzel bites with water, then sprinkle with salt. TIP: If desired, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake salted pretzel bites until warmed, 3 minutes. • In a small pot, heat cream sauce base over medium-low heat until it reaches a low simmer; cook, whisking, until sauce begins to thicken, 1 minute. • Reduce heat to low. Gradually whisk in cheddar and cook, whisking constantly, until cheese melts and sauce has thickened, 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper to taste. • Serve pretzel bites with cheddar sauce on the side for dipping.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Kids loved the empanadas, while adults had mixed reactions. The pretzel bites with cheese sauce were a hit! 🎉
- Ease of prep: Microwaving made empanadas slimy; baking or air frying improved texture and taste significantly.
- Suggestions: Try adding BBQ seasoning to enhance the magic sauce. Consider serving empanadas warm for better reception.
- Portions: Some found the fruit and vegetable portions small compared to the generous amount of pretzels.
- Variety: Many appreciated the diverse mix of items, encouraging kids to eat more vegetables.
Reviews from our home cooks
This was the first time I had tried the empanadas. I didn't like that they had red pepper in them. I made them the first time as directed and microwaving them made them slimy. The second time I made the recipe I followed directions on the empanada package and cooked them in the oven and they were much better. I actually am interested in trying the pizza empanadas and picked them as a market item a few weeks from now.
The cheddar sauce was a little too salty, I wish the pretzels were sold with marinara sauce... the chicken empanadas were pretty good, tomatoes got eaten quickly, apple was fresh without bruising, and the cuties could've been a bit more ripe but were eaten without complaint.
My kid like the empanadas so well. I can send them to school for her and it's actually getting her to eat her vegetables.
Main item fine, but small portion. Small portion of grapes. Lots of pretzels in comparison to empanadas serving size. "Magic Sauce" was gross.
Pretzels were amaze balls. And the special sauce was a real win!
Love the variety in this dish, great for encouraging kids to eat more veggies.
My grandson said he liked these and my daughter loved them!
The grapes were my most worrisome pick, but they were fantastic in both texture and taste!
Pretzels & sauce was so good and easy to prepare. This was my first time eating empanadas and they were just ok.
Everything in this meal was great, except for the tomatoes. They were squishy and gross
