National Empanada Day (Free Spanish Lessons for Kids)
National Empanada Day is a festivity that takes place every April 8 in the United States. It recognizes this delicious Spanish and Latin American dish made of dough, meat, vegetables, and sometimes even fruit.
If you’re looking for a fun way to practice Spanish with your children and broaden their vocabulary, this is it! Plus, you’ll introduce them to Hispanic culture and foods. Read on to discover Spanish concepts, terms, and activities to help this new knowledge settle.
¡Aquí vamos!
Here we go!
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Happy National Empanada Day!
The word empanada means “to bread” in Spanish and Portuguese—as in to wrap something in bread. Empanadas are dough pockets filled with seasoned stuffings.
These perfect finger foods may be baked, fried, or deep fried and filled with meat, rice, fruit, cheese, or vegetables. Thanks to their versatility, you can have them as a snack, entree, main course, or dessert.
It’s National Empanada Day! If you’ve never tasted an empanada, this is the perfect opportunity.
Empanadas actually originated in Greece. Migration and invasions have made them the tasty pastry we know today. In Arabian countries, they’re served with lamb meat and spices.
Empanadas Around the World
In Spain, and Portugal, they’re baked as a whole pie and sliced. They typically contains tuna, sardine and chorizo with tomato sauce. In some cities you can find the rare seafood variety.
Later, empanadas spread to Latin American countries and the U.S. In the Southwest of the United States you can try a Creole variety that mixes cheese with pork, beef, or chicken. If you want to indulge your sweet tooth, the Southeast makes empanada pastries with dry or fresh fruit.
Empanadas are a Christmas dish in New Mexico. Piñon nuts, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, sugar, and ground pork are some of the ingredients used for this winter tradition.
In Mexico, it’s easy to find pastes from Hidalgo nearly everywhere. These are empanadas’ cousins.
The main difference is that with pastes the stuffings aren’t cooked yet, while empanada fillings already are. The most common ones are made of potato, onion, grounded meat, black pepper, parsley, salt, and chili.
In Bolivia, sweet and salty ingredients are often mixed with spices.
In Colombia, empanadas are wildly popular. They’re sometimes eaten with aji (chili sauce) and toppings like peanuts.
Meanwhile, in Argentina boasts yummy varieties like beef meat with corn or spinach with cheese. What sets these apart from the rest? Their secret ingredient: chimichurri sauce.
If you don’t find a place that sells these tasty bites, don’t worry! Celebrate National Empanada Day cooking them. They are easy to make, even the sauce!
Empanada Vocabulary
This vocabulary is inspired by National Empanada Day, but you can use these words in different contexts any day of the year.
| English | Spanish |
| National Empanada Day | El Día Nacional de la Empanada |
| Festivity | La festividad |
| Celebration | La celebración |
| Hispanic culture | La cultura hispánica |
| Tradition | La tradición |
| Dish | El platillo |
| Food | La comida |
| Salty | Salado/a |
| Sweet | Dulce |
| Spicy | Picante |
| Sauce | La salsa |
| Snack | La botana |
| Entree / starter | La entrada |
| Main course | El platillo principal |
| Dessert | El postre |
| Finger food | La comida para picar |
Empanada Ingredients
These empanada elements are basic in every kitchen. Teach them to your little ones and practice them.
| Ingredients | Los ingredientes |
| Dough | La masa |
| Meat | La carne |
| Vegetables | Los vegetales |
| Cheese | El queso |
| Fruit | La fruta |
| Beef | La res |
| Pork | El puerco |
| Fish | El pescado |
| Shrimp | Los camarones |
| Chicken | El pollo |
| Spinach | La espinaca |
| Potato | La papa |
| Carrot | La zanahoria |
| Corn | El maíz / el elote |
| Parsley | El perejil |
| Salt | La sal |
| Garlic | El ajo |
| Chili | El chile |
| Onion | La cebolla |
Types of Empanadas
Check out the most popular international empanadas from around the globe!
| International empanadas | Las empanadas internacionales |
| Spanish empanadas | Las empanadas españolas |
| Mexican empanadas | Las empanadas mexicanas |
| Argentinian empanadas | Las empanadas argentinas |
| Bolivian empanadas | Las empanadas bolivianas |
| Colombian empanadas | Las empanadas colombianas |
Explore more FREE SPANISH LESSONS FOR KIDS! ➡️
Enjoy over 70 unique lessons + free activity packets to download.
Empanada Phrases and Sentences
Once your children are comfortable with these terms, put them in complete sentences or phrases.
El Día Nacional de la Empanada es una festividad que se celebra el 8 de abril.
The National Empanada Day is a festivity celebrated on April the 8th.
Con esta lección, aprenderás de la cultura hispánica y sus tradiciones.
In this lesson, you will learn about Hispanic culture and their traditions.
Este platillo salado puede ser una entrada o botana.
This salty dish can be a starter or a snack.
Esta comida picante lleva salsa.
This spicy food comes with a sauce.
Como platillo principal, preparé empanadas de vegetales, carne, queso y otros
ingredientes.
As a main course, I will prepare empanadas with vegetables, meat, cheese and other ingredients.
Este platillo dulce es un postre de frutas.
This sweet dish is a fruit dessert.
El maíz, el chile, la cebolla y el ajo son la base de la comida en México.
Corn, chili, onion and garlic are the base of Mexican food.
Este platillo español es para botanear.
This Spanish dish is a finger food.
Las mejores empanadas de Argentina son de espinaca con queso.
The best Argentinian empanadas are of spinach and cheese.
Otras opciones de empanadas son de camarones, pescado y pollo.
Other empanada options are shrimp, fish, and chicken.
Los ingredientes de este platillo son masa, res o puerco, sal, perejil, elote, papa y zanahoria.
The ingredients in this dish are dough, beef or pork, salt, parsley, corn, potatoes, and carrots.
Las empanadas colombianas y bolivianas son deliciosas.
Colombian and Bolivian empanadas are delicious.
7 Practice Activities
Fun activities are more memorable than practicing dry theory. Try these 7 games to secure this new knowledge in your kids’ minds.
1. To learn the vocabulary words you can use flash cards or even make a lotería or bingo game.
2. If you live in a neighborhood with Spanish or Latin American presence, make a whole picnic out of this. Buy different kinds of empanadas to practice discussing as many ingredients as possible.
3. Have a Spanish language cooking session with your kids. Make your own empanadas to celebrate National Empanada Day!
Over 30 countries have their own way of crafting empanadas, so surf the web to find the perfect ones for you and your family.
4. Play a question-and-answer game with your kids! This is a great idea to practice with the example sentences in this article.
5. Take a field trip to the supermarket and let your little ones choose empanada ingredients in Spanish.
6. Sing along to this YouTube melody about food in Spanish with your kids!
7. Print-out food vocabulary exercises in Spanish and practice them with your little ones.
Apply Your Knowledge
You are fully prepared to celebrate and enjoy National Empanada Day! Bookmark this lesson to continue practicing the vocabulary and activities with your children periodically.
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