Low Carb Beef Empanadas
Looking to fix your spicy comfort food craving without flour and other gross stuff? These low carb beef empanadas will fit the bill.
You may have heard of fat head dough, a classic low carb crust for pizzas & whatnot. I’m not a big fan of fat head dough BUT I have made many empanadas with it.
This is my fave recipe for low carb beef empanadas, Dominican style (aka Pastelitos). Really good, if I do say so myself!
INGREDIENTS
Filling:
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 a small onion (about 35 grams), diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Jamaican allspice (optional)
• 1/2 medium Poblano pepper, diced
• 1/2 one bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/2 can or 8 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
Crust:
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour (if using coconut flour, see notes below)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (about 330 grams)
• 2 ounces cream cheese
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 400F
For the filling:
Brown the beef in a hot skillet and break into small mince while cooking. Drain excess fat if desired (it will just leak out everywhere while baking–save it for another use). Season the meat with salt & pepper to taste, and stir in the oregano and optional allspice.
Add the onion, garlic, and diced pepper, and cook until slightly softened. Add the diced tomatoes and cook until the mixture is heated through. Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped cilantro leaves.
For the crusts:
Beat one of the eggs in a small bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl, measure out the almond flour, garlic powder, and baking powder and sift together well. Set aside.
In a nonstick pan on the stove on low-med heat, melt the mozzarella completely, and mix in the cream cheese to get it all saucy. You can also use a microwave-safe bowl and heat the cheeses together. You have to microwave 30 seconds and stir, another 30 seconds and stir, and repeat until you get a sauce to work with. I personally find a nonstick pan works best for this (I use a ceramic pan).
Add the almond flour mixture and turn off the heat. Mix the melted cheeses as best you can (there will still be some almond flour scattered around–I use a quite stiff silicone spatula for the job).
Quickly crack in the other 2 eggs and combine the flour & cheese mixture to form it into a dough. The dough will be a bit stringy and is very sticky but work quickly (oiling hands helps). Flatten the dough into a short loaf using your spatula or your hands filling the bottom of the pan and then divide into 8 smaller rectangles in the pan with the spatula.
I use a sheet of parchment twice as long as to fit one disk (each dough disk will be about 5-7″ across, to help you measure the paper when cutting).
Place one ball of dough near the bottom part of the sheet of parchment paper and then flatten into a disk using the top half of the paper, which helps it to not stick anywhere but itself.
To each disk, add a small mound (about 1/4 cup) of the beef mixture, lift the disk over onto itself with the parchment, and press down through the paper to seal. Use a fork to crimp down the edges which to even more, if desired.
Gently turn the paper over to lift each empanada onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and then brush each one with the beaten egg.
Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown and let cool before serving.
Refrigerated leftovers stay fine for about 5-7 days. Reheat about 1 minute in the microwave with a paper towel over the top.
Notes:
I’ve made these low carb beef empanadas about five times in the past, took me a couple times to get them down pat. I used half mozz/half cheddar in the dough, the last time.
Using coconut flour? Replace the almond flour with 1/4 cup (1 ounce) plus 1 tablespoon of coconut flour. You will also need to add 1 egg for every 1/4 cup of coconut flour used in addition to the eggs called for (except for the one used as egg wash) in the original recipe.
The allspice is not a traditional Dominican style ingredient for this, I just like it.
If you’re not a fan of poblano peppers (slightly milder than a jalapeno) you can substittute with green bell pepper.
You can also omit them along with the regular tomatoes and sub in 1 can of Ro-Tel diced tomatoes & green chiles, drained (I have done this and it works great)
These low carb beef empanadas freeze beautifully and I just add 1 extra minute when microwaving them. You can also reheat them in the oven or eat them cold.
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These look delicious! but I wonder if I can sneak these passed my cheese-hating husband…
Sorry I am just now seeing this comment, Jessica. I hope you guys like them! -BJW