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Mexican Keto Empanadas

4.8 stars, average of 165 ratings

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How good are empanadas? Perfect, hand-sized pockets of flavour ready to be carried off and consumed with glee.

In this recipe, the traditional potato is replaced with radish… don’t tell anyone, I bet they won’t notice. A tasty Mexican filling made with ground beef meat, bell peppers and radishes, all wrapped in our good old Fat Head dough. Simply delicious!

Special thanks to Kyndra of Peace Love and Low Carb for her improved keto Fat Head Dough. That's the recipe we used to make the pastry!

How To Make Nut-Free Keto Empanadas

If you can't eat nuts, you can make the dough nut-free by swapping the almond flour for coconut flour. To do that, simply use about 3/4 cups (90 g/ 3.2 oz) of coconut flour and add 2 to 4 tablespoons of cream cheese. You can also swap for flax meal and use about 3/4 cups (114 g/ 4 oz) flax meal and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream cheese.

Hands-on Overall

Serving size 1 piece

Allergy information for Mexican Keto Empanadas

✔  Gluten free
✔  Nut free
✔  Pork free
✔  Avocado free
✔  Coconut free
✔  Fish free
✔  Shellfish free

Nutritional values (per serving, 1 piece)

Net carbs5.2 grams
Protein20.1 grams
Fat27.1 grams
Calories346 kcal
Calories from carbs 6%, protein 23%, fat 71%
Total carbs7.8 gramsFiber2.6 gramsSugars2.8 gramsSaturated fat8.8 gramsSodium474 mg(21% RDA)Magnesium68 mg(17% RDA)Potassium414 mg(21% EMR)

Ingredients (makes 12 empanadas)

Filling:
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or ghee (15 ml)
  • 500 g ground beef (1.1 lb)
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped (70 g/ 2.5 oz)
  • 1 small red bell pepper, chopped (75 g/ 2.7 oz)
  • 1 small green bell pepper, chopped (75 g/ 2.7 oz)
  • 250 g radishes, diced (8.8 oz)
  • 1 tbsp taco seasoning or about 4 tbsp taco sauce - you can make your own Taco Sauce
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened tomato paste (15 ml)
  • 1 tbsp coconut aminos (15 ml)
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock or bone broth (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
Pastry:
  • 3 cups shredded low moisture mozzarella cheese (340 g/ 12 oz)
  • 5 tbsp cream cheese (75 g/ 2.7 oz)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups almond flour (200 g/ 7.1 oz)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 large egg, beaten, to seal the edges

Instructions

  1. Prepare all the ingredients.
    Mexican Keto Empanadas
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped onions and garlic.
  3. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the ground beef and cook until browned and cooked through.
    Mexican Keto Empanadas
  4. Add the capsicums and the radishes and cook for a further 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
  5. Add the taco seasoning, tomato paste, coconut aminos and chicken broth and stir to combine.
  6. Cook for another five minutes until the chicken broth has absorbed into the mixture. Set aside to cool while you make the pastry.
    Mexican Keto Empanadas
  7. Preheat oven to 170 °C/ 340 °F (fan assisted), or 190 °C/ 375 °F (conventional). Combine mozzarella and cream cheese in a large microwave safe mixing bowl.
  8. Heat on high for 1 minute. Remove and stir. Heat for an additional minute.
    Mexican Keto Empanadas
  9. Add the almond flour, seasonings and the eggs and mix well until a dough forms.
  10. Divide the dough into 12 balls.
    Mexican Keto Empanadas
  11. Roll each ball out between two sheets of greaseproof paper until 6 mm/ 1/4 " thin.
  12. In the centre, place a spoonful of filling. (You can top with some extra cheese, if you want)
    Mexican Keto Empanadas
  13. Beat the retained egg and brush the edges of the dough lightly before folding over and pressing to seal. Place empanadas onto lined oven trays and brush with beaten egg.
    Mexican Keto Empanadas
  14. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm, optionally with sour cream. Can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to five days.
    Mexican Keto Empanadas

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, 1 piece)

Net carbsProteinFatCalories
Olive oil, extra virgin
0 g0 g1.1 g10 kcal
Beef, minced (ground), raw, grass-fed
0 g7.2 g8.3 g106 kcal
Onion, brown (yellow), raw
0.4 g0.1 g0 g2 kcal
Peppers, red bell, fresh
0.2 g0.1 g0 g2 kcal
Peppers, green bell, fresh
0.2 g0.1 g0 g1 kcal
Radishes, raw
0.4 g0.1 g0 g3 kcal
Taco seasoning, mixed Mexican spices
0.2 g0.1 g0.1 g2 kcal
Tomato purée (paste, unsweetened)
0.1 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Coconut aminos (substitute to soy sauce)
0.1 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Chicken stock (broth), chicken only, homemade
0 g0.2 g0.2 g3 kcal
Mozzarella cheese (low moisture, for pizza)
1.6 g6.7 g5.6 g83 kcal
Cream cheese, soft (full-fat)
0.2 g0.4 g1.8 g15 kcal
Egg, whole, fresh, raw (free-range or organic eggs)
0.1 g1 g0.8 g12 kcal
Almond flour (blanched ground almonds, almond meal)
1.5 g3.6 g8.8 g98 kcal
Garlic powder, spices
0.2 g0 g0 g1 kcal
Onion powder, spices
0.1 g0 g0 g1 kcal
Salt, sea salt
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Pepper, black, spices
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Egg, whole, fresh, raw (free-range or organic eggs)
0 g0.5 g0.4 g6 kcal
Total per serving, 1 piece
5.2 g20.1 g27.1 g346 kcal

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Naomi Sherman
Creator of NaomiShermanFoodCreative.com

Naomi Sherman

Naomi is the force behind Naomi Sherman, Food Creative. She is passionate about recipe development, food photography and styling.

An accomplished home cook who was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease eight years ago, Naomi started to explore the connection between healthy, whole food and her symptoms, and a new love was born.

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Comments (6)

Very misleading and lost time and money making this recipe. It said to put eggs in the batter. That means more than one. But later after I did that it said use the retaining egg for the wash. Could not hold any of it together.  Very upsetting.

Hi Susan, I'm sorry this didn't work for you but could you please clarify which part is misleading? There are indeed "2 large eggs" in the pastry, just as it's listed in the Ingredients. There is also "1 large egg, beaten, to seal the edges".
If your batter did not bind, my guess is that you used the wrong type of mozzarella cheese. You need part skim, pizza style mozzarella, ideally use one that's already shredded. If the dough was too moist, you likely used a higher moisture mozzarella. I've made the dough dozens of times and that's the only time if didn't work.

I’ve tried to make this 3 times and I can’t get the pastry to get doughy. The consistency continues to be to sticky and won’t stay together.

Hi Lloyd, that is most likely the mozzarella you are using. I've been there too, you just need to find that one that works. You'll need part-skim, low moisture shredded mozzarella. You can see the difference in this recipe where I used a more moist mozzarella that made the dough sticky: Fat Head Pizza with Mozzarella, Tomato & Rocket
As opposed to this one: 5-Ingredient Keto Ham & Cheese Pockets

These are excellent. Pretty sure I could freeze and re heat later. What do you think?

Yes, you are right! These will freeze well! 😊