These keto ground beef empanadas are simply delicious! A traditional Cuban recipe remade to be keto-friendly, gluten-free, and low in carbs.
It features a keto pastry dough filled with our favorite leftovers of our keto Cuban picadillo and baked to perfection.
Low-carb ground beef empanadas are the perfect way to use up leftovers to make a delicious and nostalgic keto snack, or have a few and make it a meal!
Clocking in at only 2.1 g net carbs, this empanada recipe rivals classic empanadas minus all the carbs!
If you are a fan of keto Latin recipes, then also make sure you check out our Keto Cuban Recipes page. Or, if you’re looking for more keto ground beef recipes, we have them all in one convenient place for you!
Keto Empanadas
If you’re not familiar with empanadas, they’re a pastry dough filled with a variety of different filling options and then fried. It’s basically a hand pie.
They’re very popular in Latin cuisine, with most countries having their own filling preferences. Here in Miami, the most popular are Cuban picadillo empanadas.
In our family, empanadas are a little extra special. I have many fond memories of my Abuela making empanadas year-round for us all to enjoy. She made the best empanadas!
Abuela’s empanadas were so good that both she and my mom started their own small business making empanadas in their tiny kitchen decades ago! The business was so successful, they couldn’t keep up with the demand!
So, growing up hearing these stories and enjoying empanadas, I knew I had to create a keto version that we could all still enjoy. These low-carb Cuban empanadas are actually baked, making them much easier to cook.
No fryer is necessary here, so bring the kids into the kitchen to help out!
Making these keto-friendly ground beef empanadas is pretty simple, but it does take some prep work and careful hands. But don’t be intimidated; I promise you can make these!
As I mentioned before, these empanadas use leftover picadillo as a delicious and traditional Cuban filling.
Perfect for getting the most out of a recipe, especially when using our very generous-sized recipe for keto Cuban picadillo.
As for the traditional pastry for the gluten-free empanadas, we’ve used our favorite keto crust recipe.
If you’re familiar with the viral fat-head dough recipe, you’ll know that it uses melted mozzarella cheese to mimic gluten that isn’t present in keto-friendly flours.
Using that recipe’s logic, we developed our own version of the popular fat-head dough, which is a great replacement for pastry dough in keto baking.
What You’ll Need To Make Keto Beef Empanadas
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The following is a list of ingredients you’ll need to make these low-carb ground beef empanadas. Note that the full printable recipe card is at the bottom of the page.
- Almond flour
- Coconut flour
- Unsalted butter, melted
- Eggs, room temperature
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Salt
- Picadillo
How to Make Keto Ground Beef Empanadas
Making low carb empanadas begins by making our fathead dough
The keto dough comes together easily and quickly by combining almond and coconut flour, melted butter, eggs, and melted mozzarella cheese.
Then, you’ll knead the dough (I like to sandwich the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to avoid any sticking) to incorporate all the ingredients.
Once the dough is well combined, you’ll wrap it up in parchment or cling wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Chilling the dough is crucial to the success of this keto pastry crust and is closer to how traditional pie crust is made.
After the dough has chilled, you’ll roll it out about 1/4″ thick and cut out your empanadas.
I use a mason jar lid as it’s a perfect size, but you can simply use a 3.5″ round cookie cutter or anything round (like a glass cup) with a similar diameter.
You’ll lightly press the circle of dough in the palm of your hands, moving it back and forth from hand to hand like making tortillas.
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This will help flatten and thin the dough a bit, as well as soften it, making it easier to fold.
Then, you’ll add a little bit of keto picadillo in the center and gently fold it in half.
If the dough breaks, and it most likely will, you can gently press it back together. You can also take small pieces of softened dough and gently place them on any large cracks.
This dough mends easily, so don’t worry too much about cracks; they’re easy to smooth and fix.
Place your low-carb empanadas on your parchment-lined baking sheet, and use the tines of a fork to press the edges and seal them.
Then you’ll brush them with egg wash and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
Tag Us
I sure hope you give this keto ground beef empanadas recipe a try. For a fun flavor twist, you can use our keto Moroccan picadillo and our keto Mexican picadillo, too!
Once you do, make sure you remember to tag us on Instagram and Facebook.
Be sure to also visit our Keto Hispanic Food page for more Latin recipes!
It’s what keeps this girl encouraged to keep sharing and perfecting her recipes.
Also, check out our Amazon Store for our recommendations. You might be surprised by how many great keto options are at your disposal.
Grab Our Books!
In case you don’t know, we have authored two books for you, Essential Keto Bread and Essential Keto Desserts, both inspired by your requests over the years.
I pray these keto cookbooks will help make keto a delicious breeze for you.
Be sure to request our FREE Jesus and Keto E-Book (First 7 Days). We hope it blesses you.
Fittoservegroup Keto App
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Enjoy early access to recipes on the website before they go live. Plus, there are bonus recipes that are exclusive to the app. Make your own personal cookbooks that you can use to organize your favorite recipes.
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Keto Ground Beef Empanadas
These Keto ground beef empanadas are simply delicious! A traditional Cuban recipe remade to be keto-friendly, gluten-free, and low in carbs.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup of finely milled almond flour
- 1/2 cup of coconut flour
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons salt
Egg wash
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of water
Ground Beef Filling
Instructions
- Start by making a batch of our Keto Cuban Picadillo recipe and reserving one cup. You can do this a day or two in advance since the picadillo needs to be fully cool before using it in the recipe. If making it on the same day, simply place the cup of picadillo you will need in the freezer while you prepare the dough so that it cools quickly.
- Keto Pastry Dough: In a medium-sized bowl, combine the coconut flour, almond flour, and salt.
- Melt the unsalted butter and set it aside.
- To the dry ingredients, add the melted butter and combine quickly.
- Next, add the whole eggs and combine.
- In a separate bowl, melt the mozzarella cheese in the microwave for a total of 90 seconds, stirring halfway through. Once it comes out of the microwave, mix well until fully incorporated. You can also melt the mozzarella cheese in a double boiler.
- Add the melted mozzarella cheese to the mixture and knead the dough with your hands until all the cheese is blended well into the dough. I recommend you do so between two sheets of parchment paper so that the dough doesn't stick to your hands.
- Wrap the dough in parchment paper and place in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to chill.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a small bowl, whisk one egg and a teaspoon of water and set aside. This will be your egg wash.
- Once the dough has chilled, roll it out into a large rectangle about 1/4" thick. Cut out your empanadas using a mason jar lid or a 3.5" round circle cutter.
- Lightly press the circle of dough in the palm of your hands, moving from hand to hand like making tortillas. Add one small spoonful of picadillo in the center and gently fold in half. If the dough breaks, you can gently press it back together or take small pieces of softened dough and place them on any large cracks. This dough mends easily. Just be gentle.
- Place on your lined baking sheet, press the tines of a fork along the edge of the keto empanada and brush with the egg wash. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
The dough will most likely crack when folding them but you can repair them easily. The dough is very forgiving. For small cracks you can use your finger to gently smooth them. For large cracks you can simply add some more of the dough to repair them.
If the dough gets too soft you can place it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes to make it more manageable again.
The unbaked empanadas can be frozen for up to 6 weeks. Just store the unbaked empanadas in a freezer safe container that allows enough room for them not touch. Once ready to enjoy you can bake them straight from the freezer. Bake the frozen empanadas for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
The recipe makes 12 empanadas and the nutrition facts reflect a serving as one so that you can decide how many you can consume based on your personal keto macros.
For a fun flavor twist you can use our keto Moroccan picadillo, and our keto Mexican picadillo too!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 375Total Fat: 32.9gSaturated Fat: 16.7gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 220mgCarbohydrates: 3.9gNet Carbohydrates: 2.1gFiber: 1.8gSugar: 1.2gProtein: 7.9g