Keto Empanadas (Beef, Almond Flour)

These keto beef empanadas are delicious buttery, flakey South American-style pastries filled with spiced ground beef.

Plus, they are dairy-free empanadas with only 2.3 grams of net carbs per serving!

Are Empanadas Keto-Friendly?

No, you can’t eat classic empanadas on a keto diet. In fact, traditional empanadas dough is made of wheat flour, a high-carb flour that is not keto-approved.

For a list of my favorite flours, read my keto-friendly flour guide.

How To Make Keto Empanadas

You can make keto empanadas with many different doughs.

Most recipes use the classic fathead dough like the one I use in my keto bagels or keto cinnamon rolls.

While fathead dough is very low in carbs and flexible, it’s not a flakey dough.

To make flakey empanada keto dough that mimics the authentic empanadas crust, I recommend instead using my recipe below!

Dough Ingredients

To make my buttery, flakey, easy-to-roll, and fold keto pastry dough, you need a food processor and the ingredients below:

• Almond flour – I recommend using ultra-fine, golden almond flour and not almond meal. In fact, almond meal is coarse and can add a gritty texture to pastry dough that most people don’t like if new to keto. Read more about flour selection on my keto flour guide.
• Xanthan gum – this is the key ingredient to creating a dairy-free flexible keto pastry dough. You can’t swap this ingredient or remove it from the recipe. It is a must-have here.
• Eggs
• Water
• Salt

First, beat the eggs with water and set them aside.

Then, add all the dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine the xanthan gum evenly into the flour.

Finally, add the egg mixture and process at a high speed until it forms a tacky, slightly sticky dough ball.

Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes to set the dough.

Meat Mixture

To make the ground beef empanadas keto filling, you need only a few basic ingredients.

I like to cook the meat before making the pastry dough to give time for the meat to cool down.

In fact, adding hot meat to the dough can soften the dough too much, making it fragile and difficult to fold.

All you need to make beef empanadas filling are:

• Ground beef
• Olive oil
• Onion
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Salt
• Oregano
• Tomato paste
• Parsley 

If you don’t mind adding a few net carbs to the recipe, add:

• 1/4 cup diced green olives
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper

Keto Vegetarian Empanadas Filling

If you are looking for a meat-free keto filling, swap the ground beef for:

• Cauliflower rice
• Broccoli rice
• Crumbled tempeh or tofu 

Making The Beef Empanadas Filling

First, warm olive oil in a non-stick skillet and cook the onions for a few minutes until soft. If you want to use red bell pepper and olives, add them now.

Then, add ground beef and cook, breaking the meat with a wooden spoon,  until the meat is not red.

Finally, stir in spices and tomato paste and keep cooking for a few minutes.

Transfer the cooked meat to a bowl and set it aside to cool down while making the keto pastry dough for your empanadas.

Rolling the dough

This keto dough is super easy to roll between two pieces of lightly-oiled parchment paper. Place the dough ball in the center of one piece of oiled parchment paper.

Press the dough with another piece of oiled parchment paper on top and start rolling with a rolling pin.

Then, use a round shape of about 11-cm/4.5-in diameter to cut out dough circles. You can use a cookie cutter or a breakfast bowl.

The dough should weigh about 20g/0.7oz.

Repeat until all the dough has been used, gathering the extra dough from the sides to reform more circles of dough.

Filling The Dough

You must add only 1 tablespoon of meat to each empanada.

If you added more meat, the dough can break on top or be difficult to fold in half.

It is also a great way to keep the carbs in control as you measure precisely the amount of filling per serving.

First, add the tablespoon of meat to the center of the dough circle.

Then, wet the edges of the circle with a wet finger or pastry brush.

Finally, fold them in half and press with your fingertips to seal the edges.

You can also use the back of a fork to create a lovely pattern on the borders of the empanadas but be careful, press gently, or the dough can break easily.

To prevent these keto-friendly empanadas from sticking to the baking sheet, cover the baking tray with a piece of oiled parchment paper.

Egg wash

Brush the top of the keto empanada dough with beaten egg and water if you like.

This is optional, but it adds a lovely golden brown color to the dough.

Baking The Pastries

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and bake these keto breakfast empanadas for 25 minutes or until the dough is crispy and golden brown.

Serving Keto Empanadas

These are perfect as a keto breakfast or keto meal. The best sides are keto-friendly vegetables like lettuce, baby spinach, or cucumber slices. Add these vegetables on the side with a drizzle of olive oil.

You can also serve these keto empanadas topped with a dollop of:

• Sour cream
• Cream cheese
• Fresh chili slices
• Keto-friendly guacamole

Storage Instructions

These keto beef empanadas store very well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To rewarm the empanadas, place them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and bake for 10 minutes at 212°F (100°C).

Freezing Homemade Empanadas

Yes, you can freeze homemade empanadas in a sealed container, and place pieces of parchment paper between each pastry to prevent them from sticking to each other.

Thaw the day before, in the fridge. Rewarm in the oven for 10 minutes at 100C/212F.

Frequently Asked Questions