Keto Beef Empanadas

If you've never tried these flakey South American-style pastries, Empanadas, it's your time to shine...(literally!) Not only are they dairy-free and Keto, but also guilt-free! The center is flavored with spice beef with a delicious buttery coating. You don't want to miss this! 

Ingredients:

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

Method:

1. First, beat the eggs with water and set them aside.
2. Then, add all the dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine the xanthan gum evenly into the flour.
3. Finally, add the egg mixture and process at a high speed until it forms a tacky, slightly sticky dough ball.
4. Transfer the dough into a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes to set the dough.

MEAT MIXTURE

1. To make the ground beef empanadas keto filling, you need only a few basic ingredients. 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.
2. 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.
3. Then, add ground beef and cook, breaking the meat with a wooden spoon,  until the meat is not red.
4. Finally, stir in spices and tomato paste and keep cooking for 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.
5. Assemble and enjoy!