Fantasy Loseball
Some days are worse than others, especially when you’re in a fantasy football league. And, this past Sunday Matthew had one of the worst days. He has a great team, or so he claims, but when put to the test on Sunday he wasn’t able to follow through which led to his need for Gluten Free Empanadas. I would go into greater detail about his roster and his loss, but I’ve found that as someone who has no stake in the games I don’t really care that much so I’m sure the same goes for you!
Now, guys, I have to be honest and I know Matthew will be upset I said this, but I’m really glad he lost on Sunday because his loss led to this incredible recipe! Matthew did happen to specify he wanted to feel like he was in Tijuana so maybe I just channeled my inner Tijuana really well or I’m an incredible cook ?. Either way, do yourself a favor and make these as soon as you finish reading the post! 
The Crust
I’m sure you guys are familiar with fat head crust – it is one of a kind after all! Every time I make it my mind is blown that mozzarella cheese, cream cheese and a little almond flour can make a doughy, crispy, perfect crust. Seriously though, I don’t believe in god, but if there is ever a time he exists it’s when my fat head crust comes out of the oven! So, is your crust made yet?? GREAT! You’re already half way done. As you can see in our video we used a wine bottle to roll it out. I got Matt a special Indian rolling pin (that I went to three different stores to find), but he thought it would be best to leave it in California when he moved to Philadelphia. Not to worry though, he brought the essentials, including five flat brimmed hats… classic. So, no rolling pin in the house? That’s alright. Just grab the wine bottle – we know you have one!
Fillings
No. Not the fillings that go in your teeth. We are talking about empanada fillings! What I chose to use for the love of my life who was in severe distress from his fantasy loss (wearing one of the essential flat brimmed hats) was shredded adobo chicken and seasoned ground beef. And, YUM is right!! We have a great Mexican shredded chicken recipe that you should try if you want to take these empanadas to the next level!
You can really do any filling that you’re in the mood for. You can do veggies, three-cheese, tofu, or even a dessert one – the versatility of the this recipe makes it one of my favorites! Once you’ve made your fat head crust and chosen your filling all that is left to do is make the dough cut outs, fill these bad boys and bake until golden brown. It’s as simple as that, but if you need more of a play by play check out our video above! Baking Tip: One of our best kitchen purchases was a Silpat Mat (seen in the video)! We use it for just about everything that goes into the oven from cookies to pizzas and we highly recommend it! It also keeps your pans from needing any grease and is super quick clean up! 
Gluten Free Empanadas
Ingredients:
Fat Head Crust
- 1 1/2 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3/4 cup Almond Flour
- 1 oz Cream Cheese
- 1 large Egg
Fillings
- 3 oz ground beef
- 3 oz shredded chicken
Instructions:
Fat Head Crust
- Put shredded mozzarella into a microwave safe bowl.
- Cut cream cheese into 4-5 pieces and place on top of mozzarella cheese. Microwave for thirty seconds.
- Remove from microwave, stir, and microwave for another thirty seconds.
- Stir one more time and then add in almond flour while cheese is still hot. Combine as well as possible (if it's not all incorporated don't worry just yet!).
- Add egg and stir. To better incorporate everything use your hands to knead it together - it should have formed into a dough (but will still be sticky).
- Once the dough is combined and consistent place on greased surface or nonstick silpat mat (used in our video). Place a piece of parchment paper on top and roll out to thinness of liking.
- Using cookie cutter (or wine glass) to make 12-14 circles in the dough. You might only be able to make 6-8 circles and have to re-roll out the dough for the rest (as seen in our video).
Fillings
- Place 6-8 cut outs onto a nonstick baking pan and layer on filling (we did three beef and three chicken).
- Place second circle on top and press down the edges to seal. A good tactic we used is to flip once you have sealed on one side and then seal on the other.
- OPTIONAL: Use fork around the sealed edges for a fun look (seen in our video).
- Once fully sealed place into a 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes. Keep on eye on them and watch for them to puff up a little and turn golden brown!
Notes
Written by
Megha Barot
Megha has always been a passionate cook, but she took this to a new level after starting her keo journey in 2015. She loves creating new recipes and producing educational content for KetoConnect, which she co-founded in 2016 with Matt. Her passion for healthy eating and personal development continues to thrive. She's the proud mom of two awesome kids.
Made these last night for dinner. Very good, thanks for the recipe!
Hey guys! You’re the best, can you give me tips to fry the empanadas? What kind of oil can I use? Thank you.
Coconut oil is best for frying!
Is the nutritional facts per empanada or in total? I see 4g carbs and 30g protein so not sure?
In my country Chile we eat a lot of kinds of empanadas! My favorite one is cheese and chrimps!!!
Can these be stored and re-heated? Really wanna try this recipe but cooking for 1. Also have you ever tried making the dough and storing it in the fridge simply to have on hand?
We have not tried to freeze them, but I think either fridge or freezer could work! Let us know if you give it a try 🙂
Hey guys, do you think you can fry these???
Absolutely!
Hi,
Can these be frozen for later use? if so, then at what stage should i freeze them?
These look wonderful I love the fat head dough. I don’t see a recipe for the “seasoned ground beef”? Can you show us one>
Thank you
Can these be made ahead? Frozen and reheated? Prepped and fridged until baking later?
We have not tried to freeze them, but I think either could work! Let us know if you give it a try 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe. My anti keto husband took a bite and was amazed. He said “wow, ketolicious! “
Hello! I found a link to this recipe from your shredded chicken recipe, but couldn’t find it, as well as some others I found like to, in your recipe list. Is there a bat cave archive somewhere with more recipes? You guys do a beautiful job!
Hi guys . . . Just a quick question about the Fat Head crust ingredients for the Empanadas vs. your pizza recipe. Is there any specific reason that for the Empanadas it only uses 1 oz of cream cheese, but for the pizza it uses 2 oz? Just curious! So glad to have found site. Can’t wait to try thars two recipes and many others.
Hey Karen, I’m actually not sure why the discrepancy. Honestly, I think you would have good results using either amount for the empanadas, but I know when we made them it was with 1 oz. I checked the video to be sure.
1/4 cup coconut flour
Would it be ok to substitute coconut flour for almond flour with the fat head crust?
Unfortunately, almond and coconut flour aren’t substitute-able 1 for 1. You would need less coconut flour since it is much more absorbent.
I figured it would be a different amount due to absorbency, but if its ok to use coconut flour and keep the integrity of the dough, I will play with it 🙂 Thank you. Love your recipes!
Hi these sound fantastic, do you think the dough will work if I substitute the same amount of soft goat cheese for the cream cheese? Not to crazy about cream cheese.
That’s honestly a tough call because cream cheese is a lot more thicker and dense. You may just want to add more goat cheese than cream cheese is called for! Let us know how it turns out!
I have to ask what shredded mozzarella cheese & cream cheese you guys use… When I’ve made your Fathead crust in the past, my macros came out about 5 Net Carbs higher, way more calories… etc. The only difference I could think was the cheese.
Also, when using almond flour, you don’t “pack” it down like you would brown sugar or any other type of measuring, correct? (I haven’t been and just want to double check).
I’m three weeks into Keto and loving it more each week, thank you for all of the wonderful recipes and videos, you guys offer great support and seem so genuine!
Nikki, I just ran the numbers again and they appear to be correct. We use part-skim mozzarella cheese and we’ve been using 1/3 less fat cream cheese that has <1g of carb per serving.
We don't pack the almond flour in super hard, but we do make sure it fills in more of the measuring cup. "Loosely packed" I would call it.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I find that listing the ingredients in grams helps with consistency.
Yes, you’re right. We’re going to be doing that moving forward.
Love your cooking videos. So easy to follow. Thanks. A bundle keep them coming.
I had a failed attempt at this. the ‘dough’ is extremely sticky and will not hold the disk shape. This makes me appreciate how good a cook Megha is. beautiful food pictures and video. thanks!!
If it seems to sticky you can try adding almond flour little by little until you are able to manipulate the dough better! And, thank you so much! I wasn’t always as good as I am today – it’s taken a while and a lot of failure!! But, failing is a part of succeeding ☺️
I think I may have figured out my error after watching your videos a couple more times, I noticed your dough looks creamy color while mine has the brown bits from the almond meal. I didn’t know almond meal and almond flour are not the same thing. I will try again using almond flour instead. Thanks for responding. Happy New Year to both of you.
If the cheese is just going to be melted, does it need to be grated? Can it just be cut into chunks?
Cici, you can probably get away with not grating it. Just cut it into pretty small pieces and you should be fine!
Jiminy Christmas, these we’re incredible! Thanks for the Tijuana trip you two ?.
Haha thanks! You made it back across the boarder safely?