AIP Empanadas! That means these are grain, gluten, dairy, nut, and egg free! They are also totally legit! A crispy, flaky crust that is PERFECT!
Full disclosure, these are really labor intensive. Also, delicious, and the more you make them the easier they are.
I adapted the crust recipe from My Heart Beets blog, she uses almond meal in her recipe, which I have substituted with the corresponding amount of coconut flour. Rule of thumb: 1/3 cup coconut flour per cup of almond flour (useful info on AIP!).
Growing up, empanadas were a staple, as was picadillo. It was lovely to revisit this Cuban treat in an autoimmune friendly rendition. My first go at these, I baked half & fried half. Bake them. They turn out crispier! The lighter ones are the recipe I’m sharing here today. It will make roughly 15 AIP Empanadas!
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AIP Empanadas (Paleo, Gluten Free, Nut Free)
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 70
- Yield: 15 1x
- Category: sides
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: Cuban
Description
AIP Paleo Empanadas
Ingredients
For Empanada “Dough”
- 1 cup tapioca flour (up to 2 tbsp more if needed)
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 10–12oz full fat coconut milk
- pinch salt
For Beef Filling
- 1lb grass fed ground beef
- 1 turnip
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
- 1/2 cup pitted, green olives
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp Italian herb seasoning (rosemary, thyme, oregano)
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F
- Shake your coconut milk can, if the fat is solidified run the can under warm water until you can shake it and hear the fluid liquid.
- Whisk all ingredients together. It will be like pancake batter. If your batter feels a little thin add more tapioca at this point. If it feels thick, add a little more milk.
- Heat a skillet or griddle on medium heat.
- Use coconut oil cooking spray or other liquid fat.
- Ready a baking sheet lined in parchment paper by your skillet.
- Make sure your skillet is heated all the way to medium heat when you begin or your batter will spread too thin.
- Pour 1/4 cup rounds, try to make them thin and round, it helps if your skillet is not slanted to one side.
- Spray your skillet, carefully pour your batter, move skillet around or use a spatula to help shape if needed. I use the same 1/4 cup to pour the batter and at the same time do a gentle dabbing motion in a circle to get the right shape.
- Then wait until the edges begin to look just cooked, 60-90 seconds usually.
- Using a thin spatula, move your half cooked “pancake” to the baking sheet, uncooked side down (this will be the outside of your empanada).
- If the pancakes tears when you put the spatula under it, let it cook a little longer.
- Place a spoonful of filling in the center, close your empanada.
- Run a moist finger around the inside edges, then use a fork to press both sides together.
- Repeat this until batter is done. I like to make 3-4 inch rounds, they will be easier to close.
- Spray all of them with coconut oil lightly.
- Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes. Until edges are golden.
- *this recipe is forgiving. If your empanadas have lots of little tears in them or aren’t closing well, it’s ok, they will repair in the oven.
- With your fingers or a spoon scrape up any left over batter from the bowl and blot on any boo boo’s, when they bake it will seal it.
Picadillo Filling
- Dice onion, garlic, turnip, olives & cranberries in to small pieces.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp cooking fat.
- Add in onions, garlic & bay leaves.
- Saute until onions are translucent.
- Add in beef, break it up with spatula, add in seasoning and stir often until brown.
- Add in cranberries, turips & olives.
- Lower heat.
- Stir & simmer for 30 minutes.
- Taste, adjust & ready to fill empanadas!
Recipe Notes:
- You can really put ANYTHING inside these. So, go wild. My “spiced” beef blend was pretty bomb though. Just saying ?
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 empanada
Keywords: AIP Empanada
Kendra says
I’ve tried this recipe two times already. the first time i attempted to make the empanadas. they tasted fine, but i couldn’t make that many of them because my dough was so thick (i tried to thin it some with water cause i didn’t want to add too much fat by using more coconut milk, but it didn’t help much). i think I only ended up making 6. however, the picadillo filling is absolutely amazing!! the second time I just made the filling and will eat it either with a sweet potato or some cassava tortillas. I normally don’t like beef (cause i don’t know how to cook with it) so, i’m glad i gave this recipe a try 🙂
★★★★
Dena says
Delicious! Yes they are labor intensive but so worth it when I want a treat. I used what I had on hand (cassava flour, ground turkey and golden raisins) and they are fantastic. I’m going to try reheating the leftovers in my air fryer
ryane says
I’ve made this recipe how was it originally posted and it was pretty tasty! I subbed currants instead of raisins/dried cranberries.
The best part of this recipe is the DOUGH. Seriously, it’s amazing- so versatile. I’ve been using the above dough recipe and experimenting with different fillings. I’ve made a ground beef, black olive, onion, Italian spice, mushroom, carrot, etc “pizza pocket” type which is literally my new favorite thing to eat! GOODBYE PIZZA CRAVINGS!!!! I’ve also made “dessert empanadas” by making an apple pie filling and it was SO good, kinda like an apple hand pie.
I so much appreciate recipes like these. I’ve been in the AIP elimination phase for a long while so THANK YOU! My life needed these.
★★★★★
Cristina says
So glad you made it your own 🙂
Sharon Stewart says
The meat filling directions fail to tell when to add the turnip??
Cristina says
when you add in the cranberries and olives 🙂
Sharon Stewart says
Made the empanadas, so good!! My husband loved them. Since I had half of the meat still left (I thought the batter was plenty thin enough, maybe made them too big??) I made another batch of dough batter and made 25 empanadas in all. They are going to be great for breakfast this week – reheat in my air fryer to keep them crisp. These seriously meet the craving for a sandwich – the bread-meat thing. There’s a few instructions missing for the meat mixture, when to add the turnip and seasonings, but easy enough to figure out with my cooking experience.
Monica Kaderali says
Can you substitute cassava flour for tapioca flour?
Thank you!
Cristina says
Tapioca lacks starch, so it doesn’t have exactly the same consistency. I have never tried swapping it in this recipe so i don’t know if it would work or not