Doughy on the inside, crispy on the outside, these AIP Sweet Potato Buns are light, fluffy, and so easy to fill with meat or veggies! The perfect hand pie for your allergen-free diet.
Table of Contents
The story behind these AIP Sweet Potato Buns
I’d been posting pictures on Instagram of beautiful empanadas, made of sweet potato dough. The first time I made them they were perfect, so I knew I’d have to practice again. Second time, too potato-y. Third time was darn good. Fourth time, I was all confident, I doubled the recipe. Naturally, I mucked it up. For the life of me that potato would just stick to the parchment paper and I could not roll out the dough. With a large bowl of floured mash in front of me, a skillet full of ground beef next to me… I decided to simplify my life: I would make papas rellenas.
Paleo Papas Rellenas
Papa rellena, which translates to stuffed potato, is a Cuban staple at any coffee stand or party. These little carb bombs are made using mashed potato dusted in flour & deep-fried, filled with traditional picadillo (onions, olives, raisins, tomato etc). Obviously all that wasn’t going to jive with me, luckily the “failed” dough worked better than expected!
Handy Foods
My failed sweet potato empanada dough turned into AIP Papa Rella success. I rolled up 8- 2 inch sized balls, made wells in them, spooned in some delicious ground beef. Closed them, rolled them in olive oil, set them in the oven & crossed my fingers The result… an AIP Stuffed Sweet Potato Bun! A super bread-like crispy outside, golden little balls. I was in love. Lighter than their traditional counterparts, not as greasy, yet crispy and portable, these stuffed sweet potato buns scream picnic food, party food & freeze me batch cook food! Sayonara empanadas, we have new meat-stuffed, sweet potato, paleo pastry in town! *you can fill these with anything, pulled chicken, greens & cauliflower cream or pulled pork!
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely you can use whatever you like.
Tiger nut flour or green banana flour should work just fine in place of coconut flour.
They can, but you will need a lot more flour as orange sweet potato isn’t as starch as white or purple sweet potato. Just go by texture.
The dough will work without it, but gelatin adds a nice chewiness to it.
Yes! They freeze well. Wrap up tight and freeze. Toast up and enjoy again a month or two later.
Cook with Confidence: Process Shots
Start by making the filling. Cook down the onions, carrots, garlic until tender then add-in the ground beef and seasonings. Mix and crumble until well browned.
Once the ground beef is nice and browned, add in the coconut aminos and lemon juice and cook down until the liquid has mostly evaporated. Set the filling aside and make the buns.
It’s worth it to peel and boil the white sweet potato, batata earlier on. Once it’s cooled mash it up in a bowl and add in the flours and seasonings.
Mix well, fold in the vinegar and drizzle in the olive oil. Then mix until you’ve got a nice smooth dough.
Roll the dough into 8 even sized balls. Use your thumb to make a well in the balls and shape them like a little cup in one hand.
Fill your potato ball with beef filling and pinch it shut. Then smooth it out. Dip it in oil so it’s nicely oiled on the outside.
Repeat this with all of the dough and place the stuffed buns on a sheet pan. Bake until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool. Dig in and enjoy!
Looking for more free recipes?
Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest for all of the latest updates.
AIP Sweet Potato Buns
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 70
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: sides and snacks
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Cuban
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Delicious sweet potato buns stuffed with seasoned ground beef and onions. A delicious Cuban-inspired AIP dish!
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 carrot, minced
- 1/2 pound grass-fed beef
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- juice of 1 lemon
For the bun
- 2 large batata or Japanese sweet potato, about 1 1/2 pounds, peeled & boiled (do this ahead of time)
- 2/3 cup coconut flour
- 2/3 cup arrowroot starch
- 2 tsp grass feed beef gelatin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp AIP baking powder
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup avocado or olive oil + more for coating
Instructions
Prepare the Beef
- In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add in the minced onion, garlic, and carrots. Cook for 3-5 minutes until tender.
- Add in beef, break up with the spatula, add in salt and spices. Stir constantly until browned & crumbly.
- Add in coconut aminos and lemon juice. Lower the heat and simmer for a few minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Turn off heat, set it aside to cool.
Make the Buns
- Pre-heat oven to 400F. Bring a pot of water to boil.
- Peel and dice the batata (white or purple sweet potato), add them to the boiling water, cover, and boil until very tender. Then drain the pot and let the potatoes cool.
- Place cooled potato in a bowl and mash with a whisk until smooth. Add in the flours, gelatin, baking powder, garlic, and salt. Mix until well combined
- Fold in the vinegar. Then drizzle in the oil, slowly, while you mix the dough until well combined. If it doesn’t seem to be coming together with the spatula, try mixing it with your hands, you’re going to get them dirty in the next step anyway!
- Shape 8 2-inch balls, like if you were making meatballs. One by one, pick up a potato ball, using your thumb make a well in the middle with one hand while cradling it in the other hand.
- Spoon in 1 to 2 tablespoons of beef mixture. Then using your free hand, pinch together the potato dough to close. Now roll the dough between both hands to make it a ball again. Gently dip it in the extra oil and roll it again to evenly coat it.
- Place it on the sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Bake at 400F for 30-35 minutes until just golden. You don’t want to toast them because toasted sweet potato has an overpowering bitter taste!
- Just like traditional papa rellena, these Stuffed Sweet Potato Buns are HEAVY! Great on-the-go meal.
Recipe Notes:
- The filling on this recipe originally had radishes, sliced onion, turmeric, cinnamon, garlic, and coconut aminos. I changed it for 2 reasons. It made too much meat for the bun recipe and secondly, it wasn’t authentic to Cuban papas rellenas. This one is a little closer and also delicious while being simpler.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bun
- Calories: 265.6
- Fat: 13.4g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 28.6g
- Fiber: 5.6g
- Protein: 7.8g
Keywords: AIP Stuffed Sweet Potato Buns
Anilu says
This looks delicious.. Do you think I can leave the coconut aminos out? I dont like its flavor 😄
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
yup!
Keira says
I might have to try these out.
Elizabeth says
These are delicious. Can I make just the dough and freeze them uncooked ? I have a lot of the potatoes so figured I would use them up freeze the dough to use later.
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
I haven’t tried that, but I think it would work
Elizabeth says
Hmm then maybe I should cook another batch and freeze them instead.
Sarah says
These came out delicious! I actually like them room temp to cold because they have more flavor that way to me.
★★★★★
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Yeah! I hear ya, Sarah!
Hayley says
Made these for the first time last night. I am looking for savory AIP recipes that I can use for breakfast for my two boys, husband and myself. Oh man were these awesome! I will be making these a staple in my home. Thanks for creating something so tasty and filling!
★★★★★
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Yeayyy thank you Hayley!
Kim Jordan says
These were amazing! This is the best thing I’ve eaten since starting the AIP diet. THANK YOU!!
Michelle Mortimer says
These are so good! I’ve tried a lot of your recipes and am always amazed by the flavors you create, delicious! The ratio of meat to sweet potato dough was a little off for me so I’m going to try and do them more like an empanada next time. The filling is so good I was trying to think of other ways to have it without the dough at all, do you have any ideas? Thanks for all of your great recipes!
★★★★★
Jaime says
Any subs for the coconut flour? Looks delish
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
I haven’t tested it with another flour, but you can try tigernut or cassava and play around with the amount, it’s a very forgiving recipe
Michelle says
Thank you for another great recipe. What phenomenal flavors in this most delicious dinner! Do you think you could make the dough ahead of time and/or freeze these for later?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
These freeze really well!
Jennifer says
These were great!! Such a wonderful balance in the filling and the dough. I find Japanese sweet potato to be too sweet (overpowering) for my taste so the second time I made these I made sure the outer shell is not thick dough, pretty thin. I also accidenrly left them in the over for about 3 minutes too long (at 400f for 30 minutes – but my oven is strong) so they came out dark (not golden) brown, but not burnt. I believe this extra baking perhaps “broke” the sweetness of the Japanese sweet potato. It was not bitter at all, simply much less sweet and honestly really really good! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! Can’t wait to try more of them.
Lisa says
These look so good!! I want to make them tomorrow! Do you think tapioca or cassava flour would work instead of arrowroot starch? I ran out of the stuff and have been having a hard time finding it again 🙂
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
tapioca starch will work just fine!
Lisa says
Great, thank you!!
Jody says
Can I use regular sweet potatoes or is there something else that can substitute for the batata? Where I am located exotic ingredients aren’t found. I would have to travel at least 2 hours 1 way.
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
White sweet potato, Batata or Japanese Sweet potato is starchier so it work best. Also Okinawan sweet potato or the purple ones. If you use garnet or jewel sweet potato – the orange ones you might need to add a little more flour to get the dough right.
Tami says
Do you freeze these before baking or after baking them?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
they freeze well after baking, just heat to eat!
Sum says
Can I skip beef gelatin? Is there a substitute?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
You can skip it, they will hold they just wont be as chewy
Cheryl Lundgren says
I can’t wait to give these a try! They look amazing! And the directions are spectacular.
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you!
Amy says
These are great! I’m going to make them for the second time but want to use a blend of ground chicken and turkey, thinking of adding shredded zucchini, carrot, onion, garlic and for spices add cinnamon, thyme, ginger and rosemary. I’ll let you know how it goes, and I’d love if you have any suggestions for how you’d spice up the poultry which can be a little bland sometimes
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
That sounds amazing!!! I like doing garlic, onion, sage, thyme, turmeric and lemon peel on chicken, with a splash of balsamic for sweet or fish sauce for savory