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
sarah says
Can I sub the coconut flour? I thought I had some on hand and I am out!
Cristina says
You could probably use cassava flour if you have some on hand.
Tiffany says
These look so good! And I LOVE the purple ones ❤️ But you may want to note that you’ll need to use cider vinegar, most white vinegar is grain based
Cristina says
I’ll make a note, ACV is my default, I forget people still use distilled!
Amanda says
Oh wow, this looks like the perfect “I’ve got a bunch of random bits of meat and veggies left over, what should I do with them?”, kind of recipe. I desperately miss portable foods and these sound great! My only question is if you’ve tried these using melted coconut oil as the oil? I have all the ingredients right now but am running a tad low on other oil and not sure I’ve got enough.
Cristina says
it isss!!!
Laura says
I made these without cinnamon and subbed olive oil for avocado (since they are high in histamine) and left out coconut aminos (acts like sugar for me), but they are still delicious and really satisfying!
Thanks so much for the recipe!!!
Cristina says
awesome!!
Danilee says
We love these!! Only thing is I always have extra meat mixture. I doubled the dough recipe and that uses most of it. Are you able to fit all the meat in and I’m just doing it wrong?
Cristina says
It has been ages since I made this recipe… It could be that there was extra meat… But I love ground beef, so that’s a bonus for me 😉
Nicole Z says
Can you sub in apple cider vinegar instead of white? I have a problem with white vinegar.
Cristina says
yes 🙂
Kaleigh says
We have made this approximately 290 times this year. We love this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing with all of us and giving me a meal I can enjoy while still keeping my body healthy.
Cristina says
I’m so thrilled it’s become a staple in your home 🙂
Deanne says
These were delicious and my 4 year old loves them. I changed the stuffing mixture to add more veggies. Easy to freeze and reheated in the oven. Yum!
Vanessa says
Delicous and very easy to make! Took some time to figure out how to make thE wells anD stuff them but after doing the first few it was a snap!! Great to freeze foR a yummy carb snack!!
Cristina says
Thank you so much!
Vanessa says
Made these tonight and wow are they delicious! Followed the recipe to a tee, even my picky 6 year old gobbled it up! Can’t wait to have these foE breakfast this week 🙂
Cristina says
Oh thank you so so so much Vanessa!!!
Sally Shott says
Would this work with tigernut flour Or MAYBE cassava flour instead of coconut?
Cristina says
I have never tried it. But you can play around with the dough. Start with less flour and add in 1 tbsp at a time until it’s reached a good consistency.
Emily says
One and a half pounds total, or one and a half pound for each sweet potato? Thanks for a great Looking recipe!
Cristina says
Total 🙂
Renee' Arnold says
I’m wondering if you can freeze these at any point to either bake or microwave later?
Cristina says
Yes! They freeze well! I recommend baking to reheat thaw so they get toasty, but I know folks who let them thaw in the fridge overnight and then microwave to heat.
Kawshiki nasser says
I have been looking for paleo friendly meat buns for a long time and even made some of my own with cassava. I am certainly glad i found these. i shall try them tomorrow and get back with the results. i see no reason why they won’t be terrific.
Melanie says
Can you use regUlar sweet potatoes? Any variety other than standard is impossible to find where i live.
Cristina says
Yes, but you will have to add a little more flour because they are less starchy than the white ones.
Clarissa says
I cant believe there isnt any comments. 🙂
ThEse are Delicious. Even my sad eating husband and my 4 year old love them. Thanks for the recipe. Admittedly i only use the dough recipe, i just use a simple ground meat filling with a few veggies like squash and mushroom. Anyway, thanks!
Cristina says
Oh you’re so sweet! There used to be a lot of comments but when I had my website re-done I lost all my comments 🙁