January 17 2020 recipe and photo by Clara Gonzalez![Clara Gonzalez]()
, nutritional review by Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE![Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE]()
in Recipes, Dinner, Meal
, nutritional review by Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE
in Recipes, Dinner, Meal Keto arepas with chicken and avocado
Arepas are one of the cornerstones of Venezuelan cuisine. Traditionally made with cornmeal, this keto version means you can still enjoy the delicious flavors while staying low carb. The soft, warm low carb bread is stuffed with creamy avocado and yummy chicken. This recipe is great for any time of day.
USMetric
servingservings
Ingredients
Arepas
- ¼ cup (2 oz.) 60 ml (60 g) cream cheese
- ¼ cup (12⁄3 oz.) 60 ml (50 g) chia seeds, made into flour (see tips) or ground psyllium husk powder
- ½ cup (2 oz.) 120 ml (55 g) almond flour
- ¼ cup 60 ml coconut oil, melted (plus extra for greasing)
- 1 1 eggeggs
- ½ tsp ½ tsp salt
Filling
- 8 oz. 230 g rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1 (7 oz.) 1 (200 g) avocado, pitted, peeled and mashedavocados, pitted, peeled and mashed
- ½ ½ lime, juicelimes, juice
- ¼ cup 60 ml mayonnaise
- ½ (2 oz.) ½ (55 g) red onion, mincedred onions, minced
- 2 tsp 2 tsp fresh cilantro, minced
- ½ (2 oz.) ½ (60 g) red bell pepper, mincedred bell peppers, minced
- 1 1 fresh jalapeño, deseeded and mincedfresh jalapeños, deseeded and minced
- ½ tsp ½ tsp salt, or to taste
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Making low carb simple
Instructions
Arepas
- Combine cream cheese, chia flour, almond flour, coconut oil, egg, and salt and work with a spatula until well-combined (it requires some work). Let it rest covered for 5 minutes.
- Lightly grease a large non-stick pan with a small amount of oil.
- Scoop the dough into the pan divided into as many mounds as portions in the recipe (the dough will be moist and sticky).
- Grease your hands and lightly flatten and shape the dough to form disks about 0.4" in thickness (1 cm), one disk per portion.
- Heat the pan over low heat. Cook covered until the bottom of the disks are a light golden color (7-9 minutes), flip, and cook the other side in the same way.
- Remove the arepas from the pan and let them rest for a minute.
- While the arepas are cooking, prepare the filling by mixing chicken, avocado, lime juice, mayonnaise, onion, cilantro, bell pepper, and jalapeño. Season with salt to taste.
- Slice the arepas into halves and stuff with the filling. Serve immediately.
Filling
To serve
Tips
If you have ever made the traditional arepas before, the uncooked dough will not look like the dough you’re used to, but stick with it — it will work out in the end.
Use a coffee grinder or food processor to turn chia seeds into a fine chia "flour" – and always have some at hand. This is the secret to getting the right consistency in these keto arepas. If you want to get a bit adventurous, add a sprinkle of your favorite powdered seasoning to the dough.
For a quick meal, without the arepas, use lettuce to hold the chicken filling.
I'm afraid basil would have a very different taste. If you don't like cilantro, it would be best just to omit it.
Awesome, Abi! So glad you love it!
Hi, Marjorie! The ground psyllium powder will work fine for this recipe. We haven't tried freezing these, but I think they would freeze well!