Low-Carb Italian Stuffed Bread Bites

4.9 stars, average of 10 ratings

By Jo Harding, updated August 28 2020
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The inspiration for these Low Carb and Keto Italian Stuffed Bread Bites came from Martina. She was out on a dinner date with Nikos at her local Italian restaurant.

‘Ping’ went my Whatsapp went…
OMG I want to eat these…
Can you create a low-carb version?
Up for the challenge, I set to work…

…and here you have them. My Italian Stuffed Bread Bites. Made from a super easy fathead dough and stuffed with a delicious marinara, cream cheese and basil filling. They’re so good!

These Keto Italian Stuffed Bread Bites are great for lunch, a quick and easy low-carb snack or to take on a picnic.

I love them hot, fresh from the oven, but you can totally eat them cold if you prefer.

Nut-free Alternatives:

Instead of ²/₃ cup almond flour use 4 heaped tbsp (48 g/ 1.7 oz) of coconut flour + 56 g/ 2 oz cream cheese) or 56 g/ 2 oz flax meal and 56 g/ 2 oz cream cheese. If using coconut flour brush the tops with a small amount of butter, ghee or coconut oil before baking.
PIC9

0 days, 0 hours, 30 minutes

Hands-on 10 - 15 minutes Overall 35 - 45 minutes

Serving size 1 piece

Allergy information for Low-Carb Italian Stuffed Bread Bites

✔ Gluten free

✔ Nut free

✔ Pork free

✔ Avocado free

✔ Coconut free

✔ Fish free

✔ Shellfish free

✔ Beef free

Pescatarian

Vegetarian

Nutritional values (per serving, 1 piece)

Net carbs5 grams

Protein15.1 grams

Fat24.9 grams

Calories302 kcal

Calories from carbs 7%, protein 20%, fat 73%

Total carbs7 gramsFiber1.9 gramsSugars2.6 gramsSaturated fat8.5 gramsSodium348 mg(15% RDA)Magnesium57 mg(14% RDA)Potassium233 mg(12% EMR)

Ingredients (makes 5 bread bites)

Dough:

1 ¹/₂ cups shredded low moisture mozzarella (170 g/ 6 oz)
³/₄ + 2 tbsp cup almond flour (80 g/ 2.8)
2 tbsp full-fat cream cheese (30 g/ 1.1 oz)
1 large egg, room temperature

Filling:

¹/₂ cup sugar-free marinara sauce (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)- you can make your own Low-Carb Marinara Sauce
2 tbsp mascarpone or full-fat cream cheese (30 g/ 1.1 oz)
¹/₄ cup shredded mozzarella or grated Italian cheese of choice (28 g/ 1 oz)
Optional: 4 large basil leaves, torn

Instructions

Make the Low-Carb Marinara Sauce by following this simple recipe. Chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes whilst you make the dough and then drain off any surplus juice.
Mix the marinara sauce with the mascarpone cheese.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C/ 355 °F (fan assisted), or 200 °C/ 400 °F (conventional). Place the mozzarella and cream cheese in a heatproof bowl. Warm in the microwave on high for 60 seconds.
Stir with a spatula and then heat for a further 30 seconds. Add the almond flour and egg and mix well to combine. You may need to get your hands involved and do a little kneading here.
Chill the dough for 10 minutes before splitting into 5 and rolling into balls. Roll 1 ball of dough between two sheets of greaseproof paper, or 1 sheet and a silicone matt.
Place roughly 2 tbsp of marinara cream cheese sauce in the middle, leaving about 2.5 cm/ 1" of dough round the edges. Top with 1 tsp of shredded cheese and optional extra basil.
Fold the tough and ensure it’s sealed. Repeat for the other 4 balls of dough.
Place the bread bites in individual non stick mini loaf tins (I used 8 x 15 x 5 cm/ 3 x 6 x 2") lined with greaseproof (this helps to keep their shape).
If you don’t have mini loaf tins you can just place on a greaseproof lined baking tray with space around them but the dough will spread a little whilst it cooks so you will have more of a mini pocket look. Still tastes super good though!
Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden on top.
Tastes the best when served fresh but can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, 1 piece)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Mozzarella cheese (low moisture, for pizza)
1.9 g	8.1 g	6.7 g	100 kcal
Almond flour (blanched ground almonds, almond meal)
1.4 g	3.4 g	8.4 g	94 kcal
Cream cheese, soft (full-fat)
0.2 g	0.4 g	1.7 g	15 kcal
Egg, whole, fresh, raw (free-range or organic eggs)
0.1 g	1.3 g	1 g	14 kcal
Marinara sauce
1.1 g	0.3 g	3.9 g	41 kcal
Mascarpone cheese
0.1 g	0.3 g	2.1 g	21 kcal
Mozzarella cheese (low moisture, for pizza)
0.3 g	1.3 g	1.1 g	17 kcal
Total per serving, 1 piece
5 g	15.1 g	24.9 g	302 kcal