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I am a Philly native and one thing is certain, we love our cheesesteaks. The classic comes on an Amoroso roll with a ton of meat, cheese, fried onions, sweet peppers, salt, pepper, ketchup, and mayo! But, the roll is a real no go! This Keto Philly Cheesesteak recipe uses fathead dough in place of bread to have all the flavors of my city’s sandwich without gluten, grains or carbs.
Make these for a crowd, as an appetizer, or as the main part of your meal when paired with vegetables or one of these keto salads.
Lee Kum Kee, a maker of Asian flavored sauces, sponsored this post, but all opinions are my own. I shared this dish along with my Keto Honey Sriracha Wings.
Main Parts of a Good Cheese Steak:
There is no special cheesesteak seasoning, so a good Philly cheesesteak recipe comes down to three major parts: the meat, your cheese, and the roll.
The meat should be thinly shaved and sourced from a cut good enough to be part of a steak dinner. The cheese should have a low melting point so that it becomes ooey-gooey in the pan. The roll should be slightly crisp on the outside with a soft inside.
In this recipe, I’m using shaved top sirloin. I get a package of it from Trader Joe’s, but packaged shaved steak is pretty common in most market meat sections. I’m also using New York White American Cheese, something that is available in most deli sections.
Besides the meat and cheese, you need a good roll. In this case, I substituted the bread for my fathead dough recipe.
Other Toppings:
No Philly cheesesteak is complete without toppings. Some popular toppings are:
- Fried Onions
- Sweet Peppers
- Hot or Banana Peppers
- Mayo
- Ketchup
- Cheese Sauce
I personally ditch the cheese sauce. But, when making this at home, I prefer sriracha ketchup in place of regular ketchup. I also add some heat to the meat filling by adding jalapeños.
How to Use Fathead Pizza Dough as a Substitute for Bread:
If you’re not familiar, fathead dough is a grain-free and low carb dough made out of mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, seasonings, eggs, and almond flour. Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste like cheese.
But, it can be used for things like pizza, bagels, Low Carb Meatball Sub Cups, and even keto cinnamon rolls!
In this recipe, instead of rolling my dough out like I would a pizza, I’m splitting it into 6-8 balls and using it as a hot pocket wrapper of sorts for my Keto Philly cheesesteak filling.
If you’re new to making fathead dough, I highly recommend you watch the post video to learn how to make it quickly in the microwave. For a lower fat alternative, you can also make this dish using bell peppers with my Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Bell Peppers recipe.
How to Cook The Pockets:
Making the meat filling is super easy, so I’ll focus on what to do after you have the cheesesteak pockets prepared. When I first shared this recipe, I fried them in a pan with oil, but there are two other ways to make this.
- Shallow Fry in Oil: As I mentioned in the Low Carb Bang Bang Shrimp recipe, there are a few options for frying foods. I prefer to lightly or shallow pan fry my Keto Philly Cheesesteak pockets with olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil. It takes about two to three minutes per side. Be sure that you let your non-stick pan tell you when to flip (if it’s stuck, then it’s too early).
- Air Fry: Some readers have shared that they air fried these on 375 until they were crisp.
- Bake: You can also bake these on lined parchment paper for at 350 degrees until crisp. Flip at 5-minute intervals.
Keto Philly Cheesesteak Pockets
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Ingredients
Keto Philly Cheesesteak Pockets
- 1 Fathead Dough
- 1 tbsp of grass-fed butter or other healthy fat
- 1/2 Yellow Onion, sliced thinly
- 3 red baby bell peppers, sliced thinly
- 1 jalapeno, sliced thinly (optional)
- 1.5 tbsp Onion Salt, Each brand of Onion Salt will vary in their level of saltiness. The one linked in the recipe has more of an onion flavor (along with parsley and garlic powder) with some sprinkles of salt. You should add .5 tbsp of onion salt at a time until you love the taste!
- 1/2 tsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Dried Parsley
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 lb Shaved Steak, I get mine from Trader Joes
- 5 slices White American Cheese, I like to get this sliced fresh from the deli because the packaged kind does not taste the same to me
Sriracha Mayo Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Lime Juice
- 2 tbsp No Sugar Added Ketchup
- 1 tbsp Sriracha Sauce
- 1 tbsp Mayonnaise
Instructions
- Prepare the Fathead Dough and divide it into 8 balls
- Flatten each dough ball between two slices of parchment paper with your hand or use a rolling pin
- Chop the shaved meat so that it's thinly sliced but also in bite-sized pieces
- Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat
- Add the butter, onions, and peppers to the pan. Saute the vegetables in a tbsp of butter until they are soft and "fried"
- Add the shaved beef to the pan along with spices.
- Use tongs to incorporate and cook the meat until all slices are browned
- Turn off the heat and add the American Cheese to the top of the meat and vegetable mix. Cover the skillet with its lid or with a wide plate. The steam will cause the cheese to melt
- After the cheese has melted (~3 minutes), mix the meat so that the cheese is fully incorporated
- Divide the meat mixture evenly among the 8 balls. Leave room to fold the dough and seal each pocket
- Seal the edges by pressing them down with a fork or by rolling the edges (see pictures above)
- Heat a frying pan to medium heat with an oil
- Fry the pockets on both sides for 2-3 minutes per side. You'll notice the dough get brown
- Whisk the ingredients for the sauce with a fork. Top the pockets with the sauce before eating.
Recipe Notes
- Shallow Fry in Oil: As I mentioned in the Low Carb Bang Bang Shrimp recipe, there are a few options for frying foods. I prefer to lightly or shallow pan fry my Keto Philly Cheesesteak pockets with olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil. It takes about two to three minutes per side. Be sure that you let your non-stick pan tell you when to flip (if it's stuck, then it's too early).
- Air Fry: Some readers have shared that they air fried these on 375 until they were crisp.
- Bake: You can also bake these on lined parchment paper for at 350 degrees until crisp. Flip at 5-minute intervals.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
