Stuffed mushrooms are not only a staple for my family dinners, but I love having them on hand for snacking too! This is a Keto-friendly version, with just about 2 net carbs for 4 finished pieces. They store well, heat up nicely in the microwave, and they make a very filling snack between meals. The recipe pictured is using double filling ingredients - I like to make extra filling for things like omelets, lettuce wraps, I even like it with sautéed baby spinach with sharp cheddar. Enjoy those sparkly gems too!

What you'll need:

8oz Pack of whole baby bella mushrooms (for their distinctly earthy flavour, but mostly any shroom will do)

4oz Ground beef (I used 85% lean)

3g Unprocessed wheat bran

1oz shredded PART SKIM/LOW MOISTURE mozzarella

1oz stuffed pickled olives (jalapeno garlic green olives here)

Salt and seasoning to taste (I prefer italian seasoning and black pepper)

Low moisture mozz is appropriate for this recipe, as this less oily version is much better at binding meat than it's richer cousin, Whole Milk Mozz.

I like to use these green olives because the tangy bite of the vinegar and the deep flavours of the garlic and jalapeno really give this dish a pleasantly subtle kick.

Preheat your oven to 350° and awaaaay we go!

Step 1: Chop and Mix

Begin by separating the stems from the caps. Pull gently in a rocking motion to loosen the stems, so as not to damage the cap. Set the caps aside, finely chop the stems and the olives, and combine in a bowl with the beef and bran until thoroughly incorporated.

(you can omit the bran and add one egg to this mix to make some killer burgers!)

Step 2: First Bake

The trick to good stuffed mushrooms - Arrange the caps on a baking sheet as if you would to stuff them, cap side down. Sprinkle somewhat generously with sea salt and bake for about 15 minutes @ 350°F. You'll see that they've pooled with an inky brown liquid, this is excess moisture and somewhat bitter flavour that you've just very cleverly extracted from your food! good on you. Now, carefully flip the caps over and let them sit to drain.

Step 3: Sauté and Season

While the caps are baking/drying, evenly spread the beef mixture on a frying pan, cover over medium heat. After a few minutes, you'll find that your kitchen is filled with the scent of the olives, which is imprinting itself on the beef and mushrooms. Uncover and sauté the mixture until the meat is thoroughly cooked and the olives very tender. After the beef is cooked, you can add your sea salt and seasonings to your liking. At this point, add the shredded mozzarella and stir until it's melted and evenly distributed. The mozzarella adds a great bit of gooey goodness to hold everything together, and lends a pleasantly creamy texture as well.

Step 4: Fill and Top

Once everything has cooled enough to handle it's time to stuff those shrooms! Fill the caps in your palm and mash in the center with a gentle authority. You'd be surprised how much filling can spread into the cavernous underside of the cap. Pack in the filling and mold it into little mounds atop the cap, be generous - empty mushrooms are no fun!

Once sufficiently filled, you can top your freshly stuffed shrooms with a lovely chapeau of fresh mozzarella. I like fresh sliced mozz over shredded for this because it has more of a dramatic, drapey, cheesy body that toasts up nice under the broiler.

Step 5: Broil to Perfection!

Speaking of which, pop these morsels back in the oven and set your broiler on "low" with your rack 1 or 2 spaces from the top. This should take only about 6-8 minutes to achieve a moderate browning, but /pleeeaaase/ watch it carefully! 30 seconds under a broiler can be the difference between perfection and annihilation!

Obviously you can double or triple this recipe to freeze for later- This batch will usually hang around for about a week for me, just pecking at it for snack mostly. I've frozen them and they reheat well, but I recommend keeping them in the fridge. The internet tells me that these should be perfectly safe in the fridge for 7-10 days, I personally can't imagine having them available for any longer than that, so rest easy knowing that they'll keep nicely.

Thanks for reading my very first instructable! I hope to make many more in the future, please comment if you'd like to see a keto version of your favourite cheat food, and I'll do my best to make it happen!