Brazilian Tapioca de Queijo Coalho, Keto Tapioca Crepe with Grilling Cheese

📍 Where this dish comes from: São Paulo · Mercado Municipal
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In Brazil's Northeast, tapioca is a chewy, folded crepe cooked on a hot pan and filled with anything from cheese to coconut. Street vendors called tapioqueiras make them to order, and they are now a breakfast favorite across the country. This keto version swaps the cassava starch for a thin egg and psyllium wrap with a pleasant chew, filled with salty, squeaky queijo coalho.

Per serving: 326 calories · 3.5 g net carbs · 18 g protein · 25 g fat (calculated from the ingredients)

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Brazilian Tapioca de Queijo Coalho, Keto Tapioca Crepe with Grilling Cheese

In Brazil's Northeast, tapioca is a chewy, folded crepe cooked on a hot pan and filled with anything from cheese to coconut. Street vendors called tapioqueiras make them to order, and they are now a breakfast favorite across the country. This keto version swaps the cassava starch for a thin egg and psyllium wrap with a pleasant chew, filled with salty, squeaky queijo coalho.

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Brazilian

Servings: 2 servings

Calories: 326kcal

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese softened
• 2 teaspoons psyllium husk powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon butter for the pan
• 3 ounces queijo coalho or halloumi coarsely grated
• 1 small tomato thinly sliced
• Pinch of dried oregano

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Instructions

• In a blender or with a whisk, beat the eggs, cream cheese, psyllium and salt until completely smooth. Let the batter rest for 3 minutes so the psyllium can thicken it.
• Heat an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat and rub it with a little butter.
• Pour in half the batter and swirl the pan to make a thin, even round. Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until the edges lift and the top is set, then flip and cook 30 seconds more.
• Scatter half the grated cheese over one half of the crepe, top with half the tomato slices and a pinch of oregano, and fold it closed. Cook 1 minute per side, until the cheese softens.
• Repeat with the remaining batter and filling. Serve hot.

Notes

The batter thickens as it stands, so if the second crepe looks too thick to swirl, stir in a teaspoon of water. Queijo coalho holds its shape when heated, so it softens rather than melting into strings. Halloumi is the closest substitute outside Brazil.

Chef's Tip: Grate the cheese on the large holes of a box grater. Bigger shreds stay chewy and toast in the pan instead of disappearing.

Keto Swap: Traditional tapioca is made entirely from cassava starch, with roughly 25 to 35 grams of carbs per crepe. Eggs, cream cheese and a little psyllium make a flexible, foldable wrap with almost no net carbs.

Success Tip: For a sweet version kids love, skip the tomato and oregano, fill with unsweetened shredded coconut and a sprinkle of allulose, and fold while hot.

Nutrition is calculated from the ingredients and is an estimate per serving. Net carbs exclude fiber and allulose.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 326kcal | Protein: 18g | Fat: 25g | Fiber: 3.2g

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About This Dish

Tapioca crepes come from Indigenous Brazilian cooking, where cassava starch was cooked on hot surfaces into flatbreads called beiju. The starch, called goma, is sifted onto a dry pan and the heat alone fuses it into a chewy disc, no oil or binder needed. In Recife, Olinda and Fortaleza, tapioca stands are a fixture of beach promenades and street corners. The most traditional fillings are coconut, butter and queijo coalho, a firm cheese from the Northeast that browns without melting. Over the last couple of decades tapioca has spread to cafés all over Brazil.

This recipe is from The Ultimate Brazilian Keto Cookbook by Gisele Costello, Chapter 1: Breakfast (Mercado Municipal). See all Brazilian recipes