Meat Pie
Meat pies are pocket pies stuffed with a meaty filling and cubed veggies. Like all pies, it has two components: the crust and the filling. Both components must be perfect in order to have a successful meat pie. Meat pies are similar to Jamaican beef patties. Unlike Jamaican beef patties however, the dough is not colored with turmeric or curry. In this recipe, I will show you how to make a perfect meat pie.
INGREDIENTS:
(1) 1 Large Carrot
(2) 1 Large Potato
(3) 500 Grams Ground Beef
(4) 1 Medium Onion
(5) 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
(6) 1 Cup Water (See Note 1)
(7) 4 Tablespoons Water (1/4 Cup)
(8) 2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
(9) 1 Seasoning Cube
(10) 1/2 Teaspoon Curry Powder
(11) 1/2 Teaspoon Thyme
(12) Salt to Taste
NOTES:
(1) Depending on how wet you like your meat pie filling, you might need more water. For extra flavor, use broth in place of water.
PROCEDURE:
Dough:
(1) Make dough using instructions here and chill in the fridge for about 2 hours.
Filling:
(1) Peel and chop carrot and potato into cubes.
(2) Dice onions.
(3) Heat oil in frying pan or pot with a lid. Add onions and stir fry until soft, about 4 minutes.
(4) Add minced meat, thyme and seasoning cube and fry until meat is cooked. About 8 minutes.
(5) Add cubed potato and carrot, curry and 1 cup of water to cooked meat, bring filling back to a boil. Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed. Cover and cook filling for 10 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are soft. Note, they should be soft but not mushy.
(6) Mix 1/4 cup of water with flour into a paste. Pour into the filling and cook for 2 minutes.
(7) Take filling off heat and allow to cool. For it to cool faster, pour filling into a bowl and place in the fridge.
TIP: Leave filling in fridge for about an hour to solidify a bit. This will make the filling more manageable to use. It will also lead to neater pies and make the filling process less messy.
Assembling:
(1) Line the bottom of a baking sheet with parchment paper.
(2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
(3) Take dough out of fridge and knead. This will break dough and form it back together, thus making it more pliable and easier to work with. Roll dough out until it is about 1/3 centimeters thin.
(4) Cut large circles in rolled dough using a large cookie cutter or any other circular tool. In this post, I made use of a 7 inch base of a pie pan. Gather any leftover dough, roll out and cut until all the dough has been utilized. This meat pie dough makes about eight 7 inch meat pies.
(5) To fill meat pie dough, scoop about 2 tablespoons of filling into half of the dough. Leave about 2 centimeters space around the edges for sealing.
TIP: Do not over fill pies or you might break the dough when sealing. Use the back of the spoon to smooth the top of the filling so the veggies do not tear the dough while sealing.
(6) Beat an egg lightly. This will be used to seal and brush the dough. You can also use the leftover egg white from the dough.
TIP: What you use to brush your pies will affect the final look. If you use only the egg yolk, the pies will be deep brown. If you use only the whites it would be lighter.
(7) Brush the outer edges of the dough with some egg.
(8) Fold dough and press the edges down with your fingers to seal. Next, use a fork to seal the pie. It is important you seal the pie tightly or it would open up during baking.
(8) Line the baking sheet with meat pies. Do not over crowd the baking sheet.
(9) Brush the pies with some egg.
(10) Very important: prick the top of the pies with a fork. This is to let steam escape during baking. It is best you provide an outlet for the steam or the pies will burst/break during baking.
(11) Bake meat pies in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remember that the filling is already cooked. This baking period is majorly for the crust.
(12) Allow pies to cool and enjoy!
Do check out my fish roll recipe. You will love it.
Terry Adido is passionate about showing people how easy it is to recreate restaurant quality meals in the comfort of their kitchens. With a style of cooking he refers to as Afro-European Fusion, his meals are influenced greatly by French and Italian Cuisine with a West African twist. If you love good food, you are in for the ride of your life.
Good job.
Please, how did you make the dough?
There should be a link to the dough on this page. Alternatively, you can search the website for the dough recipe.
Great. Your meatpie recipe is really long overdue. Thanks Terry. Can’t wait to try this
Yes, it was long overdue. I could not fight it off any longer.
Tx for sharing brings back childhood memories of mum’s baking early hrs of d morning for supplies n our lunch pack lol
Good memories.
Hi Mr Terry, thanks for sharing.
Thanks
Neat nd perfect job. Kudos!!!!
Thanks Bunmi
Hi Terri,
Thanks for a great site and sharing your knowledge. Am I able to store unused dough for future use? If yes, can you please advise of the best way to do this.
Thanks!
It can be frozen “forever”. Simply allow it to thaw, knead and then roll out. It can also be kept in the fridge sealed for a couple of weeks.
Hello Terry.
Just tried this, and I must say it doesn’t come out nicely.
First, when I took the dough out of the refrigerator, it was like stone. I had to sprinkle water to be able to knead. And it was breaking so bad. Just couldn’t work with it.
Second, when I put it in the oven, the top practically broke apart. I was so sad.
I used unsalted French butter of 200g, weighed out the 170g you recommended.
Also the flour was all purpose type.
Please can you tell me what went wrong, as I would prefer this your recipe to the one I’ve been working with before. Thanks.
Hi Julianah, sad to know it didn’t turn out great for you. Yes, the dough is gonna be very hard after refrigeration due to the butter in it. You are supposed to break it and keep kneading until it becomes pliable. Adding water to it was an error on your part. As for the break on top, did you create vents on top of the pies before inserting in the oven? It could also be caused by not kneading your dough properly before rolling out. Better luck next time.
I did created vents. The taste was awesome, except for the breaking apart. I’ll try it again till I get it right, thanks.
Better luck next time.
Great..lol pls what is parchment paper and in its absence what can i use to line my baking sheet..can i use margrine and flour to brush d sheet?
You can grease the baking sheets with margarine, butter or any other grease of your choice.
thanks for the tutorial. please why did u add flour on the sauce and Wat is right amount of egg for brushing. what makes a meat pie to get burnt beneath, that is underside. Tnx for ur effort
Hi. (1) The flour makes the filling thick while retaining its moistness; (2) There is no specific amount. Start with an egg. If there is any leftover, you can use it for anything else; (3) The heat from under your oven is very high. Try placing your oven rack higher up.
Pls how long will the filling keep before going bad. Is there a way to slow down the process of spoilage? Tnx
A couple of days at room temp. or about a week in the fridge.
Tnks mr terry,in a situation were i dont hav light to store d dough in d refrigerator,can i just continue with d filling?
would suggest you make a different dough.
Just to say a big thank you for all you do,You are such a big inspiration…Keep it up,Thank you very much for helping my business grow with these recipes,You have no idea of how much your impact has helped me,Thank you!Thank you!!
Thank you Debisi.