Meat Pie Dough
In the Nigerian sense, meat pie refers to an oval shaped pocket pie stuffed primarily with ground beef. It is similar to Jamaican beef patties. Like most pies, an important component of meat pie is the pie crust. However, unlike most pies, the meat pie dough has to very pliable to be able to withstand the pie formation process and hold its shape thereafter. I have tried a few meat pie dough recipes in the past and they were either too short or too flaky. This recipe is the best one yet. I developed it while playing around with a few pastry dough recipes.
This dough can also be used to make fish roll, sausage roll, chicken pie, fish pie, et cetera.
Fish Roll
INGREDIENTS:
(1) 290 Grams All Purpose Flour (2 Cups + 2 Tablespoons)
(2) 170 Grams Unsalted Butter (3/4 Cup) (See Note 1)
(3) 1/4 Teaspoon Salt (See Note 2)
(4) 1 Large Egg + 1 Egg Yolk (See Note 3)
(5) 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
(6) 1/2 Tablespoon Cold Water
NOTES:
(1) Margarine or lard can be used in place of butter. The dough however won’t be as flavorful. Make sure your butter is cold. If using margarine, you stand the risk of the dough being too short.
(2) In order to add more flavor to your pie crust, use some seasoning cube in place of or together with the salt. Be careful not to over salt pie dough.
(3) Keep unused egg white for egg wash.
Recipe for meat pie can be found here
PROCEDURE:
(A) Food Processor and Butter:
(1) Place flour in a food processor along with baking powder and salt and process until combined.
(2) Add cold butter and process until it resembles bread crumbs.
(3) Add egg, egg yolk and water to mixture and process until the dough comes together. Do not over process dough.
(4) Wrap dough with cling film and place in the fridge for 2 hours or until dough is firm. If you used margarine, the dough would not get as firm as if you used butter.
TIP: To speed things up, place dough in freezer for an hour. It is easier to roll out pie dough when it is cold and relaxed.
(B) Bowl and Margarine
NOTE: Margarine should be very cold. Omit water if using margarine.
(1) Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and mix to combine.
(2) Add the cold margarine and cut into the flour mixture until it resembles bread crumbs.
(3) Add egg and egg yolk and knead until a dough is formed.
(4) Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead a little bit to bring dough together. Do not over knead.
(5) Flatten dough into a disk, wrap with cling film and place in fridge for two hours before using.
This dough rolls out easily when cold
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.
TANKS
You are welcome.
Terry many thanks for this. I’ll try it as my dough always fails me and it may be because I’m using self raising flour. Will do it this weekend. God bless
You are welcome. Try and use butter if you can.
Welldone Mr terry, cnt wait to try it. Looking forward to ur filling recipe. Thanks for d recipes
Thanks. That should be out tomorrow.
Nice&easy steps to follow,wud definitely try dis out weekend. Thank terry
You are welcome.
Thanks boss
Thanks Yewande.
Terry,thnx for d recipe,pls wats d diff btw butter and margarine?
Butter is gotten from milk, margarine is oil from plants. Butter needs to stay cold, margarine cane be kept at room temperature.
Really appreciate tnx
You are welcome
Hi Terry, tnx for this, being looking for whr to source for recipe of a quality meatpie – am good to go mehn! U ar a genius. Kindly give me ur recipe for English meatpie.
Thanks. I have a recipe for Nigerian meat pie coming soon. None for English meat pie.
Thanks a lot. You are a genius. Please, I need recipe for the fillings.
Thanks. Soon.
Nice one…thanks for the tip… trying it right away
You are welcome.
Thanks very easy to understand
Yes it is.
I just did and it was just on point…the best meatpie dough I’ve ever done,I think with this recipe am good to fly….God bless u bro…
That was fast. Thanks for the feedback. Did you use butter or margarine?
Thumbs up mr.terry ur wify is one lucky woman.gonna try this out soon
Thanks. Please do.
Wats d difference btw baking powder nd baking soda.tks
BP = BS + Cream of Tarter.
Tanx
You are welcome.
Nyce work. Will try it and let u knw the outcome but would like 2 know the difference between butter and margarine? Is blue band butter or margarine. Thanks
The container/packet would state. Blue band is margarine. Butter is from milk.
Thanks,more grease 2 ur elbow
You are welcome Tamara.
thnx terry! u’r amazing!!
Thanks Aisha
tnx terry.. did once tried my hands at baking meat pie for home consumption but it turned out bad. now I knw where I defaulted. u are really an inspiration. tnx once again
Thanks. I hope this one works out for you.
Thanks my great lecturer
You are welcome.
Thanks a lot for this dough recipe. I do not have a food processor. But i have blenders and a hand mixer with stand n bowl. What are my alternatives? Can i knead with my hands instead? I intend to use butter.
If you look below the post, you will see the procedure for using a bowl and your hands.
Terry i just saw this. Ure too much. God bless &many thanks!
Thanks Sylvia
Hi Terry,
Can I use a hand mixer
No you cant.
Hi Terry, can I use self raising flour instead and leave out the baking powder?
Thanks
Sorry I cannot answer this question. I have never used self rising flour before and do not know how it reacts.
This is the first time I added egg and seasoning cube to the dough, other recipes I’ve been using doesn’t. Terry, the result is AWESOME!!!!!!!!! OMG! I still cannot believe it. It was the BOMB! Thank you.
Ah!. Thanks for the feedback. I am glad you loved it.
Terry you are awesome. Good work from your table
Thanks Abiola.
Hi Terry,
Can I use cake and ogas try flour and would I use baking powder if I can.
I have never used cake and pastry flour for this and so I can’t say how it will turn out. I usually stick to AP flour or bread flour. The recipe does not call for baking powder.
Sorry I meant cake and pastry flour ( my key pad has a mind of its own)
hi, Terry, tried this recipe but used magarine cus there was no butter at hand. As you noted it was too short but it tastes very nice, so I concluded that the next time when am not using butter I might reduce the amount of magarine a little. what’s your take on this logic. thanks
The logic sounds valid. There is only one way to find out and that is by trying. Please do give me feedback when you do. Thanks
Thanks boss.
You are welcome.
Ok, WILL SURE LET YOU KNOW, THANKS
You are a great cook and a wonderful teacher! You are appreciated.
Thanks Halimat. I appreciate you too.
Wow thanks! My new fave meatpie dough recipe. Love the texture.. never thought to use egg yolks.. thumbs up!
You are welcome Lola. I’m glad you love it.
I made meat pie today using your recipe for both the dough and filling. I used margarine. There was no electricity so I couldn’t refrigerate the dough as recommended. It turned out really tasty though the edges looked rough.
Thanks Terry. My baking skills have really improved as a result of your blog. I appreciate. Kudos!
You are welcome Chidimma. Thanks for dropping a note.
Terry is it ok to add oil to a dough…???
Depends on the dough. The recipe would state.
hi Mr T! thanks for putting us through……
please can I use this same dough procedure for fried meat pie
You are welcome. I do not know as I have never tried that before.
Terry quick question, The all purpose flour available at your side is it different from the type we use in Nigeria? A friend currently in canada is having difficulty with allpurpose flour for her pies she says it keeps shrinking. though i’ve forward link to your blog to her. Thanks.
Long time ooo
There might be differences but both are interchangeable. I hope my recipe works for her.
Definitely trying this method. Last batch I made with margarine, the dough kept shrinking, It was so frustrating. I will be sure to stick with butter going forward.
Yeah Deke, butter works a lot better than margarine for this dough.
Hi Terry, can I refrigerate the dough ( made with butter) overnight? Thank you
Yes you can.
Would it also be fine to refrigerate the dough made with margarine overnight?
Yes Buki.
Thank you for this recipe Terry. I can’t wait to try it. I think you are a great teacher. When you say a meat pie crust is “short”, may I know what you mean please? By the way, I am new to your website, and I’m hooked already. May God bless you.
“Shortness” in dough refers to its tenderness which is influenced by the amount of fat as well as sugar. So, “soft”.
Thanks for posting this recipe. It was a little frustrating as the dough kept breaking every time I tried to roll it out. I was not able to use it and because I already had the filling made, I had to go online and quickly find a different dough recipe that did work. I followed directions exactly except for doubling everything, so I have no idea why it didn’t work. Well I used salted butter, but SURELY that was not the problem. If there is any insight, I would love to have it for the future.
Hi Denise. Sorry about your experience. The dough can be finicky at times. I am not sure what you did wrong or if you did anything wrong. Definitely not the salted butter as I use same at times. I wish you better success next time.
Hello Terry. Thank you for your recipe. My meatpie came out flat after baking.what could be the cause and possible solution. Thanks.
I have no idea.
In the dough using butter the recipe says .5 tea spoon wster which was used at the early stage of mixing. As you continue mixing you added another water which was not stated in the recipe how do l get the right quantity of water for this amount of flour so that my dough will not be too soft or heard considering my amateur level. Thank you Terry you have really inspired.More blessing.
Hi Monica. I am not sure which recipe you are referring to, but this recipe has only 1/2 tablespoon of cold water added in step 3.
Thanks Terry, would give this a try now.
I hope it turned out great.
Can I add nutmeg?
Sure.
Hi was wondering I tried to convert this to making a serving for 25 people and I’m sure I should use 725 grams of flour but I’m not sure how much that converts to cups. Could you help me?
1 cup of flour is 130 grams.
I had to look for your recipe on meat pie cos I can trust it anytime. Thanks bro