This African Meat Pie is known for its golden buttery pie crust and flavorful minced meat filling. This pastry is a sure-fire hit on any occasion or gathering, made with just a few simple ingredients.
Growing up, African Meat Pie was more than a snack; it was a tradition in my home, especially for our lunch boxes and quick snacks like puff puff, gateau (bofrot), chin chin, and fish rolls. As mom rolled out the dough and sauteed the filling, it was a family affair that brought everyone together. Now, it's a norm in my own home.
By posting this recipe, I share part of my culture and introduce you to the joy of African food, specifically the Nigerian Meat pie recipe. I have both fried meat pie and baked meat pie. choose which works well for you. To serve as a finger food, this always pairs well with some beef suya.
Meat pie is one of the well-known pastries or snacks in West Africa and a few places in South Africa. Do not be confused with empanadas or Jamaican beef patties; they are distinct and have unique cooking methods and ingredients. Nigerian meat pies are the most common you will come across.
Why Choose This Recipe
Made with easy-to-find pantry ingredients.
It has a flaky, crispy, and soft interior.
You can customize the beef filling with your preferred spices, veggies, and herbs.
It can be eaten any time of the day. Perfect as a snack appetizer or lunchbox treat.
Recipe Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: Use all-purpose flour, which serves as the base of the pastry dough.
- Meat: The most important ingredient, which can be substituted for fish or vegetables.
- Ice-cold water: Cold water makes the pie flaky and helps the butter stay solid throughout kneading, which is why you don't have to overwork the dough.
- Cold Butter: This makes it flaky and has a buttery melt-in-your-mouth taste.
- Salt to taste: You can skip if using Salted butter.
- Ground beef: The main ingredient that provides protein.
- Spices: Salt, pepper, seasoning cube or bouillon powder.
- Fresh Ingredients: Diced carrot and parsley.
Substitution and Variation
- You can use ground turkey or chicken. Leaner options are perfect for weight loss.
- Add some diced potatoes, peas, or green beans for nutrients and flavor.
- Add a large egg at room temperature for extra rich crust.
- For heat, add some chili flakes or cayenne pepper.
- To season, experiment with your favorite seasonings and herbs, such as thyme, curry powder, white pepper, and green onion.
How to make African Meat Pies (Beef Empanadas )
- Preheat the oven to 350F. To make the filling, add oil to a pot or skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic in vegetable oil until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add the ground beef, shred it with a cooking spoon, and cook until brown. Add the seasonings and carrot and stir. Add flour and a little water, stir, and let it simmer until thick. Set the meat mixture aside to cool.
- To make the meat pie dough, whisk together the flour and salt, then add the cold butter. Use your hands to mix until the mixture is crumbly.
- Then, add the cold water in batches and mix until a smooth dough forms.
- Transfer the pastry to a floured work surface and roll it out to about half an inch thick. Use a cutter and cut it into circles.
- Fill in the meat filling, press, and seal. Arrange the pies on a baking pan lined with a baking mat or sheet. Pierce a fork on top of each pie and apply egg wash (beaten egg yolk) using a brush. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
Recipe Tips
My secret is to use cold butter and cold water. This is because we are deep baking. This is to achieve a flaky crust.
- This can be a plan-ahead recipe. make the filling and keep it in the fridge the day before you make the peas. You don't need to reheat.
- Cook and cool the filling first, as the hot filling will soften the dough, making it difficult to seal.
- Don't overfill the pies; overfilling will cause them to burst while baking.
- If you don't have a shaper, cut the dough into golf ball-sized portions, flatten them out, add the filling, then fold and seal them properly with a fork.
- Always add flour and water to the filling to thicken it and bind the ingredients together.
- Use a fork to poke the pies so they cook evenly from the inside.
- Brush with egg for a finished, beautiful, golden, glossy look.
- You can choose to add diced potatoes.
Recipe FAQS
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven or air fryer at 350F for 10-12 minutes.
Jamaican patties are made with turmeric, which gives them a yellow color, and are spicier, while Nigerian meat pie has a pale golden color. They use almost the same ingredients for the dough and filling.
Nigerian meat pie dough is similar to shortcrust pastry, being crumbly and made with a combination of butter and margarine and filled with beef. In contrast, empanada dough is elastic and chewy, typically made with oil or lard and filled with meat, chicken, cheese, and eggs.
More Snacks To Try
If you tried this African meat pie recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
African Meatpie Recipe
Ingredients
For Meat Filling
- ½ lbs Ground Beef
- ½ cup Green beans or peas
- ½ cup Carrots cubed
- ½ Onion chopped
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Chilli Flakes Optional
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Bouillon powder seasoning powder
- 3 tbsp Cooking oil
- 2 Sprigs Fresh Cilantro or Parsley
For the dough
- 4 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 Egg cold
- 1 cup + 3tbsp Water ice cold water
- 1 cup Cold butter
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Egg yolk
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350°F
For the Filling.
- Pour oil into a saucepan over medium heat, add onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add beef and cook for about 5 minutes until some water dries off.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for another 3 minutes. Make sure there isn't too much water in the filling, like pies will be soggy.
- When the filling is ready, remove it from heat and set aside.
For the dough
- Add flour, butter and salt in a large mixing bowl and rub everything with your hands until crumpy.
- Pour in water in batches, and egg, mix with your hands until everything combines.
- Transfer the dough to the flour-dusted work surface and knead until the dough is ready. Do not over-mix or work the dough; it will make it hard and non-flaky. Divide it into the number of pies you want, flatten each portion, and then cut it using a small bowl or meat pie cutter.
- Add the filling to the dough, fold to meet the edges, and seal using the fork. Arrange the pies on the baking pan lined with a baking mat or sheet, pierce a fork on top of each pie and apply egg wash (beaten egg yolk) using a brush.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. When fish pies are ready, remove them from the oven and serve hot.
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Bilikis says
Thanks for the recipe ma
Bilikis says
Delicious
Bilikis says
Yummy yummy