Meat Hand Pies with Beef and Puff Pastry

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This recipe for beautiful homemade Meat Hand Pies has been inspired by an amazing slow cooked Beef recipe from our friends at One Pot Dinners. Their Slow Cooked French Dip recipe creates the most amazing, tender Beef imaginable. We made their recipe then decided to have some fun with the leftovers to make some delicious Meat Hand Pies with Beef and Puff Pastry. They turned out amazing, so we’re sharing the recipe with you all!

Meat Hand Pies are one of our favorite treats

As a kid there was nothing more satisfying than tucking into a beautiful Meat Pie, filled with delicious beef and gravy, and topped with a golden flaky crust. It is a staple lunch in Australia, with bakeries across the county shelling out these golden flavor parcels in their millions every day. If there was a national dish of Australia, it would definitely be the meat pie

It is honestly a shame that they haven’t taken off in more countries around the world. If you are looking for a simple meal for lunch when you’re on the go, nothing really beats a Meat Hand Pie. It’s unbelievably hearty, so will fill you up all the way through until dinner

They’re also so convenient. There’s no cutlery needed, you don’t need to sit down and carefully place it on your lap like you would a Salad. It’s not going to spill everywhere like a sandwich. Yes indeed, Meat Pies are just an incredibly convenient and tasty dish for a hearty lunch!

There are many versions of Meat Hand Pies all around the world, slightly different by culture

Every culture has their own version of a Meat Pie. They are all just called something different. However, the concept of a delicious Meat-filled parcel with some kind of delicious gravy-like sauce, encased in bread is very common

The Mexicans have their Empanadas. Spanish folk have their Croquettes. The Italians have their Sciachiatta. China has their Dumplings, Japan has their Gyoza. We could go on forever. But the fact of the matter is, every culture has some form of delicious Meat Pie that is adored across the nation. So we’re really all that not different as humans now are we? We all love a good meat pie!

There are two critical ingredients that will define how good your Homemade Meat Hand Pies are

There’s a handful of ingredients that make up this delicious recipe, however there are two ingredients that must be the best quality you can find. Produce means everything when it comes to cooking, so as always we recommend that you try to hunt down the best quality you can find. The two critical ingredients for this recipe is good quality Beef Stock, and good quality Roasting Beef

1. Homemade Beef Stock makes a world of difference in this recipe

For all our recipes that require using Stocks and Broths we always recommend making your own. There is simply no comparison between homemade Stock to the store-bought stuff

Every time you eat Meat that has bones in it, don’t discard them! Freeze the Bones and when you’ve got enough stored away (about 1 large Ziploc bag) then turn them into some delicious Homemade Stock. The amount of flavor that you can extract from the Bones is phenomenal, and for many dishes, including our Meat Hand Pies recipe, will be completely transformed by the flavor

Please try to avoid the Store-bought stock if you can. It’ll cost you more money firstly, which is pointless when you can make your own stock and freeze what you don’t need immediately. The store-bought stock is also very bad for you. It’s loaded with sodium (salt) so it can remain shelf stable. Even the ‘low sodium’ stuff still has way more Salt than you ever need in a Stock

So, for this recipe. Please make our Homemade Beef Stock in advance. You will have far superior tasting Meat Hand Pies. We guarantee it!

2. Good quality roasting Meat is key, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money on it

To get the most tender, tasty Beef filling for the Meat Hand Pies you need to choose your cut of meat wisely. Avoid those fancy expensive cuts like Beef Tenderloin, NY Strip, or Ribeye. They are perfect steaks for pan frying but are not great for a Pie filling. What you want is a tougher cut of meat. That may sound strange, but hear us out

The tougher cuts of meat slowly break down and become unbelievably tender when slowly cooked for hours in a flavored broth. The cooking process breaks down all the tough fibers in the meat and what you are left with is meat that will literally fall apart with tenderness when you cut into it. Not only that, but by slow cooking the meat in a flavored broth it will absorb all those wonderful broth flavors

The best cuts of meat therefore are cuts that are typically referred to as ‘stewing beef’ or ‘braising beef’. Chuck Roast is a perfect choice for this recipe. As is Beef Top Roast, Tri Tip, and you can even use Brisket for great results. The added benefit of these cuts of meat is they are way cheaper per lb. / kg than other cuts. So, you get way more food for your dollar

You will require an Instant Pot or Slow Cooker to make this dish

Because we are using braising / stewing beef for this recipe, it takes several hours for the Beef to break down and become beautiful and tender. The best way to make this recipe therefore is with a slow cooker or Instant Pot. Simply sear off the Beef, cook the Vegetables, then add the Stock and aromatics and let the Slow Cooker do its work

If you do not own a Slow Cooker you can still 100% make this recipe. Just set the temperature on super low, cover the pot and let it simmer slowly for 5-6 hours. Give it a stir every 1 hour or so to keep things moving inside the pot and you’ll be rewarded with some amazing, slow cooked braised beef

Meat Hand Pies with Beef and Puff Pastry Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 – 3 lbs. of Roasting Beef (eg: Chuck, Top Roast)
• 3 sheets of Puff Pastry, cut into large rectangles
• 3 cups of Beef Stock (recipe here)
• 2 Yellow Onions, roughly chopped
• 1 Shallot, finely diced
• 4 Garlic Cloves, diced
• 2 sprigs of Thyme
• 2 tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 1 ½ tbsp. All Purpose Flour
• 1 ½ tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• 1 tsp. Vegetable Oil
• Salt and Pepper
  
  

Equipment Needed: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker

Instructions

1. Season your Roasting Beef generously with Salt and Pepper on all sides, then place in the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker on the Sauté setting. Sear off each side of the Beef for 2 minutes each until browned then remove from Pot
2. Add the Vegetable Oil and chopped Onions to the Pan and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Be sure to scrape up all of that delicious Meat that may have stuck to the bottom of the Pot. Add the Garlic and cook for a further 1 minute
3. Pour in the Beef Stock and Thyme and heat through until warm, then add the Seared Beef along with any leftover juices back into the pan
4. Set your Instant Pot or Slow Cooker to ‘Slow Cook’ for 6 hours and cover with the lid. If you are using a regular Pot, drop the heat as low as possible and cover. For a regular pot we recommend giving the pot a stir every 1 hour or so
5. After 6 hours, remove the Beef and set aside to cool. Once cooled, use two forks to shred the Beef into small, bite-sized pieces. Remove the Thyme stems from the Broth
6. In a separate large Saucepan, add the Butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the Shallot and cook for 2 -3 minutes. Add the Flour and cook for 3 more minutes while whisking constantly to incorporate into the Butter
   Add the Tomato Paste and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently, then pour in the Stewing Broth. Bring the mixture to a boil while whisking constantly so that the Flour / Butter mixture will incorporate into the Broth. Ensure there are no lumps
   
   

Instructions Continued

7. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to allow the mixture to thicken and reduce
8. Once the mixture has turned thick, almost like a light-gravy consistency, add the Meat back to the pot. Stir well, then remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool
9. Lay out your Puff Pastry into approximately 6” x 4” rectangles. Add about ½ cup of the Beef Filling onto one side of the Pastry. Brush the side of the Pastry without the Meat Mixture with Egg Wash, then fold over and seal to encase the Pies
10. Brush the top of the Pies with more Egg wash and poke a small in the top of each. Bake in the Oven set to 375F for 15 – 20 minutes until the Pies are a beautiful golden-brown color
11. Serve immediately with Ketchup!
    
    

Once you have prepared your Pies you can freeze what you don’t plan on eating before you cook them. They will last for months in the freezer and it’s a great way to have a ready-to-go meal whenever you’re feeling hungry. They’ll likely need 5 – 10 more minutes in the oven as you’ll be cooking them from Frozen

We hope you’ve enjoyed these delicious Meat Hand Pies with Beef and Puff Pastry. We’ve got a bunch of other delicious pastry-like dishes that we know you’ll just love. Check out our Pastry section here (LINK). Here are a few of our favorites:

• Tomato and Onion Tart with Goats Cheese
• Pork Sausage Rolls
• Lamb Empanadas with Sweet Sherry Sauce
• Fish Croquettes
  
  

Happy Cooking!