Beautiful meat pies are such wonderful comfort food. Buttery golden pastry and a hearty meat filling make this pie so tempting. Best of all, it's economical, tasty, and easy to make.
Want even more tasty meat pies? You'll want to check out our recipes for meat and potato pie and chicken and leek pie.
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Ingredients
Wondering what you need to make a delicious minced beef pie from scratch? Let's talk about a few of the key ingredients!
- Minced Beef: Use extra lean minced beef with a lower fat content, or if you're using a higher fat content, drain off the extra grease and saute the veggies separately.
- Veggies: Mirepoix (onion, carrot, and celery) along with mushrooms add a lot of flavor to this dish.
- Spices & Flavorings: Since salt and pepper are the only spices in this dish, a little Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste add flavor as well.
- Pastry: You can use homemade shortcrust or rough puff/puff pastry for a delicious crust.
How to Make
Prepare the vegetables and measure out the rest of the ingredients.
- Brown the meat in a skillet. If there is a lot of grease, drain the meat to remove it. Pour the meat into a bowl and set aside.
- Saute the onion, carrot, and celery, then melt the butter in the skillet and cook the mushrooms until brown. Stir in the meat, stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper and boil away the liquid until it's nearly gone.
3. Brush the rim of a 9-inch dish with beaten egg and lay strips of puff pastry (or homemade rough puff pastry) on the rim.
4. Brush the strips of pastry with more beaten egg, then cut out a circle of pastry and lay it on top. Press the edges to seal, brush with more egg, and cut vent holes.
5. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Serve while still hot with mashed potatoes, mushy peas and a slice of homemade bread.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, minced beef is the key ingredient in this savory pie, which is why it's called "minced beef pie." The traditional Christmas dessert called mince pies in the UK did contain meat in medieval times, but they no longer are made with it. These two pastry dishes are quite different!
The only difference is the name! Beef that's been very finely chopped or put through a meat grinder is called ground beef in North America, while in the UK, it's called minced beef.
"Mince pies" in the UK are sweet tarts filled with a fruit mixture called mincemeat. However, the term "mince" in the UK can also refer to minced beef or any other minced meat. If you see a pie labeled as "minced beef pie," it will be filled with meat and veg rather than sweet fruit.
Traditional mince pies do contain meat, but most modern recipes for mincemeat don't contain meat. However, this minced beef pie definitely does contain meat, and is a savory dish for dinner.
Serve
I recommend serving minced beef pie with mashed potatoes and mushy peas for an authentic feel. You can also serve it with homemade bread as well.
Store
Make Ahead: Make the filling the day before and assemble the pie and bake the same day you want to serve it.
Leftovers: Leftover minced beef pie will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing: You can freeze leftover minced beef pie for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat in the oven or microwave.
Expert Tips
- Use lean meat to reduce the fat. If you're using meat with a higher fat content, drain off the extra grease.
- Cut the veggies in small pieces to provide a nice texture.
- Cover the edges of the pastry with aluminum foil if they're getting too dark while baking.
- Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
- Store the leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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Recipe
Minced Beef Pie
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1.3 lb ground beef, 80 to 85% lean
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups yellow onion, chopped
- 1 ½ cups carrot, sliced
- 1 ½ cups celery, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup unsalted beef stock
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Pastry
- 9 ounces puff pastry or homemade rough puff pastry
- 1 large egg, beaten
Instructions
Making the Filling
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, then let it continue to cook until almost all the fat is gone.
- Saute the onion in the oil until it's softened, then add the carrot and celery and cook over medium heat until the carrots begin to soften.
- Melt the butter and saute the mushrooms until they're brown.
- Mix the meat, sauteed veggies, beef stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper into the mushrooms. Let the juices boil down until they have thickened and are nearly gone, but the filling is still moist.
- Let the filling cool for 10 minutes off the heat.
Assembling & Baking the Pie
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Spread the filling in a 9-inch pie plate, then brush the rim of the dish with beaten egg.
- Roll out the pastry until it's a little larger than the dish. Cut out a circle of pastry large enough to cover the dish, using a dinner plate as a template. Set the circle aside.
- Cut the remaining pastry into strips and stick them onto the rim of the pie plate. Brush the pastry strips with beaten egg. Lay the pastry circle on top, pressing the edges firmly to seal. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and cut several vent holes.
- Bake at 400°F for 35-40 minutes, until the pastry is a rich golden brown. Let it cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes, then cut in slices and serve with mashed potatoes and mushy peas.
Notes
- Use lean meat to reduce the fat. If you're using meat with a higher fat content, drain off the extra grease.
- Cut the veggies in small pieces to provide a nice texture.
- Cover the edges of the pastry with aluminum foil if they're getting too dark while baking.
- Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
- Store the leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
This post was originally published on August 15, 2018 and was republished on January 17, 2023 with resized images and refreshed content.
Libby
Great minced beef pie recipe! I tried it for the first time tonight and everyone loved it! It was pretty easy to make, too! The photo tutorials here are so helpful! I didn’t have celery so I used frozen mixed veggies, and I also substituted the beef stock for chicken broth since that’s what I had on hand. Even with the adjustments, the pie was delicious. My whole family thought it was great! I’ll be making this again for sure. 🙂
Emma
That's wonderful, Libby! I'm so glad your family enjoyed the minced beef pie!
Joan McCutchon
It is a delicious pie. If you can't eat pastry, you could put mashed potatoes on top and bake it until it's light brown. Yum!!
Emma
Thank you! It definitely would taste nice with mashed potatoes on top, too. 🙂