Easy Steps To Make Crispy Meat Pie At Home

July 23, 2023

0 7 minutes read

EASY STEPS TO MAKE Crispy Meat Pie At Home

Meat pie is an appetizing and delightful street food snack enjoyed by many Nigerians. People usually buy this snack when they are in a move or travelling. Crispy Meat Pie can be serve as an appetizer with Chapman drink or serve at parties as a snack.

Table of Contents

There are two main elements to consider when you want to make a homemade crispy meat pie. These two elements includes, preparing the short crust pastry and the fillings. You can actually prepare this a day or two days before hand to make the work easier and less stressful.

For the Filling, In most cases, I make use of minced meat and finely chopped or shredded potatoes and carrot. Grounded chicken can be used in place of minced meat, this however also comes comes out tasty and awesome. Feel free to use the ingredients you are comfortable with. Addition of green bell pepper and onion adds a fresh and good aroma to it. Curry powder and some seasoning cubes to the mixture make it spicy and delicious.

For the short crust pastry, I use plain flour or all-purpose flour. This contributes to the tenderness of the dough. In addition, a ratio of two parts flour to one part butter by weight ensures a crumbly, flaky texture. If you carefully follow my recipe and the quantities of ingredients used as shown below, you will achieve a crispy and delicious meat pie.

SOME INGREDIENTS USED IN MEAT PIE DOUGH

All-purpose or Plain Flour
Use plain flour or All purpose flour to make the dough. Do not use self raising flour because it has some raising agents.

Egg
The function of an egg in meat pie making is to bring the ingredients together in other words, of serves as a binding agent and gives it stability. Using egg makes meat pie crispy and also binds the dough ingredients together.

Water/ Milk
Previously, I use only water in mixing my meat pie dough but recently, I use milk in place of water and the taste was awesome. I have since switched to using milk in place of water. However, if you are not able to whole milk, you can continue with water, your crispy meat pie will still come out sweet and delicious.

Sugar and Salt
For many years, I used only sugar to season my meat pie dough, I actually decided to try out salt and nutmeg to season the dough to see if there would be any difference. Behold it tasted so much better.

Butter/Margarine
Use cold margarine or unsalted butter to make the dough to ensures a crumbly, flaky texture.

Baking Powder
This is a raising agent. It will be added to the plain flour to make the dough rise. However, some people do not use this particular ingredient for reasons best known to them.

INGREDIENTS

RECIPE FOR THE DOUGH

• 4 Cups of Flour (500g)
• 250g Margarine
• 2 Eggs
• 1/4 cup Cold Water /Milk
• Salt 2-3 pinches
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

RECIPE FOR FILLING

• 250g minced Meat
• 2 medium Irish potatoes chopped
• 4 Carrot chopped
• 1 Onion medium size chopped
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• I teaspoon thyme
• 1 stock cube
• 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon flour or cornflour for thickening
• Salt to taste
• 1 egg for rubbing

PROCEDURE FOR THE FILLING

• Peel and dice the Irish potatoes.

• Wash carrots, scrape and dice into small cubes.

• Wash and cut the onion into tiny shape.

• On medium heat, heat the vegetable oil in a pot, add the diced onions and stir fry a bit then add minced meat and continue stirring till the meat turns pale(change color).

• Add little water, stock cubes and thyme, cover the pot and when the contents of the pot begin to boil, add the diced carrots and potatoes and cook till everything is soft. This takes about 8 minutes.

• Dissolve 1tablespoon of flour in little water and add to the meat pie filling on fire. This is to keep the meat pie filling juicy, so that the filling does not dry up during baking.

• Add salt to taste, and stir the content vigorously.

• Mix 2 tablespoon of flour with about 20ml of water in a cup and add the meat pie filling to it. This makes the meat pie filling holds together, creamy and prevents drying up during baking.

• Turn off the heat, set aside and allow to cool.

PROCEDURE FOR THE DOUGH:

• Sieve the flour, salt and baking powered in a bowl.

• Mix the flour and butter till it looks like breadcrumbs.

• Add milk or water in bits and knead the dough until the right dough consistency is achieved.

• Cover the dough and leave it to rest for about 5 to 7 minutes it makes the dough stretchy.

• After allowing the dough to rest for a while, drop it on a floured surface and knead it a little more.

• Cut the dough into small pieces and roll each cut out. place in meat pie cutter or any round object like sizeable plate or cup.

• Brush/Rub round the edge of the cut meat pie dough with egg wash(this is to ensure that your meat pie is perfectly sealed and does not open up while baking).

• Add 1-2 tablespoon of cooled filling.

• Fold one part of the dough to meet the other end and use fork to press the two edge together to close tightly. If you are using a meat pie cutter, gently flip it over and press down.

• Poke holes with the fork (the holes act as an air vent which will help the steam escape while the pie is baking)

• Repeat the previous step till all the cut out dough is exhausted.

• Preheat your oven to 350°C or 175°F

• Place in the oven tray and rub the beaten egg on the top surface of the meat pie, this gives the pie a golden brown look when done.

• Lightly grease the oven tray with butter or line with a baking sheet and set aside. This prevent the meat pie from burning or sticking to the tray during baking.

• Set the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 20-30minutes. this time depend on the type and heating capacity of your oven. Remove when it start to turn brown and serve your crispy meat pie with a Chapman drink.

TIPS FOR MAKING CRISPY MEAT PIE

• After your filling is ready ,add a little flour in a bowl dissolve with water and add it in the filling and stir well and bring down from the fire. The purpose is to make the filling not to dry up while baking, it makes the filling inside the pie moist .

• Place the pies on the baking pan and brush the top part of the dough with egg. I use whole egg ( both white and yolk) to brush as this will give it golden yellowish with shiny finish.

• Only egg white will give it no colour but a shiny finish. Only egg yolk will give a deep golden brown colour and gloosy finish and of you use only milk to brush, you will get a brown colour but no glossy finish.

• Make sure your crispy meat pie filling is completely cooled before usage. Using a hot/warm filling will melt the butter in the dough resulting in a greasy crust.

• When poking holes in the pie, make sure the fork goes through the top part of the dough.

• While making the crispy meat pie, keep unused dough in the fridge so the butter remains cool and solid.

SOME OF THE COMMON QUESTIONS ASKED REGARDING MEAT PIE MAKING

Question: Can I make meat pie ahead of time?
Absolutely! you can make pie dough the day before and refrigerate until ready to use. Same with the filling.

Question: Why did my meat pie bust open in the oven?
This can happen if you overfilled the pie with filling or most commonly, if they’re no proper whole poked at the top. Steam builds up when baking and if there’s no way for steam to escape, the pie will burst open.

Can I prepare meat pie filling a day before?
Absolutely. Place meat pie filling in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Similarly, place Meat Pie Dough to a ziplock bag or an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

How long can I store my crispy meat pie?
You can store baked pie in the refrigerator for up to 7 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just reheat the pies in the microwave or in the oven at 330f/165c for 10 minutes or in the air-fryer for about 4 minutes and enjoy with a chilled drink.

Can I use baking powder in making meat pie?
It depends on your preferred choice. Some people use baking powder while others don’t. If you follow this recipe and tips, no doubt your pie will come out flaky delicious without the need for making powder.

Question: What type of butter is best for meat pie?
I typically use unsalted butter. Margarine can also be used but reduce the salt by half if using margarine.

Question: can I use this recipe for bulk meat pie?
Definitely! this recipe can also be doubled or tripled to achieve bulk meat pie.

Question: Is it possible to store an assembled unbaked pie?
You can store assembled unbaked pie in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.