African Meat Pie (Beef Empanada)- slightly sweet, flaky and crusty with a succulent beef filling. Comes together quickly and flies off the table. Simply Delicious!!
Don’t you think there is just something irresistible about spicy minced meat stuffed in a crunchy short bread crust ? I do. So far everyone I have had the pleasure of encountering has whispered ever so diligently a secret passion for a hot filled crusty pie loaded with all of your secret pleasures.. hmmm hmmm.. sounds so good
Believe me when I say it tastes divine. The joy of this recipe is the numerous variety of fillings around the world. Meat pie can be an ethnic success and render any novice chef into a well sought out after caterer! Trust me.. With the flaky, crispy savory crust coupled with sweet succulent spices, count me in.
My love for meat pies means that you better believe I am always looking out for alternate recipes. The best ones are all have the same unique trait. A sumptuous flaky crust. Admittedly, I have frequently nibbled on the pie crust and thrown away the pie filling. See folks for me, the crust rules!
Now lets talk about these African meat pies and what makes them different. First of all Empanada lovers you will not be disappointed, from all the recipes sampled I feel that this recipe is most close to the Argentinian empanada, with a slight twist. In addition to butter and flour we add milk and eggs for a creamy, smooth and tender dough. Now keep in mind, there are no hard or fast rules about what goes into a meat pie every family or street vendors pie is known to have it’s own secret ingredient. Now I share my secret, it is the tasty filling of ground meat, onions, tomatoes, parsley, green onions which makes for a flavorful, moist and tender pie.
Now if you’ve baked any kind of pie, you know that the work comes with kneading and creating the dough. All that being said, if you are a lover like I am, then you can make numerous batches of dough and freeze them for future usage. That makes this meal a 30 minute adventure after defrosting. (If you look in my freezer I always have a stack of unbaked pies, my son loves this and makes for a wonderful ‘lunch’ option for him at school).
Watch How To Make It
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African Meat Pie (Beef Empanada)
Ingredients
- 4 cup or (544 g) flour (plus more for dusting)
- 2 tablespoon or (25 g) sugar
- ½ tablespoon or (8.53 g) salt
- 8 ounce or (228 g) butter
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup or (177.75 ml) milk
Meat Filling
- 2 tablespoon or (30 ml) canola oil
- ½ pound or (226.80 g) ground meat
- ½ medium onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (optional)
- ½ cup or (112.5 g) tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon or (6.90 g) smoked paprika
- 2 green onion chopped
- 2 tablespoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- salt to taste
- 2 boil eggs (optional)
Instructions
- In a food processor or by hand, mix together salt, sugar ,butter blend well Add the egg, milk in small amounts, pulse until combined and dough holds together in a soft ball.
- Place the dough on a well floured surface . Divide it into 2 and roll it out .
- Using a large mouth, glass glass or bowl about 4 - 5 " cut out circles by gently pressing on the dough and releasing it, shaping the meat pie dough. Continue cutting out dough until all dough has been cut. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to use.
Make the Meat pie filling
- Add 2 tablespoon of oil to a sauce pan, followed by onions, garlic, chicken bouillon tomato sauce and paprika . Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning, add about ½ cup of water if needed.
- Then, add ground meat and continue cooking for about 10 or more minutes.
- Finally add green onions and parsley, white pepper. Followed by salt to taste Adjust seasonings to taste .
- Remove from stove top and let it cool.
Assembling Meat pie
- Scoop a heaping tablespoon of filling into each circle, top with egg and brush the egg white around half of the circle. Fold over twist and and press with fingers gently to seal the edges of the meat pie.
- Another way of sealing is by pressing the tines of a fork along the edges of the dough.
- Carefully place each meat pie on a baking sheet or you may freeze to use later.
- Set oven temperature to 350 degrees .Bake for about 30 minutes .
Nutrition Information:
isioma says
No need to add baking powder or soda?
ImmaculateBites says
No, no need for that!
ame says
Have you added cheese before?
emmanuel adiukwu says
Hi Imma, Am Emmanuel, nice one, my is question.
Why the PARSLEY?
ImmaculateBites says
It adds flavor.
Garrett says
how much dose it make
ImmaculateBites says
14-16 medium size or 20-25 small meat pies
Jane says
Hi Immaculate,
For the recipe did you use all purpose flour?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes.
Mich says
Best.pies.ever.
ImmaculateBites says
Aww, thanks Mich.
Rosa says
Hello ImmaculateBites, I have being missing out on your great cooking. You are doing a fabulous work. Thank you
Nigerian Food Recipes says
5 stars!
Perry says
Thanks for the recipe.Looks good and will try it soon.How long to bake the pies for? Thanks 🙂
ImmaculateBites says
Bake for about 25-30 minutes
melanie says
can you fry this with oil.Thanks so much
ImmaculateBites says
Melanie, I have never tried frying this meat pie because I feel they will be too oily. You may use this fish roll dough here http://africanbites.com/?p=3377. Just replace the fish with meat. Let me how it works out. Thanks for stopping by!
Funkygreat says
Pls can I make meat pie with stove instead of oven?
idy says
Is the milk powder or liquid milk
Africanbites says
Liquid milk
ola says
Happy New Year!!! I have a questions; if you freeze the dough do you bake them longer or at a higher temperature. Thanks in advance.
Africanbites says
Ola, you bake it longer about but the oven temperature stays the same. Happy new year to you too!
Doreen says
Hi immaculate this is Doreen I love ur site and will definitely try some of the tasty bites.love and may God continue to empower you.
Africanbites says
Thanks Doreen, Wishing you a Happy New year!
Amanda says
I’m excited to make this recipe for my family and a friend who is on bed rest. My only question is what temperature the oven should be?
Africanbites says
Amanda the temperature is 350 degrees, you’re friend would be thrilled with this empanadas .
kelsey says
Hi Imma, I did try the meat pie recipe and it came out good. The only problem I had was to roll the dough, it was kind of a little bit tough to roll so I was straining quite a bit. What could be done to make the dough a little bit softer; maybe to add a little bit of water you think? Thanks a lot.
Africanbites says
Kelsey ,try adding about a 1/4 more of water or milk to the dough. Thanks for the feedback.
kelsey says
I did the meat pie again adding 1/4 cup of milk and it came out super good. No more straining rolling the dough. I believe I made several errors the first time. I realized I did not put enough butter and I did refrigerate the dough before cutting instead of vice versa. Thanks so much Imma, you have made me to be a proud cook serving tasty foods.
kelsey says
Looks yummy, will definitely try this out. I didn’t know I could use food processor to make dough.