Secrets to a Stable and Flaky Meat Pie Crust

March 16, 2017 (Last Updated: August 10, 2020)

After countless trials, I can finally present to you the best, fail-proof secrets to a stable yet flaky meat pie crust that will elevate any meat pie recipe!

cross section of a stable and flaky meat pie

I don’t know about you guys, but I am often very disappointed with the meat pie offerings at many of our African parties or weddings.  Eagerly anticipating the promise of various finger foods or “small chops” as we call them, I quickly spot the meat pie stash on a tray and proceed to grab one with the promise of the savory meaty goodness, only to bite into a mediocre filling and bready crust. Since my last meat pie recipe (which I admit was a bit standard… still great, but not a knock out), I have been toiling in the kitchen to achieve the best fail-proof meat pie recipe with the most delicate, flaky meat pie crust which still stays whole and stable in your hand. My personal requirements for perfection are:

  • A stable meat pie crust. I have no problems with flaky crusts especially since I am used to making flaky puff pastry, but I need the crust to be more stable. Regular puff pastry would be too delicate for this recipe most of the time.
  • Flaky meat pie crust. I also need the crust to be light and airy. I love meat pies, but tough dough pies are not my speed.
close up of meat pies on a pan

How to Accomplish that Flaky Meat Pie Crust?

You will need all-purpose flour, bread flour 1 ½ sticks or 12 tbsp of unsalted cold butter (cut into chunks), 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 15-20 tablespoons of ice cold water.

Mix ingredients with cold butter

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, and gently cut in the cold butter chunks with a pastry blender, fork, knife or your good-ole fingers. A key part of accomplishing this process is the mix of all purpose flour and bread flour!The bread flour adds more structure to the dough and the all purpose flour keeps it light. The texture should not resemble that of bread crumbs! It should have pieces of butter range in sizes, between a pea and a grape.

Slowly add cold water

Add the cold water a tablespoon at a time, while mixing with a wooden spoon to bring the dough together. Add water until the dough comes together, be sure not to add too much water at once. You must use ice-cold water!

Bind dough and refrigerate

Bring the dough together on a floured surface and rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Make sure the dough is wrapped  or covered whilst in the refrigerator.

Fold dough in thirds

On a floured surface, roll the dough in a rough rectangle in one direction. Fold the top third down to the center (from the short end of the dough rectangle), then the bottom third up and over that (think about folding it in thirds like folding a letter). Wrap the dough again and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, repeat step 4 rolling out the dough (short side facing you) into a rectangle and folding like a letter. This repetition creates the famous puff pastry layers and flakiness, without having to go through the technical process of laminating the dough.

Divide dough into circles for filling

After the dough has rested for thirty minutes, cut the dough into 12 even pieces without disturbing the layers as much as possible. Roll out each piece into rough circles and stuff with the filling.

meat pie dough cut into even pieces
flattening and filling the meat pie dough

Note: Make sure the dough is cold every time you are rolling it out. If the butter in the dough begins to soften/ melt, STOP, and place in the refrigerator until the butter is solid enough to handle

Notice the layers. There should be layers! Please and Thank you!

flaky meat pies ready to serve

Any meat pie recipe using this method should produce the most stable and flaky meat pie crust guaranteed (No money back sorry…it’s free)! Let me know how it goes in the comments below!

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Print Recipe
4.60 from 5 votes

Recipe for a Stable and Flaky Meat Pie Crust

After countless trials, I can finally present to you the best, fail-proof secrets to a stable yet flaky meat pie crust that will elevate any meat pie recipe
Prep Time4 hours
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time5 hours
Course: Snack
Cuisine: British, Global, Nigerian
Servings: 12
Author: Yummy Medley

Ingredients

  • 175 g All-purpose flour
  • 175 g bread flour
  • 12 tbsp unsalted cold butter (1 ½ sticks or ¾ cups or 170g)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 15-20 tbsp ice cold water

Instructions

  • In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, and gently cut in the cold butter chunks with a pastry blender, fork or knife 
  • Add ice cold water a tablespoon at a time, while mixing with a wooden spoon to bring the dough together. Be sure not to add too much water at once.
  • Bring the dough together on a floured surface.
  • Wrap or cover the dough and rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. 
  • On a floured surface, roll the dough in a rough rectangle in one direction
  • Set aside and allow to cool completely before filling into the pastry.
  • Fold the short end of the rectangular dough top third down to the center then the bottom third up and over that (think about folding it in thirds, like you would a letter)
  • Wrap the dough again and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes
  • After 30 minutes, repeat step the prior folding step after rolling out the dough (short side facing you) into a rectangle and folding like a letter to create flaky pastry layers.
  • After the dough has rested for 30 minutes, cut the dough into 12 even pieces without disturbing the layers as much as possible.
  • Roll out each piece into rough circles and stuff with the filling.

Notes

Do not use only all purpose flour or only bread flour, make sure you use a mix of both. The bread flour adds more structure to the dough and the all purpose flour keeps it light.

27 Comments

  • Reply
    Gifted hands
    March 17, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    This looks so delicious! I will definitely try this

    • Reply
      Ms. Yum
      March 28, 2017 at 10:22 am

      Hello gifted hands, let me know how it turns out!

    • Reply
      T Bech
      February 2, 2021 at 2:14 pm

      5 stars
      Amazing layered pastry… it was a hit with the whole family. I made meat pies, sausage rolls and even a few sweet treats with an apple filling. For the sweet ones I sprinkle a touch of super fine sugar after the egg wash. This is so delicious! Thank you for the great job in tweaking a meat pie recipe and for the explanations on always keeping it cold while folding and rolling. I had to do some extra chilling time my second time making this recipe because of a warm kitchen and it was well worth the wait! Definitely my go to recipe foe this type of pastry!

  • Reply
    Sneha
    March 27, 2017 at 11:40 pm

    This looks amazing! I’m not exactly a chef, but I will give this a try. 😉

    • Reply
      Ms. Yum
      March 28, 2017 at 10:21 am

      Hi Sneha!!!! Let me know how it turns out. I want to see pictures too.

  • Reply
    Amy
    December 13, 2017 at 4:14 pm

    4 stars
    Yasssssss! Finally someone who cares about the crust as much as I do *sigh*. So it’s the combination of both types of flour that is the secret? In England we have specific ‘bread’ flour and also plain flour, as well as the self- raising, so which of the first two would I use?

    • Reply
      Lois
      December 14, 2017 at 11:02 am

      Yay to crust lovers! I would use plain and bread flour. Do not use self raising flour since you will be adding baking powder to it yourself

  • Reply
    Charles DesRoches
    December 18, 2017 at 10:05 am

    As a baker, I am very particular about my crusts. I am making French Acadian meat pie which has been a family tradition for
    Christmas, each year. I add about a tablespoon of the juice to the pastry crust. This gives flavour and adds a little more fat for a nice texture. Merry and a Holy Christmas to you all.

    • Reply
      Lois. O
      December 19, 2017 at 6:29 am

      That is quite an interesting tip Charles. I will be sure to try it out when next I make pies. Do you add the juice in warm or cold? And if you add it in warm, does it affect the texture of your pie crust?

  • Reply
    Karrla
    January 31, 2018 at 12:05 am

    I have only made a pie once. Im a cake person. Just a couple of questions in the directions if someone could help with. 1. Folding the rectangle i got but what is meant by the short end? 2. Can you use a mixer or better by hand? 3. Can you do this recipe with a regular pie plate or only recommended for the small napkin style? Thanks for help. Excited to try this looks great.

  • Reply
    Ngozi Stewart
    July 5, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    Can I leave the pastry for more than 3 hour before baking

    • Reply
      Lois. O
      July 6, 2018 at 8:34 am

      Hello Ngozi! Yes you may leave the dough resting in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Just make sure that it is completely covered. It may be a little tough to roll out if it has been in the fridge for that long since the butter fat would have hardened, but you can always let it sit out for 15 minutes or so to soften just a little. I hope that helps!

      • Reply
        Grace
        January 25, 2019 at 6:55 am

        Can I do it without pouting it in the fridge?

        • Reply
          Lois
          January 25, 2019 at 5:34 pm

          If you want the dough to come out flaky you would need to put the dough in the fridge for the full time. If you omit it, it will still be good, but it won’t be flaky.

  • Reply
    Mora
    August 23, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    this is quite tasty

    • Reply
      Lois
      September 4, 2018 at 10:35 am

      I am glad you like it Mora!

  • Reply
    Lucky
    October 30, 2018 at 2:24 pm

    Delicious and easy to make . Thanks for your help.

    • Reply
      Lois
      October 30, 2018 at 4:47 pm

      You are very welcome Lucky!

  • Reply
    Abigail
    June 16, 2019 at 1:57 pm

    Pls must I combine flour, secondly what if I use magarine to replace the butter

    • Reply
      Lois
      June 24, 2019 at 10:07 am

      Hey Abigail! When I say combine the flour… I mean mix the flour, baking powder and the other ingredients listed in the instruction. Also I don’t think margarine will give you the type of crust we are going for in this recipe, but it will certainly work. The crust might nit come out quite as flaky though. Hope that helps.

  • Reply
    Dorcas odeleye
    July 17, 2019 at 6:52 am

    Thanks for the recipe. But please how can I achieve the very brown look on the pastry. I tried with the eggwash but it wasn’t brown enough.

    • Reply
      Lois
      August 5, 2019 at 7:14 am

      Hi Dorcas! why dont you try turning up the temperature in your oven by a couple of degrees. your oven might not be getting as hot as you think.

  • Reply
    John
    August 6, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    Baking time? Temperature in F?

  • Reply
    GD
    August 9, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    Excuse me! Why does it say 1 175g of bread flour? That makes the pies taste awful! If it’s a mistake. Then please change it!

  • Reply
    Mrs Tahir
    December 29, 2020 at 4:59 am

    4 stars
    Excellent

  • Reply
    Aisha Kabir kupa
    January 3, 2022 at 4:56 pm

    5 stars
    I’ve never made such a wonderful meatpie dough ever. Amazing…… Thank u for this wonderful recipe

  • Reply
    Erinn
    January 26, 2023 at 10:28 pm

    5 stars
    This is AWESOME! I make Natchitoches meat pies from time to time, but I have never been satisfied with the crust (I’ve used several recipes). Although most recipes call for more of a “short crust” / pie crust, I wanted something flaky. This was just perfect. I made only a small adjustment: I added about 3/4 t. of salt, and reduced the sugar to 1 t. It’s a bit labor intensive, but I spread out the folding over the course of the afternoon, so it was done in short bursts. This dough is really easy to work with — it holds up to the filling and the crimping, it seals well, and I had absolutely no leaking. I baked my pies at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. With the egg wash, they were beautiful, and my family raved! Thank you for an excellent recipe.

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