Nigerian meat pie, one of my favorite hand pie recipes somewhat similar to empanadas can be made with different types of meat. Perfect for sharing.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time50 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr10 minutesmins
Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Brunch, Main Course, Small Chops, Snack
Cuisine: East African, Nigerian
Servings: 12
Calories: 327.6kcal
Author: Ms. Yum
Ingredients
For the filling
1poundground beef(16 ounces or about 454g)
4peeled and diced potatoes
1medium onion sliced
3medium sized carrot diced
1poblano/green pepper diced
1habanero pepper diced (optional)depends on if you want more spice
1tspsalt to taste
1tspchicken or beef bullion
1/2tspcurry
1/2tspdried thyme
1tspcrushed red pepper flakes
3tbspunflavored oil
For the dough
3cupsflour
1stick1/2 cup cubed cold butter
1/2tspsalt
1tspbaking powder
1/4cupicy cold water
1/4cupmilkto glaze the pies.
Instructions
In a hot skillet on medium heat, pour in oil, and saute onions until translucent.
Add chopped vegetables: potatoes, carrots, and peppers, and saute for about 5 minutes.
Toss in seasoning: red pepper flakes, thyme, curry and bullion
Turn up the heat up to high, and add ground meat, stir continuously until the meat is fully cooked (approximately 10 minutes)
Once the meat is cooked, set the filling aside and allow to cool completely before assembling the pies.
Whisk together flour salt and baking powder.
Rub the butter into the flour, with your finger tips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of butter remaining.
Add cold water 1 table spoon at a time and mix with a spatula until pastry is combined and rest in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 375F
Once filling is completely cooled roll out pastry on a clean floured surface to about 1/4th of an inch thickness.
Cut out 6 inch circles with a pastry cutter, and place about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling close to one edge of the pastry circle.
Cover and seal pie. edges with a fork.
Using a pastry brush, brush hand pies with milk and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Allow pies to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
While the lack of eggs definitely reduces the amount of calories in this Nigerian meat pie, I have found that this meat pie recipe can be made even lighter without any compromises in taste by replacing the beef with ground turkey (ground not shredded). Also I recommend using half of the meat and adding more vegetables to the filling if you want to reduce your meat intake, or if you'd like a vegan alternative, try out my Chick-Un Vegan Hand Pies.
Nigerian Meat Pie Calories and Nutrition
The calorie and nutrition breakdown is shown below. Based on the ingredients used in the recipe above with beef filling and with servings up to twelve pieces. Depending on the size of your pie cut outs, you can increase or decrease your serving sizes and of course reduce your salt to reduce the sodium.