There’s much to miss when you leave your homeland & live abroad. The obvious things of course – family, old friends, familiarity &…the food. I miss Australian food A LOT. Aussie meat pies included. On a grey, chilly day nothing beats a hot pie & a cuppa. This is nostalgia: encased in buttery shortcrust pastry, a rich beef filling & a flaky pastry top.
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Requiring a few basic ingredients, these meat pies rely on a good beef filling & excellent pastry. Two pastries – homemade & store-bought. For the base I use hot water pastry because it’s robust enough to contain the beef filling. Yet buttery enough to be short & delicious. Relax, hot water pastry is easy to make, just follow my recipe below & you’ll have success.


The best Aussie meat pies are the ones from bakeries. Good bakeries. Small hole-in-the-wall bakeries. This one tastes true-blue, fair-dinkum, just-like- home to me. I’m certain if I gathered a room full of my fellow countrymen together, we’d each tout different ideas of what makes a meat pie great. This is my version.


Although enjoying these meat pies in my cozy house in the US isn’t quite the same as sitting outside a pie shop on Sydney’s northern beaches, balancing the pie, with its scalding filling on my lap, as I squirt the obligatory ketchup over the top, it does tastes like the real deal. But, if you’ve never been fortunate enough to enjoy a pie in Australia, you’re just going to have to take my word for it. Lovoni xo
Here’s the link for the pie pans I bought from Ace Hardware. Or use disposable ones, just make sure you order the right size (check recipe) – both work.
Aussie Meat Pies
Equipment
- individual pie pans
Ingredients
MEAT FILLING
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 lbs ground beef (80/20) minced beef (907g)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2/3 cup tomato ketchup
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
HOT WATER PASTRY
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, chopped (6oz/170g)
- 1 cup water
- 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour, approximately plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
PUFF PASTRY TOPS
- 1 x 17.3 oz store-bought puffed pastry sheets, thawed according to package directions (490g)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- tomato ketchup, to serve
Instructions
To make the filling:
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Add beef; cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes or until browned.
- Add flour, salt & pepper. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute to cook the flour.
- Stir in broth, ketchup, sauce & tomato paste. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until sauce is thickened; cool.
To make the hot water pastry:
- Place butter & water in a large saucepan over high heat. Cook, stirring until butter is melted. Remove from the heat; gradually stir in flour & salt. Stir until a soft dough forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; gently pressing to form a disc. Cut the dough in half & form two discs.
- Roll out one half disc between 2 layers of floured parchment paper until 1/8 inch (2mm) thick. Cut four, 5 3/4-inch (14.5cm) circles from pastry; set aside. Repeat with remaining pastry half. Line eight, 4 1/2-inch, (about 12cm) lightly greased pie pans with pastry circles, gently pressing the pastry into the pans & onto the rim; set aside.
To make puff pastry tops:
- Place a sheet of pastry on lightly floured surface. Cut four, 5-inch (12.7cm) rounds from pastry; repeat with remaining sheet of pastry.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Divide filling between the pie pans. Brush the edge of the puff pastry rounds with egg. Place, egg side down over filling. Press the pastry edges together with a fork to seal. Brush tops with egg. Cut a slit in top of each pie to allow steam to escape. Place pies on a baking sheet to catch any spillage. Bake on the bottom rack of preheated oven for 35 minutes or until pastry is cooked & golden. Serve with ketchup. Makes 8.
I went to Australia for a couple weeks to play softball the summer I graduated from high school. We were in Sydney and the Gold Coast. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been. I stayed with a host family that took me to a rugby match. While there I got to enjoy the most amazing food truck delicacy. It was love at first bite. Much better than the vegemite they made me try the night before. Lol. From that point on I had to try an Aussie meat pie at every location I could. Now it’s been years since I visited and I have a craving for them again. So glad I was able to find this recipe so I can try to make them for my family to enjoy back home! Thank you!
Having grown up on meat pies, I can tell you these are as close to what I consider an Aussie pie as they could be. I hope you enjoy them.
Cheers,
Lovoni