African Meat Pies (Beef Empanada)
African meat pies (beef empanadas) are slightly sweet, flaky, and crusty with a succulently savory beef filling. They come together quickly and fly off the table. Simply delicious!!
Don’t you think there’s something irresistible about spicy minced meat stuffed in a crunchy shortcrust pastry? I do. So far, everyone I’ve had the pleasure of encountering has whispered ever so diligently a secret passion for a hot, filled, crusty, hand-held pie loaded with all of your secret pleasures. Mmmmm hmmm! So good.
Believe me when I say it tastes divine. The joy of this recipe is the variety of versatile fillings around the world. Meat pies are an ethnic success that can turn any novice chef into a sought-after caterer! Trust me. With the flaky, crispy, savory crust coupled with sweet, succulent spices, count me in.
My love for meat pies means you better believe I’m always looking for alternate recipes. The best ones all have the same traits.
What Makes an Empanada Great
The melt-in-your-mouth flaky crust is essential. Admittedly, I have nibbled on the pie crust and thrown away the pie filling. For me, the crust rules!
Now, let’s talk about what makes these meat pies different. First, empanada lovers, you won’t be disappointed. Out of all the recipes I’ve sampled, this recipe is closest to the Argentine empanada, but with a slight twist. In addition to the traditional butter and flour, we add milk and eggs for a smooth and tender dough.
Keep in mind that there are no hard or fast rules about what goes in the filling. Every family and street vendor has their own secret ingredient. Now I share my secret: it’s the tasty filling of ground meat, onions, tomatoes, parsley, and green onions, which makes for a flavorful, moist, and tender pie.
How to Make African Meat Pies
Pie Dough
- Dough – In a food processor or by hand, mix the salt, sugar, and butter, and blend well. Add the egg and milk in small amounts, pulsing until combined and the dough holds together in a soft ball. (Photos 1-5)
- Roll – Place the dough on a well-floured surface. Divide it in half and roll one half out. (Photo 6)
- Cut – Using a large mouth glass or bowl (4-5 inches), cut circles out by gently pressing down on the dough and releasing it, shaping the meat pie dough. Continue cutting out the circles until the dough is used up. Repeat with the other half. (Photo 7)
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to use. (Photo 8)
Meat Filling
- Flavor – Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil into a saucepan, then follow with the onions, garlic, chicken bouillon, tomato sauce, and paprika. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Add about ½ cup of water if needed. (Photo 9)
- Meat – Then, add ground meat and continue cooking for 10 or more minutes. (Photo 10)
- Adjust – Finally, add the green onions, parsley, white pepper, and salt to taste. Taste it and adjust seasonings to taste. Remove it from the stovetop and let it cool. (Photo 11)
- Assembly – Scoop a heaping tablespoon of filling into each circle, top with a slice of boiled egg, and brush egg white around half of the circle. Fold over, twist, and press with your fingers gently to seal the edges. (Another way of sealing is by pressing the tines of a fork along the edges of the dough.) (Photos 12-14)
- Bake – Carefully place each meat pie on a baking sheet or freeze them for later. Set oven temperature to 350℉ (178 ℃), and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. (Photo 14)
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure to cook the filling until it’s not quite dry, but not too juicy either. You don’t want soggy meat pies. Breadcrumbs will soak up excess liquid in an emergency.
- Shredded cheese is fantastic in the filling. Stir it in after the filling cools and before assembling.
- A friend told me she replaced the meat with minced mushrooms and used vegetable broth instead of the chicken for a vegetarian version. She saved me one, and it was fabulous.
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
If you’ve baked pies, you know the work involved with kneading and rolling the dough. That said, you can make a double or triple batch of dough and freeze it for future usage. That makes this meal a 30-minute adventure after defrosting. If you look in my freezer, you’ll see a stack of unbaked pies, and my son loves coming home from school and popping one in the oven or air fryer.
What to Enjoy Beef Empanadas With
These guys go great with African pepper sauce, Caribbean coleslaw, and pickled onions (resurrecting post), which are classic sides.
More Delicious Meat Pies to Try
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in July 2013 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
African Meat Pies (Beef Empanada)
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
- 4 cups (480g) flour (plus more for dusting)
- 2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
- ½ tablespoon (9g) salt
- 8 ounces (227g) butter
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup (178ml) milk
Meat Filling
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) canola oil
- ½ pound (225g) ground beef
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon (3g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon (3g) chicken bouillon powder (optional)
- ½ cup (112-113g) tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon (7g) smoked paprika
- 2 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons (7-8g) parsley
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) white pepper
- salt to taste
- 2 boiled eggs (optional)
Instructions
Pie Dough
- In a food processor or by hand, mix the salt, sugar, and butter, and blend well. Add the egg and milk in small amounts, pulsing until combined and the dough holds together in a soft ball.
- Place the dough on a well-floured surface. Divide it in half and roll one half out.
- Using a large mouth glass or bowl (4-5 inches), cut circles out by gently pressing down on the dough and releasing it, shaping the meat pie dough. Continue cutting out the circles until the dough is used up. Repeat with the other half. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until ready to use.
Meat Pie Filling
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil into a saucepan, then follow with the onions, garlic, chicken bouillon, tomato sauce, and paprika. 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 10 or more minutes.
- Finally, add the green onions, parsley, white pepper, and salt to taste. Taste it and adjust seasonings to taste. Remove it from the stovetop and let it cool.
- Scoop a heaping tablespoon of filling into each circle, top with a slice of boiled egg, and brush egg white around half of the circle. Fold over, twist, and press with your fingers gently to seal the edges.
- 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 freeze them for later.
- Set oven temperature to 350℉ (178℃), and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Tips & Notes:
- You can take a shortcut by buying premade pastry crusts. No judgment here.
- Making the filling the day before lets the flavors develop.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Hi! Your recipe sounds yum! When you freeze the uncooked pies, do you defrost before baking or bake from frozen. If you defrost before baking, for how long? And if you bake from frozen, how long do you bake for and at what temperature? Sorry for bombarding you with all these questions . I look forward to your response. Thanks in advance!
Hi Lola,
No worries about the questions. I usually bake from frozen and add about 6 or more minutes . You might have to add more minutes , use your best judgement , until it is cooked through.
Thanks!
Hi Imma,
This was my first time making these pies in my life. They turned good. I followed everything to the T. I don’t have a food processor, l used the bread maker instead to mix the ingredients.
The only concern l have is that my crust was a bit hard instead of soft and flaky. I am wondering what lncan next time l try to make this again? Appreciate your feedback.
Sorry to hear about this .Do not over-mix. Using a bread dough would make it tougher. It’s best to use your hands instead – add about 1/4 cup milk to mixture . Hope this helps
Hi how i can bake it on jiko i don’t have oven.
Sorry, I don’t know what jiko is.
To use a jiko, use big sufuria. Place the meat pies on metal plate in the sufuria. Put some hot ash and some of the charcoal on top to keep the heat going above and below. If you Google baking with a jiko you should find steps esp on youtube
Hello there!
I tried searching in the directions for what setting you set the oven to in order to bake the meat pies and I did not see it. and for how long?
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until slightly brown . Thanks
Hi I may, this particular delicacy is capable of controlling my mind and make me ‘sleep walk’ to the kitchen should there be any in the fridge. When I was growing up in Kumba [a town in my country] I use to steal money from my dad’s suit pocket to buy this the next day at school. Anyway, my question is; the tomato sauce you mentioned, is it precooked or what. Thanks
I feel you! I used to buy this every after school back home. 🙂 As for the tomato sauce, please use the canned ones. You can usually buy those at the groceries.
Hey there. This is a great dough. I love meet pies too. Have you heard of chef Pierre thiam from Senegal… in one of his cookbooks he has a recipe for this amazing fish pastel. Also has a pepper or pepe soup recipe that uses a cassava broth. It’s soo good fiery with fish and lime juice and maybe some bay leaf. It is a cousin of Bahia shrimp bobo
Thanks ! Yes, I have . I believe I do have one of his cookbooks. Might have to look for the fish pastel and the pepper soup- cause it sounds delicious.
Hello do you think using flaky biscuit dough would work in the place of making the dough from scratch?
I can’t say for sure . I have not used pre made biscuit dough for this recipe. If you do, please let me know how it works out for you. Thanks!
Thanks for your response! Based on all the awesome comments I think I will follow your recipe. Have a great day 🙂
My boyfriend was surprised I made these and he likes them practice makes perfect thank you so much
Agree! Glad to hear it worked out well for you.
My boyfriend’s from togo I am trying different dishes I think he’s gonna love this one I sure do.
He sure would! It’s always a crowd favorite.Happy Cooking!!!
Imma, I’ve been playing around with empanadas and looking for the dough that would give me a flakey fried pie. I found your recipe but you said you had not tried frying because you felt they would be to greasy like my fried pies were turning out. A friend told me the reason they were turning out greasy was because my grease was not hot enough. I had not fried any using your dough only baked as you suggested. I ran the temp on my deep fryer up to 400 degrees and fried a pie made with your dough for 2 minutes. What I ended up with was to me the perfect (not greasy) very flakey pie. I smoke a beef or pork roast 2 or three times each month year round. I use the smoked meat for my filling. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you so much Ruben. Appreciate you taking the time to share this with us. Am definitely going to fry these empanadas – next time I make it . You rock!!!
Hello imma can I freeze the meat pies for some time before using them? Is it going to taste the same? Thanks
Hi Agnes! You sure can. I do it all the time – make sure you wrap tightly and place in a ziplock bag.
Hi Imma,
Going to try this recipe this christmas. I have a question.
Would you call the dough a shortcrust pastry? Or ts jes a variation that tastes like shortcrust pastry?
Hi Toke! Just a variation that tastes like a short crust pastry. Merry Christmas !!!!
OMG this recipe of yours is the bomb.com
My pies came out incredible and sooo crispy.
Damn! they were so good. Thank you so much for helping me have a taste of home again.
My pleasure! Glad to hear it brought back fond memories.
Hi there. I want to ask, when making the dough, do you add softened (room temperature butter) to the food processor to blend?
I know typically to make a flaky crust, one adds very cold cubed butter and pulses it with flour in the food processor. So I am wondering if this is the same method or different? I actually made your Jamaican beef patties the other night, which were delicious by the way. It was very flaky. But I am curious though to try this other kind of dough and wondering if it might yield a softer dough (which I would tend to prefer over the very flaky and crispy dough for this kind of meat pie). Thank you.
Yes I do, and it does make for a slightly soft dough. Although hardly noticeable to some . If you do give it a try let me know how you like it .Thanks!
Imma thank you for your good teaching, may God Almighty bless you,
Please were can i buy oven am going to use, am a newbie i want to give it a try
Pls i want you to recomend the oven to use and were to buy it,
Thanks Ma.
Where are you located chibuike?
Pls i want to learn how to make roses. Cake decora tions .nd icing
Sorry I don’t do cake decorations ! Maybe sometime in the future.
Please dear, I need to know if I’m to rub egg on the folded meat pie with brush, and the baking pan am I to rub oil and flour on the baking pan. Thanks alot madam
Yes . On the baking pan just brush with a little bit of oil . I used oil spray.
I want to like this recipe, but the layout of the directions and ingredients is horrid. It says one egg, but then add EGGS to the flour. Which is right? One or two? It never says what to do with the smoked paprika. Boullion goes in early, but is way down the list of ingredients, which usually go in order. Flour is never mentioned in the directions.
I have made two rounds of dough, wasting the first batch, and now I don’t even know if the second batch will work, with two eggs in it, per directions, instead of 1, in list of ingredients. I probably have wasted another cup of butter and now 8 cups of flour.
So sorry to hear about this. I have updated the instructions and ingredients to make it more clearer.
Thnx ma’am, i appreciate, and i just learnt a new recipe for meatpie.
Hi Imma,
Your recipe for the meat pies sound amazing. What type of tomato sauce do you use? Is it tinned tomatoes, passata or your own special recipe?
It’s tinned tomatoes . Use your favorite kind.
Great, thanks.
Hey, can I use water instead of milk? Same quantity? 3/4 cup? Thank you
You sure can.