Jamaican Beef Patties
Spicy, flavorful Jamaican beef patties deliver a juicy, spicy meat filling stuffed in an easy, buttery dough. They come together quickly and fly off the table even faster. Absolutely delicious comfort food!
Making your own pastry can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s super easy with or without a food processor. Sometimes I use it, and other times I love getting my hands in the dough.
Just so you know, we ate these guys every day while we were in Jamaica, and we even watched them being made. But when replicating them at home, I couldn’t help making a few tweaks with readily available ingredients in my area.
What Makes Them Unique
Have you noticed that almost every culture has its version of a handheld meat pie? Cornish pastries in England, empanadas in Spanish-speaking countries, salteñas in South America, and, in China, xian bing is a flatbread loaded with spicy ground pork.
Jamaicans took this treat to the next level by adding turmeric to the flaky, buttery pastry dough. Their iconic curry spice blend adds loads of flavor and a good amount of heat. That sounds close enough to health food to me.
How to Make Jamaican Beef Patties
- For the filling, sauté the aromatics, add ground beef and break it up, add the bread crumbs, water, and the rest of the seasonings, and simmer.
- For the crust, mix the dry ingredients, grate in the frozen butter, add the vegetable shortening, then the water, and knead until smooth.
- Roll out the dough, add more shortening, fold it over, and roll it out again.
- Add the filling to the dough, brush the seams with an egg wash, fold, cut, brush the finished patties with more egg wash, and bake.
Recipe Tips and Twists
- Personalize your filling with a little tomato paste for extra umami. Grated cheese on top of the filling when assembling wouldn’t hurt either.
- Add more diced veggies to the filling and replace the meat with diced mushrooms for a vegetarian version.
Make-Ahead and Leftovers
Frozen patties make a quick and easy snack; assemble and freeze them on a baking sheet in a single layer. After they freeze for about an hour, store them in a freezer ziplock bag until the craving hits. Bake as many patties as you want directly from frozen in a 375℉ (190℃) oven for about 30 minutes.
Freeze any leftover meat mixture for later, or add it to meat sauces over pasta, soups, and stews.
Leftover patties will stay fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 3-4 months. Crisp them back up in a 350℉ (180℃) oven, air fryer, or toaster oven for about 10 minutes or until heated through. The microwave works, but the crust won’t crisp up.
What to Serve With Jamaican Beef Patties
Turn these treats into a complete meal with a side of coleslaw, fried plantains, and rice and peas. Hot sauce is a must; Caribbean pepper sauce and my favorite hometown pepper sauce are good choices.
More Savory Pie Recipes to Try
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
This blog post was originally published in August 2016 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”Rbin77ml” upload-date=”Mon Aug 06 2018 19:57:54 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Jamaican Meat Pie (Jamaican Beef Patty)” description=”Jamaican Beef Patty – Spicy flavorful beef stuffed in an amazing super easy buttery dough.Comes together quickly and flies off the table. Simply Delicious!!!”]
This blog post was originally published in August 2016 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
Jamaican Beef Patties
Ingredients
Beef Filling
- 1 tablespoons (15ml) cooking oil
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon (3-4g) granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon (3g) paprika
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) allspice
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) curry powder
- 1 teaspoon (2g) dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) white pepper
- 2 teaspoons (5g) chili powder
- 1 teaspoon (4g) chicken bouillon powder (optional, or replace with salt)
- 1 pound (450g) ground beef
- ¼ cup (30g) bread crumbs
- ½ cup (118ml) water
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons (7-8g) parsley, chopped (optional)
- ½ scotch bonnet pepper, chopped (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Dough
- 4 cups (480g) all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
- 2 tablespoons (24g) sugar
- ½ tablespoon (9g) salt
- ½-2 teaspoons (1-6g) turmeric
- 5 ounces (140g) unsalted butter, frozen
- 5 ounces (140g) shortening, very cold
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup (236ml) ice water
- 1 egg, lightly beaten with a tablespoon of water for the egg wash
Instructions
Meat Pie Filling
- Heat the oil in a saucepan or deep skillet. Add the onions, garlic, paprika, allspice, curry powder, thyme, white pepper, chili powder, and chicken bouillon. Sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Add the ground beef, break it up, and cook until no longer pink. Add the breadcrumbs and about ½ cup of water, and simmer until slightly thickened.
- Add the green onions and parsley, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and optionally make the filling smoother with an immersion blender.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool. While it's cooling, make the crust.
The Crust
- Mix flour, sugar, salt, and turmeric in a food processor or by hand, and blend well. Grate in the butter and shortening and mix in until you have coarse crumbs.
- Add the vinegar and water in small amounts, pulse or mix with your hands until combined, and the dough holds together in a ball.
- Place the dough on a well-floured surface. Divide it evenly into two parts and roll them out.
- Arrange six spoonfuls of filling on one side of each piece of dough, brush the seams with the egg wash, fold the other side of the dough over the filling, and cut with a pastry wheel or a sharp knife. If using a knife, crimp the edges with a fork.You could also cut circles out, fill each circle, brush the edges with egg wash, fold, and crimp.
- Refrigerate covered for about 30 minutes or until ready to bake.
- Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190℃).
- Carefully arrange the patties on a baking sheet, brush them with the rest of the egg wash, and bake for about 30 minutes.
- Serve warm, and enjoy!
Tips & Notes:
- Keep your dough as cold as possible for easy shaping and a tender, flaky crust.
- Avoid overworking the dough so the butter doesn’t melt and disappear into the dough.
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Hi Imma, Can you use a Kitchenaid stand mixer paddle and dough hook in lieu of food processor?
That should work just fine. Please let me know how it goes.
I love these. They really bring me back to the island and it’s cooking, and have received many compliments.
One thing I do add is at least a tsp of cumin per pound of beef. Although it says cumin is heavily used in the intro there isn’t any listed in the recipe.
Thank you for catching that. And a special thanks for sharing your experience. ❤️
Going to make these tonight. Any suggestions as to what to make with them?
They go great with Jamaican pigeon peas and rice and Caribbean coleslaw. Please let me know how it went. Thanks:)
Was sure whether to use the whole green onion. I ended up using both, cooking the white part with the rest of the onion and added the green part in at the end with the parsley.
Used the whole habanero the second batch because I could barely taste the pepper.
Drained off some of the access fat from the beef because it hurts my stomach if I eat too many pies.
I think I have missed adding the 1/2 cup of water before because it wasnt listed on the ingredients. Only just now seeing you brush them with egg whites, I will have to try the next batch I make, though I might try the chicken ones next because I think I have already made 5-6 batches of these since I love them so much.
P.S. –
These also taste great with a dash of soy sauce, some msg and a sprinkling of dried fenugreek leaves to enhance the curry powder!
Thank you. I’m so glad you love them. Sorry, the water isn’t in the ingredients because it’s more of an add-it-as-you need-it ingredient. Draining the oil is a great idea, and if you want more heat, you can definitely add all the peppers you want And thanks for the suggestions for more flavor, that sounds delish.
Are you talking about like a seasoning or actual allspice powder that you bake with?
Thank you for catching that, the spelling has been corrected. Sorry about that, spelling is not my forte. It is indeed allspice powder, not all spices.
These are the BOMB.COM!!! Way better than what I would buy here in Maryland from Negril!
Thank you so much. I’m glad you loved them.
This will be my fourth time making them and I got 20 patties plus two pounds ground beef.
Good to know. Thanks for the feedback.
Hi Imma, How many patties does this recipe yield? Thanks!
Hi, Melody. This would yield around 12-16 patties, depending on how big your cutter is.
Thank you! By the way I made the filling multiple times now and it’s delicious!
Great to hear that. Thank you for sharing your words, Much Love. Stay tuned for more amazing recipes.
I had never tried beef patty before. This recipe was delicious and easy to make.
You and your website are wonderful, Imma. I made the Jamaican Beef Patties over the weekend and they were so-o-o delicious. The filling was purr-fect. You are a born instructor. Your step-by-step directions were so easy to follow and the recipe was perfect. This was one recipe on my “bucket list” and “I think I’ve got it!”. Your website is beautiful. The pictures and videos are a real art form. Thank you for all your hard work for your fans. You are “the best from the nest” (an old but true saying). ONE REQUEST – Would you show or tell us how to master that beautiful twist braid on the edge of your patties, That pattern would look really good and professional when I want to bake some off for friends. Thanks again and bless your talented hands and creativity. Keep your great recipes and how-to instructions coming to your fans. We love you – yeah, yeah, yeah. 🙂
Awwww. Thank you for the kind words, Adrian. You had me tearing up a little bit. 🙂 I’ll definitely add that request to my list if we’re to update this blog post. Thanks, again.
Where is the recy
Hi, Val. The recipe card is just right under the video.
How do I make the pastry without a food processor?
You can use a blender instead of a food processor 🙂
How thin should the dough be rolled out?
It can be 1/8″ thick and 1″ wider than the pie plate. 🙂
I made these before but do not remember how thin to roll out dough.
I am going to make these for an upcoming holiday party. I’m curious about the amount this makes. When you say 10 – 12 portions, does this mean 10 – 12 patties in total? I was hoping to make them finger food size and was hoping to get 2 – 3 dozen. Would you suggest double the recipe?
Hi Trish, this recipe ideally serves 10-12 persons. 🙂
Use smaller biscuit cutter 2 – 3 inch sizes maybe 1 teaspoon filling
Hi, I am used to using suet in my pastry for these patties but suet is not always easy finding in the supermarkets so I am coming here for your recipe! I have made these patties once before and everyone loved them! Now I am making more so I can freeze some for a special occasion :-))
Thanks again Imma for keeping this recipe up! I printed a copy just so I don’t lose such a great recipe!
Hi Steve! Happy to know that you liked this recipe!
One of the best tasting things I’ve ever made! I omitted the parsley and bread crumbs because I didn’t have them and added a bit of Jamaican jerk seasoning, and it turned out amazing. Ate with a little dab of tart and tangy pomegranate molasses and the flavor combo was divine but the meat pie was perfect without it! Thank you, this is a keeper!
You are welcome Stef! I am so happy you liked it! 🙂
Question about the step 14 -“Freeze to bake later.” Would it be best to bake completely and then freeze for later use, or freeze with raw dough and go from there? Thinking about making ahead to bring for Thanksgiving where oven time is a hot commodity.
Hi J, either way will work. Since it’s not a yeast dough, it doesn’t have to rise. So you can freeze it before.
I veganized these yesterday using lentils and some “beefy” seasonings in place of ground beef, and they were SO good!! The spicing of the filling was so delicious, thank you so much!
Yum! Thank you, Julia! 🙂
I tried it but crust was not flaky
Need help.with crust prep
Hello Estellita! In making the dough, first make sure that the butter and shortening are well incorporated with the flour then add vinegar and ice cold water and continue mixing until it forms into a ball. Second, Also make sure to not over-work the dough (prevent the butter and shortening to melt). Lastly, make sure that you’ve refrigerated the dough for 30 minutes before filling and baking them. The secret is to make the butter and shortening do their work during baking, this is when the fat melts away creating air pockets which will result to a flaky crust. Let me know how it goes 🙂 Enjoy!
Freeze short and make sure water is very cold!!!
Thanks for sharing, Kate!