A tried and true Australian meat pie that will make you want to visit the Land from Down Under! With a buttery and flaky crust made from frozen puff pastry, this pie is sure to please!
In 2008, I had the good fortune of traveling to New Zealand and Australia for vacation. My husband and I were still fairly newly married at the time and wanted to travel to the other side of the world to to explore. Luckily for me, I had an aunt and uncle that lived in New Zealand, so we were able to stay with them for a few days and let them be our tour guide during our visit.
Before we visited New Zealand, we toured Australia for a week. We spent about 4 days in Sydney and another 2 days in Port Douglas. The highlights of our Australian adventure were climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, hugging koalas in New South Wales and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.
One of the quintessential foods in Australia are meat pies (next to Vegemite and Marmite). Ironically, we did not have any meat pies in Australia but did have plenty of them in New Zealand. The ones we tried were individual sized and filled with various meats. I especially enjoyed meat pies made of lamb and venison, but the one I’m making here today is made from ground beef.
I don’t know why it took me 10 years to finally muster up the courage to recreate the Australian meat pie, but here I am. This version uses frozen puff pastry for the top and bottom of the pie for a buttery crust. The filling is nice and thick and will not run when sliced into. I’d recommend adding in some sautéed mushrooms as well for a different textural contrast but loved it otherwise.
My husband gave the pie a two thumbs up, and my 8-year old daughter approved as well. Hope you enjoy these!
Australian meat pie
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef I used ground meatloaf mix from the grocery store
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 cup water divided
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- Ground pepper for taste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 puff pastry sheets thawed
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Generously grease a standard 10" deep dish pie plate and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, brown the meat and onion. Drain off the fat.
- Add 3/4 cup of the water, beef bouillon cubes, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, oregano and nutmeg. Bring the mixture to boil, turn the heat down to medium low and cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Mix the remaining 1/4 cup of water with the flour until a smooth slurry forms. Transfer this to the saucepan and mix well until the meat mixture is thick.
- Roll out one of the puff pastry sheets and line the bottom of the pie pan. Add the meat mixture on top. Roll out the final puff pastry sheet and cover the meat mixture. Trim the edges, pinch it together with the bottom puff pasty sheet and make a few slices on the top with a paring knife.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 15 minutes. Without turning off or opening the oven, turn it down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until the top turns golden brown.
- Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving.