Meat pie recipe — traditional dish from Australia

Name: Meat pie
Prep time: 103 min
Cook time: 207 min
Total time: 310 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Australia
Ingredients: 3 shortcrust pastry; 3 puff pastry; 1250 g beef chuck; 5 tbsp flour; 315 ml beef stock; 750 ml red wine; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tsp worcestershire sauce; 1 onion; 4 clove garlic; 2 bay leaves; 1 egg

A hand-sized pie with a shortcrust base and a puff pastry lid, filled with beef in gravy thick enough to hold its shape when you bite it.

How to make Meat pie

Cut 1.25 kg beef chuck into 2.5 cm cubes, season with salt and pepper and brown them in batches in 3 tablespoons of oil.

Add 1 diced onion and 4 minced garlic cloves for 3 minutes, then scatter over 5 tablespoons of flour and stir 1 minute; that flour is what turns the juices into gravy instead of soup.

Pour in 750 ml beef stock and 750 ml red wine, add 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons coarse black pepper and 2 bay leaves.

Cover and simmer 2 hours until the beef falls apart, then uncover for 30 minutes until the gravy holds a trail behind a spoon.

Cool the filling completely, ideally in the fridge; warm filling melts the pastry base.

Line six 10 cm pie tins with shortcrust pastry, fill them, and cap each with a puff pastry disc, pressing the edges to seal.

Brush the tops with beaten egg and bake at 200 °C for 25-30 minutes until puffed and deep gold.

Eat them hot in the hand with tomato sauce squeezed over the top.

What is Meat pie?

Meat pie is a traditional dish from Australia, simmered in one pot, and takes about 5 hours and 10 minutes from start to finish. It is built around beef chuck, red wine and beef stock. The recipe below uses 12 ingredients and is written out step by step.

How long does Meat pie take?

At 310 minutes it is slower than 78% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 7 dishes built on beef chuck. The method runs to 8 steps, the longest being 30 minutes.

Any tips for making Meat pie?

Cool the filling completely before it goes into the tins, ideally in the fridge: a warm filling melts the pastry base.

How Meat pie compares

Hard to find elsewhere: shortcrust pastry (1) and puff pastry (2).

Copper documents Australia alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.