Irish Beef Hand Pies

Rating: 3.29 stars
191 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 28
  • 4 star values: 49
  • 3 star values: 70
  • 2 star values: 37
  • 1 star values: 6

This St. Patrick's Day, tuck the makings of traditional beef-and-potato stew into flaky hand pies you can bake straight from the freezer.

Everyday Food, March 2009

Gallery

Read the full recipe after the video.

Recipe Summary

prep:
15 mins
total:
1 hr
Yield:
Makes 8
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium; add cabbage and potatoes. Cook until beginning to brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Add beef; cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, and 1 cup water. Cover, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Lightly mash mixture with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool completely.

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  • On a lightly floured work surface, roll each crust into a 14-inch square; cut each into 4 equal squares. Place 1/2 cup filling on one half of each square, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the filling. Brush borders with water; fold dough over filling to enclose. Crimp edges with a fork to seal. With a paring knife or scissors, cut 3 small vents in each.

  • Transfer pies to 2 foil-lined rimmed baking sheets; bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.

  • To Bake from Frozen: Proceed with step 3, increasing baking time to 28 to 30 minutes.

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Reviews (36)

191 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 28
  • 4 star values: 49
  • 3 star values: 70
  • 2 star values: 37
  • 1 star values: 6
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/22/2012
I agree with some of the others that in looking at the ingredients can be for a bland pie and that this is traditional Irish. But, I like more flavor in my food. I added onion, corn, garlic, carrots, smoked paprika, celery seed and it was fantastic! I used a frozen pie crust, top and bottom and baked a delicious pie. I'll definately be making this again.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
10/10/2011
These were incredible!! :-D I added onion & celery seed. They were perfect!
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
04/12/2011
I'm making the pies for the second time. They're GREAT. I've modified the filling and created Canadian meat (hand) pies by eliminating the tomato and adding beef broth, tiny chunks of carrots and allspice. My family LOVES them!
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Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/21/2011
and the frozen pie crusts I used just turned out like moist dough, not flaky. Not sure what I did wrong, but I made a double batch so now I'm stuck with it! Disappointed. :)
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/21/2011
Sorry, but this recipe didn't really work for me. I wasn't crazy about the filling
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/08/2011
I used puff pastry for the crust (much easier) and fresh thyme, it was quite good! If you're going through the effort to make, I'd suggest, double up and put half in the freezer, great last minute dinner or lunch.
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Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
05/31/2010
The dough seems to soak up most of the savory flavor in the filling. We tripled the amount of Worcestershire sauce. The filling was delicious before being put in the pies. After being put in the pies, it was just sort of bland.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
04/09/2010
What do you think of using left over corned beef instead of the ground beef?
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/23/2010
My husband said this was just okay, nothing too great. But it was fairly easy, and my little guy ate it up!!
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/18/2010
Runza's are of German origin. People of German decent all over the world make these! Runza's are made of beef (leftover roast that is diced or ground beef) cabbage and onion salt and pepper, wrapped in a potato yeast dough. Quite different than the Irish Hand Pie. Both items are very tasty.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2010
mmm it looks very delicious, I will immediately try to cook it when I'll be at home )))) Thanks )))))
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2010
mmm it looks very delicious, I will immediately try to cook it when I'll be at home )))) Thanks )))))
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2010
Growing up, we would have called these pasties. Traditionally they're made with pastry dough, but my mom made them with puff pastry for convenience. Ours (the English version) had peas instead of cabbage, and lots of pepper.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2010
I think this sounds good for left over stews and some casseroles, it would give it a different look for the family. Yummy!
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2010
Has anyone tried with puffed pastry?
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2010
Has anyone tried with puffed pastry?
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2010
Sound very much like Runza's, my Husker husband's favorite fast food which no one outside of the Lincoln Nebraska area has ever heard of. I'll add a bit of onion to make it more like the real thing.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/21/2009
What would you serve with this?
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/18/2009
Dian-This is the traditional crust but you might want to look up Martha's recipe for an Empanada crust. You might like it better and it isn't as heavy as pizza dough which would be more like a calzone.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/18/2009
This was very good, I screwed up the pastry (I tried to make my own and I let my 7 year old knead it too long) but the filling was terrific. The only modification I made was to add half an onion to the first step and a minced garlic clove. Had I made a better pastry this would have been much better but even so the filling was very good. I will make this again.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/18/2009
I didn't care for this recipe because of the pastry. I think I would have liked it better if the bread had been more of a pizza crust. The pastry did not fit with the filling.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2009
I loved the recipe, and yes, I made a few changes: I replaced the water with Kelly's Irish Hard Cider (plus some stock); I also used fresh thyme because I didn't have dried. I added it after the filling was off the burner, and I think it could have used more. Also, I used (gasp!) canned diced potatoes to save time; I think fresh would be much better, but the canned seemed to work just fine. This is very much like an Irish sloppy joe, but in pie form. (and with cabbage and potatoes.)
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2009
I'll try that again: Interesting to see this labeled bland by someone who added "onion, garlic, carrots, and extra spices." (perhaps the wrong extra spices were added? in which case, that's not the fault of the recipe but the cook.) Please note: these are IRISH meat pies, not Jamaican or Indian, so you'll be disappointed if you're expecting spicy or strong flavors. (If you were, you probably have never had Irish food before.) This is a classic meat and potatoes recipe - very authentic.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2009
Interesting to see people labeling this bland; especially those who added "onion, garlic, carrots,
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2009
This was so good. Took a bit more time than anticipated. After reading some comments below I added two choped garlic cloves, a yellow onion, peas, more worcestershire and cut back on the thyme. I also served it with a little brown gravy. AWESOME!!! Crusts were hard to roll into 14 in squares, but other than that I would totally make it again!
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2009
A ton of work and bland, even with onion, garlic, carrots, and extra spices. It took a lot of time, and the results just were not worth it.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/17/2009
This is a very easy and quite good recipe. Being who I am, I had to embellish a bit. I added a couple of cloves of garlic diced, and used olive oil rather than vegetable oil. Thanks Martha, another outstanding recipe. Thanks ladies for some of your ideas for the next time. Jim Hawes Oakland, Iowa
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/16/2009
So Yummy! I only made one alteration. When the water had cooked down Ithought it needed a little extra flavor. I added 1 cup of beer and let it simmer down. Very good!
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/14/2009
I thought these were quite tasty, even with store bought pie crust. I think the thyme flavor was overpowering, but probably authentic. It made me realize how many variations on this I can create. Next time I will definitely add chopped onions and carrots and garlic to the mixture, and perhaps some shredded cheese. I couldn't help thinking this would taste good with a side of brown gravy to dip or pour on top of. Very easy and inspiring recipe! Thanks!
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/14/2009
I determined by the ingredients that this would be rather bland, perhaps authentic, but we would need more flavor. I did not have time to go to the store so I customized this recipe with what I had at home. Spinach instead of Cabbage. Russets instead of red potatoes. Oregano instead of thyme. I added sauteed garlic, onion, kosher salt/pepper. Red bell pepper. It was great!
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/12/2009
I made these upyesterday with a few adjustments-thenks to all your comments on how *bland* they were..I used shredded corned beef instead of the serloin and increased the spices a bit and wrapped them up in rolled out pizza dough from my local pizzaeria..the test comes this Saturday night at our St. Pattys Day party..woo hoo.. thanks everyone! Top of the mornin' to ya...
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/12/2009
I made these upyesterday with a few adjustments-thenks to all your comments on how *bland* they were..I used shredded corned beef instead of the serloin and increased the spices a bit and wrapped them up in rolled out pizza dough from my local pizzaeria..the test comes this Saturday night at our St. Pattys Day party..woo hoo.. thanks everyone! Top of the mornin' to ya...
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/11/2009
I agree that the recipe as is was not very flavorful. Next time I will add more salt, more Worcestershire sauce and perhaps some sauteed onions to the filling.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/10/2009
I made a little adjustment and they came out pretty good actually. I used 1.5 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, and added some fresh parsley. Also i would roll out 7"x14" per pie crust instead of 14" square each time, so they do not tear on me. Just gather the scraps and re-roll them. It probably takes 15 minutes to bake the fresh ones. Next time try brushing the top with egg wash so they brown prettier. A keeper with a few changes.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/03/2009
They were pretty bland. I found that the frozen ones browned up much better than the fresh.
Anonymous
Rating: Unrated
03/02/2009
Disaster! I was SOOO disappointed.. I used ready made refrigerated pie crusts and the first one was so thin when I rolled it out to the specified size that I wound up having to add the other. Then, they took much longer than specified to brown and the filling was SUPER bland. This needed MUCH more seasoning that just S
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