Meat & Potato Pie Recipe

5 from 4 votes

This traditional recipe for meat and potato pie gives us a comforting, deep dish pie made with shortcrust pastry.

In the northwest England town of Wigan where we grew up, the eating of pies is a famous pastime. They are sold individually, in foil trays.

Our meat and potato pie recipe is a large version of those individual pies and will serve 4-6 people. We always make this dish on New Year's Eve - as is tradition - but it is also a comforting winter meal for other days.

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Author Turkey's For Life

Course Main

Cuisine British

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 30

Equipment

1 ovenproof dish (our dish is 27 centimetres in diameter and has a depth of 5 centimetres)
2 large saucepans
1 mixing bowl
1 sharp knife
1 rolling pin
1 pastry brush

Servings 6

Ingredients

For The Meat & Potato Pie Filling

500 grams minced beef (ground beef) (medium fat)
2 medium potatoes (washed & cut into bite-sized chunks)
2 medium onions (peeled & finely chopped)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon sunflower oil (for frying)
1 cup water (enough to cover the meat mixture)
salt & pepper (to season)

For The Shortcrust Pastry

500 grams plain white flour (plus extra for dusting)
250 grams butter (or 50/50 lard/butter)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cold water
1 egg (beaten for an egg wash)

Instructions

For The Pie Filling

First of all, heat your sunflower oil in a large saucepan over a medium high heat and add your onion.
Stir around until the onion starts to sweat and then add your minced beef.
Reduce the heat the medium and keep chopping your meat with a wooden spoon so that it doesn't clump together.
Meanwhile, add your potatoes to your second saucepan and place over a high heat with a good pinch of salt and boiling water.
Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer.
When the meat is browning and releasing its juices, add your Worcestershire Sauce and seasoning, along with a cup of water - enough to cover the meat.
Stir around and leave to simmer for around 20 minutes.
Add more water if you think your meat mixture is too dry. It depends how loose you want your pie filling to be.
Meanwhile, when your potatoes are al dente, remove from the heat and drain.
When your meat is cooked, remove from the heat and add your potatoes. Gently mix together and allow to cool to room temperature.

For The Pastry

Whilst your pie filling is cooking and cooling, you can prepare your pastry.
Add your flour and salt to a large mixing bowl. Then remove your butter from the fridge and cut it into small cubes.
Run your hands under cold water so that your fingertips are nice and cold before you start working with the pastry mixture.
With dry hands, start to rub the flour and butter together with your fingertips.
Work fast until your mixture resembles breadcrumbs and you can't see any large lumps of butter leftover. You can give the pan a gentle shake to bring any hidden larger pieces to the top.
Add a tablespoon of water and use a cutlery knife to start to bring the mixture together.
As the dough comes together, bring it together into a ball with your hands. Press it together and then wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

To Make Your Meat & Potato Pie

Preheat your oven to 200 °C and lightly grease your pie dish with butter.
Meanwhile, take your pastry and divide it into two unequal parts - roughly ⅖ to ⅗.
Take the larger piece of pastry and roll it out to around 3 millimetres' thickness on a lightly floured work surface, making sure it is big enough to fit into your pie dish with an overhang.
To get your pastry into the pie dish, lightly roll it around your rolling pin and then unroll it across the top of the bowl, allowing it to sink into the dish.
Lightly press your pastry into place. Don't worry about any tears. You can easily just push those back together. Leave the overhanging pastry where it is for now.
Now spoon your pie filling into the dish, into the pastry case, leaving an approximate 1 centimetre gap at the top.
Now roll out your remaining pastry to around 3 millimetres' thickness and until it is big enough to cover the top of the pie filling with an overhang.
Go round the rim of your pie dish with your fingers and gently press the pastry lid and casing together, along the rim.
Now take a fork and press around the rim to create your pie crust.
Take your sharp knife and carefully go around the edge of your pie, trimming away the excess pastry.
If you want to, you can use the excess pastry to create decoration for the top of your pie lid.
Make two or three slits in the top of your pie to allow steam to escape and place your pie dish on a baking tray.
Now brush your beaten egg over the top of your pastry lid.
Cook in the centre of the oven for around 30 minutes, or until your pie is golden brown on top.
Serve immediately.

Notes

As you can see by the number of calories per serving, our recipe for homemade meat and potato pie is comfort food and meant as a treat.
In our house, we always make meat and potato pie on New Year's Eve - a northern English tradition - but we also make it on other winter's days, too.
Our ratio of meat to potato is optional. If you would prefer more of one of the other, feel free to change the ratios to your preference.
Likewise with the amount of water in your meat mixture. It depends how loose you want your pie filling to be.
When you are laying your pastry into your pie dish, don't worry about any rips. Push them back together.
Make sure you have the good overhang because the pastry will weigh down once the filling is put inside. You still want some pastry overhanging after this so that you can stick the lid to it.
We like to serve our meat and potato pie as it is, with some brown sauce and crusty bread (or a barm). Serve your homemade meat and potato pie as it is or have some peas and carrots on the side with gravy.

Nutrition

Calories: 845kcal

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