Australian Meat Pies Recipe

Australian meat pies are often called Australia’s national dish. They are hand-sized meat pies containing diced or ground meat and gravy with an assortment of spices. These are served as a meal, but they are also considered a “take along”. They can be served hot or at room temp. They are often associated with Australian football and rugby and they are often consumed by spectators while watching the games! The New Zealanders also have a meat pie which is as steeped in their culture as it is in Australia.

Note: When my husband and I made our pies we tripled this recipe to have enough for Sunday dinner. Somewhere in the process of tripling our meat mixture, it got too wet! You should expect your meat mixture to hold its shape better than ours did after it has been refrigerated. BTW… this did not affect the taste. There were still scrumptious!

Australian Meat Pies Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
2 tablespoons oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
fresh ground pepper (optional for tops of pies)
6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 store-bought pie doughs (or make your own)
2 store-bought puff pastry sheets
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten
6 (5″) disposable, round aluminum pie pans

Note: Traditional Australian meat pies have a pie crust lining and a puff pastry top crust. If you prefer, you can use a regular pie crust for the top and bottom.

Heat oil in frypan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until translucent.

Add ground beef and pepper. Brown the meat.

Add minced garlic and cook until you can smell the garlic.

Sprinkle the flour over the beef, mix in, and cook for about a minute.

Add the broth, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil then lower to simmer. Cook with the lid off until the mixture is thick, but still has some gravy, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Remove from heat and cool the meat mixture in the fridge for at least 2 hours. You want the filling cold. You can even do this part the day before assembling the pies.

Unfold the 2 pie dough sheets on a floured surface. You will need to cut three 5 3/4″ circles from each sheet with a sharp knife. (We used a bowl that measured close to 5 3/4″ and cut around that.) You may need to roll the dough slightly to remove wrinkles and make it big enough to cut circles. Line the 6 pie pans with the dough. The dough should be to the edge of the pie pans but not overhanging.

Cut six 5 3/4″ rounds from the puff pastry for the tops. Again, you may have to roll the pastry slightly to make the circles fit.

Place oven rack in center of oven. Place a large baking sheet on the oven rack. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. (The heated baking sheet will help the bottom crust brown.)

To create egg wash, mix 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water.

Spoon 2/3 cup of meat mixture into each lined pie shell. (Again, our meat mixture is a bit runnier than it should be!)

Make sure the pie crust is to the edge of the pie plate.

Brush rims of puff pastry with the egg wash.

Place puff pastry rounds on each pie, with egg wash side down.

Press and pinch the edges to join the puff pastry to the pie shell. Make sure to seal the crusts well so the filling does not bubble out.

You can go around the edge with a fork to make sure the crust is sealed well. Lightly press the edge of the crust down if it is sticking up above the pie pan. The crust should be below the rim of the pie plate.