Nigerian Meat Pie Recipe: How to Make Meat Pie

Meat Pie is an easy pie recipe made with mincemeat of beef or chicken with vegetable fillings wrapped in a pastry. It is basically vegetables and meat fillings wrapped in pastry and then baked. Meat pie recipe is very common in Africa especially in Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The Nigerian Meat Pie can be made with beef or chicken with vegetables such as potatoes and carrots. Other countries have their own additional ingredients in their meat pie recipes such as the Irish, Latin American Empanadas, Middle Eastern (Sfiha – meat pie).
The Nigerian meat pie recipe seems to be the common variety and it is what I used in this recipe.

Ingredients for Making Nigerian Meat Pie

Ingredients for Making the Dough (pastry ingredients)

• 4 cups of Flour
• 1 tsp of Salt
• 240g of Butter
• 1 tsp of Baking Powder

Ingredients for the Filling

• 400g of Mincemeat (Beef). You can use Chicken.
• 3 tbsp of Vegetable Oil
• 2 tbsp of Cornstarch (Corn flour)
• 1/2 tsp of Curry Powder
• 1/4 tsp of Salt
• 1/2 tsp of Thyme
• 200 ml of Beef Broth
• 1/2 cup of chopped Potatoes
•  2 Beef Seasoning Cubes
• 1/2 cup of chopped Carrots
• 4 minced Garlic
• 1/2 tsp of red Chili pepper and 1/2 tsp of Scotch bonnet pepper.
• 1 small onion (chopped)
•  A handful of Spring Onions (chopped)

You also need 1 egg for making an Egg Wash which you would use for glazing the meat pie before baking it.

Procedure on How to Make Nigerian Meat Pie

The procedure for making meat pie involves making a pastry (dough) that you will then use to wrap your fillings inside.

Making the Pastry

• In a mixing bowl, add the flour and bakking powder and stir to combine.
• Add the butter and mix until it forms a crumbly texture; then add 125 ml of water to it and mix until you have a dough.
• Knead the dough into a round ball and then cover with a cling film and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, remove the dough from the fridge and knead to make a smooth dough.
• Then, dust the surface of your table with flour and roll the dough until it is flattt into a flattened.
• Now, use a round cookie cutter or any rounded shape with sharp edges to cut about 16 cm circular dough; or shape the wrapper into desired shape. For me, I design my own meat pie wrapping dough to be a square cut out strands on opposite ends so as to make the meat pie have a basket shape. You can make it to your own desired shape. The common shape for the Nigerian meat pie is the circular shaped dough which when folded makes a semi-circular shape.

Preparing the Meat Pie Filling

• For the meat pie filling, add about 3 tbsp of cooking oil to a frying pan/skillet and allow it to heat up.
• Once the oil is heated, add the onions and garlic and saute until they are fragrant. Then add the mincemeat (beef or chicken) and stir fry the meat for 5 minutes.
• Add your meatbroth and cover to cook until the meat is tender.
• After 5 minutes of cooking the meat, season it with 2 seasoning cubes, curry powder, thyme, scotch bonnet, and red chili pepper.
• Stir to combine and add the carrots and potatoes; then add the spring onions also.
• Cover and cook until the carrots and potatoes are tender.
• Prepare a slurry by adding about 5 tbsp of water to cornstarch, stir until the cornstarch dissolves completely; then pour it over the filling and stir to combine immediately.
• Cover it and allow to cook for 5 minutes.
• Turn off heat and allow it to cool down completely before using as a fillling for your Nigerian meat pie recipe.

Filling and Wrapping the Meat pie

You can now spread your wrappers and add 2 tbsp of the filling; then fold it to form a semi circular shape. Use a fork to press down on the edges to glue them together. When you are done wrapping your meat pie, remember to use a fork to pork the top to creat a steam vent for the steam to escape during baking or frying so as not to burst the meat.

To see how I designed my own meat pie to look like a basket, watch the Youtube video above on how to make meat pie.

Baking the meat pie

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or to 190 degress Celsius and bake for 35 minutes. You can make an egg wash by adding 1 tbsp of water to 1 egg, whisk until it is sluffy and use it as an egg wash for glazing the top of your meat pie; the glazing gives the meat pie a golden brown and shiny appearance when baked.

Remove from the oven after 35 minutes and allow to cool down a little before eating your homemade Nigerian meat pie.

Meat Pie Variations

The Jamaican beef patty is prepared in a similar way as the Nigerian meat pie with the vegetables being a combination of  any of these: carrots, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes.

The Latin American meat empanadas are also similar to the Nigerian meat pie recipe and usually contain additional amount of onion and green pepper or red pepper with either fish or meat.

There are many other meat pie recipes from different countries such as British meat pies, French-Canadian meat pie or New Zealand meat pie.

In Ireland, the meat pie recipe is made with steak and Guinness Stout Beer; the steak is usally round and the meat pie is cooked with bacon and onions.

The Middle Eastern meat pie is also called Sfiha and it is made using ground beef and plain yogurt with tahini and pine nuts. Vegetables such as tomatoes are added to it.