Beef and Guinness Pie Filling (Aussie Meat Pie Style)

About This Recipe

The meat pie is arguably Australia's most iconic handheld food, and the filling is everything — a proper one needs beef braised low and slow until it falls apart in a thick, dark gravy rather than a thin, watery sauce. Browning the beef hard in batches before it goes into the braising liquid builds the fond that gives the gravy its deep color and flavor. A splash of stout or dark ale added to the braising liquid deepens the gravy with a slight bitterness that balances the richness of the beef, and a long, slow simmer of at least two hours is what breaks down the connective tissue into that classic, spoonable pie filling texture. Thickened at the end with a flour or cornstarch slurry, the gravy should cling heavily to the meat rather than pool loosely. While this filling is traditionally baked into a pastry-topped pie, it's equally good served straight from the pot over mashed potato, and it's the foundation of the pie found at every footy match and corner bakery across the country.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 2.5 lbbeef chuck(cut into chunks)
• 3 tbspvegetable oil
• 1yellow onion(diced)
• 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 1 cupstout or dark ale
• 2 cupsbeef stock
• 2 tbspWorcestershire sauce
• 2bay leaves
• 2 tbspcornstarch(mixed with 3 tbsp water)
• 2 tspfine sea salt(to taste)
• 0.5 tspblack pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown the beef

   Pat the beef dry and season with salt and pepper. Brown in batches in hot oil, about 4-5 minutes per batch, then set aside.

2. 2

   Build the base

   In the same pot, cook onion 7 minutes until soft, then add garlic and tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.

3. 3

   Deglaze

   Pour in the stout, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

4. 4

   Braise

   Return the beef to the pot with stock, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook on low for 2 to 2.5 hours until the beef is fork-tender.

   Resist rushing the braise — the beef needs a genuine 2+ hours at a low simmer to break down into that classic spoonable pie-filling texture.

5. 5

   Thicken

   Remove bay leaves. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer 3-4 minutes until the gravy thickens enough to coat a spoon heavily.

6. 6

   Adjust seasoning

   Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

7. 7

   Serve

   Serve as a pie filling under pastry, or spoon over mashed potato for a simpler meal.

Variations

• •

  Add sauteed mushrooms for a beef and mushroom pie variation.

• •

  Use lamb instead of beef for a different classic pie filling.

• •

  Top with puff pastry and bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes for the full Aussie meat pie experience.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months. Reheat gently on the stove, adding a splash of stock if the gravy has thickened too much.

Frequently Asked Questions