Nigerian Meat Pie with Black Pepper Beef Filling

About This Recipe

Nigerian meat pie is a bakery and party staple: a buttery, slightly sweet pastry shell wrapped around a filling of minced beef, diced carrot and potato, seasoned generously with black pepper and curry powder. It's descended from the British Cornish pasty via colonial-era baking traditions, but it's been fully adopted and adapted into Nigerian food culture, sold at bakeries, chin chin stands and every wedding buffet across the country. The pastry needs cold butter worked into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs, then just enough ice water to bring it together — overworking it makes the pastry tough instead of short and flaky. The filling is cooked down completely on the stovetop first so it's a dense, well-seasoned mixture rather than raw ingredients that would leak liquid into the pastry and make it soggy during baking. Black pepper is the defining spice of a proper Nigerian meat pie filling — more assertive than typical Western meat pies — so this version leans into that with a generous amount, balanced by curry powder's warmth and the natural sweetness of the carrot and potato.

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 3 cupsall-purpose flour
• 1 cupcold butter(cubed)
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspbaking powder
• 0.75 cupice water
• 1egg(beaten, for egg wash)
• 300 gground beef
• 2 tbspvegetable oil
• 1onion(finely diced)
• 1carrot(finely diced)
• 1potato(finely diced)
• 1.5 tspcurry powder
• 1.5 tspblack pepper(freshly ground, generous)
• 1seasoning cube
• 1 tspsalt(for filling)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pastry

   Rub cold butter into flour, salt and baking powder until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water gradually, mixing just until the dough comes together. Wrap and chill 30 minutes.

2. 2

   Cook the filling

   Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, carrot and potato 5 minutes, then add ground beef, breaking it up as it browns, about 8 minutes.

3. 3

   Season the filling

   Stir in curry powder, black pepper, crumbled seasoning cube and salt. Cook 5 more minutes until the vegetables are tender and the mixture is dry, not wet. Cool completely.

4. 4

   Roll and cut the pastry

   Roll the chilled dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 large ovals or circles about 6 inches wide.

5. 5

   Fill and seal

   Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of cooled filling on one half of each pastry round, fold over, and crimp the edges firmly with a fork to seal.

6. 6

   Bake

   Preheat oven to 190C (375F). Brush pies with egg wash and bake 25 to 30 minutes until deep golden brown.

Variations

• •

  Add a hard-boiled egg wedge inside each pie for the more traditional, heartier Nigerian meat pie.

• •

  Use ground chicken or turkey instead of beef for a lighter filling.

• •

  Make mini versions for party trays by cutting smaller pastry rounds.

Storage

Store baked pies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or refrigerate up to 5 days. Reheat in a 180C oven for 10 minutes to re-crisp the pastry; freezes well unbaked for up to 2 months.

Frequently Asked Questions