Ghana Meat Pie

40 mins Prep Time

25 mins Cook Time

Written By

Nadia Boachie

Meat pie is a popular snack (or often meal) in Ghana. It is a flaky, rich pie crust filled with a meat of your choice. The pie crust is often made with vegetable fat-like shortening, but I have opted to make this out of butter for the extra added richness. This recipe is a simply seasoned and slightly spicy beef filling baked to perfection! It is easier to make than it looks, freezes quite well and makes the perfect lunch! I often like heating this up in the oven with a side salad. It is very filling and in Ghana, it is often served with a pop or a malted carbonated drink called malt. Definitely try this recipe out if you are into a savoury, tasty snack.

Ingredients

Dough

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/3 cup unsalted butter, cubed
2/3 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon Cameroon pepper (sub cayenne pepper)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 cup broth (beef, chicken or vegetable)
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Egg Wash

1 egg
1 tablespoon water

Directions

Ghana Meat Pie

18 Steps

Step 1

Add flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well.
Step 2

Add cubed butter into your flour mixture and using your hand or a pastry cutter, crumble butter into flour until it resembles a crumbly dough. You can place in food processor and pulse until you get crumbly dough.
Step 3

Slowly add your cold water to your dough and mix either using hand until it just comes together.
Step 4

Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Step 5

Make your meat pie filling by adding your ground beef in a pan along with your diced onions.
Step 6

Cook until brown and drain any fat if necessary and season with onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, Cameroon pepper (or other spicy ground pepper) and salt to taste.
Step 7

Add cornstarch to your beef and mix until distributed, add your broth and stir until reduced and thickened.
Step 8

Add a teaspoon of curry powder, mix well and set aside until cooled completely.
Step 9

To assemble pies, take dough out of fridge.
Step 10

Dough may still be a bit crumbly but this is okay. Divide dough into about 8 even pieces.
Step 11

Make egg wash by mixing 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
Step 12

Roll out pieces of dough and use a large cutter or even a small bowl to cut out a circle from your rolled piece of dough. If your dough it sticking to your rolling pin, use flour to help you out.
Step 13

Take your cut out circle, roll it once more to form an elongated oval, brush edges with egg wash and place 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of filling in the middle of your dough. Fold over your dough to form semi circles and use your fingers to press the edges of the semi circle and seal your pies. You can shape your pies slightly by pressing around the edges (or cutting off irregular pieces) to make them smooth.
Step 14

While you are forming your pies, make sure to cover the mound of pie dough with a damp paper towel or damp tea towel.
Step 15

Use a fork to poke the top of your pies to create vents so they don't open up while baking.
Step 16

Repeat this with your remaining pie dough, egg wash and filling until you have used up all the scraps and formed all your pies.
Step 17

When you have assembled all the pies, place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, brush the tops with egg wash and bake at 415°F for 20-25 minutes. Check pies after 15 minutes to see how they are browning and determine if they need 5 or 10 additional minutes.
Step 18

Let them cool slightly and enjoy your pies.