Jamaican Beef Patty –  The Sauciest Filling and Flakiest Crust

If you grew up in Toronto, beef patties may be common place to you. You may have tried them at your local convenient store, nearest subway station or at your favourite Jamaican restaurant. There are a number of Jamaican beef patty suppliers around the city producing immaculate, flaky, savoury beef pies for Torontonians. Sure you have tried a beef patty, but have you thought to make one? It is not as hard as it seems and though making any dish with pastry can be challenging, this is a challenge worth taking on because the end result of rewarding. This recipe has been adapted from Gimmy Yummy Blog Post and produces the most delicious tasting patties with filling that is quite frankly out of this world. I have adjusted the filling slightly by adding ketchup and soy sauce based on research from recipes by a number of Jamaican chefs and home cooks. The beef patty is made from a pie crust which is traditionally made from shortening and beef suet but can also be made with butter if that is all you have on hand. The filling is flavoured with typical Jamaican ingredients like all spice and scotch bonnet and simmered to perfection. If you are in the mood to take on the challenge and try your hand at Jamaican beef patties this is a great recipe to start with. They freeze very well and make for a great snack or meal throughout the week.

Jamaican Beef Patty – The Sauciest Filling and Flakiest Crust

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Jamaican

Servings 20 small patties

Ingredients

  

Pastry dough

• 3 1/2 cups about 450 grams all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup about 220 grams unsalted butter frozen (you can substitute with beef tallow)
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder depending on how yellow you want it
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk plus more if needed
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Beef patty meat filling

• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1 lb 450 grams lean ground beef
• 1 large size yellow or red onion finely chopped
• 3 stalks fresh scallions finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 inch minced ginger
• 1 pepper Scotch bonnet pepper can add more if desired, I add 2 and it’s spicy
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 3/4 teaspoon salt or as necessary
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1-2 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon all spice
• 1-2 cups beef or chicken stock

Egg wash

• 1 egg

Instructions

 

Pastry dough

• In a mixing bowl, add together all purpose flour, baking powder salt, turmeric powder, curry powder mix well and set aside.
• Grate frozen butter into the flour mixture and use a fork to mix it in until it is evenly distributed and it is a bread crumb like consistency.
• A food processor will also work to get bread crumb consistency by combining all ingredients (used cold but not frozen butter if using food processor) and pulse 6-8 times.
• In a cup mix together vinegar and milk and set aside for 5 minutes.
• Add in the milk and vinegar mixture a little at a time, mixing using a fork until ingredients are well combined and the pastry dough slightly developed.
• Removed dough from bowl and unto a clean surface and bring together into a disk. The dough should stick together but not be too wet. If the dough is too dry, add milk a tablespoon at a time until all the flour comes together. Do not knead the dough excessively, just bring together and wrap in plastic, place into refrigerator for 30 minutes to and hour.

Patty Filling

• Add in the chopped onions into a pan with a 2 tablespoons of neutral oil and sauté until translucent.
• Add minced garlic, minced ginger, scotch bonnet and stir till well combined.
• Once onions begin to wilt and change colour add lean ground beef. There is no need to drain the beef.
• Sautee until cooked and break up into crumbled pieced with the back of spoon.
• Add paprika, thyme, black pepper and all spice and mix well.
• Add your your soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of ketchup and mix well. Taste and season with salt and add more ketchup if necessary (1 tablespoon more to taste).
• Set stove to medium low setting and add 1-2 cups of stock. Cook and simmer meat for approximately 20–30 minutes. Start with 1 cup and add more as necessary, you don’t want a dry meat, the filling should be moist.
• Add in the breadcrumbs and stir to combine mixture. Again just make sure there is enough liquid to absorb the breadcrumb. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
• The filling should not be dry but should be quite moist.
• Put in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool to room temp. You can place in fridge as well and

Assembly

• Preheat the oven to 365°F( 185°C)
• Remove dough from refrigerator and divide it into 12 equal parts for large patties or 20 equal parts for small patties. I prefer larger sized patties. Use a pastry cutter or knife to assist you.
• Roll each dough piece into a ball and flatten using a rolling pin.
• Brush egg wash on the boarder of the rolled out oval.
• For large pieces fill each pastry disc with two to 3 tablespoons of filling around the center of the pastry dough. For smaller patties fill dough with 1 – 1/2 tablespoons of meat filling.
• Chilling the meat filling completely in the fridge makes filling the pies a lot easier as the filling sets a bit.
• Over lap the pastry dough to resemble a half moon crescent and pinch the outer end with a fork to seal the patties closed. You can use the edge of a knife to smoother out the edge of the patty purely for aesthetic reason. no need to cut off excess dough, just press edge into perfect semi circle.
• Place the patties onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, brush patties with egg wash before baking and bake in the middle rack for 25-30 minutes or until beef patty is light golden browned. If making smaller patties you may need less time.
• Eat immediately or patties freeze very well and can be reheated in oven.

Keyword beef, patties, patty