Easy Minced Beef and Onion Pie

This Minced Beef and Onion Pie is hearty and warming and a whole pie full of comfort. It is just as I remember my mother used to make it, savoury as you like with the slight sweetness of caramelised onions. An old fashioned mince beef pie that took me right back.

This dish is perfect for a midweek meal and a great crowd pleaser. You can make the minced beef filling beforehand and simply add the pastry top and whack it in the oven on the day or indeed the evening.

Exactly what you need when time is tight and inclination non existent. Perfect for batch cooking and freezing too. The older I get the more I realise just how flipping brilliant it is to freeze food to get ahead.

There is a complete printable recipe card with ingredients and detailed instructions at the bottom of this post.

Minced Beef and Onion Pie Recipe

The ingredients are super simple.

500 grams (17.6 oz) Minced Beef - I like to use the 12% fat mince as I think it gives you a great flavour and adds a unctuousness to the gravy but feel free to use a leaner cut.

3 tbsp Flour - I use plain or self raising. You could substitute gluten free if required.

600 mls Beef Stock - I use stock pots but you could use beef stock cubes. Usually I use 3 stock pots for this 600 mls of stock. The recommended measure for 500 mls of stock is one stock pot but we are looking for extra beef flavour here. Because of this we don't need to add salt, the stock pots do the seasoning job.

2 and a half tbsp Worcestershire Sauce - this adds a great savoury flavour. You could probably add brown sauce or a little marmite too to get the same vibe.

3 Large Onions - I use the standard Brown Onion that you get in the supermarket. Red Onions are ok too but you would need to match the amount as onions do cook away to seemingly a quarter of what you started out with. They may make the dish a little sweeter too.

 375 grams (13.2 oz) Puff Pastry - I unashamedly use the pre rolled stuff. It keeps the vibe as easy as heck which is exactly the business I'm in. But feel free to roll away or even make your own puff pastry. It is easier than you think as I discovered when I started to make my own pain au chocolat. Just fiddly. Some days I can't do fiddly.

• Firstly I slice the onions into half moons, hopefully avoiding any weeping.

• I use the largest frying pan I have and fry the onions in olive oil gently for about 15 minutes until they caramelise and go brown. This really enhances the flavour and brings a sweetness to the pie party. Its crazy how much they shrink  in volume too.

• If you're baking your pie on the day then now is the time to preheat your oven to 200 C (180 fan)/400 F/Gas Mark 6
• Scoop out your onions and set aside. Using the same frying pan put it back on a medium heat, add another tbsp of olive oil and add the minced beef. Break the mince up with a wooden spoon or similar.
• The idea is to brown it all a little. Once the frying gets going you will see water begin to be released from the mince. This is when I scatter the flour over the top.

• Mix the flour completely in and then add the stock and the worcestershire sauce.
• Let it all bubble away for 15 minutes or so.

• Add the onions back into the pan.

• To prepare your pie dish for the pastry lid then cut off pastry strips to fit your pie dish rim. You will need to roll out your pastry to a thickness of 3 mm on a floured surface if your pastry is not pre rolled. Brush your pie rim with a little water.

• Place the pastry strips on top of your pastry dish rim. Fill your pie dish with your minced beef filling. Let the mixture cool for fifteen minutes at least.

• Top your pie with the pastry carefully. I usually use a rolling pin to help move the pastry across over to the pie. Trim the excess pastry from around the dish with a knife. Here is a great video showing exactly how to do all the pastry bits.
• Make a couple of slits in the centre for steam to escape and then pinch the edges of the pie to crimp. I also like to cut 3 diamond shapes from the pastry offcuts and stick them around the steam holes. You could get all crafty and make anything you fancy out of the leftover pastry.

• Brush generously all over the top of the pie with egg wash to get a beautiful glaze to the pastry when baked.

• Bake for about 40 minutes until puffed up and about as gorgeous as you can imagine.

I like to serve this with my favourite mashed potatoes. or crispy roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese too.Buttery Red Cabbage is a favourite too. Comfort food go hard or go home heaven.

Expert Tips, Tricks

• Get all your ingredients weighed out and ready. Sounds obvious but it saves so much stress, for me anyway.
• Have your pastry at room temperature. It is so much easier to mange.
• Use shortcrust pastry in exactly the same way if you prefer.
• I love to use the shop bought ready rolled pastry as it is SO much easier.
• To get ahead make the minced beef filling ahead and refrigerate. Place in the pie dish and proceed as above. Bake for 10 minutes extra in the oven. Watch that the pastry doesn't catch.

Equipment Required

• 8" pie dish about 4 cm deep
• Large frying pan
• Wooden spoon or spatula
• Large spoon
• Knife
• Digital Scales
• Bowls to weigh ingredients into.
• Rolling pin for pastry if not ready rolled

Can You Freeze This Minced Beef and Onion Pie?

Yes you can. Wrap in clingfilm/plastic wrap and then silver foil. It will freeze well for up to a month.

Defrost and reheat in the oven until piping hot at about 180 C/160 C fan/350 F/Gas Mark 4

If you like this then you make like these other recipes.

Chicken and Vegetable Pie

Beef Tacos

Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole

Slow Cooker Beef Casserole

Cheesy Fish Pie

Do let me know how you got on in the comments below or why not connect with me on my social media pages. I love to hear from you.