No matter how far away you are from home, you’ll always long for Nigerian meat pie.
Remember Mr Biggs meat pie? The creamy beef filling and the flaky and crispy dough?
Yes, that is what you are about to learn.
Nigerian meat pie is one of the Nigerian recipes that bind us together as a country. I’ve not met a Nigerian that doesn’t love Nigerian meat pie.
Although meat pie has also become popular in other African countries such as Ghana because I’ve tasted Ghana meat pie before.
My verdict?
Don’t let me cause a war on my blog. Hahaha.
So, African meat pie recipe is not the same as Nigerian meat pie recipe. I guess you should check the meat pie recipe of each country so you can get the right results.
I have experimented with different Nigerian meat pie recipes before I settled for the one I’m now faithful to because the result is ahhmaaazing!
Without much ado, let me introduce you to the best Nigerian meat pie recipe ever!
Nigerian Meat Pie Recipe
Dough Ingredients
500g plain flour
250g baking butter (Use high-quality butter. It makes a lot of difference).
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt (If you’re using salted butter, you may skip adding salt or just add a pinch).
Nutmeg (Optional).
1 medium-sized egg (for glazing the surface of the pie).
1/2 Whole milk or water (If you use high-quality baking butter, you can use water to mix your dough but if you use a low-quality one, you can use whole milk for the mixing. You’ll achieve some balance that way).
Ingredients for Filling
400g minced meat or ground boiled beef (I prefer homemade ground boiled beef because I find it tastier).
2 medium-sized potatoes
2 medium-sized carrots
1 medium-sized onion
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt to taste
2 seasoning cubes
Thyme and curry to taste
A pinch of cayenne pepper (I’m a Yoruba girl. I love it spicy. You can skip it anyway).
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon flour for thickening
Method
Dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt together.
Add the baking butter in small cuts into the flour and mix with the tip of your fingers till you achieve a crumb-like consistency.
Add cold milk or water a little at a time and knead the dough until the milk or water is well incorporated.
Be careful not to overwork your dough or else you’ll end up with ‘olumo rock’ kinda dough. I’m speaking from experience. They say experience is the best teacher but it doesn’t have to be your own experience. It’s wiser to learn from other people’s experiences.
Wrap the dough in a transparent film and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
The filling
Dice the onions, potatoes, and carrots.
Place a saucepan on medium heat and pour in one cooking spoon of vegetable oil.
Add the chopped onions and saute for about two minutes.
Add the minced meat and stir-fry thoroughly until it becomes brown.
Add the chopped potatoes and carrots and add two cups of water.
Add salt, seasoning cubes, thyme, curry, cayenne pepper (optional) to taste.
Bring to boil until tender. You can add some more water if necessary.
If you are using ground beef, which I prefer because I prefer its taste to store-bought mince meat, add the ground beef at this point.
It makes more sense to boil your veggies first before adding your ground beef.
Add some water into two tablespoons of flour and mix until creamy. Pour into the mix.
Turn off the heat and let it continue to simmer with the residual heat for about 3 minutes.
Your filling must not be too dry, it must have some moisture. It must be creamy. That is what makes the difference. That’s how you get the Mr Biggs meat pie taste.
Nigerian Meat Pie Filling
The process
Preheat your oven to 175 degree Celsius.
Add some water into a small bowl and set it aside.
Take out the dough from the fridge and place it on a flat surface (I use a rolling board).
Cut a handful of the dough and roll. Use a dough cutter, saucepan lid, or a round bowl and cut out a circle.
Scoop about 1-2 tablespoons of filling into the middle of the cut-out dough, leaving out enough space to seal it up.
Rub the edges of the dough with water and seal it up properly. (Some use egg and before, I used egg but since I discovered water does a better job, I stuck to using water).
Close it up and use a fork to press down the edges.
If you’re using a dough cutter, rub the edges with egg.
Do the same with the remaining dough and place all your pies on the baking tray. (Make sure you line your baking tray with aluminium foil, baking sheet or some margarine/baking butter to prevent your pie from sticking to the tray.
Glaze the top of each pie with the whisked egg and pierce each pie with a fork to let some steam out while baking. I give mine three piercings. Hihihi.
Put the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. They should be brown on the outside by now.
Enjoy it hot with any cold or hot drink of your choice.
P.S: Sorry I lost all my pictures when I upgraded my blog. I hope to replace them soon. Thank you!
Nigerian Meat Pie Recipe Video
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