Take a trip down memory lane with this delicious corned beef and potato pie - just like Granny used to make. Its nostalgic flavours will transport you back in time to happy family memories around the dinner table.
Today, I'd like to show you how to turn a can of corned beef into a delicious family-friendly pie in hardly any time at all.
I grew up in Yorkshire in northeast England, and corned beef and potato pie (you may know it as bully beef and potato pie) made its appearance on our dinner table at least a few times every month. And it was something to look forward to!
My version of this Yorkshire corned beef and potato pie recipe is made with simple ingredients (potatoes, onions and carrots) mixed with a can of corned beef and encased top and bottom in a homemade flaky pastry crust. I also like to add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a spoonful of tomato puree for extra flavour and a little salt for seasoning. Oh yes, sometimes I add a few frozen peas too!
It's amazing how so few ingredients can turn into something as sumptuous as this corned beef pie.
Because this corned beef pie is packed with vegetables, you don't need much else to serve with it. My favourite side dish (in fact, the only side dish I serve with this pie) is a helping of baked beans. This is proper English pub grub!
I've included my recipe for buttery flaky pastry below, but if you prefer you can go out and buy a roll of shortcrust pastry instead. However, that said, I would recommend making your own pastry - it doesn't take very long at all, and I think it tastes far superior to shop-bought.
Let's get on with the recipe!
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What you will need
Equipment
For making the filling you will need a large saute pan with a lid. If you don't have one you can use a frying pan large enough to hold all the filling ingredients.
For baking the pies you will need a 9" x 13" baking dish. I like to use an enamel dish because it conducts the heat evenly and helps prevent the pie from getting a soggy bottom. Because there are only 2 of us at home I made two smaller pies - one to eat, and one to freeze!
If you are making your own pastry, you will need a large mixing bowl and a rolling pin.
Ingredients
This pie will easily feed 4 people.
These are the ingredients for the corned beef and potato pie filling. The ingredients for the pastry are further down the post.
For the filling:
- Corned beef (bully beef)- get the best quality corned beef that you can find, preferably marked '100% beef'. You can get cheaper, but the meat will contain additives to bulk it up.
- Potatoes - these should be peeled and cut into approximately half-inch pieces. You don't want the vegetables to be cut into too large chunks or they won't fit nicely into the pie.
- Onions - peeled and cut into half-inch pieces.
- Carrots - peeled and finely diced.
- Peas - these are optional (and not part of the traditional recipe) but I like the addition - they add a touch of colour and little pops of sweetness. I use frozen peas and add them at the last minute. If you are using fresh peas you should cook them with the carrots and onions.
- Tomato puree - once again, not part of the traditional recipe but I think it adds to the flavour. You can leave it out if you don't have any.
- Worcestershire sauce - definitely non-negotiable! If you live in Yorkshire or other parts of the north, you can use Henderson's relish instead, otherwise substitute with dark soy sauce.
- You will also need a small amount of salt for seasoning (taste before you add it - the Worcestershire sauce may have sufficient salt), and sunflower oil for frying the vegetables.
For the pastry:
I haven't taken a photo of the pastry ingredients (I think everyone knows what flour and butter look like), but this is what you will need:
- Flour - I always use plain or all-purpose flour when making pastry. You don't want the pastry to rise, so don't use self-raising.
- Butter - I think butter gives the best flavour to pastry, but if you want a crispier pastry you can use half butter and half lard. The butter (and lard) should be cut into small cubes to make it easy to rub into the flour.
- Salt - in my opinion a teaspoon of salt adds a ton of flavour to the pastry, but you can leave it out if you don't use salt.
- Water - this should be cold water.
Of course, if you are using shop-bought pastry you just need to go out and buy a roll! I haven't made this with shop-bought pastry so I'm not 100% sure of how much you will need to buy. You will need enough pastry to line and cover your pie dish.
**You can get the exact quantities of all the ingredients on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
What to do
In a nutshell, these are the easy steps for making a corned beef and potato pie:
- Prepare and cook the vegetables
- Add the seasonings and the corned beef.
- Leave to cool.
- Make the pastry while the filling is cooking.
- Rest the pastry for half an hour while the filling cools.
- Have a glass of wine while you are waiting 🙂
- Assemble and bake.
Make the filling
Peel all the vegetables and cut them into small dice - approximately half-inch in size.
Heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a pan and fry the potatoes on moderate heat, stirring frequently, until they are starting to brown.
Add the carrots and onions and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover the pan with a lid, turn the heat down to low and leave to steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure they don't burn. Add another splash of water if they are sticking.
The carrots should have softened and the onions should have turned translucent. Also, the water should have evaporated.
Stir in the peas, Worcestershire sauce and tomato puree. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary.
Cut the corned beef into one-inch cubes and stir through carefully so as not to break it up too much. Set the filling aside to cool.
The reason we cool the filling is so that it doesn't melt the pastry when it is added to the pie. Melted pastry = soggy pastry and we don't want that!
Make the pastry:
While the filling is cooling we can get on with making the pastry.
If you have a food processor, by all means, use that.
This is how you mix the pastry by hand. See also my tips for perfect pastry further down the post.
Place the flour, salt and cubed butter into a large mixing bowl.
Use your fingertips and rub the butter into the pastry until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. The aim is to coat each grain of flour with butter to prevent gluten from forming.
Add most of the water to the mixture and use a flat-bladed knife to mix to a shaggy dough. Then use your hands to press the dough together. Use the remaining water only if the dough doesn't come together in a non-sticky ball.
Wrap the ball of dough in cling film or place it in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator to rest for half an hour.
Assemble and bake:
As I said earlier, I made 2 small pies - you may decide to make just one.
Take two-thirds of the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to approximately one-eighth of an inch in thickness. Use it to line a greased pie dish. Leave a bit of pastry overhanding to attach the lid.
Transfer the cooled filling into the pastry case.
Roll out the remaining pastry to make the lid and place it over the pie. Use a fork to seal the edges of the pastry. Cut a cross in the top of the pastry to allow the steam to escape as it bakes. Brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg. Use scraps of pastry to decorate the pie. I made Shamrocks in honour of St Patrick's Day which is coming up shortly.
Place the pie onto a baking sheet (to make it easier to get it in and out of the oven and bake at 200C / 400F for 25 minutes or until golden. Serve hot with baked beans.
Tips for making pastry
Here are my top tips for making the best pastry:
- Keep all the ingredients as cold as possible. It might be tempting to use room-temperature butter because it rubs into the flour more easily, but butter straight from the fridge will yield a lighter pastry.
- Lift the flour and butter above the bowl and rub them with your fingertips, allowing them to fall back into the bowl before repeating the movement. This will incorporate air into the dough, resulting in a lighter pastry.
- Use ice-cold water for mixing the pastry. This helps prevent the butter from softening too much.
- Handle the dough as little as possible and never knead the pastry dough. It is the act of kneading the dough that activates the gluten in the flour which in turn leads to the pastry being tough.
- Always let your pastry rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out. This will relax the gluten and ensure that the pastry does not shrink as it bakes. Resting the pastry also gives the butter time to harden which yields a crispier result.
- Do not add all the water at once. The amount of water you will need will be different with each batch of flour. Keep at least one tablespoon of water aside and only add it if the pastry seems too dry. Remember - you can put water in, but you can't take it out!
Variations
Every region in the UK has its own version of a corned beef and potato pie. Here are a few variations that you may like to try.
- Swap out the onions for leeks, or use a mixture of onions and leeks.
- Use a mixture of potatoes, swedes and perhaps even sweet potatoes.
- Swap the peas for frozen corn kernels, or use a mixture of the two.
- Add a cup of finely shredded cabbage with the onions.
- In this recipe, the pie filling does not contain any gravy. If you want gravy in your pie you can add a cup of stock, thickened with a tablespoon of flour to the filling as it is cooking. If you do this I would advise you to blind-bake the pastry case before adding the filling and putting on the lid or you may end up with soggy pastry. See this post for cheese and asparagus quiche for instructions on how to blind-bake pastry.
Other corned beef recipes
If you've got a can of bully beef in your pantry, you'll never go hungry! Here are a few other recipes using corned beef that you may like to try:
Storage
This pie freezes well. As I've already mentioned I made two pies and put one in the freezer for another day.
To freeze the pie, allow it to cool completely then cover the cooked pie (in the baking dish) with a sheet of tinfoil and either place it in a plastic freezer bag or wrap it in a double layer of cling film. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To use, allow the pie to defrost then place it in a hot oven (200F/400C) for about 7 minutes or until completely heated through.
Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They are delicious cold, but can also be warmed. While you can technically warm this pie in the microwave I wouldn't recommend it as the pastry will lose its crispness. The best way to reheat this corned beef pie is in a hot oven for a few minutes.
FAQ
Corned beef has a long history, dating back centuries, with the meat being preserved by curing it with large grains of salt, known as 'corns', hence the name.
The Industrial Revolution saw the development of canned meat (or 'bully beef') which became a staple ration British military during both World Wars.
After World War II when fresh meat was rationed and difficult to come by, canned corned beef was more readily available.
And this is very likely the origin of corned beef and potato pie. A can of corned beef could be stretched to feed many mouths, especially when mixed with potatoes and other vegetables, and covered with pastry.
As time went on and the economy improved, corned beef pie's popularity declined. However, it remained popular in the industrial areas of the north, where a filling and satisfying meal was the order of the day for the hard-working miners and factory workers.
To this day, corned beef pie ranks alongside the likes of Lancashire hotpot and Yorkshire meat and potato pie as an example of traditional northern British cooking.
Yes! Assemble the pie and then refrigerate (covered) overnight until you are ready to bake it. Bake just before serving for best results.
It depends on where you live - some areas in England call it a 'plate pie' due to it being baked on an enamel plate. And I know that my South African readers will call this a bully beef pie!
Yes, if you have leftovers from a Sunday roast you can chop them finely and use them instead of canned corned beef.
Yes, if you would like to use puff pastry for this pie you can certainly do so. However, I would be inclined to use shortcrust for the base layer and only put the puff pastry on top.
You could also leave out the bottom layer of pastry altogether and just top the pie with puff pastry.
Save for later
If you would like to try this corned beef and potato pie why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
Related recipes
Looking for other pie recipes? Why not try one of these:
📋The recipe
Corned beef and potato pie
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Saute pan (with lid)
- Enamel baking dish
- Large mixing bowl
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Filling
- 12 ounce / 340 gram can corned beef
- 1 pound / 450 grams potatoes peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
- ½ pound / 225 grams onions peeled and diced
- ½ pound / 225 grams carrots peeled and diced
- ¾ cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree / tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 2 tablespoons water
Pastry
- 2½ cup / 350 grams plain flour
- ¾ cup / 175 grams butter cubed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 7 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
Filling
- Peel all the vegetables and cut them into small dice - approximately half-inch in size.1 pound / 450 grams potatoes, ½ pound / 225 grams onions, ½ pound / 225 grams carrots
- Heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a pan and fry the potatoes on moderate heat, stirring frequently, until they are starting to brown.2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- Add the carrots and onions and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover the pan with a lid, turn the heat down to low and leave to steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure they don't burn. Add another splash of water if they are sticking.2 tablespoons water
- The carrots should have softened and the onions should have turned translucent.
- Stir in the peas, Worcestershire sauce and tomato puree. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary.¾ cup frozen peas, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon tomato puree / tomato paste
- Cut the corned beef into one-inch cubes and stir through carefully so as not to break it up too much. Set the filling aside to cool.12 ounce / 340 gram can corned beef
Pastry
- Place the flour, salt and cubed butter into a large mixing bowl.2½ cup / 350 grams plain flour, 1 teaspoon salt, ¾ cup / 175 grams butter
- Use your fingertips and rub the butter into the pastry until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. The aim of this exercise is to coat each grain of flour with butter to prevent the formation of gluten.
- Add most of the water to the mixture and use a flat-bladed knife to mix to a shaggy dough. Then use your hands to press the dough together. Use the remaining water only if the dough doesn't come together in a non-sticky ball.7 tablespoons cold water
- Wrap the ball of dough in cling film or place it in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator to rest for half an hour.
Assemble and bake
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F
- Take two-thirds of the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to approximately one-eighth of an inch in thickness. Use it to line a greased pie dish. Leave a bit of pastry overhanding to attach the lid.
- Transfer the cooled filling into the pastry case.
- Roll out the remaining pastry to make the lid and place it over the pie. Use a fork to seal the edges of the pastry. Cut a cross in the top of the pastry to allow the steam to escape as it bakes. Brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg. Use scraps of pastry to decorate the pie.
- Place the pie onto a baking sheet (to make it easier to get it in and out of the oven and bake at 200C / 400F for 25 minutes or until golden. Serve hot with baked beans.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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