Raised beef and onion pie is made with crispy yoghurt pastry and crammed full of tasty ground beef, onions and vegetables in a thick beefy gravy. This is one of those pies that everyone needs in their repertoire. The star of the show has to be the pastry – it’s soft yet crispy and holds its shape perfectly. You’ll certainly impress family and friends when you place this on the table.
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Everybody’s favourite pie
I honestly don’t know which to rave about the most in this raised beef and onion pie recipe – the succulent, beefy filling, or the crispy pastry that holds it all together. This pie is just plain and simple no-frills British baking at its finest, and I can practically guarantee that if you make this pie once you’ll be making it over and over again.
Let’s start with the filling – it’s made with beef mince (or ground beef if you live in the US), fried with onions until the onions are sweet and caramelised and the meat is browned and juicy. Then it’s simmered with a selection of other grated vegetables and a simple gravy flavoured with good old Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Nothing fancy, just simple ingredients, but they all come together so well.
There are no hard-and-fast rules about the vegetables. I like to add grated carrots, courgettes, tomatoes and leeks – but you can use whatever vegetables you happen to have in the fridge. Mushrooms make a nice addition, or a handful of peas or corn kernels would add a touch of extra colour and sweetness.
Moving onto the pastry – this has got to be the easiest pastry recipe ever. It literally comes together in 5 minutes which is less time than it would take to defrost a roll of store-bought pastry. It’s so light, buttery and flaky, but it still has the strength needed to hold up a 5-centimetre-high raised pie with no problems.
What makes this pastry different from the normal flaky pastry is that it’s made with Greek yoghurt (or natural yoghurt if you prefer). This makes it extra crispy, yet soft at the same time. And even though you can’t really taste the yoghurt, it just seems to add an extra depth of flavour to the pastry. Now hubby is not a ‘picker’ at mealtimes. He eats what’s on his plate and NEVER has extras, but even he was picking the edges off the pie and saying ‘Oh this pastry is really nice‘
This minced beef and onion pie is a proper pie with pastry both on the bottom and on the top. It does take a bit of extra effort to line the springform pan and blind bake the pastry case, but it is so worth the extra few minutes. Blind-baking the pastry ensures that the base of the pie is as crispy as that on the top. As Mary Berry so aptly puts it – nobody likes a soggy bottom!
I really hope you enjoy this raised beef and onion pie as much as I do!
What you will need
Equipment
For baking the pie you will need a 9″ round spring-form pie dish to hold the actual pie, and an 8″ round spring-form pie dish to hold the pastry in place while it is blind-baked.
You will also need a large saute pan with a lid for making the filling, and a sharp knife, cheese grater and chopping board for preparing the vegetables.
For the pastry you will need a large mixing bowl and a rolling pin.
Ingredients
**You can get the full recipe with the complete list of ingredients and detailed steps for making this raised beef and onion pie on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
Yoghurt pastry
These are the ingredients you will need to make the yoghurt flaky pastry:
- Flour – plain white all purpose flour (or cake flour if you live in South Africa) – not self-raising flour. We don’t need any baking powder in this recipe.
- Salt – optional as always, but I find a small amount does improve the flavour of the pastry.
- Butter – you can use salted or unsalted – it doesn’t matter, but if you do use salted butter you may like to leave out any additional salt. The butter should be cut into small cubes to make it easier to rub into the flour.
- Greek yoghurt – this takes the place of milk or water that you would normally use to bind the pastry. You can use natural yoghurt if you prefer. Make sure this is plain yoghurt, not the fruit-flavoured kind.
- Egg yolk – this adds extra richness to the pastry. Medium to large is fine.
Pie filling
These are the ingredients you will need for the beef and onion pie filling:
Top tip – gather all the ingredients and prepare the vegetables before you start cooking – this way everything will be ready and to hand, and you will be less likely to forget an ingredient.
- Ground beef / beef mince – for this recipe I used beef mince with a 12% fat content. If you prefer you can use 5% fat content.
- Onions – you can use white or red onions. Because the pie is made with ground beef, which is quite fine, the onions should be quite finely chopped.
- Leeks – I normally cut my leek in half lengthwise, and then slice into semi-circles.
- Carrots – I like to grate them on the largest holes of a box grater, but if you prefer you couldjust chop them into a fine dice.
- Tomato – finely chopped.
- Courgettes / zucchini / baby marrows (depending on where in the world you live you may know this vegetable by any of these names). These should be grated on the large holes of a box grater. Just wash them before use – there is no need to peel the skin off.
- Mushrooms – (optional and not pictured). I like to add mushrooms to my pie and they should also be quite finely chopped. You can use white mushrooms or chestnuts depending on your preference. A lot of people don’t like mushrooms, so it’s perfectly fine to leave them out.
- Worcestershire sauce – the good old English favourite – first sold in 1837 (so it’s been around for quite a while).
- Tomato puree / tomato paste – not to be confused with tomato sauce /tomato ketchup. This is highly concentrated tomatoes, normally sold in tubes or small cans.
- Paprika – paprika adds a touch of smokiness. You can leave this out if you don’t like the taste.
- Salt and black pepper – to your own taste.
- In addition to the above, you will also need sunflower oil or olive oil for frying, a beef stock cube and a beaten egg for brushing on the pastry before it goes into the oven.
Note on the vegetables
You can use whatever vegetables you prefer in this recipe. I used courgettes because we had a glut of them from the allotment. You could use grated swedes or parsnips, finely chopped broccoli or cauliflower, or even grated butternut.
When substituting vegetables, just make sure you have 4 to 5 cups of chopped and grated vegetables (including the onion). The quantities aren’t too important – if you add extra, you will just have a larger pie 🙂 .
Steps in a nutshell
Even though this is an easy pie to make, there are quite a few steps.
I’ve broken them down so that you can have an overview of what is needed:
- Make the pastry and allow it to rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- While the pastry is resting, get the filling on to cook.
- Once the pastry has rested, use it to line a 9″ springform dish, and blind bake it for 20 minutes.
- Once the pastry case has baked, add the filling and top with the pastry lid.
- Bake the pie for 20 minutes until golden.
Instructions
Yoghurt Pastry
The pastry only takes about 5 minutes to mix.
Measure the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, then add the cubed butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the flour is incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Add the egg yolk and yoghurt to the flour and butter mixture.
Using a flat-bladed knife, mix the egg and yoghurt into the flour mixture until it comes together in a shaggy dough.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently press it together into a flat disk shape. Handle the dough as little as possible and do not knead.
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for half an hour. This step is important as it gives the gluten time to rest, and will help prevent the dough from ‘shrinking’ as it bakes. It also firms up the butter, making the pastry easier to roll.
Line the baking tin
Cut the dough into 3 equally sized pieces – you will need one piece for the base of the pie, one piece for the sides and the third piece for the top.
Roll one of the pieces of dough out until it is just larger than the 9″ spring-form pan. Use the pan as a guide and cut a circle from the dough. Lay it onto the bottom of the pan.
Take the second piece of dough and cut it in half. Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 3 inches wide and 15 inches long. Press it gently onto the side of half of the pan, letting the long side overlap onto the pastry on the base. Press it gently onto the pastry base to seal.
Repeat with the second half of the dough. Smooth the joins together so that the entire pan is lined with pastry.
Cover the pastry with a layer of baking parchment.
Place the smaller springform pan on top of the baking parchment. Scrunch up two small pieces of baking parchment and gently insert them into the gaps to hold the smaller baking pan in place.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 360 degrees Fahrenheit then bake the pastry for 20 minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven, let it cool for a few minutes then carefully remove the inner springform pan, the tinfoil and the baking parchment. The bottom of the pastry will still be slightly undercooked.
Return the pastry to the oven and bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes to crisp the base. If the sides are browning too much, cover them with a piece of tin foil.
Because the springform pan has a loose bottom, I always place it on a baking tray to make it easier to get in and out of the oven.
Allow the pastry to cool. Do not remove it from the springform pan. It will be baked again in the pan once the filling has been added.
This might sound like a lot of effort, but it is easy to do, and absolutely necessary. Please don’t do what I did and think you can get away with just using parchment paper and baking beans. This is a very soft pastry and unless you support the sides properly, they will just collapse onto the bottom of the pie dish (I’m talking from bitter experience 🙂 )
Make the minced beef and onion filling
For this step, you will need a large saute pan with a lid.
Tip – prepare your vegetables before starting – you won’t have time to for chopping vegetables once you get started making the filling.
Fry the chopped onions and sliced leeks in 1 to 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil / olive oil for about 4 minutes until they turn translucent. Stir them often over a low heat, to prevent burning.
Move the onions and leeks to one side and add the ground beef and season with salt and black pepper. Break the beef up with your spatula and fry with the onions until the beef is nicely browned and completely separate.
If you are using mushrooms, add them now and continue to fry until they start to release their moisture.
Add the remainder of the vegetables, the paprika, the Worcestershire sauce and the tomato paste. Crumble in the stock cube, add 1 cup of water and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.
Turn down the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.
If the filling looks to be drying out too much, top up with extra stock or water – but don’t add too much. This is not intended to be a ‘runny’ gravy.
Taste for seasoning and add salt and ground black pepper to your own taste.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and then stir the flour into the mixture.
Adding flour is optional. The reason I add the flour is because of the water that leaks out of the vegetables if you leave any leftover pie to stand in the refrigerator overnight. This liquid makes the base of the pie turn soggy and the flour helps to prevent this.
Bake the raised beef and onion pie
All that now remains is to assemble the minced beef and onion pie and bake it.
Transfer the cooled beef and onion pie filling into the baked pastry shell.
Roll out the remaining pastry into a circular shape large enough to fit on top of the pie. Lay the pastry over the filling, and press the sides of the filling into the pastry case to seal. Make a few slits on top of the pastry with a sharp knife to allow the steam to escape.
Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is crispy and golden.
Remove from the oven and let the pie stand for a few minutes then release the spring and remove the outer edge of the springform pan.
If you would like to tidy the pie up before serving, you could carefully neaten the edges with a sharp knife. I don’t bother because I like the way that the edges of the pastry give the effect of a ‘double-crust’.
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Tips and questions
You can certainly make a smaller pie, simply by using half the amount of beef mince, and cutting down on the quantity of vegetables.
For a smaller amount of pastry you could use three-quarters of the stated ingredients, or make the full amount and use any leftover pastry to make sausage rolls with some good quality sausages or leftover bolognese mince as a filling.
Assemble the pie to the point where the filling has been placed in the springform pan and covered with the pastry lid. Allow the filling to cool completely then cover the pie with a sheet of tinfoil and wrap in two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To use, allow the pie to defrost in the refrigerator and then bake as per the recipe instructions.
Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. This pie is delicious eaten cold, but you could also warm it in the microwave or oven before eating if you prefer. Bear in mind that if you do reheat in the microwave the pastry will not be crispy.
No, you can bake this pie in any suitable deep container. It might just be difficult to get the first slice out though. Do take care when blind-baking the pastry that the sides of the pastry are nicely supported.
No, not at all, you can bake this pie in a normal pie dish. However, you should blind-bake the pastry first by covering it with a sheet of baking parchment and a layer of baking beans.
No, you can use your own favourite pastry recipe. You could even just tip the filling into a regular casserole dish and top it with a sheet of store-bought puff pastry.
Pin for later
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Other pie recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe for raised beef and onion pie, you may like to try some of my other pie recipes.
- Leftover chicken and ham pie with mushrooms
- Creamy chicken, leek and mushroom pie
- Traditional British meat and potato pie
- Old fashioned bacon and egg pie
- Homemade steak and kidney pie with puff pastry
The recipe
Raised beef and onion pie with crispy yoghurt pastry
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
Yoghurt pastry
- 2 cups / 280 grams plain all purpose flour Not self-raising flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 ounces / 200 grams cubed butter salted or unsalted
- ½ cup / 120ml Greek yoghurt or natural yoghurt
- 1 medium egg yolk
Beef and onion filling
- 1 pound / 450 grams beef mince 12% fat content or lower
- 2 medium finely chopped red or white onions approximately 1½ cups
- 1 large finely sliced leek approximately 1 cup
- 1 large finely grated carrot approximately ¾ cup
- 1 medium tomato diced
- 2 – 3 medium grated courgettes / zucchini approximately 2 cups
- 1 cup chopped mushrooms optional
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste/puree
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 beef stock cube
- 2 tablespoons sunflower or olive oil
- 1 small beaten egg
- 1 tablespoon flour optional
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Yoghurt pastry
- The oven should be pre-heated to 180°C / 360°F. Only do this once you actually start to roll the pastry (once it has rested in the refrigerator for half an hour).
- Measure the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, then add the cubed butter. Using your finger tips, rub the butter into the flour until the flour is incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.2 cups / 280 grams plain all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 7 ounces / 200 grams cubed butter
- Tip in the egg yolk and the yoghurt1 medium egg yolk, ½ cup / 120ml Greek yoghurt
- Mix the egg and yoghurt into the flour and butter using a flat-bladed knife. The dough should come together into a shaggy ball.
- Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press the mixture gently with your hands until it comes together in a smooth ball. Handle the dough as little as possible and do not knead.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for half an hour.
- Roll the pastry to about ⅛" thickness. Use ⅔ of the pastry to line a 9" springform pan. Reserve the other ⅓ for the lid.
- Cover the pastry in the dish with a piece of baking parchment, pressing it carefully against the base and sides.
- Place a smaller springform pan (I used an 8" pan) on top of the baking parchment and then press a scrunched up piece of baking parchment between the inner springform pan and the baking parchment. This will help to hold the inner springform pan in place. See post for images.
- Place the springform pan on a baking sheet and bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes remove the pan from the oven and carefully remove the smaller springform pan, and the baking parchment. The base of the pastry will still be slightly undercooked.
- Return the pastry to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes until the base of the pastry starts to turn golden. If the sides of the pastry case are browning too much, cover them with a piece of tinfoil.
- Remove the pastry from the oven and allow it to cool in the springform pan.
Beef and onion filling
- Fry the chopped onions and sliced leeks in 1 to 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil / olive oil for about 4 minutes until they turn translucent. Stir them often over a low heat, to prevent burning.2 medium finely chopped red or white onions, 1 large finely sliced leek, 2 tablespoons sunflower or olive oil
- Add the ground beef/mince, season with salt and pepper and continue to fry until the meat is browned and separated. Use a spatula to help you to break up the mince as it browns.1 pound / 450 grams beef mince
- If you are using mushrooms, add them now and continue to fry until they start to release their moisture.1 cup chopped mushrooms
- Add the remainder of the vegetables, the paprika, the worcestershire sauce and the tomato paste. Crumble in the stock cube and add 1 cup of water and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.1 large finely grated carrot, 1 medium tomato, 2 – 3 medium grated courgettes / zucchini, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoons tomato paste/puree, 1 teaspoon ground paprika, 1 beef stock cube
- Turn down the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt and ground black pepper to your own taste.Salt and ground black pepper
- Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and then stir the flour into the mixture.1 tablespoon flour
Assemble and bake
- Transfer the pie filling into the baked pastry shell.
- Roll out the remaining pastry into a circular shape large enough to fit on top of the pie. Lay the pastry over the filling, and press the sides of the filling into the pastry case to seal. Make a few slits on top of the pastry with a sharp knife to allow the steam to escape.
- Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is crispy and golden.1 small beaten egg
- Remove from the oven and let the pie stand for a few minutes then release the spring and remove the outer edge of the springform pan.
- Serve with a selection of green vegetables of your choice, and optionally a side dish of mashed potato.
Notes
- Use one-third of the dough to roll into a circle just larger than the base of the baking tin and place this on the bottom of the tin (Tip – place the base of the springform pan onto the rolled pastry and cut around it to get the right-sized shape).
- Roll the second third of the dough into a long oblong shape just wider than the depth of the pan. The circumference of a 9″ springform pan is 30 inches or 76 cm – so your pastry should be rolled out to that length. Use this to line the sides of the pan (Tip – do this in two pieces and line half of the pan first then just press the seams together to close them.) Let the bottom of the edges overlap the base of the pastry to prevent leakage.
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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Hi! The pie sounds delicious. I (unfortunately) am a brand new celiac. Boo. Just wondering if you have tried this with any gluten free flours? Thank you very much. Cheryl
Hi Cheryl – no I haven’t tried making this with gluten-free flour – but there is absolutely no reason why you couldn’t. If you have a recipe for any pastry using gluten-free flour you could substitute the liquid component with egg and yoghurt. I’m not sure how absorbant gluten-free flour would be though – so you might have to adjust the amount of yoghurt to cater for that. You might also like to check out this website for gluten-free recipies – https://www.glutenfreealchemist.com/