Why not try something different tonight and treat your family to a cheesy Tex Mex beef pie? You get all the flavours of Mexico encased in a delicious crispy cheese pastry and the only thing you will need to serve with it is an easy salad made with tomatoes, lettuce and avocado.
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Easy Tex Mex pie
If you enjoy Mexican food, I think you are going to love this Tex Mex beef pie.
It’s made with ground beef, flavoured with a packet of fajita spices and tomatoes before being baked in a crispy homemade pastry shell, which has been topped with sour cream and golden melted cheese.
The pastry is light-as-a-feather homemade cheese pastry which perfectly complements the spiciness of the beef filling.
This Tex Mex beef pie is like a great big taco, but in pie form!
Why I think you’ll love it
- It’s quick to make – it only takes a few minutes to mix the pastry, and you can make the filling while the pastry is resting in the refrigerator for half an hour. Then all you have to do is pop the pie into the oven for another half an hour to bake.
- It’s economical – ground or minced beef is much cheaper than buying a piece of beef, and you can bulk it out by adding onions and red peppers to the mixture.
- It tastes amazing – I think everyone loves the spicy taste of tacos and fajitas. And you can adjust the heat to suit yourself by buying either mild, medium or hot strength fajita mix.
- It’s versatile – you can ring the changes and make this dish with coarsely chopped or ground chicken instead.
- It’s something different to serve the family – if you find you’re always cooking the same thing over and over, this is an easy way to try something new.
This pie can be quite runny when it’s hot, but it firms up nicely when it’s cold, so you can slice up any leftovers and pop them into a lunch box.
Here’s how to make it.
What you will need
Equipment
I made my pastry using a food processor because it’s less work than mixing pastry by hand. If you don’t have a food processor you can just mix the pastry in a mixing bowl. You will also need a rolling pin for rolling out the pastry. Tip – if you don’t have a rolling pin a clean wine bottle will do the job!
For making the filling you will need a saute pan (with a lid) or a large saucepan or frying pan.
Finally, you will need a suitable deep dish for assembling and baking the pie. I used a 9″ spring form pan so that I could get the entire pie out easily for the photos. You can use any round baking dish, and serve it directly from there – just make sure it is deep enough to hold all the filling.
Ingredients
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this Tex Mex beef pie on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
This pie will feed 4 to 6 people depending on appetite. Leftovers can be frozen.
Filling
Beef mince (or ground beef) – get lean beef mince with 5% fat content if possible. If your beef has a higher fat content you may have to pour some of the rendered fat away once the meat has been browned.
Fajita seasoning mix – you can buy this in any supermarket – if you prefer you can use taco seasoning instead. I used a medium heat mix, but I found that it was very mild (even for my taste) and I had to add half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper (not pictured) to up the spiciness. The packet of seasoning I used weighed 28 grams (about 3 tablespoons).
If you prefer to make your own fajita spice mix you can get the recipe from my chicken fajitas with easy homemade fajita spice mix recipe.
Tomato puree – you may also know this as tomato paste.
Chopped tomatoes – buy plain tomatoes – don’t get the ones that have been flavoured with Italian herbs – the flavour will be wrong.
Onion and red pepper (I forgot to add the red pepper to the photo) – these should be chopped into approximately half-inch or 1cm dice.
Flour – used for thickening the filling
Stock – beef stock. You can make your own with a beef stock cube dissolved in one cup of boiling water.
Salt – this is to your own taste. It depends on how salty the fajita spice mix is. I normally taste once the sauce has cooked and add salt only if I think it needs it.
Sour cream – this is spooned over the filling before the pie is baked.
Grated cheese – this is sprinkled on top of the pie before it goes into the oven.
Egg – lightly beaten and used to brush the pastry before it is baked.
Olive oil – used for frying the onions and mince.
Pastry
Flour – plain all-purpose flour (cake flour to my South African readers). Don’t use self-raising flour.
Cheese-grated – I use cheddar, but you can use any cheese that grates easily. I wouldn’t use parmesan or mozzarella.
Butter – I use unsalted butter. You can use salted butter if that’s all you have but you might find you don’t need to add any extra salt to the pastry.
Salt – to your own taste.
Water – 3 to 4 tablespoons to bind the pastry. This should be ice cold.
What to do
Make the pastry
Place the flour, salt, grated cheese and butter into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add 3 tablespoons of water and pulse for about 5 seconds. If the mixture isn’t coming together properly, add another tablespoon of water and pulse again.
Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured work surface and press it gently together with your hands until it forms a ball. Do not knead – handle the dough as little as possible. Cover the pastry with plastic wrap or place it in a plastic bag and refrigerate for half an hour.
If you are mixing the pastry by hand, rub the butter, flour and cheese with your fingertips. You may find the cheese doesn’t break up properly, but this will be fine. The cheese will melt into the pastry as it bakes. Add water in the same way as the food processor method.
Filling
While the pastry is resting you can get on with making the filling.
Fry the chopped onions and red peppers for about 5 minutes on a low to medium heat, stirring continuously, in a little olive oil until they start to soften.
(Yes I know there are no red peppers in the picture – I forgot to add them. It still tasted good though 🙂 )
Add the ground beef to the pan and continue to stir, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until the meat is browned and crumbly.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the tomato puree, the flour and the contents of the spice packet.
Return the pan to the heat and stir in the stock and the canned tomatoes.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
If the mixture is still runny, remove the lid from the pan and leave it to simmer for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will allow the excess liquid to evaporate and will help to thicken the filling. You can see from the image below how thick the filling should be.
Taste for seasoning and add the cayenne pepper and extra salt if necessary.
Assemble and bake
Leave the mince mixture to cool while you roll the pastry and line the baking dish.
Roll the pastry out into a circle large enough to fit into your pie dish, with about one and a half inches hanging over the edge.
Pour the cooled filling into the pastry shell.
Spread the sour cream over the meat and then sprinkle with grated cheese.
Fold the overhanging pastry on top of the pie and brush the pastry with lightly beaten egg. There will be a gap in the centre where the pastry does not reach – this is intended, and perfectly fine.
Bake in a preheated oven (200C/400F) for 20 to 25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Serve hot with a side salad made with toppings that you would normally add to tacos or fajitas, such as lettuce, sliced tomatoes and onions and chopped avocado.
Note – depending on how thick your filling was, this pie may be quite runny when it is hot, so I would recommend serving it directly from the dish in which it was baked. You will find that leftover pie will thicken as it cools and you will be able to slice it once it is cold.
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Tex Mex beef pie
No, you can substitute the beef for coarsely chopped chicken breasts.
This Tex Mex beef pie can be frozen for up to 3 months once it has been assembled. Cover the top with tinfoil and then wrap in several layers of plastic wrap.
To use, let the pie defrost in the refrigerator, then remove the wrapping and bake for the time and temperature given in the recipe.
Leftovers can also be frozen and then reheated in the oven (200C/400F) for 10 to 15 minutes.
You can assemble this Tex Mex beef pie and store it in the refrigerator in the baking dish (covered with plastic wrap) for up to 2 days before baking.
Save for later
If you would like to make this Tex Mex beef pie for your family, 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.
Other recipes
You may also like these other easy recipes made with beef mince (with a difference):
- Spice ground beef curry and rice – a mince curry the way we used to make it in South Africa.
- Minced beef hotpot – savoury minced beef with a scalloped potato topping
- Air fryer baked potatoes with savoury mince topping – baked potatoes topped with my popular savoury mince
- Unstuffed cabbage rolls – all the flavour of stuffed cabbage rolls without the effort of rolling them!
- Deconstructed cottage pie – cottage pie with a difference.
The recipe
Tex Mex beef pie
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1½ cups / 210 grams plain all-purpose flour
- 4½ ounces / 125 grams unsalted butter cut into cubes
- ¾ cup / 100 grams cheddar cheese grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water
Filling
- 1 pound / 450 grams lean beef mince (ground beef)
- 1 large onion cut into 1 cm (½ inch) dice
- 1 large red pepper deseeded and cut into 1 cm (½ inch) dice
- 1 packet / 28 grams fajita seasoning mix
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree (or tomato paste)
- 2 tablespoons / 20 grams plain flour
- 14 ounce / 390 gram can chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup beef stock made with a stock cube and 1 cup boiling water
- ½ cup / 120 grams sour cream
- ¾ cup / 100 grams cheddar cheese grated
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 small egg lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon Cayenne pepper if necessary for extra spiciness
- 2 tablespoons olive oil for frying
Instructions
Pastry
- Place the flour, salt, grated cheese and butter into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.1½ cups / 210 grams plain all-purpose flour, 4½ ounces / 125 grams unsalted butter, ¾ cup / 100 grams cheddar cheese, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add 3 tablespoons of water and pulse for about 5 seconds. If the mixture isn't coming together properly, add another tablespoon of water and pulse again.3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water
- Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured work surface and press it gently together with your hands until it forms a ball. Do not knead – handle the dough as little as possible. Cover the pastry with plastic wrap or place it in a plastic bag and refrigerate for half an hour.
Filling
- Make the filling while the pastry is resting.
- Fry the chopped onions and red peppers in the olive oil for about 5 minutes on a low to medium heat, stirring continuously, until they start to soften.1 large onion, 1 large red pepper, 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Add the ground beef to the pan and continue to stir, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until the meat is browned and crumbly.1 pound / 450 grams lean beef mince (ground beef)
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the tomato puree, the flour and the contents of the spice packet.1 packet / 28 grams fajita seasoning mix, 2 tablespoons tomato puree (or tomato paste), 2 tablespoons / 20 grams plain flour
- Return the pan to the heat and stir in the stock and the canned tomatoes.14 ounce / 390 gram can chopped tomatoes, 1 cup beef stock
- Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken. If the mixture is still runny, remove the lid and continue to simmer until some of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is thick enough.
- Taste for seasoning and add the cayenne pepper and extra salt if necessary.½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
- Leave the filling to cool while you line the baking dish with pastry.
Assemble and bake
- Roll the pastry out into a circle large enough to fit into your pie dish, with about one and a half inches hanging over the edge.
- Pour the cooled filling into the pastry shell.
- Spread the sour cream over the meat and then sprinkle with grated cheese.½ cup / 120 grams sour cream, ¾ cup / 100 grams cheddar cheese
- Fold the overhanging pastry on top of the pie and brush the pastry with lightly beaten egg. There will be a gap in the centre where the pastry does not reach – this is intended, and perfectly fine.1 small egg
- Bake in a preheated oven (200C/400F) for 20 to 25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling.
- Serve hot with a side salad made with toppings that you would normally add to tacos or fajitas, such as lettuce, sliced tomatoes and onions and chopped avocado.
Notes
To use, let the pie defrost in the refrigerator, then remove the wrapping and bake for the time and temperature given in the recipe.
Leftovers can also be frozen and then reheated in the oven (200C/400F) for 10 to 15 minutes. You can assemble this Tex Mex beef pie and store it in the refrigerator in the baking dish (covered with plastic wrap) for up to 2 days before baking.
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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