Individual Beef and Guinness Pies

beef chuck

🥗Healthier: lean beef

💰Cheaper: ground beef

Lean beef reduces fat content while ground beef is often cheaper.

Guinness stout

🥗Healthier: non-alcoholic stout

💰Cheaper: any dark beer

Non-alcoholic stout maintains flavor without alcohol.

puff pastry

🥗Healthier: phyllo dough

💰Cheaper: shortcrust pastry

Phyllo dough is lighter, while shortcrust is more budget-friendly.

Fry the beef in about 2 tablespoons of oil for about 10 minutes until browned.

Remove the beef from the pan and set aside in a bowl.

Add more oil into the pan and sauté one finely chopped onion until cooked.

Stir in 3 tablespoons of plain flour, some thyme, and tomato puree into the cooked onions.

Add the beef back into the pot.

Pour in about 300 milliliters of Guinness, 200 milliliters of beef stock, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

Simmer the mixture over low heat until the beef becomes very tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Prepare the pastry cases using rectangle tins or round individual pie tins.

Press ready-made short crust pastry into the pie tins.

Blind bake the pastry by adding baking paper and weighing it down with baking beans for about 20 minutes at 200°C.

Allow the beef filling to cool completely before adding it to the partially cooked pastry.

Line the outer rim of the pie with a beaten egg and press the lid of the pie on top using puff pastry.

Brush the top of the pie with a beaten egg and press a hole into it to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the oven at 200°C for about 20 minutes.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Allergens