Jamaican Beef Patties

A Jamaican beef patty broken in half to show the juicy beef filling in the middle. Two whole patties are in the background.

Course: Lunch, Party Food, Snacks

Cuisine: Caribbean, Jamaican

Prep Time: 1 50

Cook Time: 1

Overnight resting / chilling: 8

Total Time: 10 50

Servings: patties (about 5 inches wide)

Calories: 258kcal

Author: Dini Kodippili

Juicy beef filling cooked with bold spices and just a hint of fiery heat, wrapped in a flaky pastry that's extra flavorful because it's made with lard and butter and spices! These Jamaican beef patties are a flavor-packed snack you can make with any type of protein, or even make it vegan too.

INTERMEDIATE - While the recipe isn't difficult at all, it does take a little time. Achieving the correct dough consistency is important, so that it's nice and flaky, and not rubbery.

Makes about 16 patties (about 5 inches wide).

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Ingredients

For the crust

500 g all purpose flour about 4 cups (spooned and leveled)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 ½ tsp Jamaican curry powder
1 ¼ tsp sea salt
½ tbsp sugar
150 g unsalted butter about 10.5 tbsp
100 g lard or shortening, about ½ cup
180 - 240 mL iced water ¾ - 1 cup
Extra flour if needed
Egg wash
Water to seal the pastry

Beef filling

2 tbsp Vegetable oil for cooking
1 medium onion
½ Scotch bonnet see recipe notes
3 garlic cloves
1 inch piece ginger sliced
2 tsp Jamaican curry powder
1 ½ tsp jerk seasoning substitute with 1 tsp Jamaican curry powder
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika or cayenne pepper
680 g lean ground beef 1 ½ lbs
½ tsp salt
120 mL water ½ cup
⅓ cup breadcrumbs
120 mL water ½ cup
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup chopped parsley

Instructions

Make the dough

Grate the butter and weigh the correct amount. Freeze the grated butter until solid. Place the lard in the fridge to chill. If you're using shortening, this can be grated and frozen too.
150 g unsalted butter, 100 g lard
Place the flour in a large shallow bowl, or the bowl of your food processor.
500 g all purpose flour
Add the turmeric, curry powder, salt, and sugar, and pulse or whisk to mix.
1 tsp ground turmeric, 1 ½ tsp Jamaican curry powder, 1 ¼ tsp sea salt, ½ tbsp sugar
Add the butter and lard (or shortening) to the flour mixture. Toss to coat the butter in flour.
Use a pastry cutter, or your fingers to rub the fat into the flour, so it resembles coarse wet sand. If using a food processor, pulse the mixture to get the same texture.
Stream in the ice water in small amounts while mixing the flour butter mixture. The flour mixture will start to form large clumps as you add water.
180 - 240 mL iced water
The dough is at the correct consistency when the dough clumps can be squeezed together to form a dough, with very little dry spots.
Turn the dough clumps out onto your work surface and squeeze them together to form a dough. If the dough is too soft or wet, add more flour as you bring it together. Dust the dough well if it's is too sticky.
Extra flour
Fold the dough over itself a few times, just to create a smooth surface. Shape the dough into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight (up to 1 day).

Curried beef filling

Slice the onion and place it in a small food processor or blender. Add the scotch bonnet, garlic, and ginger. Process to form a finely minced mixture.
1 medium onion, ½ Scotch bonnet, 3 garlic cloves, 1 inch piece ginger
Alternatively, finely chop the onion, garlic, ginger, and scotch bonnet pepper. Just be careful when handling scotch bonnet peppers, as they are very spicy.
Mix the breadcrumbs and water in a separate bowl, and set aside until needed.
⅓ cup breadcrumbs, 120 mL water
Heat a pan or pot over medium heat with some oil (about 2 tbsp). When the oil is almost heated, add the onion mixture. Sauté until the onions soften and start to color. Since the blended mixture will have liquid, make sure the liquid is mostly evaporated as you sauté. This can take about 10 minutes, depending on your stove and cooking pan.
Add the spices to the onion mixture and saute for another 1 - 2 minutes until the spices are fragrant. Do not let the spices burn.
2 tsp Jamaican curry powder, 1 ½ tsp jerk seasoning, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp paprika
Add the ground beef, salt, and water, and mix to remove any lumps in the ground beef. Mix well with the spices.
680 g lean ground beef, 120 mL water, ½ tsp salt
Lower the heat (to low - medium low), to simmer the beef mixture. Simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes, making sure to occasionally stir the mixture. There should still be some liquid in the beef mix after simmering. If not, add a little water to make sure the mixture doesn’t dry out.
Add the panade (breadcrumbs + water), and stir it in. Bring the mixture back to a simmer. Taste and add salt to your taste.
Salt and pepper
Simmer the mixture for a further 5 - 10 minutes. The mixture should thicken with the panade, and there shouldn’t be any runny liquid in the beef mixture.
Remove the curried beef filling from the heat and add the parsley. Stir to combine.
½ cup chopped parsley
Transfer the filling into a container and let it cool down slightly before returning to the fridge to cool down completely.
The filling should be at room temperature or chilled before using. I prefer to let the filling rest overnight, which will develop the flavors further.

Rolling the dough

Take the chilled and rested dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 2 - 3 mm in thickness. Make sure the dough isn’t sticking to the surface as it's rolled out. Roll out the dough on both sides as well.
If it's difficult to roll out the dough because it's become elastic (shrinks back), then lightly dust the dough and loosely fold it into quarters and cover with plastic wrap. Return this dough to the fridge to rest for about 1 - 2 hours to let the gluten relax. This will make it easier to roll out the dough to the desired thickness.
Take a pastry cutter or bowl that's about 5 inches in diameter and mark circles on the rolled out dough. Cut out the circles with the cutter OR use a paring knife to cut the circles.
Cut as many circles as you can with the first roll out. Keep the cut circles on a plate and cover with plastic wrap or a cloth and keep it in the fridge until you fill the pastry.
Bring together the remaining dough scraps to form a rough dough and wrap it well. Then refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour to let the dough relax. Then re-roll the dough to cut more pastry circles. I can usually cut about 16 pastry circles in total.

Assembling Jamaican beef patties

Keep the curried beef filling in the container with a scoop or spoon, so it's easy to equally portion the filling. I use about 3 tbsp per pastry, which is about 50 g of filling.
Place the filling portion on one side of the pastry circle. Brush water all along the edge of the pastry. Fold the pastry over to form a half circle, while enclosing the filling. Press down and pinch the edges to seal the pastry.
Water
Use a fork to crimp the edges to fully seal the pastry. You can also twist the edges to create the scalloped crust if you like, but this takes a little longer.
Place each pastry on a tray that's lined with parchment paper, and cover with a cloth to prevent them from drying out.
Repeat until all the pastry dough circles are filled with the curried beef filling.
Keep the pastries in the fridge until you’re ready to bake them. These can be stored in the fridge for about 1 day before baking.

Baking

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the beef patties on the tray, with about 2 inches of space between each.
Brush the patties with an egg wash, and pierce the top of the patties with a small knife to create small slits.
Egg wash
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 - 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and shiny.
Remove from the oven and let the pastries cool down slightly before enjoying them! Serve while still warm.

Notes

Note about the scotch bonnet

Scotch bonnet is a really spicy chili pepper. If you’re not used to spicy food, you can leave it out.

Scotch bonnet chili adds flavor + heat. You can lower the heat a little, but still keep the flavor by removing the seeds and white pith inside the chili before adding it to the filling.

Note about freezing the pastries

You can freeze unbaked or baked patties.

Place the Jamaican patties on a parchment paper lined tray (that can fit in your freezer), in one layer. Make sure the pastries aren’t making contact with each other.

Transfer to the freezer for a few hours, until the pastries are frozen (at least the crust).

Then transfer the pastries into freezer bags or containers with airtight lids and keep them in the freezer until needed.

Note about reheating or baking from frozen

To bake from frozen - Bake as per instructions in a preheated oven. Add a few minutes more than you would if baking straight from the fridge.

To reheat from frozen - Preheat oven to 250 F. Place the pastries in the oven and loosely cover with foil. Heat for about 20 minutes until heated through. Remove the foil and bake for a further 5 minutes to make them crisp, and serve.

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