Ground Beef Pie for Two

What a treat it would be to have this Ground Beef Pie for lunch or dinner. Eat it while it’s hot…. or cold, if you prefer it that way. Both are equally delicious. (UPDATED RECIPE)

You can make two small individual pies:

or a larger 9-inch pie for two.

Meat pies, or savory pies in general, are often a little heavy. This meat pie is just ground beef and a small layer of cheese, no sauce and a thin layer of dough. If you serve it with a simple salad instead, it is not heavy at all.

Key Ingredients of This Recipe

• Ground beef – I used a 80/20 ground beef (80% lean ground beef and 20% fat). In principle you can use any type of ground beef, but too much fat will not necessarily give the same result, as the fat cannot go anywhere, but potentially soak into the crescent dough.
• Crescent dough
• Onion
• Egg
• Ketchup
• Worcestershire sauce
• Breadcrumbs – you can use a slice of day-old bread as well. Breadcrumbs or bread will soak up the milk and will keep the meat moist.
• Milk
• Cheese – I used Gruyere cheese. Mozzarella will be great for melting and it’s delightfully stringy, but does not add much flavor. I would suggest using, Gruyere cheese, Gouda cheese or a cheddar with some age.
• Parsley
• Spices, salt & pepper

As a general remark, I would say, make sure you flavor your ground beef mixture well, but don’t make it too salty. During the cooking process the meat will lose some of its moisture/fat and thus the flavor will become more intense. If you have a great recipe of a meatloaf, use that mixture in this pie.

How to Make This Ground Beef Pie

Step 1 – Mix all ingredients except for the crescent dough in a bowl and mix well. Like all ground beef mixtures, don’t overmix as the meat may become chewy instead of tender. Adding breadcrumbs or day-old bread to your beef mixture will aid in keeping the meat moist.

Step 2 – Unroll the crescent dough, but don’t separate the triangles. Use your fingers to better connect the triangles and if needed, roll the dough just a little thinner. You will need enough dough to cover the pie dish(es) and a lattice top.

The dough of this pie is a roll of Pillsbury Butter Flake Crescents (this is not a sponsored post). By all means, if you prefer to make your own pie crust, please do so.

Step 3 – Divide the ground cheese over the 2 small pie dishes or fill the one larger pie dish.

Step 4 – Cover the cheese with the ground meat mixture and spread it out evenly.

Step 5 – Use the left-over dough to create the top of the pie. There is no need to baste the dough with egg or egg wash. Place the pie(s) in the oven and bake. The crescent dough will brown beautifully.

Don’t bake it too long. You don’t want the beef to overcook and become dry and dense.

Step 6 – Allow to cool a little. Serve in the pie dish or take them out, serve on individual plates.

When you make the larger pie, cut it in 4 quarts.

I like to serve this Ground Beef Pie with a simple salad, e.g. by mixing arugula, avocado and a vinaigrette.

You’ll have a wonderfully easy lunch or dinner recipe. A variety of texture (fluffy crust, melting cheese, crumbly moist meat, crunchy salad) and flavors (sweet from the dough, spicy-salty meat, bitter salad crunch and sour from the vinaigrette

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

No ratings yet

Ground Beef Pie

What a treat it would be to have this Ground Beef Pie for lunch. This savory pie can be enjoyed warm and cold.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Servings: 2 people

Author: Marinka

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs (NOTE 1)
• 1 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 egg
• 8 ounces ground beef
• salt and pepper
• 1 pinch paprika powder
• 1 pinch ginger powder
• 1 pinch curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 1/2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 5 sprigs parsley
• 2 drops tabasco optional
• 1 roll Pillsbury Butter Flake Crescents (NOTE 2)
• 2 ounces Gruyere cheese (NOTE 3)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place all ingredients (except of the crescent dough) in a bowl and mix well, but don't overmix. Leave some parsley for decoration.
• Unroll the crescent dough, but don't separate the triangles. Use your fingers to better connect the triangles and roll the dough just a little thinner if necessary. (NOTE 4)
• Cut the dough to cover the bottom and sides of the pie dish(es). Roll out the remaining pieces to create a lattice.
• Divide the grated cheese over the bottom of the dish(es). Transfer the ground beef mixture to the pie dish(es) and spread out evenly over the cheese layer.
• Cover the pie with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes.
• Take the pie out of the oven, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Notes

1. Instead of bread crumbs you can use a slice of day-old bread (crust removed).
2. The crescent dough creates a crust that is fluffy, and a little sweet. The sweetness of the dough creates a nice combination with the savory flavor of the meat and cheese.
3. Use any type of melting cheese that has some flavor; like Gouda, cheddar, Alpine cheese.
4. The crescent dough needs to cover the pie dish(es) and the left-overs can be used to create a lattice or any other type of top.

Nutrition

Calories: 464kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 154mg | Sodium: 456mg | Potassium: 459mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 606IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 349mg | Iron: 3mg