What's better than a flaky, savory meat pie? Individual sized mini Beef and Mushroom Pies with extra crust! They are crispy, golden, and delicious with fork tender beef and umami mushrooms throughout the filling. You can easily make these in advance and even freeze them. They're also perfect for a Harry Potter themed menu!
These adorable beef and mushroom pies are definitely more British than Irish. The latter would sway more towards a beef and Guinness stew for the filling rather than a broth-based stew. Regardless of their geographical origin, I'm totally on board to for these delicious, flaky, meat-filled treasures!
The filling is excellent, and considering it doesn't include a million ingredients it's really so flavorful. The small chunks of beef are perfectly fork-tender, and the bites of mushroom add another layer of hearty flavor.
Ingredient notes
- Beef: This recipe for beef and mushroom pies calls for trimmed and cubed chuck steak. This is a great cut of meat for stews! You could also use round, but chuck will be more tender and juicy. Buy a little more beef than you need so you can trim and discard the fat and still yield about 1 ¼ to 1 ⅓ pounds meat.
- Tomato Paste: Tomato paste comes in cans or resealable squeezable tubes. If you have leftover tomato paste to use up from making this recipe, use it to make Chicken Saag, Czech Beef Goulash, Tas Kebab, Autumn Vegetable Soup with Sausage and Green Lentils, or Armenian Lentil Soup with Macaroni.
- Broth: The original recipe I adapted for these pies uses chicken broth even though it's a beef and mushroom pie recipe. The stewed filling will cook for hours and will get tons of beef flavor from the actual cubes of beef. You can, of course, use beef broth if you prefer and have it on hand. The filling will taste super beefy regardless of the type of broth you select.
- Shortening: The pie crust for these individual pies uses a combination of cold butter and shortening for optimal flavor and texture. Many brands of vegetable shortening are hydrogenated (which is really bad for you). If you can, I recommend using non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening for this and any recipe calling for shortening.
How to make them
Sear the small cubes of beef, then remove from the pan and sauté chopped onions and mushrooms until softened.
Add some flour and tomato paste, then whisk in broth. Return the seared beef, season, cover and simmer for a couple hours until the beef is fork tender the sauce is thick and luscious. Cool the filling completely before assembling your pies!
Line the muffin cups with circles of dough, then fill the cavities with about ½ cup filling each.
Top the pies with a small circle of dough, and pinch and crimp the edges to seal. Brush the tops with egg wash, cut a few vents to allow steam to escape, and you're ready to bake!
Bake the pies until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. I often serve these with simple mashed potatoes and peas tossed with a little butter, salt, and pepper. Simple perfection.
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
I suggest doing the prep work a day in advance (for example on a Saturday), cooking the filling, and letting it chill overnight in the fridge along with the pie dough. Then roll out and assemble the little pies on Sunday in time for dinner.
I use a jumbo muffin pan to shape my mini beef and mushroom pies. It works really well for both the size and shape. Here's a little trick that really helps yield pretty pies without wasting too much dough:
- When you cut out the dough circles for your bottom crust, cut a wedge out of the circle. It will make it a bit easier to press your dough into the muffin cups without having the dough bunch up.
- You can overlap some of the dough if needed and press to seal. You can also use some dough scraps to patch it up if you accidentally cut a wedge that is too large or too deep. Just as long as the muffin cup is fully lined, you're fine.
To freeze these pies let them cool completely, then wrap individually in plastic wrap, place into a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before reheating. Reheat them in a 350°F oven on a sheet pan until heated through (internal temperature should be 165°F).
Other recipes you may like
- Chicken and Mushroom Pies
- Chicken and Leek Pie
- Cottage Pies
- Savory Summer Harvest Ratatouille Pie
- Fish Pie
- Hovězí Guláš (Czech Beef Goulash)
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Individual Beef and Mushroom Pies
Ingredients
Pie Crust:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
- ½ cup vegetable shortening chilled and cut into pieces (I use Spectrum non-hydrogenated shortening)
- ½ cup to ¾ cup cold water
Filling:
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 22 ounces (about 1 ⅓ pounds) trimmed chuck steak cut into ½-inch dice
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms wiped clean and chopped
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken or beef broth
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
To Finish:
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Stir the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the butter and shortening pieces and toss to coat with the flour, then flatten the butter and shortening pieces between your fingers until there are pea-sized pieces of butter and shortening throughout the flour. Sprinkle ½ cup of cold water over the mixture, and gently use a rubber spatula or bowl scraper to hydrate the flour until the mixture sticks together. Add more water by the tablespoonful as needed until the dough holds together. Divide the dough in half, form into two disks, and wrap each disk with plastic wrap. Chill at least two hours or preferably overnight.
- To make the filling, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and add the beef in two batches, searing on each side until crusty brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer each batch to a plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring and scraping up the fond (browned bits) until the onions and mushrooms have softened. Add the flour and mix until combined, then stir in the tomato paste. Slowly add the broth, mixing well to make sure the flour doesn’t leave lumps. Return the beef to the pan, add the thyme, and season with salt and pepper, but be careful not to overseason as the mixture will reduce significantly. You can always season more later.
- Lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for 1 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and continue to simmer uncovered for another 30 minutes, until liquid has reduced to a thick gravy-like consistency. Stir often to make sure the mixture doesn’t stick, especially once it has thickened considerably. Adjust seasoning as needed. Transfer to a bowl or storage container and let cool to room temperature. You can make the filling ahead of time and refrigerate for up to a couple days if needed. You’ll have about 3 cups of filling.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. On a generously floured surface roll out each of the discs to about ⅛-inch thickness. You will need to cut out 6 larger circles measuring about 6 ½-inches in diameter, and 6 smaller circles at 3 ¾-inch in diameter. For the larger circles you can trace a knife around a plate. For the smaller circles, use a circular dough cutter or trace the top of the glass. You will likely need to re-roll the scraps from both disks of dough once in order to cut out enough circles.
- Fit the large circles into the cups of a jumbo sized muffin pan. To make life a little easier, you can use your knife to cut a small wedge from one side of the circle before pressing the dough into the cups. This will keep you from having a rumpled piece of dough inside the cup. Just press the cut edges together to seal once the dough is fitted into the cup. You can also patch up with scraps of dough as needed if you accidentally cut the wedge too deep.
- Fill each of the dough-lined muffin cups generously will the filling, about ½ cup into each. Take the smaller dough circles and brush the edges with a little water, then lay the smaller circles over the filling, and use your fingers to press and seal the dough. Crimp the edges if you’d like. Brush the tops of the pies with the egg wash, and use a sharp knife to cut a few slits to form vents. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for another 30 minutes, or until the pies are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and use a small offset spatula to gently pop each of the pies out of the muffin cups. You could also flip over the pan, but this could be dangerous if any of the pie tops are a little loose.
Notes
- Buy a little more beef than you need so you can trim and discard the fat and still yield about 1 ¼ to 1 ⅓ pounds meat.
- To freeze these pies let them cool completely, then wrap individually in plastic wrap, place into a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before reheating. Reheat them in a 350°F oven on a sheet pan until heated through (internal temperature should be 165°F).
- VERY adapted from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Brenda says
I am so looking forward to trying this recipe thank you for sharing but I have one question if it is a steak and mushroom why are you using chicken broth instead of beef???
Victoria says
Hi Brenda! Of course you can use beef broth if you prefer, but chicken broth is more common in some people's pantries (at least in the US where I live) and it works really great in this recipe. Also this recipe was heavily adapted from a Harry Potter Cookbook which used chicken broth, and when I tested the recipe I really liked it so I continued using chicken broth (which I have TONS of in my pantry at all times). The beef will cook for hours in the broth and will release a lot of its flavor into the sauce so in the end it does end up tasting like beef and not chicken regardless. It's just a personal preference so feel free to use beef broth if you'd like ๐ Enjoy!
Mary Kabakian says
It's perfection! Looks soooo yummy!
Camille says
This version is much better than the Harry Potter cookbook version (sorry, HP)....I'm eternally grateful that you adapted this recipe, because it's that delicious!