When it comes to hand-held foods, tacos are often a first choice for busy cooks—especially on action-packed school nights—since they’re fairly easy to assemble and can include any combination of meat, cheese, and vegetables. They’re even great for breathing new life into leftovers.
Yet if you have an extra half-hour to mix, rest, and roll out homemade pastry dough, it’s also fun to try your hand at making hand pies.
Just like tacos, these flaky, miniature pies that (mostly) fit in the palm of your hand are extremely versatile when it comes to what you might stuff inside, working just as well with sweet fillings like cooked apple or diced peaches as they do for savory packages that meet one’s daily requirement of veggies, dairy, and protein.
These buttery pies are wrapped around ground beef and diced potato cooked with garlic, onion, and warming spices. Shredded Monterey Jack cheese helps bind the filling in cheesy fashion and it also includes chopped fresh cilantro for a touch of green.
Hand pies can be served hot, right out of the oven, or at room temperature. They’re easy to pack into a lunch box and make great couch food on those nights you’re binge-watching your favorite TV show.
For a salty finish, I added a generous sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning after brushing the tops of the pies with beaten egg (it adds a shiny, golden-brown color), but that’s completely optional. Serve with side salad or your favorite dipping sauce.
Spicy Beef, Potato and Cheese Hand Pies
PG testedMakes 8 large hand pies.
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup ice water
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small potato, peeled and diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Dash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 cups finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- All-purpose flour, for dusting
- 1 egg, beaten
- Everything bagel seasoning or toasted sesame seeds, for garnish, optional
Add water, pulsing until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary add up to 2 tablespoons water). Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).
While dough is resting, make filling: Heat a large nonstick skillet over high. Add ground beef, onion, garlic, and diced potato.
Cook until meat is starting to brown, about 7 minutes. Stir in spices and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Continue cooking for another minute or two, then stir in chopped cilantro.
Remove pan from heat and allow meat to cool, then stir in 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese.
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions, place 1 rimmed baking sheet on each, and heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. With your cupped hand, form each piece into a smooth, tight ball.
Working with 1 dough ball at a time, roll each one on lightly floured surface into 7-inch circle. (Don’t worry if it’s not perfect.)
Place a scant 1/4 cup meat filling in the center. Brush edges of dough with water and fold it over filling. Press to seal, trim any ragged edges, and crimp edges with tines of a fork dipped in flour. Brush tops with beaten egg, then pierce the top of each pie once with fork or knife. (This allows steam to escape during baking.) Sprinkle bagel seasoning or seeds on top, if using.
Carefully place half of the hand pies on each prepared sheet and bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Transfer pies to wire rack and let cool.
