Jamaican Beef Patties – Thin, flaky and buttery yellow crust with a mighty seasoned curried beef filling. Make a big batch because this Jamaican beef patty will disappear fast!
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Recipe and photos were updated on 2/3/2018.
Jamaican Beef Patties
Melt in your mouth easy Jamaican beef patties seasoned with a good dose of curry in the flaky yellow crust and in the beef filling. The beef patties crusts are flaky and buttery.
The ground beef filling is grounded just right and seasoned with peppers, curry, onions, garlic, green onions, thyme, paprika and soy sauce. Just so damn good!
These patties are great for parties. Your guest may just fight over the last one. Pinterest fans love this recipe!
When I was a kid, my Jamaican neighbors invited my siblings and me over for a party and that was the time I tried homemade Jamaican beef patties.
Man, there were so good! Ever since then, I’ve been in love with them. Back in the day, I used to buy beef patties from Jamaican restaurants or the store.
These days, I make my own homemade beef patties. The smell of curry in these beef patties are amazing. I grew up with friends many friends from the Caribbean and their parents cooked with curry religiously. I’ve love the scent of curry so I was I was always more than excited when my friends invited me over for food.
WHAT IS A JAMAICAN BEEF PATTY?
Jamaican beef patties are a delicious caribbean meat patty that’s filled with peppers and juicydelicious seasoned beef. Perfect to make for lunch, dinner, for parties or serve as a snack.
HOW TO FREEZE BEEF PATTIES
These beef patties freeze great too. To make them ahead of time make them up until they are ready to be baked then freeze them.
If you are not ready to bake them, put them on a sheet pan and place them in the freezer. Once the patties firm up, place them in a Ziploc bag. When you are ready to them Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the Jamaican patty on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake 25 minutes or until golden.
Make sure you make the homemade crust and not the store-bought kind. You won’t achieve the same flaky crust or flavor with the store brands. I ate 5 of these in a row!
They are that good! I always use a scotch bonnet pepper but if I can’t find it then I’ll use a habanero pepper. Either one is just fine. If you aren’t a fan a spicy food, leave out the pepper or use half of the peppers and remove the seeds.
If you are not a fan of curry or the scent then this recipe may not be for you. You can probably leave out the curry or add whatever seasonings you like but I truly believe you will love it in this recipe.
TIPS TO MAKE JAMAICAN BEEF PATTIES
If you are not experienced with making dough you can purchase an empanada maker. It makes perfect neat patties fast. I didn’t have one when I made these patties but ended up buying one because it’s great for beginners. I purchased this ONE. Just make sure you don’t fill the empanada maker with too much filling.
Cover the empanada maker in a bit of flour so the dough doesn’t stick to it. You can trim the excess dough that will hang once you close the empanada maker.
I hope you can try out these Jamaican beef patties. I’m sure they will be a hit with you and your family and friends.
This recipe can also be substituted with Chicken, pork, sausage, etc.
If you like this Jamaican patty recipe you may also like: The Best Meatloaf Recipe, Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy, Taco Spaghetti, Cheesy Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Tamale Pie, Enfrijoladas
Jamaican Beef Patties
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1/4 cup cold shortening
- 1/2 cup ice cold unsalted butter diced into cubes
- 1 1/2 cup or less water See notes
Beef Filling
- 1.5 lb ground beef 85% Lean or less
- 1/2 tsp Better Than Bouillon Base
- 1/4 cup water
- Salt for taste
- Pepper for taste
- 1 1/4 tsp minced, habanero or scotch bonnet is fine
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil or more if needed
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 small pinch cayenne pepper
- 4 small pinches smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp ground thyme or fresh
- 1 red onion diced
- 2 tbsp sliced green onions
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 egg beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, add the flour, curry and salt and sugar and mix. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the cold butter and shortening. Keep blending in the butter it resembles the size of small peas. Add the water and stir until flour turns into a ball. Form a ball of dough using your hands. The dough should be sticky but not too sticky.
- Place the dough into a large glass bowl and dust lightly with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Cut the pastry into 8 equal parts. Flatten into a 6 inch circle. Use a bowl to make perfect round circles.
Beef Filling
- In a large skillet over medium heat add 1 tablespoon of o vegetable oil. Saute the onions until softened about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic. Cook until garlic is fragrant. Set stove to medium-high heat. Add ground beef, peppers, soy sauce and all the seasonings. Using a wooden spoon chop up the beef as the beef cooks. Alternatively, you can cook the beef first then drain then add the seasonings if you like. Make sure the beef isn't chunky. No big chunks of beef allowed. Cook until browned. Drain most of the liquid from the meat leaving about two tablespoons of fat in the skillet. Return skillet to the stove and add water let it come to a quick boil add the beef base mix well then add flour. Mix well. The mixture should be a bit moist.Let the beef cool for about 30 minutes.
- Add equal amounts of the beef filling to the half side of each circle of dough, leaving some room free around the edges. Brush egg wash around the edges of the flattened dough. (This will help seal the dough) Fold and seal using a fork to crimp the edges. You can use a butter knife and gently press the ends of the crimped dough to make it look neat. Poke a couple holes into the top of the patty. Add them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.Brush each patty with the beaten egg. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve hot or warm.
Notes
- If you have issues working with dough try purchasing an empanada maker. It will make perfect patties and it will save you so much time! Read the post for usage tips.
- Gradually add water to the dough. You may not have to add the entire 1 1/2 cup of water. Start with 1/4 cup of water then add a tablespoon more at a time. If the dough is dry add more water if its too wet then add a bit more flour.
I love the color of the pastry and this recipe is full of some amazing flavors. This is a must try recipe.
I love the color too. Gorgeous and also very very good! Thank you Jere!
Wow! These beef patties are nothing but excellent. And that crust is so perfectly flaky. I need to make an extra batch because this will be everyone’s favorite, for sure!
Definitely something I would like to try. I’m not too crazy about very hot chilli flavours. Is the chilli very strong in this ratio?
Alicia
No it’s not very spicy at all but you can adjust the seasoning to your preference. Thanks Alicia!
How fortunate you were to have Jamaican neighbors! I bet the food was amazing. I really dig the flaky crust on these patties — total perfection! I can’t wait to give these a whirl.
These look awesome! Seriously! They might not be your typical breakfast food but they would be great to grab & go for the family!
Oh I have had these for breakfast plenty of times! lol. Thank you Anna!
Beef patties are the ultimate comfort food for sure, I love them with a nice cold beer also! Will have to try your version.
Thank you Michelle!!! 🙂
Imagine having Caribbean neighbors! I love the look of these beef patties, they look so flaky and perfectly cooked. By the looks of the ingredients list, I think this looks fabulously seasoned too! Yum!
I have never tried to make these at home. We do enjoy them, in fact, we had some “mini” frozen ones with our soup yesterday. I know homemade would be so much better. I think after the holidays are done (and I have some free time) O need to play in the kitchen and give this recipe a try. I know my family would love them.
Hey !
How many Patty’s does this recipe make? I need to cater for a large amount so I need to tweak the amount by estimating how many these do !?
Thanks :-).
Hi Marie :)! Good question. I’ll have to update the recipe with the serving amount. This makes about 8-9 beef patties. I hope you can make them. They are delicious!
These patties were excellent. I ended up with a lot more filling than I needed for 8 patties. Perhaps I was hesitant to overfill the pastry. But it was fine because I froze the leftover filling to do another batch. The pastry was lovely and flakey with beautiful flavor and the beef filling was delicious. Thank you for a recipe that was a little more accessible for a first time Jamaican Beef Patty maker – it was very easy and came together very quickly.
I’m so happy you liked them Teresa :). They are one of my guilty pleasures. I actually made a big batch to freeze for my teen so he can have something to eat when he gets home from school. School is starting in a couple days and he is always coming home ready to eat. My family can’t get enough of them. Thank you so much for your kind words! Enjoy your week!
Hi! I’ve made this recipe 4 times now and my family absolutely loves it! Can’t make them fast enough! Last time I made an extra large batch for some to freeze. I forgot the egg wash before freezing…do you know if it.might be okay to do while Frozen just before baking? I’ll give it a whirl but just wondering if you’ve done this 🙂
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
I know what you mean Karrissa! I can’t get enough of them either. I haven’t tried adding egg wash to frozen patties but it should be fine. So glad you and your family love them!
This recipe looks delicious. I didn’t try it before. But definitely make it ..Yummy
Hi,
Trying to make these for the Super Bowl today. I see the instructions for dough mention sugar, but doesn’t list in the ingredients. How much sugar should I add for the dough?
Hi Shirley, Sorry about that. 1/2 tsp. I’ll update the recipe.
They just came out of the oven. turned out soon good. thank you for the recipe! 🙂
Shirley, I’m so glad you liked them! They’re my favorite. Thanks so much for giving them a try! Hope you enjoy the Super Bowl! 🙂
I like these. I think I will tweak the recipe since I already made the beef and do a shrimp or a shrimp and lobester version I’m just not sure curry would work though.any ideas on how to go about this?
I’m glad you like them! Thank you! I’m not sure about the flavors but maybe you can do a test recipe by making one or two patties or just test the filling just in case you don’t like it. I sometimes test recipes in very small batches when I’m not sure about a recipe. Hope that helps.
Beef patties are delicious! We used to buy them from a little stall on Broadway market in London… I’ll have to try your recipe!
Katrin Nuernberger
They really are! I love them! Thank you Katrin.
These look so good! The crust seems perfect, I love comfort recipes like this for cold weather!
A good crust is crucial when making these! Store bought pie dough or pastry just isn’t the same. Thank you Emily!