An absolute Kiwi classic and such a delicious family friendly dinner! This mince and cheese pie recipe will be your new favourite.
For the longest time, if Josh requested a mince pie for dinner, I'd just cook up some mince, throw a few herbs in and put it in some pastry. Nothing wrong with that, but being a Kiwi (and after getting a few requests for pie recipes!) I thought it was time I upped my mince and cheese pie game.
So I got to work, and what I have come up with is probably going to be your new favourite pie recipe!
The mince filling is packed full of flavour - browned mince featuring a pretty good list of ingredients, but all essential to making this the most delicious pie filling out there. I've also added a carrot in there to up the veggie content of the pie - feel free to leave this out if you are going for more of a petrol station pie!
Roll out your pastry for the bottom - I often use ready made for a super speedy dinner but if I have extra time (or I ran out of pastry!) you can make your own puff pastry in only 15 minutes!
Add the filling, top with plenty of cheese - I just used slices of the block we had in the fridge, so use your favourite. You can also use a cheese or bechamel sauce here like the one I use in my lasagne instead which is also delicious!
Pop the lid on top, prick a few holes in with a fork and brush with an egg wash and then bake for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and cooked all the way through.
We love serving this pie for dinner with mashed potato and peas or with a quick mac and cheese.
You can also make this into mini pies in a muffin tin - just bake them for a little bit less time.
I also love making a double batch of the filling and freezing it flat in a snaplock bag for next time I want to make a quick pie. Just defrost the mince filling and pour it directly into the pastry base. I have the full instructions along with plenty of other freezer recipes in my Ultimate Freezer Meal Ebook.
Mince and Cheese Pie
Ingredients
- 350 grams puff pastry
- 8 slices cheese (colby, edam, tasty, cheddar)
Pie filling
- ½ onion (finely diced)
- 1 carrot (optional, finely diced)
- 500 grams beef mince
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon marmite
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons cornflour mixed with ¼ cup water
Egg wash
- 1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon milk
Instructions
- Heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Cook onions and carrot for 5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and mince and brown (about 5 minutes).
- Add all remaining pie filling ingredients, except cornflour and water, stir to combine and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir through the cornflour slurry and cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes until the gravy thickens.
- Roll out ⅔ of the pastry to fit a 20-23cm round pie dish. Line the bottom of the dish with the pastry, fill with the mince filling and top with the cheese slices. Roll out the remaining pastry to fit the top of the pie and place on top, sealing the edges with your fingers or a fork.
- Prick holes in the pastry using a fork and brush with egg wash. Bake at 180°C/350°F for 40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through.
- Serve immediately and store leftovers in the fridge for 4 days.
Notes
Sandy says
Superb pie! I added some finely diced pumpkin and yams, as well as kernal corn and some rolled oats too. Yum
Jenika says
So good!! My favorite pie recipe. My kids and partner love it too!
ben shallard says
bloody love these pies baked down at my crib bloody lovely
Jasmine says
What spices are in mixed spice?
Kevan says
The recipe uses mixed HERBS not spices. You can sub Italian herbs which are available everywhere. Hope that helps.
Carol says
Thank you awesome receipe cooked several family loves it
Easy to follow 👍
J Orsborn says
So good I had to post a rating
Zoe says
Hello, we just made for the second time, coupled with the edmonds puff pastry recipe. The entire family loved it!
Thank you for sharing.
Lisa says
Can they be frozen (ie. the mini ones)?
HP says
I’ve made mini chicken pot pies.. just par cooked them so I can finish when I pull.. usually will microwave for like 2 minutes and then personally air fry for about 5 or so, or oven you could do for about 10-15
Rachel says
Hi Laura, do you think I could use Venison Mince for this recipe? Thanks!
Rachel says
Delicious. This is the easiest and tastiest meat pie recipe I've ever made. It freezes well in its assembled but unbaked state, and makes a great convenience dinner.
I'm Australian so I'm afraid I make this using Vegemite instead of Marmite. I also use wallaby/kangaroo mince, which is pretty lean so I put the cheese in a layer in the middle to keep things moist. The potato topping mentioned by other commenter would be really good too, with or without a bottom pastry crust.
Jeff says
Made it vegan by using Impossible Mince, Massel beef stock, Angel Food Smoked Cheddar and a vegan puff pastry….. I swear you would not know the difference, it was delicious.
Katherine says
This pie is so delicious, a zillion times better than a shop-bought mince pie. Thanks for a great recipe.
Barbara Richards says
This has absolutely become our family favourite recipe - it's a winner in every way! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Frances says
Just delicious this recipe has a wonderful flavour and so simple, prepare everything before you start and it works ! Used store bought sheets of puff pastry and came out puffy and crispy. To season I felt it needed approx 2 tsp of cracked black pepper.
Julie says
Yummy yum yum. Made this the other week and even fussy 9yr old went back for 2nds. The best homemade pie ever!
Natasha says
Replaced the pastry with mashed potato- it was a gorgeous recipe
Natasha says
Made this tonight- didn’t have pastry so put mashed potato with cheese on top and grilled it - was delicious
Natalie says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! We live in England but my boyfriend is from Auckland. He’s said how authentic this is to pies he had when we he lived back there!
Kristy says
Hi Laura, I made this pie for the first time tonight, and it was a WIN! Thank you! I will absolutely be making this again 👍
Cheers,
Kristy
Lauren says
I've never made a Mince and Cheese Pie before. We only have 2 pie recipes that the whole family likes so it's great to be able to expand. This was simple to make, and the kids ate the lot, which is always a winner. I'll definitely be making this again. Thanks Laura.