Jamaican Beef Patty

Storing and Planning Ahead

Freeze baked or unbaked for 2 months. Reheat baked patties at 190°C / 375°F fan for 12 minutes.

Jamaican Beef Patty: The Method

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1. Mix the flour, turmeric, curry powder and salt. Rub in the cold butter, leaving pieces the size of a pea — visible butter makes the flake.

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2. Add the iced water and vinegar and bring together into a rough dough. Do not knead.

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3. Wrap and chill 1 hour. Then roll into a rectangle, fold in three, and chill another 30 minutes. Repeat once more.

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4. While the pastry chills, make the filling: cook the onion in the oil for 8 minutes, then add the garlic, spring onion and scotch bonnet for 1 minute.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

5. Add the mince and brown it hard for 8 minutes, breaking it up.

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6. Add the curry powder, allspice, thyme, paprika and salt and cook 2 minutes.

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7. Pour in the stock and simmer 12 minutes, then stir in the breadcrumbs and cook 3 minutes until thick and saucy but not wet. Cool completely.

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8. Roll the pastry to 3 mm and cut 15 cm circles.

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9. Put 2 heaped tablespoons of cold filling on one half, fold over, and press the edge with a fork to seal firmly.

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10. Set on lined trays, brush with beaten egg, and bake at 190°C / 375°F fan for 25 to 30 minutes until deep golden and blistered.

    Mark done Start 25 min timer

Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Ingredient substitutions.

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Tips for Success

• Cold butter, folded twice. That is where the flake comes from.
• Breadcrumbs in the filling keep it saucy without leaking.
• Seal the edge properly with a fork, all the way round.

Behind the Recipe

The pastry is laminated with cold suet or butter and turmeric, which gives the colour and, more importantly, the flake — patties made with plain shortcrust are a different, duller thing. The filling is bound with breadcrumbs so it stays moist in the oven without leaking through the seam.

What to Put Next to It

Coco bread · A cold Ting or Red Stripe · Scotch bonnet sauce

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Fried Sweet Plantain, Jamaican Fry Dumplings.

If You're Missing Something

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried thyme at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

Quick Answers

Jamaican Beef Patty Nutrition

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

Dairy-free when made with suet rather than cold butter.

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