Cheeseburger Hand Pies – American Spin on English Classic

This cheeseburger hand pie recipe has throwback written all over it. The filling, the pie crust, the techniques all feel very, well, old. We’re going back in time and the kids love it.

It seems like every culture has a savory hand pie, from the English pasty to the Indian samosa and all in between – these things are everywhere. Yet they were absent in my life, save for dessert pies, such as those you would get for a buck at McDonalds, and the venerable and salty Hot Pockets. So after watching reruns of The Great British Baking Show I decided an Americanized version was something I wanted to make.

The Filling for My Cheeseburger Hand Pies

I studied a variety of recipes to try to get a feel for how to make one of these. The recipe that appealed to me includes a gravy to bind the ingredients.

I wanted to keep the ingredients simple and understandable for the kids. I started my filling my sauteing diced sweet onion and garlic. Once they turned slightly brown I added a couple of pounds of 10% lean ground beef. I chose 10% because I wanted a little fat in this to help with the gravy.

Once the ground beef had cooked, I added a couple of tablespoons of flour and combined it into the mixture. I then added a half cup of beef broth to cook the flour and thicken into a gravy.

Once this was a nice thick consistency, I pondered what my kids and wife like on their cheeseburgers. So I added a couple of tablespoons of ketchup (yep). Finally, I took it off the heat and when it cooled I stirred in a couple of tablespoons of dill pickle relish (yep again). I remember adding similar ingredients from Paula Dean’s decadent bacon cheeseburger meatloaf recipe.

I popped the mixture in the refrigerator to cool it off before adding it to the pastry. A hot filling in a cold pastry will yield a soggy bottom, just ask Mary Berry.

First Try, No Hand Pie

When I decided to make these I also decided I would not make the dough from scratch. Instead, I decided to buy refrigerated pie crust at the store.

Now if you go into the grocery store without your reading glasses you’re asking for trouble. As such, during my first attempt at the hand pie, I returned home not with pie crust but with some weird puff pastry vessels. Undaunted by such a mistake I soldered on, determined to make the best of it.

After cooking them, I stuffed them with some warmed filling, topped them with shredded cheese and served them. They looked pretty but the crew wasn’t impressed. I think these little puff pastries were meant for salmon mousse or something similarly fancy and not the meaty cheeseburger filling. They wanted me to try again.

Second Try, Hand Pie

A couple of days later I returned with some round pie crusts. I cut them into quarters and filled them with the cold meat mixture and a few chunks of cheddar or blue cheese (my wife’s favorite burger topping). Then I brushed the edges with an egg wash, encased the filling and crimped the edged with a fork. This was much more fun!

These cooked at 425 degrees about 20 minutes and came out of the oven golden brown.

How Did the Cheeseburger Hand Pies Taste?

Once cooled these were all eaten without complaint. The Americanized version of the hand pie was a hit and it’s no wonder why. They tasted just like a cheeseburger and a pie crust, two American things that took too long to join forces.

Make the yourself or, better yet, make a bunch and take them to you local firehouse. Let me know how it goes!