Michigan Meat Pastries

YIELDS: 8 hand pies

COOK TIME: 25 Min

"Pasties" were brought to America by English immigrants, and are now considered one of the iconic foods of the state of Michigan. Our Michigan Meat Pastries resemble those early pasties, except they're made with some easy shortcuts. If you've never had one before, you're going to love these beefy, veggie-stuffed hand pies!

What You'll Need

1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup frozen diced potatoes, thawed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 (14.1-ounce) box refrigerated pie crust
1 egg

What to Do

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large skillet over high heat, cook beef, carrot, and onion 6 to 8 minutes, or until meat is browned. Drain liquid from skillet. Add potatoes, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to meat mixture; mix well and cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.
Unroll both pie crusts and using a 4-inch glass or bowl, cut each crust into 4 circles. Place a heaping tablespoon of meat mixture in center of each circle. In a small bowl, whisk egg. Brush edges of dough with egg and fold over meat mixture, forming semicircles. With a fork, press edges together firmly to seal. Place on baking sheet and brush with remaining egg.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Notes

These can be served as a main dish with some gravy drizzled over them or as a snack.

Don’t forget to check out these other regional favorites from our All-American week!: New England Clam Chowder, Lane Cake, Crispy Potato Wedges with California Dip and Grande Chicken Fajitas.

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kctmom

Sep 14, 2020

From a born raised "Yooper", these are NOT what we have in the U.P. Sorry but this is a poor imitation.

jquerbach 2097437

Sep 03, 2019

The Pasty of Michigan has different filling than the one shown here. This is still good but not a Michigan Pasty, and I'm from Michigan.

dicklindaholly 290 3390

Aug 24, 2017

My family in England call them "PASTIES". I know not why.

graygranma575 7257 505

Jul 21, 2017

This sounds great. I especially like the ideas in the comments because I love rutabagas. I would like to know which way would be better to freeze, before cooking or after? AND How would you cook after freezing?

Test Kitchen Team

Jul 21, 2017

Hi there! If you plan on making these ahead of time, you want to freeze them before cooking them. When you're ready to bake, take them out of the freezer and let them thaw first. These should not be cooked from frozen. Enjoy!

Gcamp117 8700553

Jul 20, 2017

Where in the world did you get your recipe for Michigan Meat Pastries? Pasties are a very simple and good food staple in the U.P. The Beef, Carrots, Onions, Rutabaga, and Potatoes. All baked in a 7 - 8 inch pie crust folded over. While your recipe sounds like it could taste good, it's completely different than our pasty.

Test Kitchen Team

Jul 21, 2017

Hi there! Our Michigan Meat Pastries resemble those early pasties, except they're made with some easy shortcuts.Enjoy!

farmerzdtr

Jul 24, 2017

I'm sorry, but I'm laughing at how you keep spelling it as "pasties" instead of "pastries"! Not just in the recipe, but also in your comments! )

sandrapelott 85633 75

Aug 08, 2017

Look it up in cook books. It's pasties, not pastries. No misspelling here. They are called pasties.

farmerzdtr

Aug 25, 2017

Then why is it called "Pastries" in the recipe title?

dicklindaholly 290 3390

Aug 24, 2017

Loved these growing up. Mom was an English War Bride. Like a Beef Pot Pie you could eat with your hands. My grandmother used to make them filled with watercress and my dad called them Grass Pasties. Fun and tasty.

grannytina1 272961 6

Jul 20, 2017

wonderful recipe love this site every cook makes every recipe her own some may not like turnips or rutabaga and use diced potatoes carrots some may add cabbage some like garlic powder some do not the cheese is added or extra flavor moistness but do not put it in if you don't like it I am going to try and make it with the raw meat and veggies(dice small) and see how it turns out (with the garlic cheese of course) I think the gravy makes it much better than ketchup but that's just me! I wonder how a little ketchup added to the filling would be??

kmcartoonity 62072 74

Jul 19, 2017

I have lived in Michigan practically my whole life, and have tried several different pasty shops up north throughout the years, one of which was called Albie's Pasties. There were always variations to the seasonings used inside. Some I recall had paprika, and some had different veggies, but they were never served with gravy on top and never had cheese inside. These look tasty though.

fredhomer 9960735

Feb 08, 2018

That makes them TASTIE PASTIES!! And oh sooo goood!!

cdedbdb

Dec 31, 2016

I guess it depends in which part of Michigan you are in. I get my pasties from a lady in the UP and they only have beef, onions, and potatoes, and I wouldn't have any other way. Everybody makes them different I guess.

badgersdrift 08494 82

May 31, 2016

Traditional Yooper pies have rutabaga as previously mentioned. Rutabaga gives the pasty its distinctive taste. I've never eaten a pasty with cheese, however, most places offer gravy as a topping. That said, I'll give this a try - in the fall.

dlacy

May 31, 2016

Having grown up in Michigan, I have eaten lots of pasties. The ones served in Michigan have about half the meat in your recipe and more root vegetables. They always include rutabaga and often parsnips.

cindywilsey 827766 5

Apr 19, 2017

Yup! As a college studfdent in Duluth, MN at a school that was about 55% of the student body from the MN Iron Range, we had pasties often in the cafeteria better still, homemade ones in care packages from 'Mom.' Less meat and plenty of root veg. My favorites were ones that had both diced leftover beef pork roast with tatoes, carrots, baggies onion. That mom also favored an almost biscuit like crust rather than a more typical pastry type crust. They were awesome hot still very very good at room temperature. It is better than 45 years since I had one but I still savor the memory. I have tried to recreate them over the years - good, but not even close competition to those from that now unkown 'Mom.' ) Think I'll have to make up a batch again soon.