Steak and onion pie recipe
The recipe shows you how to make a traditional British steak and onion pie. You will find these types of pies, with some variation in quality, all over Britain and Ireland in the pubs. It is very popular pub food.
This easy steak and onion pie recipe is very similar to my recipe for steak and ale pie. But this recipe is without the mushrooms and has potatoes instead. Also, the sauce tastes different as I make it with red wine rather than beer, which changes the taste significantly, making it more rounded and less bitter.
This is a slow-cook recipe, where you prepare the steak pie filling beforehand. You just prepare the pie lid or crust when you are ready to heat it up.
It is a very good meal for freezing. You can make a larger batch to freeze in pie-sized batches. Then just defrost it during the day in the fridge when you know you want to eat it for dinner.
I normally make this meal the day before eating. You can leave it in the fridge overnight as for some reason it always seems to taste better the next day.
Which Red Wine to Use for the sauce?
Some people say you have to use a Burgundy wine as this is basically a beef bourguignon recipe. But NO, I say.
Use whatever red wine is handy. Chilean, Argentinian, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish – it should not matter. It should be drinkable though, as Keith Floyd would say 😃
I happen to make my own red wine (as well as beer), which is a very quaffable Cabernet Sauvignon, so I used some of this and it was wonderful.
The taste is great – it is not as rich as the beef in beer recipe, but it is different. More subtle, perhaps, as you would expect from the French.
Which meat cut to use for a steak and onion pie?
The best type of meat to use for a steak pie is usually a chuck steak, or braising steak as we call it. But read more about that here: Choosing the best meat for Beef Stew.
The cheaper cuts of meat are normally better as the slow cook will tenderise them. I got a lovely piece of chuck steak for this one from our local butcher as you can see in the photos below.
I cut it into very large pieces, about 4-5 cm cubes, which you will appreciate when you finally open the pie.
This steak and onion pie filling is slow-cooked in the oven, as I do not have a slow cooker or crock-pot. But I am sure the latter would do it fine as well. You could also make this a lot quicker in an Instant Pot as well if you so wished (it would cook in about one hour on high pressure).
Serve up with a side dish that will complement the taste of the sauce.
Here I chose some baked carrots as it was just as easy to cook them in the oven with the pie, and the potatoes had been added to the filling.
The amount of meat you use depends on how much food you want to make. The quantities below made one large and one small pie. Enough to feed about 6 people.
How to make a steak and onion pie
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Steak and onion pie
This delicious steak and onion pie will please every meat lover out there. The slow cooking of the filling in the oven makes it beautifully tender and the red wine gives it a rich sauce.
Ingredients
- 1,100 g (2 inch cubes) of lean braising steak (chuck steak)
- 4 potatoes, chopped into small cubes
- Olive oil
- 3 heaped tbsp Plain flour
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 medium onions
- 1 large red onion
- 500ml beef stock
- 1 large glass red wine
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- Salt & pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ tsp Marmite
- Sprig of fresh thyme (chopped) (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
- Ready to roll Puff pastry (or shortcrust if you prefer)
- 1 egg to brush
Instructions
Preparation
- Remove the meat from the fridge half an hour before you start to let it reach room temperature. Remove any fat and sinew from the meat. You can use stewing beef or any lean cut of braising steak for this dish.
- Coat the beef in seasoned flour and fry in olive oil in batches until browned on all sides, and set aside on a plate. [Other chefs suggest doing this in your casserole, but I do not like doing this as I find that it messes up the bottom of the casserole and you have to clean it again before continuing.] I prefer to fry the meat in my wok or a frying pan.
- Chop the onions and fry them in olive oil in your casserole for about 3-4 minutes [this is OK and does not make a mess like the meat frying does].
- Then add the beef back to the casserole, the beef stock, the bay leaves, the Worcestershire sauce, the Marmite, the red wine vinegar, the crushed garlic and the red wine.
- Throw in any remaining flour left from coating the beef and season to suit. Stir well.
Cooking
- Put the lid on the casserole and put in the pre-heated oven at 160C.
- In the meantime peel and chop the potatoes.
- After 3 hours remove the casserole from the oven. Carefully remove the lid and add the potatoes and the thyme. Stir to cover the contents (if the fluid level is too low then just add some more water). Replace back in the oven for another 1 hour.
- The slow cook will help tenderise the meat and make it delicious.
- Afterwards, carefully remove from the oven.
Final cooking
- When you are ready to cook, fill your chosen pie dish with filling, roll out the puff pastry and cover the pie.
- Place pie in the oven at 180C for about 30-40 minutes until the pastry is cooked and browned.
- Store any remaining filling in the fridge or prepare for freezing if wanting to store for more than 2 days. We made two pies with these ingredients.
Notes
Serve up on a plate with whatever side dishes you have chosen.
This dish is often served in British pubs with chips or fries, but is it also good with some baked carrots and something green like peas. It’s up to you.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 337Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 67mgSodium: 369mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 17g