The great Australian dinner, baked in your own kitchen
Ask an Australian what smells like Saturday arvo, and half of us will say a meat pie. But the proper one — rich minced-beef gravy, a shortcrust base, a puff lid brushed gold — has mostly disappeared from home kitchens. Let's bring it back. One 480g pack of grass-fed beef mince, a bit of patience while the filling cools, and you've got a family-sized pie that beats anything handed over in a paper bag. Sauce on top is not optional in this house.
Ingredients
- 480g Your Farmer grass-fed beef mince
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large brown onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 375ml beef stock
- 2 tbsp tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Vegemite
- Salt and pepper to season
- 1 sheet frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
Instructions
For the filling
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft, adding the garlic for the final minute.
1 tbsp olive oil1 onion2 cloves garlicAdd the mince and brown it well, breaking it up as you go — about 8 minutes. Colour here is flavour later.
480g beef minceStir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then add the stock, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and Vegemite. Simmer for 15 minutes until you have a thick, glossy gravy, then season to taste.
2 tbsp plain flour375ml beef stock2 tbsp tomato sauce1 tsp VegemiteCool the filling completely, about 45 minutes — spread it on a tray or use the fridge to speed things up. Hot filling and raw pastry don't mix.
To assemble and bake
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan-forced (220°C conventional). Line a greased 23cm pie tin with the shortcrust sheet and trim the edges.
1 sheet shortcrust pastrySpoon in the cooled filling. Brush the pastry rim with beaten egg, lay the puff sheet over the top, press to seal and crimp the edge. Trim, cut two small vents in the lid and brush all over with the remaining egg.
1 sheet puff pastry1 beaten eggBake for 35–40 minutes until the lid is puffed and deep golden.
Rest in the tin for 10 minutes, then serve in wedges with tomato sauce and peas.
Appears in
From $159.00$176.67SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 10%
$12.95$14.39SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 10%
Mince Was Always the Pie Cut
The great Australian pie was never built on fancy cuts — it was built on well-browned mince in proper gravy, and that's a job grass-fed mince does better than most. The 480g pack in every Your Farmer® beef share is whole-animal trim from grass-fed cattle, so it brings genuine beef flavour before you've added a thing. The filling rules are simple: brown the mince hard, let the gravy reduce until it coats a spoon, and cool it completely before it goes anywhere near pastry. The thickness test is simple: drag your spoon across the bottom of the pan, and if the track holds for a second or two before closing, the filling will slice cleanly instead of running out of the pie. A hot filling melts the butter in the pastry, and you end up steaming the base instead of baking it. And yes — the teaspoon of Vegemite. It's not a gimmick; it's a malty depth-charge that makes the gravy taste like it simmered twice as long.
Swaps and Variations
- Chunky instead: if slow-cooked chunks under the lid are more your style, our beef and mushroom pie filling is the diced-beef answer to the same craving.
- Curry pie: add two teaspoons of curry powder with the flour — the corner-shop classic.
- Party pies: a muffin tin, shortcrust rounds and puff lids turn this into a dozen little ones; bake about 25 minutes.
- Veg it up: half a cup of frozen peas or diced mushrooms stirred through the filling will slide straight past the sceptics.
Storage and Leftovers
Baked pie keeps three days in the fridge. Reheat wedges in a 160°C oven for about 20 minutes — the oven keeps the lid crisp where a microwave never will. To get ahead, freeze the whole assembled, unbaked pie: glaze it, freeze it solid, then bake straight from frozen at 190°C, adding 15–20 minutes. Or freeze baked wedges for solo lunches — the 480g mince pack has a way of multiplying into future meals. As for cold pie eaten standing at the open fridge, that's between you and your conscience.
Reserve your share and the pie habit looks after itself — there's a pack of mince in every single box.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the filling have to be completely cool?
Can I use puff pastry for the base as well?
Can I make individual pies instead?
Should I freeze the pie baked or unbaked?
What can I use instead of Vegemite?
Three Simple Steps
A whole table of real food.
Your Farmers grow grass-fed beef and lamb, pastured eggs and the best eco-grown veggies and produce — every item grown to the same ecological standard, every farmer one you can know by name. One subscription, your whole real-food shop.
01
Reserve your share — or try a pack
Subscribe to a share of the harvest, or start with a one-off fixed pack.
02
Make it your own
Pick your delivery rhythm and what's in the box. Skip or cancel anytime — no lock-in.
03
Cook, savour, know your farmer
We deliver in a reusable esky we collect next time. No couriers, no waste.
Price$176.67
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 10%
$159.00
Price$183.33
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 10%
$165.00
Price$158.89
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 10%
$143.00
Grass-Fed Mince, Sausage and Diced Beef Pack
Price$264.44
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 10%
$238.00
Grass-Fed Beef and Lamb BBQ Box
Price$286.67
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 10%
$258.00
Pastured Lamb Roast and Slow-Cook Box
Price$155.56
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE 10%
$140.00
More Recipes
Sirloin with Green Peppercorn Sauce
The steak-restaurant order you can make in one pan
There's a reason the green peppercorn sauce has never left the steak-restaurant menu: it's magnificent, and it takes about ten minutes. The little peppercorns come in a jar of brine, sitting near the capers at the supermarket, and they bring a gentle heat that cream rounds off beautifully. You'll sear the sirloin in a heavy pan, rest it, and build the whole sauce on the browned bits left behind. Two steaks, one pan, and a dinner that feels like a night out.
Warm Eye Fillet and Roast Pumpkin Salad
Two small steaks, three full plates
Here's a quiet bit of kitchen maths. Two 140g medallions doesn't sound like dinner for three — until you roast a tray of pumpkin, sear the fillet medium-rare, rest it properly and slice it thin across the grain. Suddenly every plate gets sweet golden pumpkin, creamy feta, toasted pepitas and a generous fan of the tenderest beef there is. It's the kind of dinner that feels abundant without being heavy, and it makes the smallest pack in the share go further than you'd believe.
Sirloin with Bordelaise-Style Red Wine and Shallot Sauce
Occasion cooking from a bottle of red and a bit of patience
This is occasion cooking, but be clear about what that means: the sauce is red wine, eschalots and stock reduced patiently in a small saucepan, finished with cold butter until it turns glossy. Half an hour, most of it unattended. Meanwhile the sirloin gets a proper sear and a proper rest, and the two meet on a warm plate over mash. It's the kind of dinner restaurants charge dearly for, made from one steak and the open half of a bottle you were drinking anyway.
Read moreabout Sirloin with Bordelaise-Style Red Wine and Shallot Sauce
Share:
Lamb Gozleme with Spinach and Feta
Lamb Gozleme with Spinach and Feta