Meat-Filled Hand Pies With a Vodka Crust

These meat pies are soooo good! Hot out of the oven, with a meaty, saucy filling, in a flaky, golden crust, or straight out of the fridge for a quick snack or lunch, they’re tasty both ways!

I make them vegetarian using soy ground round (or TVP), but you can use real ground beef if that's your thang.

Meat Hand Pies with Vodka Crust

• 1 pie dough recipe (here’s my vodka crust recipe)
• 1 package meat (I used Yves’ Veggie Ground Round)
• 1 package (or homemade) gravy

Make the gravy and mix with the meat. Set aside.

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What's great about this recipe, is that you can switch it up. Got frozen veggies in the freezer? Add them in! Last night’s leftovers? Add them too!

The recipe makes 6 hand meat pies, or 1 full pie. If you make a standard pie as opposed to the hand-held ones, you’ll use all the meat filling, but if you make the hand pies, you’ll only use half the filling. With any leftover filling, stick the rest in the freezer for the next batch of pies! Or make twice the pie crust and end up with a dozen of these tasty hand pies! They freeze well, so you can stick them in the freezer for lunches, quick dinners, or those midnight snack cravings.

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You can use any pie dough, but I use this recipe. It contains vodka (although other alcohols should work too.) Anyway, make the equivalent of the dough for one pie! Next step is putting it all together.

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Are you wondering why there’s vodka in the crust? Well, basically it’s because it holds the dough together pre-baking but will evaporate when baked, making the crust extra flaky. The longer explanation has to do with gluten. Ah, science!

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Lots of pictures for this step!

Take the pie dough and cut (or tear) into 6 pieces. Roll out each piece and use a large mug to cut out a circle. Take that circle and roll it out slightly. Push into an ungreased muffin pan, and fill 2/3rds with the meat mixture. Take the scraps from that 1/6th of pie dough, and smoosh into a circle. Press that circle of dough onto the meat-filled dough into the muffin pan, crimping the edges of the base and top together (it doesn’t have to be perfect). Cut a slit into the top.

Bake in a 450 degree oven until the tops are golden brown. Let cool slightly before removing from pan. Enjoy hot or cold!

Share with friends. Or not!

This is such an easy recipe to make and so tasty! The pies are perfect to pack for lunches, or to serve for dinner with a side salad, or just to eat when those midnight munchies hit! Enjoy!