Bring the taste of the Caribbean home with this Jamaican Beef Patties recipe.
How to make homemade patty pastry with turmeric and curry powder added to give it that authentic golden colour and tasty crust.
Packed full with the best Jamaican style spicy minced beef patty filling. Cheese is optional.
Make large or mini, easy to prepare ahead of time ready to reheat. Or freeze for a tasty snack another day.
How to make Jamaican Beef Patties from scratch?
These Jamaican Beef Patties are made from scratch with lots of spices and flavour.
Follow along our step by steps to make your own Beef Patties at home.
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Jamaican Beef Patties
Ingredients
Pastry Ingredients
- 250 grams (2 cups) Plain Flour (All Purpose)
- 115 grams (½ cup) Unsalted Butter
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala - substitute with any blend of curry powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 120 ml (½ cup) Ice Cold Water
Beef Filling
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
- 1 Onion - Finely Chopped
- 1 Red Pepper (bell pepper) - Finely Chopped
- 3 Spring Onions (scallions) - Finely Chopped
- 500 grams (1.2lb) Beef mince
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Puree - 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon Chilli Puree - 2 medium chillies (Jalepeno/Serrano) or 1 hot chilli (Habanero/Scotch Bonnet)
- 2 teaspoon Garam Masala - substitute with any blend of curry powder
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme - substitute ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 190 ml Stock - we used 1 beef stock cube
- Grated Cheese (optional) - to add to filling
Glaze
- 1 Egg
- 2 tablespoon Water
Instructions
Pastry
- Put all Pastry ingredients (except the water) in a food processor and tap the pulse button to slowly incorporate the butter into the flour. If doing by hand rub butter into flour until it represents fine breadcrumbs, try to work as quick as possible to avoid butter melting250 grams (2 cups) Plain Flour (All Purpose), 115 grams (½ cup) Unsalted Butter, 1 teaspoon Turmeric, 1 teaspoon Salt, 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- Add ice-cold water bit by bit and knead with hands into the dough until it forms a playdoh like texture. (you may need a little less/more water than stated above) Try not to handle to much.120 ml (½ cup) Ice Cold Water
- Place pastry covered in the fridge whilst you create the beef filling.
Beef mince patty filling
- Heat oil in pan and add onions and red peppers sautee for 5 minutes until soft, add spring onions.1 tablespoon Vegetable oil, 1 Onion, 1 Red Pepper (bell pepper), 3 Spring Onions (scallions)
- Add mince, garlic, chilli, paprika, garam masala, turmeric and salt. Stir through until mince has browned1 teaspoon Salt, 500 grams (1.2lb) Beef mince, 1 teaspoon Garlic Puree, 1 teaspoon Chilli Puree, 2 teaspoon Garam Masala, 1 teaspoon Paprika, 1 teaspoon Turmeric, 1 teaspoon Salt
- Finally add dried/fresh thyme and stock. Place lid on and leave to simmer for 15 minutes whilst you cut out pastry.190 ml Stock , 1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme
Create Patties
- Preheat oven to 180°C fan/ 200°C/ 400°F / Gas Mark 6.Remove pastry from fridge, flour surface and roll out very thin.
- Use a saucer/small plate (about 17cm diameter) to cut around the pastry. Re-roll remaining pastry until all used up, you should have 5-6 circles. Or you could use smaller plates and create smaller patties?!
- Now put rolled out circles on to there own bit of parchment paper and add 2-3 tablespoon of beef mixture in the middleGrated Cheese (optional)
- Use finger to dap the outer circle with water
- Fold pastry over the mince and use a fork to crimp the edges together
- Whisk egg with water and brush on pastry to glaze. For a flat pastry fork a hole in the top. For a puffed-up pastry (as I like them) leave out the hole!1 Egg, 2 tablespoon Water
- Place all completed patties on to a tray (or two) and cook in the 180°C fan/ 200°C/ 400°F / Gas Mark 6 oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Continue reading to find out more about Jamaican Beef Patties.
What is a Jamaican Patty?
Jamaican patties have a flaky crusted golden pastry, filled with a tasty spicy savoury meat filling.
They originate from Jamaica, influenced by a mix of Cornish, Indian & African cuisines.
What pastry is used for Jamaican Beef Patties?
The pastry used to make Jamaican Beef Patties is really easy to make at home.
It is a basic shortcrust pastry but with the added flavouring of Curry Powder we (use Garam Masala) and Tumeric.
As a result the spices give the patty pastry a beautiful golden colour and a super taste!
How to make pastry for patties?
Patty Pastry is easy to make at home, all you will need is flour, butter, turmeric, curry powder, salt and ice-cold water.
For the best results, use cold butter cut into small cubes.
Simply add all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse together until butter has all rubbed into the flour.
Then slowly bit by bit add the ice-cold water. Pulse through the mix until it forms a large doughy ball.
Top tip, learn from my mistakes and wear gloves during the kneading process to prevent yellow fingernails!
It is especially important to work as quickly as possible now.
Do not handle the dough too much, as it will melt the butter and ruin the pastry texture.
Use your hands to knead together until it has a playdoh like texture! It is ok for it to be sticky.
Finally, cover the pastry and store in the fridge to firm up whilst you make the beef filling.
What is inside a Jamaican Patty?
In this case, our favourite thing to fill Patties with is a spicy minced beef mixture.
Of course, there are plenty of other variations. Such as chicken, vegetables, fish, goat. For an extra treat why not add some cheese to your patty?
We will (time permitted) make some other varieties to share with you too!
How to make Jamaican Beef Patty filling?
Fry onion and the red pepper (bell pepper) gently until soft, then add spring onions (scallions) and mince.
Next, add some spices, we use Garam Masala to add spice to our beef filling.
However, you can use any curry powder blend, it gives a nice warmth to the filling.
Followed, by tumeric & paprika which gives great colour as well as good health, crushed garlic & chilli for extra flavour.
Finally, we added some fresh thyme leaves and beef stock.
During simmering, it will soak up the stock, don't be tempted to add more stock.
It needs to be fairly dry to prevent making the pastry soggy!
How spicy are Jamaican Beef Patties?
You can make as spicy as you like, simply add as many or little chilli peppers as desired?
Following these instructions here will result in a medium spiced filling.
Of course, simply add less or more chilli to make it milder/stronger.
In this case, we used 1 teaspoon of Gia Chilli Puree to add a spicy kick.
This is comparable to 2 medium spiced chillies (Serrano/Birds Eye) or 1 strong (Habaneros/ Scotch Bonnet).
Furthermore, if you use fresh chillies make sure to chop them finely.
How to assemble a patty?
First, roll out the chilled pastry to about 3mm, and cut around a saucer/small plate ours was 170mm/ 6 ½ inch.
Re-roll the leftover pastry, you should make 5-6 circles.
Place the pastry circle on baking paper and add 2-3 tablespoon of beef filling in the centre.
Use your finger to dap water around the circle edge.
How to seal the pastry on patty?
Fold the pastry over the filling to line up with the other side.
Next, using a fork, crimp the edges together.
Whisk an egg with 2 tablespoons of water and brush all over the pastry.
How to make mini snack-size versions of Jamaican Beef Patties?
To make mini snack size Jamaican Beef patties, simply use a smaller plate or a cup to cut around instead.
Put less beef filling in each one and cook for 15 minutes instead of 20. Perfect for party food or snacks!
How to cook Jamaican Beef Patties?
Transfer all the prepared beef patties onto a baking tray or a couple of trays if they won't fit?
Bake the patty in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180°C fan/ 200°C/ 400°F / Gas Mark 6.
Do I need to put holes in patty crust?
When cooked the heat builds up inside and will make the beef patties balloon slightly as seen in my pictures. I love them like this!
If you prefer them flat simply make a small hole in the top of the pastry before putting in the oven.
Jamaican Beef Patties are best served warm straight from the oven.
What to serve with Jamaican Beef Patties?
No need to serve with anything, they are great by themselves. Another great Jamaican recipe to serve them with is our rice and pea and fried ripe plantain.
Also great with rice salad, coleslaw, shredded red cabbage, corn on the cob, Spicy Potato Wedges or air fried chips.
How to pre-make Jamacian Patty ahead of time?
If you want to make them ahead of time, cook them all off and follow the information below to reheat when you want them.
Storing cooked Jamaican Patties?
Any leftover Patties can be stored in the fridge for 2 days or in the freezer for 2 months.
How to reheat a Jamaican Beef Patty?
From chilled reheat in a preheated oven at 180°C fan/ 200°C/ 400°F / Gas Mark 6 for 10-15 minutes.
Or microwave for about 2 minutes, until piping hot inside.
From frozen reheat in a preheated oven at 180°C fan/ 200°C/ 400°F / Gas Mark 6 for 20-25 minutes.
Or defrost first and follow the from chilled advice above.
Caribbean Recipe Ideas
Hope you enjoy these Jamaican beef patties as much as we do, try our Jamaican ackee and saltfish and rice and peas make a fantastic flavoursome Jamaican side dish.
Please leave us a comment and let us know how you got on?
Spicy Recipes
If you like spicy foods, why not try out our Spicy Chicken Burgers, Chicken Pathia Curry, sea bream with garlic and chilli. Or our fabulous hot chilli sauce.
More Recipes using Pastry
With our recipes, it's easy to make delicious and impressive pastry dishes that are sure to impress your family and friends.
Teresa says
These turned out so good with such great flavour. We needed to make them gluten free so I switched the flour for a gluten free 1-1 flour mix and made sure to weigh the flour. I was not sure how they would turn out but they were great. We will for sure be making them again! Thanks for the great recipe.
Kay says
You're welcome! I'm so glad you liked the Jamaican beef patties recipe.
If you like caribbean food you might like our Ackee and Saltfish its delicious 😉
Rafique Rahman says
Rubbish recipe nothing like.a real patty. Garam masala is nit spicy whatsoever . And cheese is just wrong. Stick to Cornish pasty’s mate
Kay says
Rafique, I'm sorry to hear you don't like our Jamaican beef patty recipe, so I'm assuming you made the recipe and must have liked it a bit, considering you gave us a five* rating 🙂
If the Garam masala isn't spicy enough for you, add more chillies to the recipe, and we said cheese could be an option; if you don't want cheese, don't use cheese!!
Again thanks for rating 😉
Sophie says
I often tweak a recipe after I try it for the first time. There will be no tweaking this one. It’s perfect just the way it is. Can’t wait for my family to try them
Kay says
Thank you, Sophie, for the comment and rating 🙂
Glad you thought our Jamaican beef patties were perfect, and you did no tweaking of this recipe; I hope your family loved our recipe?
If you like caribean food you might like our Ackee and Saltfish or Rice and Peas - Jamaican Side Dish they are delious 😉
Tom says
Traditionally, there are no bell peppers in the filling for authentic Jamaican patties. Also the crust is made with beef suet or shortening, not butter. These are more “Jamaican inspired “ rather than Jamaican.
Kay says
Thank you for your feedback; we appreciate you taking the time to comment on our recipe. We aimed to create a Jamaican beef patty that tasted similar to what we had during our travels in Jamaica, using ingredients from the UK and US. We don't claim this as an authentic traditional Jamaican dish. We hope you'll enjoy our recipe as much as we do!
Phil says
Excellent recipe I added a touch of mace and a pinch of cinnamom it really rounded out the flavor profile
Kay says
Thank you, Phil, for the comment 🙂
Glad you liked our Jamaican beef pattie recipe; adding a pinch of mace and cinnamon sounds good will have to give that try in the future 😉
Holly says
Just made this recipe and can confirm it is a good one! I have never eaten a Jamaican patties before so cannot comment on authenticity but tasted great to me. Only thing is maybe my plate was too big as I only could make four. During baking each one split too so I'll work on sealing better next time. Will bookmark this recipe and make again in the future. Will also double recipe so I can freeze some. Thanks for sharing this super recipe.
Kay says
Hi Holly,
Glad the Jamaican patties were tasty for you.
You can use any size plate you want to adjust the size finished patties to the size you want!
To stop them splitting, you can add a little hole before cooking on top to help prevent this, so the air can escape. But I like them when they puff up slightly during cooking!
Camille says
Best pastry recipe ever and I have tried a few. I actually used chicken breast and diced it up super fine. 🇯🇲
Kay says
Thank you so much, Camille, for the comment and rating it's really appreciated 🙂
So glad the pastry is the best recipe you have tried, we love our beef patties
We will have to try these patties with diced chicken sounds delicious 😉
Gilbert says
After ready all these positive reviews I felt confident to make this recipe but they turned out terrible. I literally spend half the whole afternoon making this. The filling bursted out of the pastry dough during the baking, I wish I could upload the pictures and share with you. And just in case your wondering I did follow the recipe the step by step. I’ve given this recipe 3 star because the only that did come out decent was the filling.
Luke says
Hi
I'm so sad to hear the pastry didn't come out well for you?
As you mentioned we have many great reviews here and we have seen pictures of many fantastic results from other people on Pinterest that can be seen here and also been tagged in pictures on Instagram, so I am not sure what has happened for you?
If the filling was bursting out I would think that maybe they were overfilled? Or perhaps the pastry was not cold enough / filling too hot when put in?
The pastry should be chilled in before the filling goes in, maybe I have not made that clear enough in the recipe card.
There is the option of adding a hole before baking so they are a little flatter, but I like the puffed-up look!
I hope some of these suggestions will help if you do try again?
Kay
Sarah says
Great recipe! I tweaked the seasoning for the meat based on what I had on hand (and used ground turkey instead of beef) but made the pastry dough the same. My meat didn't absorb all the liquid, even using less than recommended, but even so, there was no sogginess. Will definitely make again! Yum!
Kay says
Thank you so much Sarah for that great comment and rating 🙂
So pleased to hear you liked our beef patties, these are one of our favourites, we will have to give it a try with turkey and let you know how it goes.
Enjoy!!
Jan Dudley says
Have made these twice now and both times they turned out perfectly So delicious and really easy to make.I have passed on the recipe to my daughter too .I'm going to make the mini ones for Christmas.Such beautiful tasting pasty Thankyou both xx
Kay says
Hi Jan
Thank you so much for that lovely comment 🙂
So nice to hear great feedback on our Jamaican beef patties, I hope they go down a treat for your family at Christmas 😉
Enjoy!!
Maiyana says
Hi Jan, we think alike i have just made some for the family on Christmas
Marie georgiou says
Just finished making these for the family, they were absolutely delicious, the best ones I’ve ever tasted, will double the recipe next time. Thank you so much for sharing
Kay says
Thank you so much Marie for that great comment 🙂
So pleased to hear you enjoyed our Jamaican beef patties and your gonna make more in the future
Enjoy!!
Shaun McGowan says
These patties were exactly as I remember buying 20 years ago! Packed full of flavour, and just the right texture.
Delicious!!
Luke says
Thanks, Shaun for the comment and rating, its really appreciated 🙂
Glad our Jamaican beef pattie recipe could bring back some good memories for you 😉
Honeybabe30 says
Love this recipe very tasty thank you for sharing this recipe. 🙂
Kay says
Our Pleasure, really glad you like the beef patties 🙂
Lucia Fedorchuk says
Really great recipe.
Thanks cant wait to try more of your recipes.
Kay says
Thanks, Lucia, for the comment and rating 🙂
Really glad you liked our beef patties recipe and hope you enjoy our other recipes!
Danielle Wolter says
I am just in love with the flavors in this! I had to leave the scotch bonnets out because they are too much for the boyfriend, but it was still ultra delicious!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
That pastry looks amazing. It's such a gorgeous colour!