Jamaican Beef Patties are filled with spicy beef, seasoned with paprika and allspice and wrapped in a buttery, yellow crust flavored with turmeric.
Jamaican Beef Patties
Jamaican Beef Patties have a unique flavor that you won’t find in any other cuisine in the world with turmeric to give it that Caribbean color. I used to buy beef patties in a little Jamaican spot when I was a college student on a budget. They reminded me of empanadas, only a lot spicier! When I went to Jamaica, I made it a point to try them every chance I could. You can see more of my ground beef recipes here.
This authentic Jamaican beef patty recipe is modified from the Original Flava cookbook (affil link). When I got my hands on this cookbook, everything looked SO good that I didn’t know where to start. It has the classics like ackee ‘n’ saltfish and curry goat and Caribbean favorites such as garlic butter lobster and trini doubles. But for some reason, I found myself coming back to these beef patties, and I am so glad I did!
Even though beef patties are baked and not fried, the original recipe was not exactly light. So, I made a few minor tweaks, taking out the lard or shortening completely and using leaner ground beef. I also made them slightly smaller, so I got 12 from the recipe instead of 10. They turned out great!
Tips
- Wear gloves when handling the peppers – they are very spicy. Avoid touching your eyes or mouth after touching the peppers.
- Wear gloves when working with the turmeric as the yellow color will stain your hands.
- Chilled butter is the secret to a flaky crust.
Variations:
Beef is the most popular patty filling in Jamaica, but you can definitely switch it up. Season any of these options with the same spices:
- Spicy chicken
- Spicy shrimp
- Spicy veggies (e.g., spinach, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots)
Freezer Friendly: Make the patties and freeze them uncooked up to three months. You can bake them frozen – just add a little more time.
More Jamaican Recipes You’ll Love:
- Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
- Slow Cooker Jerk Pork
- Jamaican Coconut Shrimp Stew
- Jamaican Red Beans and Rice
Jamaican Beef Patties
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 450 grams self-rising flour, plus more for dusting, about 3 cups plus 2 tbsp
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp ground turmeric
- 2 tbsp chilled butter, diced small
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water
- milk or water, for brushing
For the filling:
- 1 pound 93% lean ground beef
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, de-seeded and diced (wear gloves)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 beef stock cube, such as Maggi
- 2/3 cup boiling water
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp breadcrumbs or flour
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, Worchestershire sauce or browning
Instructions
For the pastry:
- Sift the flour into a bowl then stir in the sugar, salt and turmeric. Add the butter and rub them into the dry ingredients until you have a crumbly texture.
- Gradually add ice water to create a dough. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and chill in the fridge 1 hour.
For the filling:
- Meanwhile, make the filling. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the meat and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes.
- Add the onion and scotch bonnet and cook 3 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic powder, salt and black pepper.
- Dissolve beef cube in boiling water and add to the skillet with the paprika, allspice, breadcrumb or flour and the soy sauce or other sauce. Stir and simmer 20 minutes, then set aside to cool completely.
- When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350F.
- Take the chilled dough out of the fridge. Dust work surface and rolling pin with flour so the dough doesn’t stick.
- Roll out the dough, when flat fold it into a square then roll again. Repeat 2 to 3 times to create a traditional patty crust.
- Roll the dough out to about 1/16th thickness.
- Place an upturned bowl or lid about 6 inches in diameter on top and carefully cut around it with a sharp knife. You should get 12 total, with a 6-inch size.
- Divide the meat mixture between each, about 3 tablespoons each and spoon it onto one side of the circle.
- Brush a little milk (or water) around the edge of the dough and carefully fold the patty over so the edges meet. Use your fingers to press and seal them, then use a fork and press around the edges.
- Poke a few holes on top with the fork to make steam holes and place on a baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes, until golden.
Air Fryer Directions:
- Air fry 325F 10 to 12 minutes, turning halfway.
I make these but instead of mixing the turmeric in the dough I mix it in an egg wash and brush it on the patty before baking. I think it’s easier and less messy that way
Those Jamaican Patties look super delicious!
LOVE the flavors in this! So unique and exciting to try something different. I’m lazy and instead of the dough, made basmati rice and added the turmeric into that. Fantastic!
Can I substitute white flour with Almond flour?
Hi Gina, have you ever tried to recreate the dough for this recipe with your flour/yogurt dough? I’m considering trying to make it that way, I love the flour/yogurt dough recipes.
I have not!
I see you wrote 191 kcal, which means 1910 calories. Is that for real or a typo because Golden Crust brand that is sold at Walmart has 340 calories per patty. 1910 calories per day will make a weight of 191 lbs without exercise. If I eat 2 per day that would be 382 lbs. not including the opther 2 meals I would be eating. I am already 270 lbs and need to lose some weight. I hope it means 191 calories per patty and not kilocalories as is written!
Its 191 calories, hope that helps! These are delicious!
Wow a lot of flavor and turned out good. Followed recipe as is, but used 1 habanero since I could not find the other. The dough was tough for me to roll out. I was eventually able to get eleven 6″ rounds.
The meat filling was my favorite and I would like to do this recipe again with just the filling and put it over rice.
I made these for someone who grew up eating home cooked Jamaican beef patties and he loved them. The dough did take some elbow grease to roll out, but it came out delicious. I used 2&1/2 TBS turmeric and just added flower when it got sticky. I also used Kosher salt and a teaspoon of Better than Bullion instead of a Bullion cube and it was not too salty. Next time, I’m going to add an extra Scotch Bonnet pepper for additional heat.
Overall, excellent recipe – I love having less guilt eating these.
I thought it this was good. It was challenging for me since I find rolling dough out very thin to be difficult. I got way less than the recipe states due to this. I also didn’t have self- rising flour, so had to use regular flour with leavening agent. I read the comments and went easy on the turmeric and salt, especially being I don’t love the taste of turmeric; however I love the colour! They turned out well and were tasty. I am excited to freeze them and grab for lunches.