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 love this recipe. I will substitute turkey for the beef and it is still delicious. The dough is easy to work with, I often use this dough for other recipes. For those who said that it was sticky, do not add the full amount of water. The recipe says to add gradually, dough recipes often use different amounts of water depending on where you live and many other factors.
This pastry for this recipe should be rough puff pastry. Although time consuming it is worth it for the flaky texture of the pastry.
Did you try this?
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.
These were so yummy! I was worried about my dough… it was hard to roll out, kept sticking so I kept having to add flour, my circles did not hold their shape and were shrinking up as soon as I cut out the shape (hence had extremely misshapen patties that looked nothing like the picture). I froze them and a week later cooked them in the air fryer at 320 for 15 minutes, flipping halfway. They turned out great! Dough was crispy and so tasty.
For the people that think this recipe is too salty, remember to use Kosher salt; it measures very differently than table salt. Cheers!
Delicious. Didn’t think we could take the heat of the scotch bonnet, so used a serrano pepper with seeds. Also used Better Than Bouillon instead of a cube.
How do I find a conversion from grams to lbs/tbls/tsps before I print out the recipe?
I made these my husband liked them which is a win . I did leave out the peppers / onion and add some pepper flakes and onion powder instead after reading a few comments I used a low sodium beef stock instead of the beef cubes and didn’t add the salt to keep the salt content down I would make these again I like that it makes a bunch of them so I can freeze them
I thought these were great. The filling was delicious and pretty quick to come together. I wasn’t able to find a scotch bonnet pepper, so I substituted a habanero and that worked fine. I didn’t have any trouble with the pastry, I thought it was good! Definitely if you are looking for a flakey, buttery pastry this is not it, but I appreciated that it was not full of shortening and butter. I will definitely make these again!
These are good with taco sauce or sour cream!:)
This recipe is horrible 🙁 beware of the amount of salt… it’s extremely salty and even if my instincts told it was way too much I followed the exact same recipe… the end result was disgusting… too salty and way too much turmeric!!!
This is true way too salty to even eat. Too much turmeric and the crust was tough after baking. As a Jamaican who grew up in Jamaica this recipe was terrible. Tastes nothing like originals not even a bit. Considering that it’s supposed to be healthy
I agree salty and dough was very dry. I even put more water in it. If I had to make this again (probably won’t because we didn’t like it) I would do 1 tbsp of turmeric, maybe even less, more water and an egg wash. Not the best recipe.
Super excited to try these! Any other pepper that would be a good sub? I can’t find them. Our store does carry the sauce oddly enough, would that be a good sub or try a different kind of pepper?
I think what some of the reviewers are forgetting is that this website is dedicated to healthy recipes… so if you’re looking for a fatty, greasy Jamaican Meat Patty, (which I do enjoy once in awhile) then you should visit your nearest Jamaican grocery store. I really enjoyed making this dish but did find that I had to add extra cold water to get the dough to come together in a ball. Also, like some of the other reviewers there was way too much turmeric in the crust. So next time I will cut back on that But overall, my husband and I really enjoyed this healthy take on a classic fave. Thank you!
I tried these a couple of days ago. The filling and the dough were very tasty. However, I found the dough to be so hard to roll out that I quit at 8. I also only got about 2 Tbsp of the filling in each, so have left overs.
I would try again, but might try with a different pastry.
Made this yesterday for dinner. OMG it was excellent and so easy to make. Looks professionally made. LOL I am wondering though is there some kind kind of sauce that would be good with these.
I love spicy Jamaican patties but normally find the homemade recipes too fatty (suet, butter or shortening). I’m looking forward to trying this recipe.
I’m not sure why everyone had such difficulty with this recipe, but I made them a few weeks ago and they were AMAZING! The dough was easy to work with – I was able to roll it out without a problem, cut into circles, fill, and seal. I air fried them, which turned out wonderfully. Making them again tonight! Thanks for the amazing recipe, Gina!
I love the Skinnytaste recipes and have all 4 books, but this one was a huge letdown for me. I love Jamaican patties and would get them from the Jamaican bakery in Miami. The taste of the filling was not to my liking and the dough was hard, tough, and differed greatly from patty dough. I was unable to enjoy the finished product. I’m not sure what went wrong. Bummed out. ☹
Stay away from this dough recipe! The filling is not bad. I usually like your recipes but this one was a miss. Thank you for the effort though.
The dough was super hard to roll out and just not right.. the fill was great!
I know there may be some product placement going on, but please edit this recipe for normal-size bullion cubes. You know about 1/2 an inch on each side? I used a conversion formula that said 2.32oz equals about 65g. Traditional small bullion cubes are 4g each. So, I dutifully put 16 cubes in. WAY too salty! Like, inedible. Will be redoing tomorrow with far less bullion and no added salt.
best advice is add to your taste since they vary in size.
My husband and I made this on Friday. It was very difficult to make the dough and took a really long time to put this recipe together. We liked the filling a lot but did not care for the dough (they looked just like the picture, but the dough was sticky and hard to roll out). I also did not like the taste of the dough. I think there is too much tumeric in it. The filling was very good! If I make this again, I would just use premade (frozen) empanada shells which I saw in the grocery store recently. Our pastries were a little smaller (made 5″) and it made 17 circles.
Its a bit time consuming but the frozen ones will work!
Hi! It seems like 2.32 oz of beef stock cubes is about 6-7 cubes… Does that sound right? I saw another user had asked that but hasn’t gotten a reply yet. My entire container of cubes is 2.32 oz total.
too much, you can use 1 or 2 depending on the size and taste it before adding the second
I am making these with crescent sheets instead of making the dough – it brings the points up to 8 each on Green – fingers crossed!!
I made these this weekend and while they were good,
I feel like they need just a few tweaks to be *great.* The main thing I found is the turmeric (in the dough) was WAY too overpowering…next time I’ll try 2 TBSP instead of 3.
The other issue was that the dough wasn’t flaky like traditional patty dough….it was more like empanada dough. I will have to do some research to see how to get a flakier dough.
The filling was delicious!
Hi Gina! I made these on Saturday and they were outstanding! I used ground turkey and it totally worked! They tasted great with my home-made sangria!
Perfect!!
What can I use instead of the Scotch bonnet pepper to give it a milder heat?
I just left the peppers out and it was delicious!
The filling is amazing! I did add a touch of curry and thyme. My issue was with the dough. I’m am not a master on anything dough. Lol . It is very dry and cakey. I rolled and folded as suggested. I was able to get 11 total 6” rounds so I don’t thinkit’s because they weren’t rolled thin enough.
Any suggestions?
Really tasty! Great flavours all around. I did not roll out the dough thin enough (thought I did but after cooking it was too thick) so I will definitely roll it thinner next time. The meat is good on its own too – my son preferred it that way and had it with some rice.
I made this recipe and I have a suggestion, if using soy sauce, omit the salt. I’m sure if you’re using Scotch Bonnet peppers, you’re not going to notice how salty it is. I didn’t have a Scotch Bonnet pepper, so I substituted ground red pepper, and pureed the meat mixture to be more like the Golden Krust frozen beef patties, I LOVE those suckers. I deep fried the extra dough, since I only made 8, and baked the patties. After I pulled them from the oven, they were thrown into the fryer for a couple of minutes to crisp them up, they are tasty. I wish I had something to dip the extra fried dough in.
I couldn’t find beef stock cubes but instead found beef bullion packets, but want to be sure on the quantity. Is it actually 2.32 oz of beef stock cube or is it 1 cube from a 2.32 oz package? Seems like 2.32 oz of beef stock cube is a lot and with the packets I bought, that would add up to 16 packets
Just finished this and was a bit disappointed they just didn’t come out how I hoped. After reading comments I’ll definitely try again with some adjustments! For me the dough was the problem, from the taste to the consistency. Not sure if it was too much turmeric or what but had an odd flavor. Not flaky at all. The filling was delicious, I couldn’t find a scotch bonnet so I used walkerswood scotch bonnet hot sauce which brought a good amount of heat. Didn’t have any allspice so added that to my shopping list so it’s on hand for next time. Next time will also use a little less salt, just my taste. Definitely a great starting point can’t wait to try again. Thanks Gina I was really excited for this one, I love Jamaican patties!
This was a miss for me. The meat was very dry. I wasn’t able to find a scotch bonnet so used an Italian long hot and that did give it some heat… the meat was flavorful, but I found the dough very hard to work with and the tumeric turned everyone’s tongue yellow… the dough wasn’t flaky. Oh well.. live and learn.
Made these last night and they were delicious! I didn’t have any peppers and my kids are not fans of spicy. It tasted amazing without it! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you for the added suggestions! Being raised in a Jamaican household, I have always wanted to learn to make patties and I was looking for thyme in the recipe. This is a great recipe for a baseline! Going to try this weekend. Thanks Gina!
I was really disappointed in the recipe, it tastes nothing like Jamaican beef patties. I followed the recipe to a tee….lacking the basic Jamaican flavors.
I loved this recipe but i could not get my dough rolled out thin enough to get 12 6 inch diameter circles. Only got 7. Any tips for rolling dough out?
I kind of rolled and cut in sections. Instead of trying to make the whole thing thin enough, I rolled enough to cut out 2 or 3 thin circles, then moved those to my baking tray before rolling and cutting more. Otherwise my dough kept springing back!
Used pre-made pie crust from store as shirt in time. Came out amazing.
These were very yummy! Not especially good to make on a hot day, as the dough didn’t really end up flaky, but the flavors are all there. Making me want to go to NY to get a traditional beef patty. 😀 Had to sub the scotch bonnet with habanero and woooo they’re spicy.
Just took these out of the oven and ate one. Oh so good! Used small scotch bonnet pepper and was perfect. Thanks Gina, another winner!
I’m so excited to make these patties this week. This was the food of my high school days. I can’t take heat like I used to, how necessary are the hot peppers to this recipe? Will it mess with the signature patty taste if I omit them?
Hi! Just a few things after reading the reviews, questions, and comments. I love Skinnytaste because of the diversity of recipes and use of fresh ingredients. There are so many great recipes on this site making it my frequent go to for healthy and delicious recipes. With this being said, there are a few things I would like to mention to be added to make this Jamaican Patty recipe more authentic. I would never suggest substitution another hot pepper. If you don’t like the heat or the scotch bonnet pepper leave it out…just don’t call it a Jamaican patty at this point, because it’s not. seriously, it’s meat pie. I also suggest the addition of 1 teaspoon of thyme, 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of Jamaican curry powder, and green scallions to the meat filling in addition to other ingredients in this recipe. I suggest processing all the meat filling ingredients in a small food processor this way everything is chopped finely. Be careful with this step. Next add the seasoned ground beef to the processor creating a meat paste consistency similar to the filling found in authentic patties. Also, making the meat filling a day ahead helps mellow and developed the flavor.
It’s important to make sure everything is ice cold when making the dough. EVERYTHING needs to be cold including the flour, food processor blade and barrel, etc.
All in all, this is a good recipe. However, trust me. With a few my additional ingredients, you will feel like you’ve been transported to the Island….Yea-Mon 🇯🇲
Thanks Dominique for the extra tips! My husband and I love Jamaican food and will literally eat patties all day long when we visit Jamaica on vacation. However I avoid them typically on the meal plan because they are too many calories. Love that Gina has a workable version here. I’m determined to get that authentic taste without increasing my waistline lol
Her helpful additions literally are just seasonings and the use of tools to really replicate a traditional beef patty, how does this changes the calorie count at all? Thank you for the advice Domonique!!!
Making these right now, but between the self rising flour and the additional salt added my pastry tastes VERY salty. We’ll see what happens when it’s baked.
Yum. Can these be frozen? Before or after baking?
yes before
I don’t believe it! Girl, you did it this time! I just moved to Florida where there are lots of great Jamaican eateries but not so great for my hips! I love patties of all kinds so these will be in my rotation. I have been using your meal plans and tracking and am finally losing the last 10 lbs. Love your recipes! Today’s breakfast was Strawberry Peanut Butter Smoothie bowl and dinner is Zucchini Taco boats and Mexican Cauliflower rice. Yummy!
This made my mouth water!! I’m sharing it with my sister and looking forward to trying it. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this recipe, can’t wait to try it!
Can I add baking powder to all purpose flour if I don’t have self rising flour?
Can I use regular beef stock instead of a beef stock cube?
Yes you can add 1.5 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt per cup of self rising flour.
***Clarification per cup of AP flour
Looks fabulous! I’m from Sri Lanka and we make “patties” which are very similar–I will need to try this recipe for the pastry. Patties are traditionally fried, so this adaptation will definitely be healthier.
Enjoy!
Not sure if I missed it in the recipe, but what do you do with the sauce once it has cooled completely
i was just going to ask about making them as a patty and then either frying or grilling them. i love breads and pastries way too much and not having to use it would be great.
This looks great! I can’t eat anything spicy. Can I just omit the peppers or do you have a substitute I can put in that isn’t spicy? Thanks!
yes! just leave it out
How many blue WW points are eliminated if chicken breast is used instead of beer? These sounds fabulous!!!!!
Can you recommend a substitute if the store doesn’t carry scotch bonnet peppers?
Sure any spicy pepper, try serrano
What if I don’t have an air fryer?
The recipe has oven directions
Thank you, Gina! I have been looking for a recipe for beef patties, and yours fits the bill and only 6 points! Can’t wait to try the recipe!!
I already pre-ordered your new cookbook, Skinnytaste Meal Prep. You have made counting my points and losing the weight almost effortless… ALMOST! : )
Wonderful!!! Thank you!!
I can’t wait to make these. Love love Jamaican beef pattie. I bet they are better then the store ones. I used to live in Fl., and baught from a meat store. The owners wife who was from Jamaica made them to sell in the store. First bite of them I fell in love. Thanks. I love all your recipes. And they are helping me loose some weight too.
Can’t wait to try these. My husband is Guyanese and they have similar patties! Yum!
I love Guyanese food!
I want to make this…Looks delicious! Could I use regular all-purpose flour instead of self rising?
Following – wondering how to make these GF.
You can try with cup4cup but I have not tested
These look absolutely amazing. Can’t wait to try. They would be great to make ahead and carry to work.
Can’t wait to try this! If we can’t find the bonnet pepper, is there an alternative we can use? Thanks Gina!
Try a serrano
What changes need to be made (i.e., what gets added) if using regular flour instead of self-rising?
Just add baking soda and salt.
Add 2 tsp of baking powder and a 1/4 tsp of salt to make self rising flour.
First time I had a skinny taste recipe that was a dud. The dough was the killer, super dry too much tumeric.
I love Caribbean flavors and so do our boys so I can’t wait to try this!
Instead of making your own, could you substitute with Goya wrappers?
Sure why not!
So excited to try these! I love Jamaican food!
can you use a store bought dough and add tumeric? if so, what type?
sure
can use just regular beef stock instead of the water+cube?
I dont think it will have enough flavor
In Puerto Rico, we use achiote (annatto) to give it color. ❤
These look amazing! Do you think you can swap in 2 ingredient dough and just add tumeric?
Sure!