Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies

Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies 

Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies are a family favorite in my household. For many, many years we have been going to this local Scandinavian festival every summer, and one of the staples there is Swedish meat pies. Swedish meat pies are a delightful little hand pie, similar to an empanada, filled with delicious and savory filling, traditionally made with beef. 

My husband and I both look forward to this tradition every year. Which is what inspired me to develop this recipe to make myself at home. Why be limited to enjoying these amazing treats just once a year? They can easily be made at home and then frozen for later. 

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The original recipe was shared with me by a lovely woman named Mary that I met online, and had an amazing chat about different recipes, substitutions, and variations. I hope that I’ve done this recipe proud with my changes, because I simply love how it has turned out. 

Have you tried making these Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies? Come on in and let me tell you about them! 

Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies Ingredients 

Meat Filling 

Butter, 1 tablespoon 

Olive Oil, 1 tablespoon 

Ground Beef, 1 pound 

Onion, ½ of a medium size, finely minced 

Potatoes, 2 medium reds, peeled and shredded, note you can use russets if you prefer, but reduce it to just 1, as they are huge. 

Carrot, 1 medium to large, peeled and shredded 

Celery, 2 stalks, sliced thin using a mandolin 

Cheddar Cheese, shredded, 1-2 cups, depending on preference 

Worcestershire Sauce, 1 teaspoon 

Dill Weed, ½ teaspoon 

Allspice, ⅛ teaspoon 

Celery Seed, ½ teaspoon you can also use celery salt 

Parsley, ½ teaspoon 

Cardamom, ⅛ teaspoon 

Nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon 

Steak Seasoning, ½ teaspoon make your own with this recipe 

Onion Powder, ½ teaspoon 

Garlic Powder, ½ teaspoon 

Salt, ½ teaspoon, feel free to add more to taste based on your preferences 

Pepper, ½ teaspoon, feel free to add more to taste based on your preferences 

Dough 

Flour, 2 cups, all purpose 

Salt, 1 teaspoon 

Butter, ½ cup 

Shortening, ¼ cup 

Sour Cream, 6 tablespoons note, be sure that the sour cream is fresh. Any, and I mean any hint of it going bad will ruin the taste of the dough. I’ve learned this from experience, so save yourself the trouble! I now buy my sour cream right before making this recipe, and not use any that is old just to use it up.

Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies Directions 

In a mixing bowl, measure out all the spices and whisk them together. Add the ground beef and worcestershire sauce in, mix well. 

In another mixing bowl, start prepping the veggies. Peeling and shredding the potatoes and carrots. Dice the onion. I grated my celery on a mandolin so I had every piece the same size, ensuring even cooking. 

Once you have both bowls prepared and ready, it is time to combine them together and mix well. This ensures that everything, the meat and vegetables, are evenly mixed and distributed together. Nobody wants all meat in one pie or all veggies in the other. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

In a frying pan, melt the butter with the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Stir and cook until the meat is brown and the veggies are soft. Drain any excess grease. This is also the perfect time to taste it and make sure that it is seasoned to your liking. If it is missing something, add it now, mix, and taste it again. 

Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese until it is melted. Set aside to cool while you make your dough. 

You can use a stand mixer or make the dough by hand, I’ve done both and they turn out equally well. Using the beater attachment, mix the flour and salt together to combine. Add in the shortening and butter a little bit at a time. Next stir in the sour cream a teaspoon at a time until the dough holds together. 

Knead the dough briefly on a lightly floured surface so that it doesn’t stick. Note that before kneading, I like to put my dough ball in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to keep the butter cold, and that helps ensure a flaky crust, but this is not a requirement, just my preference. 

Divide the dough into four equal portions, and roll them into balls. Note that four balls are huge. You can easily divide these into six or eight portions. 

Roll each ball of dough out to about ⅛ inch thickness. Place a heaping ½ cup of filling into each one. 

Fold the dough over into half circles and seal by moistening the edges with warm water and pressing them together. Sometimes I crimp them to make them pretty if I’m serving to guests, but it certainly isn’t required. Add a vent to the top of each pie with a fork or knife to allow steam to escape. 

Place the pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes in the oven until golden brown and crispy. 

Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies Notes 

If you’re going for a traditional Swedish meat pie, you’ll want to skip using the steak seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder. Those were my personal additions because I wanted a better balance of savory and warm holiday flavors. 

I’ve made this recipe with and without cheese in it, as I forgot the first time I made it. I found it lacked salt without the cheese, so if you choose to leave it out, you’ll want to increase the salt a bit. 

If you want to not only add an earthy flavor and stretch the recipe to feed more people, you can add in some finely chopped mushrooms, which I think is simply delicious in this mix. 

I’ve also made it with a combination of 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound of mild italian sausage for a slightly different flavor profile that I really enjoyed. 

I highly recommend a tortilla press to get the dough thin enough for this recipe. Hand rolling just didn’t quite cut it when I made them the first time. 

You don’t necessarily have to roll them out into a hand pie. You can use a larger muffin tin, spray it with a non-stick cooking spray, mold the dough to fit that, then fill it, and put a dough lid on it. Which is kind of a fun way to enjoy it. I did this the first time because I didn’t have a tortilla press yet, and it worked well. 

You can also bake it in a pie pan, and just divide the dough in half, so you have an upper and lower crust, very similar to making an apple pie. This is an excellent option to save yourself some time if just serving it for dinner to your family. Once cooked, cut it exactly like you would a regular pie and serve it. Note that I haven’t tried this myself yet, so I’m not sure if you’ll need to make extra dough or not. 

You can add an egg wash or milk wash to the crust before baking to give it that gorgeous golden brown color. 

Another addition to the top is either sesame seeds or everything bagel seasoning. I like both the look and texture these toppings add to my pies. 

You can serve exactly like this, or add a small amount of sour cream or ketchup to go with it. I found when reheating mine, I really appreciated the sour cream as an addition. 

Freeze for Later! 

I love how simple this Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies recipe is to make and double, then freeze some for later. I pop mine into the freezer after cooling on a baking sheet for an hour, then transfer them into a ziplock bag or a vacuum sealed bag, label and date them, so they are ready to be eaten at any time. 

Once you remove them from the freezer, they can be immediately put into the oven and baked, you’ll just want to increase the baking time since you’re starting from a frozen state. Or allow them to unthaw and bake as directed. 

I’ll be the first to admit that I freeze these Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies in individual portions, much the same way I do desserts like cookie dough, just for the purpose of having my own 3am snacks that I don’t have to share with anyone else. Speaking of which, one of these small pies and a cookie sounds like a perfect snack together! Especially since the oven will already be on. Why not?! If you’re like me and do things like this, raise your hand! 

Why I Love This Recipe 

This Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies is a recipe that seems incredibly complicated and daunting. I thought the same thing the first time I read it through, and honestly thought it was going to take me hours to get everything done. But it isn’t nearly as complicated as it sounds! Those types of recipes are my absolute favorite. Seriously, anyone of any skill level can make these deliciously easy Swedish meat pies. 

The key to saving yourself time here is organization. Prepare everything at the beginning before you start cooking, measuring it all out and shredding or dicing. Organization is your best friend with recipes like this. 

This Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies recipe is the kind of recipe that can be stretched really easily to feed a large group of people, while giving them something that is filling, hearty, and delicious. It can easily be doubled, and stretched with a few extra veggies added in without missing anything. That is one of the reasons I love adding mushrooms into mine. 

It is perfect for picnics, potlucks, game day bites, a busy weeknight meal to feed the family on the go, or any event where you need to bring something to feed a large group without breaking the bank. 

These Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies are also a recipe that can be changed easily to fit your own personal preferences. I’ve made it a solid five times, and the only thing that has remained the same are the spice measurements and the dough. Everything else I’ve changed at least once to add in, like the mushrooms, sausage, skipping and adding the cheese. It is kind of a fun experiment each time, and the heart of it is the same, but never exactly the same. 

Remember when grandma would make spaghetti, and it was always delicious, yet never exactly the same twice? That’s how this recipe is for me, and I find that really fun. You can experiment and figure out what is perfect for you. Or you can keep it more traditional, as I noted how to above. It is up to you! 

Discussion 

Have you tried making these Deliciously Easy Swedish Meat Pies yourself? Did you make any changes or substitutions? Are you a fan? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

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