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Cheesy Bacon & Beef Spinach Hand Pies (Sausage Roll Option)
Cheesy Bacon & Beef Spinach Hand Pies: a flexible dough-filled dish with a sausage-roll option, cooked in a skillet for quick results.
Why this recipe works
This guide covers Cheesy Bacon & Beef Spinach Hand Pies, with a sausage-roll option. It’s a flexible, one-pan friendly pastry filling that’s good for quick lunches, parties, or picnic snacks. Suitable for home cooks who want a savory, crowd-pleasing bite.
- hand pies recipe
- bacon beef spinach filling
- sausage roll option
- flaky pastry dough
- skillet pie recipe
- easy savory pies
- two-meat filling
- cheesy meat pies
Key takeaways
Dough: soft, non-sticky and rested before filling.
Fillings: cook bacon, beef, spinach, and cheese together, then cool slightly.
Cook until golden and hot through, then serve warm.
Recipe guide
This guide covers Cheesy Bacon & Beef Spinach Hand Pies, with a sausage-roll option. It’s a flexible, one-pan friendly pastry filling that’s good for quick lunches, parties, or picnic snacks. Suitable for home cooks who want a savory, crowd-pleasing bite.
Crispy, cheesy pies with a tasty meat-spinach filling in minutes.
- Dough: soft, non-sticky and rested before filling.
- Fillings: cook bacon, beef, spinach, and cheese together, then cool slightly.
- Cook until golden and hot through, then serve warm.
Dough and filling prep
Mix flour with water and a pinch of salt to form a soft, non-sticky dough. Rest 15 minutes. Fry diced bacon until crisp; remove and keep fat. Brown minced beef in the bacon fat, season, then add chopped spinach and wilt. Cool slightly. Grate or chop cheese and stir most into the filling, reserving some for topping.
Assemble pies or rolls
For sausage-roll option, crumble sausage meat into the pan with the browning beef and brown through. Combine with bacon, spinach, and cheese as above; adjust spinach for more meat. Divide dough into 8–10 pieces for hand pies or larger pieces for rolls. Roll rounds (12–15 cm) or rectangles, fill, seal, and crimp edges.
Cooking and finishing
Cook in a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat or with reserved fat, until golden and crisp and filling is hot through (about 3–4 minutes per side for hand pies). Finish with remaining cheese on top, rest briefly, and serve warm.
Ingredients
- 300 g plain flour
- 160–170 ml water (approx)
- pinch of salt
- 200 g streaky bacon
- 400 g minced beef
- 250 g cheese block
- 200 g bagged spinach
- optional for sausage-roll option: 4 pork sausages (about 350–450 g) — can replace or supplement minced beef
- oil or reserved bacon fat for frying
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make a quick dough by mixing flour with about 160–170 ml water and a pinch of salt until a soft, non-sticky dough forms; knead briefly and rest 15 minutes.
- Slice bacon into small pieces and fry in a skillet over medium heat until just crisp; transfer to a plate, leaving rendered fat in the pan.
- Add minced beef to the bacon fat, season with salt and pepper, and cook until browned and cooked through; drain excess fat if necessary.
- Roughly chop the spinach and add to the pan with the beef for the last 1–2 minutes until wilted; remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Grate or finely chop the cheese and stir most of it into the beef, bacon, and spinach mixture, reserving some for topping. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Sausage-roll option: remove sausage meat from casings and crumble into the hot pan (can replace the minced beef or be added alongside it); cook until browned and cooked through, stirring to break up any lumps. Stir in bacon and cheese as above; omit or reduce spinach if you want a meatier filling.
- Divide dough into 8–10 equal pieces for hand pies or into larger pieces/rectangles for sausage rolls. For hand pies, roll each into a small round about 12–15 cm across on a lightly floured surface.
- For sausage rolls, roll each piece into a rectangle, place a generous strip of the meat filling along one edge, fold dough over to encase the filling and press edges to seal, trimming excess if needed.
- Place a spoonful of the filling on one half of each round (for hand pies), leaving a border; fold the dough over to enclose and press the edges firmly to seal, crimping with a fork.
- Heat a little oil or use the reserved bacon fat in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook the hand pies and sausage rolls in batches until golden brown and crisp and filling is hot through, about 3–4 minutes per side for hand pies and slightly longer for larger sausage rolls; ensure sausage meat is fully cooked.
- Sprinkle reserved cheese over the hot pies/rolls so it melts slightly, rest a few minutes, then serve warm.
FAQs
Do I need ready-made pastry or can I make the dough from scratch?
No, the recipe uses ready-to-roll dough; dough can be mixed with plain flour and water as described.
What should the filling look like before filling the pastry?
Cook filling until browned, wilted spinach, then cool slightly before filling pastries.
How do I know when the pies are done?
Cooked filling should be hot throughout and cheese lightly melted after frying.