Chili Pie
I love chili and pie so I combined them both to make these great mini pies perfect for a quick lunch or a dinner party appetizer.
I love chili and pie so I combined them both to make these great mini pies perfect for a quick lunch or a dinner party appetizer.
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1/2 pound ground beef
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 can kidney beans
- 1 carrot minced
- 1/2 green pepper minced
- 1 stalk celery minced
- 1/2 onion minced
- 1 tablespoon salsa verde
- 2 boxes premade mini pie crusts
- 1 bag pepper jack cheese shredded
- 1 packet ham bullion
- Carbohydrate 36.0008454242423 g
- Cholesterol 37.1097982088855 mg
- Fat 25.6179984736526 g
- Fiber 4.95926136117089 g
- Protein 16.4286679488395 g
- Saturated Fat 10.1690893702027 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (202g)
- Sodium 1148.71123086993 mg
- Sugar 31.0415840630714 g
- Trans Fat 3.95155755645884 g
- Calories 433 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 350
- Poke holes in the bottom the the premade mini pie crust and cook them in the oven for 10 minutes
- Remove them and let them cool.
- Mince the onion, carrot, green peppers, and celery.
- Take a large pot and brown the ground beef.
- Add in minced vegitables.
- Cook until onions are translucent.
- Add in beans and tomato sauce.
- Add in remaining seasoning.
- Salt & pepper to taste.
- Let cook on medium heat covered for one hour.
- Place the chili in the mini pie crusts and top with the pepper jack cheese.
- Place back in oven until crust is browned.
- Let sit for a few moments before removing bottom foil from pies.
A crisp pastry shell encases a thick, spiced meat and bean filling topped with melted pepper jack cheese. Pre-baking the premade crust at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes renders the fats in the dough before the wet filling is added, preventing a soggy bottom. Poking holes in the bottom releases steam during this initial blind bake to keep the pastry flat and structurally sound.
Allowing the chili mixture to simmer covered on medium heat for one full hour breaks down the minced carrots, celery, onions, and green peppers while reducing the tomato sauce and ham bouillon into a cohesive, concentrated paste. This extended cooking time lets proteins in the ground beef fully denature and absorb the volatile aromatics of the cumin, cayenne pepper, and chili powder. A prolonged simmer also gelatinizes starches from the kidney beans, yielding a thick sauce that will not liquefy the crust upon assembly.
Portioning this mixture into individual foil-lined tins makes second-day transformations exceptionally efficient. Leftover baked pies store safely in the refrigerator for up to four days. Reheating them in a 325-degree oven for 15 minutes restores crispness to the laminated dough layers without scorching the shredded cheese topping.
Dietary modifications require simple swaps without altering the core technique. Ground turkey or textured vegetable protein replaces the beef at a one-to-one ratio, while gluten-free pastry crusts substitute directly for wheat-based doughs. Control sodium intake by omitting the ham bouillon entirely and adjusting added salt at the final tasting stage.
