Delicious vegan Irish Hand Pies with a crispy, flaky whole wheat crust and a savory stuffing of cabbage, potatoes and lentils.
What's not to love about hand pies? These pocket-sized treats are cute, portable and appeal to nearly everyone. And that appeal skyrockets when they are stuffed with a savory, delicious filling, like these vegan Irish hand pies.
I love hand pies -- from vegan sausage rolls to savory Indian samosas to these chickpea mushroom turnovers. These meatless Irish hand pies, which I've been making for many years now, are right up there with these other favorites. When I first posted these readers loved them but some said they had too much filling left over. I've modified the recipe to address that concern and to make these even more delicious.
Try them -- once you sink your teeth into the flaky wrapper, you'll be hooked for good!
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe
- Crispy, flaky and delicious. The contrasting textures of the crunchy, golden crust and the soft, textured filling are amazing together. The filling is lightly but perfectly seasoned.
- Easy recipe. These hand pies are not complicated at all. The crust comes together in minutes and so does the filling.
- Adult and kid-friendly. Kids and adults will both love these hand pies and they'll be gone before you know it!
- Vegan and nut-free, can be soy-free.
Ingredients
Check recipe card for exact quantities of ingredients.
For the crust
- Flour: whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. I use a mix of these for best results. You can, if you like, make an all-whole-wheat crust, or use a vegan pie crust recipe made with all-purpose flour.
- Vegan butter. You can also use refined coconut oil, but vegan butter will give you a flakier crust. I use my homemade vegan butter made mostly with refined coconut oil. I'll share the recipe with you soon. You can use any store bought plant-based butter.
For the lentil filling
- Brown lentils. Green lentils or French lentils will work too. Make sure to use whole lentils.
- Garlic
- Red or yellow potatoes. Try not to use a starchy potato, like russet.
- Red or green cabbage
- Dried thyme or oregano
- Tomato paste
- Tamari or soy sauce
- Vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional)
How to make vegan Irish hand pies
Make the pie dough by whisking together the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and salt in a large bowl.
Cut in the vegan butter until it is evenly dispersed and there are no pieces larger than peas.
Drizzle in ice-cold water while mixing with a fork until the dough comes together. Form it into a ball as best as you can.
Wrap the dough tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or longer.
While the dough is in the refrigerator, make the filling. Heat oil in a skillet or wok over medium heat and stir the garlic into it.
When the garlic turns lightly golden and aromatic, add the potatoes with salt and ground black pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes until the potatoes start caramelizing.
Stir in the cabbage and saute for five minutes or until the cabbage wilts and the potatoes are nearly cooked.
Stir in the tomato paste and oregano and mix. Cook the tomato paste for a couple of minutes.
Stir in the cooked lentils, tamari and vegan Worcestershire sauce, if using, and mix with the vegetables. Add salt as needed. Cook until warmed through.
Add scallions, mix them in, and turn off heat. Set the filling aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/205 degrees Celsius. Turn out the crust dough on a generously floured surface. Sprinkle some flour on top. You can divide the pie dough in two to make handling it easier. Keep one half refrigerated while you work with the other.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of ¼th of an inch. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter or the lid of a jar to cut out discs of dough. Gather up the dough scraps, roll, and cut out more discs.
Place approximately two heaping teaspoons of filling in the center of one disc.
Place a second disc above the disc with the filling and press the edges to seal. Use the tines of a fork to press the edges again, creating a decorative edge. Cut a cross in the center of the pasty using a sharp knife.
Place the hand pies on a baking sheet and brush with some vegan butter, if you wish, to help them get a nice color.
Bake 40 minutes or until golden-brown and flaky. Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the pies cool slightly before you serve.
Tips for success
- The crust dough is a pie dough, so treat it like one. Make sure you make minimal contact with it with your hands so the butter won't melt--instead use a fork to cut in the vegan butter and mix as you drizzle water.
- Be careful not to create a wet dough. That will create gluten in the crust and make it tough. Err on the side of adding less moisture rather than more.
- When you make the filling, be sure to cut the potatoes and cabbage in small pieces so they cook quickly and also don't look lumpy in the filling.
- Brush a bit of oil or butter on the hand pies before baking so they get a nice golden-brown color.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store the hand pies in the fridge for up to four days.
- Freeze: Freeze the pies in an airtight container or freezer-safe bags for up to three months.
- Reheat: Reheat the hand pies in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit/175-degree Celsius oven until warmed through.
More vegan Irish recipes
Vegan Irish Hand Pies
Equipment
- Skillet or wok
Ingredients
For the hand pie wrapper
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 12 tablespoons vegan butter
- Ice cold water
For the filling
- 1 tablespoon oil (any neutral oil)
- 6 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 medium potatoes (either red or yellow. Cut into small cubes)
- 1 cup cabbage (cut into small pieces or shreds)
- 14 oz brown lentils (cooked or canned)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or oregano)
- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce. Skip if soy-free)
- 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 4 scallions (finely chopped)
Instructions
Make the pie dough
- Make the pie dough by whisking together the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the vegan butter until it is evenly dispersed and there are no pieces larger than peas.
- Drizzle in ice-cold water while mixing with a fork until the dough comes together. Form it into a ball as best as you can. Wrap the dough tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or longer.
Make the filling
- Heat oil in a skillet or wok over medium heat and stir the garlic into it. When the garlic turns lightly golden and aromatic, add the potatoes with salt and ground black pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes until the potatoes start caramelizing.
- Stir in the cabbage and saute for five minutes or until the cabbage wilts and the potatoes are nearly cooked. Stir in the tomato paste and oregano and mix. Cook the tomato paste for a couple of minutes.
- Stir in the cooked lentils, tamari and vegan Worcestershire sauce, if using, and mix with the vegetables. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Cook until the filling is warmed through.
- Add scallions, mix them in, and turn off heat. Set the filling aside to cool.
Assemble and bake the hand pies
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/205 degrees Celsius.
- Turn out the pie dough on a generously floured surface. Sprinkle some flour on top. You can divide the pie dough in two to make handling it easier. Keep one half refrigerated while you work with the other.
- Roll out the dough to a thickness of ¼th of an inch. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter or the lid of a jar to cut out discs of dough. Gather up the dough scraps, roll, and cut out more discs.
- Place approximately two heaping teaspoons of filling in the center of one disc. Place a second disc above the disc with the filling and press the edges to seal. Use the tines of a fork to press the edges again, creating a decorative edge. Cut a cross in the center of the pasty using a sharp knife. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Place the hand pies on a baking sheet and brush with some vegan butter, if you wish, to help them get a nice color. Bake 40 minutes or until golden-brown and flaky. Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the pies cool slightly before you serve.
Recipe notes
- The crust dough is a pie dough, so treat it like one. Make sure you make minimal contact with it with your hands so the butter won't melt--instead use a fork to cut in the vegan butter and mix as you drizzle water.
- Be careful not to create a wet dough. That will create gluten in the crust and make it tough. Err on the side of adding less moisture rather than more.
- When you make the filling, be sure to cut the potatoes and cabbage in small pieces so they cook quickly and also don't look lumpy in the filling.
- Brush a bit of oil or butter on the hand pies before baking so they get a nice golden-brown color.
- Refrigerate: Store the hand pies in the fridge for up to four days.
- Freeze: Freeze the pies in an airtight container or freezer-safe bags for up to three months.
- Reheat: Reheat the hand pies in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit/175-degree Celsius oven until warmed through.
Laura
Can you freeze pies before they are baked? If so, how long should they bake frozen?
Vaishali
Hi Laura, yes, you should ideally flash-freeze them first, then store in bag or container. I'd add 20 more minutes of baking time, but do keep an eye in the last 10 minutes to make sure they don't overbrown.
Erin Carruth
When you print the recipe it looks different from the recipe on the page. For instance it calls for coconut oil instead of vegan butter. It uses less flour as well. Not sure which one to use?
Vaishali
Hi Erin, it might be a cache problem — the coconut oil was in the old recipe I improved. I cleared the cache and hopefully it’s showing the right recipe now.
Erin
It still comes up with the old recipe. Maybe it's something on my end? Whatever. I just copy/pasted the recipe above and made the dish from that. It was deceptively easy to make and I'm eating my third pie as I type. Soooooo good!
Susan
Can these be made using phyllo?
Thanks.
Vaishali
Yes, they’d be great with phyllo or puff pastry!
Jamie
I made these last night for my book club - none of whom are vegans - and they were a big hit. Very tasty! I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 because the filling quantity is so far off. I interpreted "2 in medium" potatoes to mean "2 medium," and I used Yukon Gold potatoes. Like Amanda, I ended up with WAY too much filling -- more than twice what I could use. I also found a 3" round wasn't big enough to hold 2 heaping Tbsps. of filling, so I made the rounds a little bigger; even then, I could only fit about 1 heaping Tbsp on each round. I heaped the filling into a high mound so as not to touch the edges, and rolled the top round a little bigger so that it would fit over the mound and allow me to crimp the edges closed with a fork. The crimping also added to the visual appeal of the pies. Finally, though the written directions don't mention it, I cut a cross-slash into the top of the pie before baking, as shown in the photo. I would definitely make these again, and will also enjoy experimenting with different fillings, both savory and sweet, to use with the very tasty crust.
Amanda
I made the hand pies tonight. There was no quantity listed for the potatoes so I diced 1 lb. (which is 4 servings, the cabbage was 4 servings so that is why I picked that serving size) I had way, way too much filling left over, easily more than half. I will probably freeze the filling and make them again or using the filling for something else. The hand pies are in the over right now so I am not sure how they will turn out. Thanks for the idea!
Eugene
Can you use gluten free flour and almond or coconut flour to make this gluten free and vegan?
Hannah
Yum, these look perfect for St. Patty's Day! I'm always down to eat something encased in bread or crust :).
NancyAnnK
I know what I'm making this weekend! Yum.
Vaishali
Hope you try! 🙂
Heather
Hi there! How much water am I supposed to add to the dough?