10 Proper Homemade Pies to Make When the Weather Turns Cold

If there’s one dish that screams autumn, it’s pie. Put pastry around a tasty filling and you’ve pretty much cracked it. A good pie is a firm favourite across Britain and, once the weather starts getting colder, a worthy contender for Sunday lunch when you fancy something other than the usual roast.

I’ll admit something straight away: I never make my own pastry. I cannot be bothered. It’s far too readily available in the shops for me to spend hours trying to perfect what seems to be an entire science in itself. A packet of ready-made shortcrust, puff or filo does the job perfectly well, which means I can concentrate on the bit I’m actually interested in – the filling.

And that’s where you can have some fun. There are the proper British classics – cheese and onion, meat and potato, steak and ale – but pastry will happily accommodate everything from chicken tikka to spinach and feta.

So, as the evenings start getting cooler, here are ten of my favourite pies to make for autumn.

A quick tip before you start: if you’re making a cooked filling, let it cool before putting the pastry on. Adding pastry directly over a steaming-hot filling is an easy route to a soggy crust.

1. Cheese and Onion Pie

You really don’t need meat to make a seriously satisfying pie. Cheese and onion is one of the classics: sweet, slowly cooked onions with plenty of strong mature cheddar and just enough mustard to give it a little kick.

Ingredients

1 sheet ready-made shortcrust pastry
3 large onions, sliced
250g mature cheddar, grated
1 tsp English mustard
1 egg, beaten
Butter for frying
Salt and black pepper

Method

Gently fry the onions in a little butter for around 15 minutes until soft, then leave to cool. Mix with the cheddar, mustard and plenty of black pepper.

Line a pie dish with pastry, add the filling and cover with another piece of pastry. Seal the edges, brush with beaten egg and bake at 200°C/180°C fan for 30–35 minutes, until beautifully golden.

2. Mince and Onion Pie

This is proper no-nonsense comfort food. Beef mince, lots of onion and a rich gravy encased in pastry – exactly the sort of dinner you want when it’s cold and miserable outside.

Ingredients

500g beef mince
2 onions, chopped
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato purée
300ml beef stock
1 sheet ready-made shortcrust pastry
1 egg, beaten
Salt and black pepper

Method

Brown the mince in a large pan, add the onions and cook until softened. Stir through the Worcestershire sauce and tomato purée, then add the stock.

Simmer for around 20 minutes until you have a thick gravy. Season well and leave to cool.

Transfer to a pie dish, cover with pastry and brush with beaten egg. Bake at 200°C/180°C fan for around 30 minutes.

3. Meat and Potato Pie

As a Yorkshire woman, I don’t need convincing about the merits of meat and potato pie. Tender beef, soft potatoes and rich gravy make this one of those wonderfully simple combinations that doesn’t need messing around with.

Ingredients

500g stewing beef, diced
1 onion, chopped
400g potatoes, peeled and diced
400ml beef stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 sheet ready-made shortcrust pastry
1 egg, beaten

Method

Brown the beef and onion, then pour over the stock and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and simmer gently for around 1½ hours, until the meat is tender.

Add the potatoes for the final 20 minutes and cook until tender. Allow the filling to cool before transferring it to a pie dish.

Cover with pastry, brush with beaten egg and bake at 200°C/180°C fan for 30–35 minutes.

4. Ham and Leek Pie

Ham and leek is particularly good when you’ve got leftover ham to use up. Sweet, buttery leeks and salty ham sit in a simple creamy sauce underneath a crisp puff pastry lid.

Ingredients

300g cooked ham, chopped
2 leeks, sliced
25g butter
25g plain flour
300ml milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 sheet ready-made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Black pepper

Method

Gently cook the leeks in the butter until softened. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute before gradually adding the milk, stirring until you have a smooth, thick sauce.

Add the mustard and ham, season with black pepper and leave to cool.

Spoon into a pie dish, cover with puff pastry and brush with beaten egg. Bake at 200°C/180°C fan for 25–30 minutes.

5. Stargazy Pie

We couldn’t have a list of British pies without including one of the strangest-looking of the lot.

Stargazy pie comes from Mousehole in Cornwall and traditionally has fish heads poking through the pastry as though they’re gazing at the stars. It certainly makes an entrance at the table.

Ingredients

6 whole sardines, cleaned
300g potatoes
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
150ml double cream
Small handful of parsley, chopped
1 sheet ready-made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

Method

Boil the potatoes until just tender, then slice. Gently soften the onion and combine it with the potatoes, chopped eggs, cream and parsley.

Spoon into a pie dish and arrange the sardines over the filling, positioning them so the heads can poke through the pastry.

Cover with puff pastry, carefully cutting around the fish heads. Brush with beaten egg and bake at 200°C/180°C fan for 30–35 minutes.

6. Spinach and Feta Pie

This is our nod towards spanakopita and a lighter alternative to some of the richer pies on the list. Salty feta and spinach work brilliantly with crisp filo pastry, particularly with plenty of herbs and black pepper.

Ingredients

400g spinach
200g feta
2 eggs
Small handful of dill or parsley, chopped
Pinch of nutmeg
1 pack ready-made filo pastry
Melted butter or olive oil
Black pepper

Method

Wilt the spinach and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Mix with the crumbled feta, eggs, herbs, nutmeg and black pepper.

Layer half the filo sheets into an oiled dish, lightly brushing each sheet with oil or melted butter.

Add the filling and cover with the remaining filo. Bake at 190°C/170°C fan for 30–35 minutes, until crisp and golden.

7. Chicken Tikka Pie

If chicken tikka can go on a pizza and in a sandwich, it can absolutely go inside a pie.

A creamy, gently spiced tikka filling underneath buttery puff pastry is a particularly good combination and an easy way to make the traditional chicken pie considerably more interesting.

Ingredients

500g chicken breast or thigh, diced
1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp tikka curry paste
200ml passata
100ml double cream
Small handful of coriander, chopped
1 sheet ready-made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

Method

Fry the chicken and onion until lightly browned. Add the tikka paste and cook for another minute before stirring in the passata and cream.

Simmer for around 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Stir through the coriander and leave to cool.

Transfer to a pie dish, cover with puff pastry and brush with beaten egg. Bake at 200°C/180°C fan for 25–30 minutes.

8. Chicken and Mushroom Pie

There is a reason chicken and mushroom has remained a favourite for so long. It’s simple, creamy and comforting without being particularly heavy.

I’ve added thyme here because it works beautifully with both the mushrooms and chicken.

Ingredients

500g chicken, diced
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped
25g butter
25g plain flour
300ml chicken stock
100ml double cream
1 tsp dried thyme
1 sheet ready-made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

Method

Brown the chicken, mushrooms and onion in the butter. Stir in the flour, then gradually add the chicken stock.

Add the cream and thyme and simmer until you have a thick sauce. Season and leave the filling to cool.

Transfer to a pie dish, cover with puff pastry, brush with beaten egg and bake at 200°C/180°C fan for 25–30 minutes.

9. Steak and Ale Pie

Few things say British pub food quite as loudly as steak and ale pie. The important bit is giving the beef enough time to become properly tender and allowing the ale and stock to reduce into a rich gravy.

Ingredients

600g stewing steak, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp plain flour
330ml dark ale
250ml beef stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp thyme
1 sheet ready-made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

Method

Brown the steak and onion in a large pan. Sprinkle over the flour and stir well.

Pour in the ale and stock before adding the Worcestershire sauce and thyme. Cover and simmer gently for around 1½ hours, until the beef is tender and the gravy has thickened.

Allow to cool, transfer to a pie dish and cover with puff pastry. Brush with beaten egg and bake at 200°C/180°C fan for around 30 minutes.

10. Creamy Vegetable Pie

A vegetable pie shouldn’t feel like the disappointing option somebody ordered because there wasn’t anything else on the menu.

Use a good mixture of vegetables, give them a properly creamy sauce and cover the whole thing in puff pastry and you’ve got a pie that easily holds its own against the meat versions.

Ingredients

600g mixed vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli, peas, leeks and mushrooms
25g butter
25g plain flour
300ml vegetable stock
100ml double cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 sheet ready-made puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Salt and black pepper

Method

Cook the vegetables in the butter until they’re beginning to soften. Stir in the flour, followed gradually by the vegetable stock.

Add the cream and mustard and simmer until the sauce has thickened. Season generously and leave to cool.

Transfer to a pie dish, cover with puff pastry and brush with beaten egg. Bake at 200°C/180°C fan for 25–30 minutes.

What to Serve With Pie

Part of the beauty of pie is that it doesn’t need much help.

For the meatier pies, I’d go with buttery mash, greens and plenty of gravy. Cheese and onion is crying out for chips and peas, while the spinach and feta version works better with a simple dressed salad.

And if you’ve made a pie with potatoes already inside it, I’m certainly not going to tell you that you can’t serve more potatoes alongside it.

That’s autumn cooking sorted – even if we’re not quite ready to admit summer is over.

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