Turkey & Potato Hand Pies
These Turkey & Potato Hand Pies are the perfect treat for someone who loves all of the flavors of Thanksgiving but doesn’t want to cook an entire holiday dinner. They use store-bought puff pastry (a freezer staple during baking season) and are perfect for Friendsgiving or a classic holiday meal. They also freeze well, so they can be enjoyed at any time of year!
We love cozy comfort foods, and for us, Fall and Winter holidays have always been characterized by good food and a kitchen full of the intoxicating scents of roasted vegetables, turkey, and carbs. Lots of carbs. We know that Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated by everyone, so we wanted to make something that reminds us of those flavors without necessarily requiring someone to work all day in the kitchen, basting a bird.
A Note on Thanksgiving Turkey
For us, Thanksgiving means spending time with family and congregating in the kitchen. The two of us have always pitched in where we could, offering to help by making a salad or a side dish or a dessert, but it’s our mom who has been the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potato master. Even now, her roasted turkey is the only one we want to eat (*shh…the secret is bacon…*), but when we don’t feel like cooking a whole turkey, this recipe satisfies our Thanksgiving meal cravings.
Ingredients for the Turkey & Potato Hand Pies
These turkey and potato hand pies taste like a perfect blend of potatoey goodness and herby ground turkey. The inclusion of fresh fennel adds a layer of anise flavor that almost provides a sweetness to the pies that reminds you of the subtle sweet flavors of roasted stuffing and meat. Everything is coated with a little quickly made gravy so that the hand pies aren’t dry inside because no one wants a dry pie.
If you hate turkey or don’t eat meat, you can totally change these up! Use tofu instead of turkey and switch out the turkey or chicken broth for veggie broth! Or use mushrooms instead of meat! You do you, friend.
Here’s what you need to make these tasty treats:
- Ground turkey – we like to use 93% lean.
- Onion – we like sweet or yellow onions with this.
- Fennel – the fennel adds a subtle anise flavor to these pies that goes so well with the savory gravy.
- Yukon gold potato – there is no need to peel these potatoes before cooking.
- Butter – you’ll need some butter to cook the veggies in, and some butter to make a little roux later, so don’t add it all in at once.
- Flour –we use all-purpose flour here. This will make your roux.
- Poultry seasoning – poultry seasoning is a blend of various herbs. If you can’t find poultry seasoning, you can make your own.
- Turkey or chicken broth – this is the base of the gravy/moisture inside the hand pies.
- Salt & pepper – always season your food.
- Puff pastry – again, store-bought is fine. Any thawed puff pastry will do.
- Egg wash – brushing this onto the puff pastry makes it shiny and golden when it bakes.
Sauce it Up
We love making sauces, so we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to do so here! No turkey dinner is complete without gravy, so we’ve created the perfect gravy dip for these hand pies. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Roux – make this by mixing together flour with melted butter.
- Turkey or chicken broth – you can use whatever type of broth/stock you used for the pie filling.
- Poultry seasoning – this provides the same herby flavor that is inside the pies.
- Cream – a splash of cream helps add richness to the gravy. If you don’t have this, you can use milk or half and half or omit it entirely
- Salt & pepper to taste – the amount of salt and pepper you’ll add depends on the broth you use and your personal preferences.
How to Make these Turkey & Potato Hand Pies
These hand pies may seem daunting at first, but they’re not super hard to make. To assemble them, you first cook the filling on the stove and then assemble the puff pastry pies. While they bake, you can make the gravy.
Making the Savory Turkey & Potato Filling
To make the filling, heat the butter in a pan. Add the onions and potatoes and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the fennel, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften. Remove them from the pan.
Add the turkey to the pan and cook on medium-high heat until no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Mix the veggies back in, add the seasoning, and sauté until the turkey is cooked through, about 7 to 8 minutes.
Make a well in the center of the pan and add butter to it. Add flour and mix it with the butter to make a roux, then mix the roux with the turkey and veggies. Cook it for about 1 minute to cook out the raw flavor of the flour. Whisk in the broth to make the gravy, which will coat turkey and veggies (it won’t be saucy). Once the gravy is thick and coats everything in the pan, remove from heat.
Assembling & Baking the Pies
Heat your oven to 400°F. Roll each thawed pastry sheet to 10 by 12 inches. Cut each sheet into 8 rectangles (3 by 5 inches each). Fill half of the rectangles with 3 tbsp of the filling and use the unfilled rectangles to cover the filled ones. Crimp the edges with a fork, then cut a slit into the top of each pie to make a vent so that the steam can escape while they’re baking. Brush each pie with egg wash. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until each pie is golden and puffed.
How to Make the Gravy
Make the gravy by melting butter in a pan and whisking in the flour. Cook for about 1 minute and then add the broth. Cook until the gravy has thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and cream.
Dunk the cooked pies in the gravy and enjoy!
Freezing Instructions
This recipe makes a lot of hand pies, so if you aren’t serving them to a crowd, you can make them up and freeze any that you don’t want to eat right away.
To make these freezer-ready, fill and assemble the pies but don’t egg wash them. Instead, just wrap each individual pie in plastic wrap and place them all in a freezer safe bag in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat them, remove the pies from the freezer, egg wash them, and bake them for 20-25 min at 400°F.
Turkey & Potato Hand Pies
Ingredients
Turkey & Potato Hand Pies
- 1 pound ground turkey
- ½ small onion, diced
- 1 small fennel bulb sliced
- 1 Yukon gold potato, diced
- 4 tbsp butter, separated
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1 cup turkey or chicken broth
- Pinch of salt
- Dash of pepper
- 4 sheets puff-pastry, thawed
- Egg wash, 1 egg beaten with a splash of water
Gravy
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 ½ cup turkey or chicken broth
- ½ tsp poultry seasoning
- 1 tbsp cream
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a pan. Add onions & potatoes and cook over medium heat for 5 min. Add fennel, season with salt & pepper, & cook for 10-15 min or until veggies soften. Remove from pan.
- Add fennel, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 10-15 min or until the veggies soften. Remove from the pan.
- Add turkey to the pan and cook on medium heat until no longer pink, about 5-7 min.
- Mix in the veggies, seasoning, and cook the turkey fully, about 7-8 more minutes.
- Make a well in the center of the pan and add 3 tbsp of butter.
- Mix 2 tbsp flour with the butter, then mix with turkey and vegetables and cook for 1 minute.
- Mix in the broth to make a gravy to coat the turkey and veggies (it won’t be saucy). Once the mixture is thick, remove the pan from the heat.
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Roll each pastry sheet to 10×12 inches. Then cut each sheet into 8 rectangles (3×5 inch).
- Fill half of the rectangles with 3 tbsp of the turkey and vegetable mixture.
- Use the unfilled rectangles to cover the filled ones, then seal the edges of each pie with a fork. Cut a slit into the top of each pie, making a vent so that steam can escape while the pies bake.
- Brush each pie with egg wash. (Note: If you're planning on freezing some pies and not eating them all right away, skip the egg wash and place the assembled pies into a freezer-safe bag or container in the freezer).
- Bake for 14 to 16 min.
- Make gravy dip by melting butter in pan & adding flour. Cook 1 min & add broth. Cook until thickened. Stir in seasoning & cream. Dunk pies in gravy & enjoy!
