This authentic vegan Jamaican beef patty recipe has an amazing flakey crust with a perfectly seasoned vegan meat mixture. You’ll love these for dinner or snacks.
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One of the most iconic Jamaican dishes is the beef patty. Today, we’re showing you how to recreate them into this authentic vegan Jamaican beef patty recipe.
Depending on the culture that you grew up with, you may have never have a Jamaican beef patty, especially not a veganized one; however, you have likely had something similar. Whether it’s a empanada, pastelitos, samosas, pasty, etc., every culture has a pastry like dough that is either deep fried or baked to perfection and filled with deliciousness.
For Jamaican culture, it’s the beef patty and today we’ll show you how to make the perfect vegan Jamaican beef patty.
Because scotch bonnet peppers are traditionally used, this dish can get spicy and fast. For that reason, there are usually mild and hot Jamaican patties, and today we’ll discus how to make both ways vegan.
Vegetarian Jamaican Patties Ingredients
Below are notes about the main ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make this authentic Jamaican vegan patties.
There are two parts to this recipe – the pastry dough and the filling that goes inside once ready.
For the Dough
- flour – we are using all purpose flour for this recipe for ease of access
- turmeric – we use this to get the iconic yellow coloring that Jamaican beef patties have
- curry powder – we specifically are using a Jamaican curry powder in this recipe. Curry powder is used to give the dough its own flavor that pairs so good with the filling. There are both regular and hot varieties of Jamaican curry powder. We use regular, but if you would like an extra layer of heat, then you can add the hot.
- vegan butter – every pastry needs a fat for the dough to come together and be flakey, similar to pie crusts. We are using vegan butter here because it’s easier to find and use
- water – water is used to bring the dough together and form the pastry. No need to use any other like like non dairy milk.
For the filling
- onions, garlic, and scallions – these are our aromatics and really help bring the flavor together. We are using sweet onions, but yellow onions can be used as well. For the scallions we are only using the green part. Tip: place the white part in a jar of water and it will regrow the green part.
- vegan beef – Use can use either frozen crumbles or the packages of ground vegan meat. Either will work well in this recipe so choose your favorite.
- scotch bonnet pepper – This is the main type of pepper used in all Jamaican cooking. It’s very spicy and needs to be handled very carefully.
- seasonings – from garam masala to ginger, thyme, and allspice, this unique blend of spices is key to perfecting the Jamaican beef patty. They all have a role so we recommend sticking to the list.
- Panko breadcrumbs – most breadcrumbs aren’t vegan friendly, but panko is. It helps gives texture but also soak up the liquid that we are adding to create the best texture.
How to Make Homemade Jamaican Beef Patties
For the Dough
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, turmeric, curry powder, and salt. To the same bowl, add tablespoon size vegan butter cubes and then use a fork or pastry cutter to combine together until crumbly, sand like texture.
- Add in water and mix with a spatula to form a dough. Add a 1 tablespoon more at a time with remaining water if needed to form dough, do not over add water. Only mix until combined. Place in fridge to set up for 30 minutes.
For the Filling
- In a large skillet over medium low heat, add oil and saute onions until translucent (about 3-5 mins). Add garlic and cook 1 more minute until fragrant.
- Add green onions and meatless crumbles. Stir together and cook for 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook. Add in scotch bonnet pepper and seasonings. Stir well.
- Add stock and let cook for 15-20 minutes on simmer (medium low heat) until liquid has reduced and mostly gone. Add butter in and stir until melted.
- Pour in ¼ cup Panko and stir. If still juicy, add 1 tablespoon more at a time. Let mixture cool. Do not add hot mixture to pastry dough.
*May not need all of the Panko as you don’t want it to be dry
Assembling Patties
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Get a small bowl of water. Set aside.
- Evenly split dough into 12 equal pieces.
*We prefer to use a scale for accuracy. - Lightly flour surface. Roll a piece into a ball, then roll with rolling pin to 6 inches. Lightly brush the edges with water (very light).
- Add 3-4 tablespoon of mixture to one half of the dough circle. Fold over so edges line up and use a fork to press down to seal the edges.
- Place on baking tray. Repeat with remaining dough and meat mixture. Bake for 25-28 minutes on until golden and crispy. Remove and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Jamaican Patty Variations
When creating authentic recipes, we don’t recommend making very many changes, so we don’t have a lot to list here; however there are a few that we can suggest:
For the Dough
- flour – you could sub all-purpose flour for pastry flour or a gluten free 1:1 blend. Note that we haven’t personally tried using gluten free flour for this recipe, but we have for other pastry recipes so the idea is similar.
- curry powder – you can use another curry powder if you don’t have access to Jamaican curry powder. The Jamaican one is just slightly seasoned differently.
- vegan butter – can sub with vegetable shortening and still have the same texture. We do not recommend subbing with other oils or removing the oil
For the filling
- vegan beef – seasoned and rehydrated TVP could also be used. If you don’t do process meat, you could do a seasoned walnut meat. While it would no longer be a beef patty, you could sub things like beans, mushrooms, cauliflower and more.
- scotch bonnet pepper – We understand depending on where you live, scotch bonnet peppers may be hard to find. We would suggest subbing with a habanero
- seasonings – the garam masala can be subbed with more curry powder, but we strongly suggest otherwise sticking to the list of seasoning
- Panko breadcrumbs – if you can find regular fine breadcrumbs without milk or egg, you can sub them.
Tips for the best homemade Jamaican beef patties
If you are making a recipe for the first time, but especially trying to recreate a vegan version of it, then you likely want to make it the absolutely very best way. Here’s 5 tips for making the best vegan beef patty:
- Follow the instructions and ingredient list with little to no substitutions. This sounds silly to say but many times people don’t measure correctly or sub out a lot of things because they don’t have it. The best way to ensure a great recipe is follow it.
- Use a vegan beef product that you like – whether it’s frozen crumbles or vegan ground beef, pick one that you love. Whether that’s Beyond, Lightlife or Gardein, if you have a preference, it will definitely help this recipe taste better to you.
- Do not try to make this recipe oil free – we understand that many people are trying to reduce their consumption of oil, but this isn’t the recipe to take shortcuts. The oil is needed to make the perfect pastry dough that’s flakey and the right texture. You can sub the oil when cooking the onions, etc with more vegetable stock, but not in the pastry dough.
- Do not rush the process – In the instructions it says that you need to let the pastry dough refrigerate for 30 minutes, but also that the breadcrumbs need time to soak up the mixture and then the mixture cool before adding. Don’t skip any of these steps or it could not turn out well.
- Make sure to crimp the edges of your pastry before cooking – if you rush this or don’t do it properly, you edges will puff up and your filling won’t stay inside. Take your time here.
How do I make this vegan Jamaican beef patty faster?
You can make the dough ahead of time, but you can also make these and freeze them for later. This would help that process go much faster since you just have to heat it up.
Jamaican Meat Patty FAQs
You will want to make a vegan substitutions but it’s possible. Use a gluten free 1:1 flour blend for the flour and a gluten free Panko. Ensure that your vegan butter is soy free (like Flora or the soy free version of Earth Balance). Lastly, pick a vegan meat that is suitable depending on your allergens.
Yes, make the recipe according to the instructions, then cool. Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
We recommend heating up until the middle is cook throughout. You can do this for 60-90 seconds in the microwave or use an oven or air fryer for about 7-10 minutes, carefully not to overcook your patty.
It can have a kick to it depending on the curry powder and scotch bonnet pepper that you use. But overall as written this is the mild Jamaican beef patty recipe.
The first step would be to use a hot Jamaican curry powder (linked above). Then you could use some of the seeds/ribs from the pepper we are adding or you could add another scotch bonnet pepper.
You can make this less spicy by adding less of the pepper or subbing for a less spicy pepper like a jalapeno though it would no longer be authentic.
Yes! Let cool completely and then store in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 3 months.
What other vegan Jamaican recipes could I make?
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Vegan Beef Patty
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon vegan sugar
- 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon Jamaican curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted vegan butter, cut into 1 tablespoon sizes
- ¾-1 cup water
For the filling
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1 large sweet onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 stalks scallions, finely cut (just green part)
- 1 pound vegan beef (frozen crumbles or vegan ground beef)
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, carefully remove seeds and ribs, very finely diced (sub habanero if needed)
- 2 teaspoon garam masala (or sub curry seasoning)
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar, optional
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- ¼ cup vegan unsalted butter
- ½ cup Panko breadcrumbs, divided
Instructions
For the Dough
- In a large bowl, whisk together 3 ½ cups flour, 1 tablespoon each: sugar, turmeric, and Jamaican curry powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Then, add 1 cup unsalted vegan butter in tablespoon size cubes. Combine by using a fork or pastry cutter until crumbly, sand like texture forms.
- Add in ¾ cup of water and mix with a spatula to form a dough. A 1 tablespoon more at a time with remaining water if needed to form dough, do not over add water. Only mix until combined. Place in fridge to set up for 30 minutes.
For the Filling
- In a large skillet over medium low heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and saute 1 large diced onion until translucent (about 3-5 mins). Add 2 cloves minced garlic and cook 1 more minute until fragrant.
- Add 3 stalks cut green onions and 1 lb frozen meatless crumbles. Stir together and cook for 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook. Add in 1 scotch bonnet pepper, teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon each brown sugar, dried thyme, and all purpose seasoning, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon each ground ginger, black pepper, and allspice, and ¼ teaspoon onion powder. Stir well.
- Add 1 cup stock and let cook for 15-20 minutes on simmer (medium low heat) until liquid has reduced and mostly gone. Add in ¼ cup vegan butter in and stir until melted. Pour in ¼ cup panko and stir. If still juicy, add 1 tablespoon more at a time. *May not need all of the Panko. Don’t want it to be dry. Let meat mixture cool to warm. Do not add hot mixture to pastry dough.
Assembling Patties
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Get a small bowl of water. Set aside.
- Evenly split dough into 12 equal pieces. Lightly flour surface. Roll a piece into a ball, then roll into a circle with a rolling pin to 6 inches in diameter. Lightly brush the edges with water (very light).*We prefer to use a scale for accuracy.
- Add 3-4 tablespoon of meat mixture to bottom half of the dough circle. Fold until edges line up and use a fork to seal the edges. Place on baking tray. Repeat with remaining dough and meat mixture.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes on until golden and crispy. Remove and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
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Absolutely ADORE this recipe. Every time I make it for my carnivorous friends, they can’t even tell the difference. Thank you guys for putting so much effort into making these recipes. Please continue!
Love when that happens!
First let me say, thank you for the delicious recipes you guys turn out! I’ve tried a few of them and I have not been disappointed thus far. I’m not much of a baker but I’ve been pondering making this recipe for some time. I tried it tonight and the patties were pretty good, however, I did not get the flaky crust as the picture shows. Can you tell me what I missed or needed to do to get the flaky crust? I definitely plan to make it again.
Hi Elizabeth! I’m glad you like them overall. Two really big things. Make sure your dough is chilled and your filling is cool. It should NOT be hot at all as it will start to soften your dough resulting in less flakiness. If you are someone who happens to work slower in the kitchen, then once you have them filled, you can chill them for another 15-20 minutes before putting them in the freezer. Keeping the butter cold in the dough is what really helps that flakiness. If you give them a try again, let us know if this helps
My husband is Jamaican and I’m vegan so a few years ago I made these to bring to Thanksgiving with my family. They immediately became a new family favorite. This will now be my third year making and bringing them. My sister always requests them and raves how much she loves them. I highly recommend them! Delicious recipe, and the author described it well so it’s easy to adjust to your taste or conditions (ex: I often don’t wind up needing any panko crumbs and wind up adding more veggie stock because the crumbles I use seem to suck up all the moisture) Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe!
so happy to hear that it’s a hit with everyone!
This looks like a great recipe to try, I’ve tried a couple of vegan patty recipes and I couldn’t quick nail it but this one makes me hopeful.
Two questions first:
1.) I’m trying to avoid canola, safflower, sunflower seed, palm and soy oils as much as possible and I find that at least one of those are in plant based butters, so can I substitute the butter for harden coconut oil?
2.) I want to use lentils in place of plant based ground “beef”, would that work and if so how much dry lentils should I use?
Thank you!
Yes you could use coconut oil. As far as dried lentils, you would need 1 to 1 1/4 cups dried to replace (then cooked before using).
Made this with green lentils and chopped mushrooms. Place diced mushrooms in a hot lightly oiled pan and leave until water evaporates and golden brown on one side; mushrooms will lose a lot of thier volume. Then stir and spread out over the pan and leave until golden on other sides. Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside.
Undercooked one cup of uncooked green lentils; 6 to 8 minutes once boling. Drain, give 3 presses with a potatoe masher to split some of the lentils (helps keep filling together) and set aside.
Follow above recipe but instead of adding crumble in step 2; in step 4 add lentils, mushrooms, 3 tbls tomato paste, and 1.5 cups mixed frozen vegetables ; simmer for only 5 mins instead of 15 to 20. Then proceeed with remainder of recipe.
Lentils keep just a little bite giving a nice techture. Mushrooms techture and flavour without wetting it out as water has been removed. Very tasty.
Thanks for sharing your version!
Perfect & delicious! Thank y’all for making this recipe!! Now I just need to make some rice and peas to go with them 😝
Glad you enjoyed! Here’s our recipe for that: https://makeitdairyfree.com/vegan-jamaican-rice-and-peas/
This is so easy to make and the house smells amazing while you are cooking. Love you guys. Thank you.
So happy you loved it