Easy Dairy-Free Ground Beef Pot Pie is a simple recipe for savory, budget-friendly meat pot pie made without milk, cream, or butter.
This simple beef casserole is filled with budget-friendly hamburger meat, peas, carrots, and onions and a flaky pastry dough.
Beef pot pie is simple to make with easy meal prep for a hearty and satisfying meat and vegetable dinner.
You can even make the filling ahead, cover it with fresh pastry dough, and pop it in the oven for a quick dinner on a busy weeknight.
And check out the health benefits of beef, peas, and carrots!
A little about Pot Pie
It seems that the first version of the pot pie began with the Greeks, who made a dish with different meats and other ingredients cooked in open pastry shells called “artocreas.” The pastry was made of a flour and oil mixture and the dish was served at banquets
When the dish spread to the Romans, they served the dish with various meats, fowl, and seafood and added pastry on top.
The Crusaders spread meat pies across medieval Europe.
The English of the 16th century used meat such as pork, lamb, birds, and game, such as venison, in their pies. While the basic version was eaten by the lower class, the wealthy would serve them at banquets in which the chefs would show their talent by crafting and decorating them with flowers, designs, and heraldic devices.
The pies were brought to America by the settlers, who made chicken pot pie, beef pot pie, and sea pie, which was apparently developed on the ships across the ocean and used turkey, veal, and mutton, whichever was available.
While many things are called “pies” (take Eskimo Pie, for example, which is an ice cream), anything that does not include dough and is not baked is not truly a “pie.”
Then there is Pennsylvania Dutch chicken pot pie, made by the Pennsylvania Dutch (of course). It is most commonly made with chicken, noodles, potatoes, and sometimes vegetables and is eaten out of a bowl. So, it is not really a pie at all, as there is no dough and no baking involved.
Cooking terms
What does it mean when recipes say “to taste” about an ingredient?
When recipes say “to taste,” it means that you can put in as little or as much as you like to your own taste. Some recipes have many ingredients that a cook can adjust to their own taste when cooking (not so much when baking, though).
The best way to calculate what your taste is with a recipe that you are not yet familiar with is to first taste the dish and then add the “to taste” ingredient GRADUALLY, a little at a time—a splash of this or a pinch of that—until the dish is just the way you like it.
Make sure to stir the ingredient after each time you add it so that the flavor will distribute evenly and become part of the dish. Then taste again. Repeat until you reach your personal preference.
Note: If you plan on using the recipe again, it is highly recommended to make a note of what and how much you added so that you can refer to it next time.
What does “savory” mean?
“Savory” refers to foods that are not sweet, such as foods that taste salty, spicy, or herbal.
What is a slurry?
A slurry is a mixture of liquid and dry starch, such as cornstarch or potato starch, into a paste that is used to thicken sauces and soups. One can use flour to make a slurry as well.
What is needed to make dairy-free ground beef pot pie?
I’m not great with meal planning, and I dislike having to run to the store last minute to pick something up to be able to make a dish with short notice. I much prefer to have a large variety of ingredients in my kitchen at all times.
However, this is all you need in your kitchen to be able to make this dish:
ground meat
onion
2 cups peas and carrots (precooked frozen or canned)
chicken or beef consommé (bouillon) powder
water or milk substitute
cornstarch or flour (or potato starch) as a thickening agent
unsweetened diary-free puff pastry dough
Oil for frying
Tips:
- You can use fresh or leftover beef (as long as it is not dry).
- You can pour it into a ready-made pie crust and cover it with a second pie crust—just pinch the edges and make slits on the top for air to escape.
- If you use canned or frozen vegetables, the cook time will be reduced compared to fresh.
- Cornstarch works better as a thickener for slurry and makes gravy more glossy. However, in a pinch, you can use flour, but you must double the amount needed for cornstarch.
- You might find it easier to put the cornstarch in a bowl and then slowly add the liquid while mixing to make a slurry rather than vice versa.
Mini Beef Pot Pies
If you would like to make individual portions of this recipe, just pour the filling into smaller, single-serve baking dishes, cover with a suitable size piece of pastry dough, and bake until the top becomes a godlen brown.
If you like ground beef dishes, try Dairy-Free Ground Beef Stroganoff!
Easy Dairy-Free Beef Pot Pie Recipe
Delicious and simple, ground beef casserole, made without butter or milk!
Ingredients
- 1 pound of ground meat
- 2 cups peas and carrots (precooked frozen or canned)*
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon chicken or beef consommé (bouillon) powder
- 1 1/2 cup water or milk substitute
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or 1/4 cup flour as a thickening agent**
- unsweetened diary-free puff pastry dough
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Heat a little oil in the bottom of a medium-sized sauce pan.
- Lightly fry diced onions on medium heat.
- Break up ground beef into small pieces and mix in with onions.
- When beef has cooked through (around 5 minutes), add peas and carrots, consomme powder, and water or milk substitute.***
- Mix well.
- Lower heat to medium-low.
- Remove 1/2 cup of liquid from the mixture, pour it into a bowl, and add cornstarch or flour.
- Mix until smooth to make a slurry, pour back into the pot, and mix well.
- Cook on medium-low heat until thick (a minute or two).
- Pour into a 9" pie dish, pie shell, or other suitable-sized baking dish(es).
- Cover with a suitable-sized piece of the puff pastry dough.
- Make small slits in the top layer of dough for air to escape.
- Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 425°F for approximately 30 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown.
Notes
*Or any 2-cup mixture of vegetables: peas, carrots, diced celery, corn, and diced potatoes. If you use celery or raw potatoes, fry them with the onions so they will get soft.
** Cornstarch is a better thickener and makes the sauce more glossy.
*** Or you can use 1½ cups chicken broth instead of the consommé powder and water.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 794Total Fat: 45gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 121mgSodium: 429mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 43g