Beef Pot Pie

Beef Pot Pie is a hearty, delicious comfort food recipe featuring savory ground beef and veggies in a flavorful gravy topped by a flaky, buttery pie crust. And if you prefer, it's just as easy to make it with tender cubed beef!

Fall is right around the corner and cooler temperatures are coming...I just know it! 😉 And the changing o' the seasons always has me craving one of two things: soup...or comfort food! Well, I can't think of a more comforting comfort food recipe than pot pie.

My beloved, to-die-for Chicken Pot Pie recipe has long been one of my very favorite things to eat. Period. So it's somewhat of a wonder that it took me so long to give Beef Pot Pie a go. But when I recently found myself with a spare homemade pie crust and a pound of ground beef, I thought...why not?

An Easy Version...with Ground Beef!

That's right, friends...this Beef Pot Pie recipe is actually made with ground beef! I created it that way by design, because I pretty much always have ground beef on hand and it's so quick and easy to brown up. Y'all know how I love my easy ground beef dinner recipes... 😉

Cubed Beef Option

That being said, it would be totally easy and delicious to make this recipe with cubes of beef sirloin or roast or stew meat instead.

As the first step in this recipe, you'd simply sear said cubed beef in butter and/or olive oil in a pot.

From there, remove it to a plate and proceed with the recipe, adding more butter/olive oil as directed.

Then stir the browned beef back into the filling at the very end, at the same time as the potatoes and peas. The meat will finish cooking through once the whole dish is popped in the oven.

Ingredients

So what exactly do you need to make this savory, yummy meal?

• Beef. As already mentioned, I used ground beef. But it would be simple to swap that out for little chunks of beef if that's your preference.
• Mushrooms. These are optional but highly recommended. I just think there's just something so savory and delicious about the combination of beef and mushrooms. I used regular white button mushrooms, but you could use creminis if you're feeling fancy. The other nice thing is that, even if your family has split opinions on whether or not to include mushrooms, they're actually really easy to pick out for those who don't care for them. Just ask my kids... 🙂
• Carrots. You can use sliced or diced or matchstick. I typically choose the latter because I can buy a bag of them already "matchstick-ed" at the grocery store. Because let's be frank...I've never been one to turn down a time-saving shortcut!
• Garlic. Because...flavor.
• Butter + extra-virgin olive oil. These are for sauteing the mushrooms, carrots, and garlic. You could opt to use just one or the other, but I generally like to combine the two for a balance of high smoke point (olive oil) and flavor (butter).

• Potato. One large potato (I prefer a Russet) needs to be pre-cooked and peeled before cutting it up and stirring it into the finished pot pie filling. If your potatoes are smaller, you may need two of 'em. You'll just want a total amount of 2 to 3 cups cubed potato. I either use a leftover baked potato from the night before (I'll cook an extra one knowing that I'll need it the next day for pot pie), or I quickly zap one in the microwave. To do so, wash and dry a large potato, poke holes in it with a fork, and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Flip it over and cook for 5 more minutes (give or take, depending on the size of your potato and/or the power of your microwave). Allow to cool while you prepare the rest of the pot pie filling.
• Frozen green peas. These are stirred into the filling just before pouring it into the baking dish. It's fine if they're still frozen because they'll finish thawing/cooking once the dish is in the oven.
• Flour + beef broth. These ingredients form the base of the thick, silky gravy. If I don't have beef broth or stock on hand, I use organic Better Than Bouillon Beef Base and water to mix up my own. I happen to think this bouillon base makes the gravy taste even "beefier." But it can also be rather salty, so be sure to taste your final gravy before gradually stirring in any additional salt.

• Half-and-half + red wine. These two ingredients make the aforementioned thick, silky gravy taste even better! Respectively, they add a hint of decadence and layer of flavor that takes the gravy from good to great. That being said, you can substitute milk for the half-and-half to lighten things up. And/or you may leave out the wine altogether, if that's your preference. On the other hand, if you enjoy the flavor of wine in sauces and gravies but you don't want to open a whole big bottle when you just need a splash for a recipe, I recommend buying a four-pack of mini wine bottles with screw tops. It's not the best quality wine, but it's not terrible either...I've found it to be fine for cooking. You can open one mini bottle, add a bit to a recipe, and then store it in the door of your refrigerator until the next time you need wine for a recipe. I do this with both mini red wine and mini white wine bottles.
• Herbs + spices. Namely, dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper make the flavors pop in this Beef Pot Pie. If you happen to have fresh thyme, it's less potent than dried so plan on using three times as much (a heaping 2 teaspoons total of fresh chopped thyme leaves for this recipe).
• Pie crust. You can absolutely use a store-bought crust here. But if you've got just a few minutes and a food processor, I highly, highly recommend you try my flaky, tender All-Butter Pie Crust! The recipe actually makes two pie crusts. As a result, I typically always keep at least one spare homemade pie crust in the freezer...you know, for last-minute Beef Pot Pie cravings.

How to Make Beef Pot Pie

Beef Pot Pie from scratch may sound intimidating if you've never made it before, but I promise that the steps are super simple and straightforward.

1. Melt some butter and extra-virgin olive oil in a big pot. Saute the garlic, mushrooms, and carrots until the veggies are tender and the liquids are evaporated. Remove to a plate.
2. Add the ground beef to the pot and cook until browned. Drain the grease and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with flour and stir/cook for a couple of minutes to get rid of any floury taste.
3. Add the cooked veggies back to the pot.

4. Pour in the beef broth, half-and-half, and wine. Bring to a simmer, while stirring, and cook until just thickened.

5. Stir in the seasonings, cubed potato, and green peas. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the filling into a baking dish.

6. Roll out the pie crust to the dimensions of the baking dish and place it on top of the filling. Press down the edges and cut vents all over the crust.

7. Bake in a preheated oven until golden and bubbly!

The sizes of baking dishes can vary. So if your crust comes all the way up to the top edges of your baking dish, it might not be a bad idea to place it on a rimmed cookie sheet before popping in the oven. This could save you a bottom-of-the-oven mess in the event of any bubbling over.

How to Freeze Beef Pot Pie

This recipe is so popular at my house that I often double it and pop one in the freezer for a ready-made dinner at a later date.

It's also a great meal to gift to others, whether fresh or frozen.

1. To freeze, you're basically going to make this recipe as directed all the way through the step of placing the crust on top. In other words, you'll cook the filling, transfer it to a baking dish (just make sure your baking dish is temperature-safe to go from the freezer to the oven later, such as a metal or foil pan), lay the crust on top, and cut some vents.

But do not bake it!

2. Instead, tightly wrap the dish in freezer-thickness aluminum foil (or two layers of regular foil) for up to 2 months. I find it helpful to label the top with the name of the recipe, the date, and baking directions...so that it doesn't disappear forever into the abyss of my freezer.
3. When you are ready to enjoy, remove the dish from the freezer and preheat the oven to 400°F. Leave the top of the frozen pot pie covered with a single layer of foil and pop into the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake, uncovered, for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the slits. You want it hot and bubbly all the way to the center, not just around the edges.

You can also choose to thaw the frozen pie in the refrigerator for 24 hours first and then bake following the directions found in the regular recipe. But that's for folks who fancy "thinking ahead" as one of their strong suits... 😉

I'm telling y'all, the home cooked effort of this Beef Pot Pie recipe is so worth it.

Because the resulting dinner is so warm...so cozy...so mouthwatering-ly scrumptious that you juuuust might find yourself looking forward to that next cold front. 😉

More Ground Beef Recipes

• The BEST One-Pot Spaghetti
• Hamburger Steak with Mushroom Gravy
• Ground Beef & Broccoli
• Beefy Cheese Tortellini Bake
• Tamale Pie
• Ground Beef Stroganoff
• Easy Swedish Meatballs

Post originally published on November 14, 2018, and updated on September 17, 2021.