Chinese Curry Beef Puffs. Flakey, buttery puff pastries filled with a savoury curried minced beef and onion. A delicious recipe that is great as a snack or as party food. They will keep you coming back for more, easy to make with minimal ingredients!
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What are Chinese Curry Beef Puffs?
These beef curry puffs taste like flakey pastry packed with a delicious savory curry beef with onions. These baked goods are commonly sold at Chinese bakeries and they're absolutely delicious!
They're so good that you will not be able to stop yourself after one. You will probably eat 3 in one sitting, easily! The best part is that they're made with simple ingredients as we're using store-bought puff pastry sheets.
Even my husband who isn’t a big meat person loves them! These are actually very similar to my Malaysian Curry Puffs made with chicken. However, those are deliciously deep fried and not baked like this one.
This Chinese pastry brings back fond memories for me. My mother and I would walk to our local Asian bakery across from our house.
At the bakery, I would help my mom grab a serving tray and a pair of tongs, and we would pick our favourite Chinese baked pastries. These beef mince curry puffs were always a luxury to select if it was in mom’s budget!
Back at that Chinese bakery, they were little circular pies held in an aluminum tin cup because they would still be sitting in a warming oven. Sometimes we would also pick up my other personal favourite, like Curry Beef Buns.
When we got home, I would make sure to quickly grab my curry beef puff before my brother and sister could eat it! I devoured it quickly and I still remember how delicious they were.
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Store-bought Puff Pastry: thawed in the fridge overnight. If you want to make your own puff pastry you can as there are many recipes online, but I wanted to keep this recipe easy, accessible and simple. If you could only source puff pastry dough, this can work too but follow my instructions below carefully.
- All-purpose flour (optional): for dusting our working surface if you're working with puff pastry dough.
- Large Egg: for our egg wash
Curry Beef Filling
- Ground beef: or substitute with ground pork, ground chicken or even ground turkey.
- Onion
- Curry powder: You can use Asian or Indian curry powder.
- Turmeric: to give the curry beef filling a natural yellow color!
- Salt
- Bay Leaves: this lightens the heavy beef taste.
- White granulated sugar: to balance out the saltiness of the beef.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil or any heavy scented oils.
Expert Tips
- Use fresh quality minced ground beef. This really goes without saying. But it can make a huge difference when it comes to flavour.
- When frying your curry beef filling, start with the onions, spices and bay leaves first before adding the beef. This brings out the flavour of the aromatics and the spices. Spices always taste better when toasted overheat.
- Don’t overcook your beef. Remember we are also baking this curry beef puff pastry in the oven too! Cook until the meat is no longer red and is completely brown.
- Make sure the liquids in the pan have evaporated or it can cause the pastry to become soggy.
- Allow the beef curry puff filling to completely cool down before filling the puff pastry. This is important or the heat will make the puff pastry all mushy and difficult to fold over.
- Try to find the puff pastry sheets versus puff pastry dough. This will make your life much easier, trust me.
- If you’re using puff pastry dough, make sure to flour your surface well in order to roll it out into large sheets.
- Do not overstuff your puff pastry. If you over pack it, the puff pastry will have a hard time closing and sealing.
- Seal and pinch with a fork but do it gently or you can tear holes into the edges!
- Egg wash is the key making these curry beef puffs golden and beautiful!
- If you're making this for guests, I suggest doubling the quantity as these will go fast!
Instructions
- In a large pan on medium heat, add vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, add diced onion, bay leaves, turmeric, curry powder, salt, and sugar. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Next, add minced beef and break it up into smaller pieces. Toss with the other ingredients. Cook until beef is brown and no longer red, about 7-8 minutes and the liquids in the pan have evaporated. Remove off heat, transfer to a large plate to cool down completely.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Line two large baking sheets with two pieces of parchment paper.
- On a clean working surface, spread out the puff pastry sheets.
- Using a sharp knife, slice each sheet into 6 equal squares. You should have 12 squares in total, each at 5 x 5 inches in size. If you could only find puff pastry dough, roll out your dough into large sheets on a well floured surface to about 15-inches long x 10-inches wide if possible to make 6 squares per sheet. If not, make them slightly smaller but reduce the amount of filling per square.
- Spoon 2 tablespoons the filling into the center of each puff pastry square.
- Fold one corner of the puff pastry square over to create a triangle.
- Using a fork, gently press the prongs down along the edges to seal the edges. With the same fork, poke three holes on top of the pies. This will allow for steam to escape.
- In a small bowl, beat an egg. Lightly brush the egg wash over each pie.
- Bake one tray at a time for 20 minutes each, until the pies come out golden. Repeat for the second tray. Enjoy hot!
Storage
- Leftovers will last 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature for the first two days. Then I would suggest storing them in the fridge for the latter two days. Reheat them in the microwave for 30-45 seconds each or until warm throughout.
- Freezer-friendly? Cooked Chinese curry beef puffs can be frozen in freezer-safe bags for up to 3 months or until freezer burn. To reheat, thaw them and reheat in the microwave.
FAQ
Curry beef puffs can be made in advance and you can freeze the uncooked ones for up to 3 months by storing them in a freezer-safe bag wrapping each one individually with plastic wrap to prevent them from sticking to each other. To bake them, let them thaw and bake as instructed.
The main reason for soggy curry beef puffs is because the filling was too moist. Make sure the liquids in the pan after frying the beef is evaporated as any excess liquids will create soggy pastry.
You can prepare these a few hours in advance or a week in advance as instructed. If you're preparing them a few hours in advance, store them in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat them in the oven close to party time. If you're preparing them a week in advance, don't bake them and place them in a single layer in a freezer-safe bag resting on a baking sheet. Then freeze and remove the baking sheet 1 hour later to prevent them from sticking. To cook, thaw them and bake them as instructed closer to party time.
📖 Recipe
Easy & Simple Chinese Curry Beef Puffs
Ingredients
- 1 lb or 2 puff pastry sheets thawed in the fridge the night before
- 1 large egg for egg wash
Curry Beef Filling
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 ½ tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Optional:
- all-purpose flour only if you're working with puff pastry dough that doesn't come in the sheets
Instructions
- In a large pan on medium heat, add vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, add diced onion, bay leaves, turmeric, curry powder, salt, and sugar. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Next, add minced beef and break it up into smaller pieces. Toss with the other ingredients. Cook until beef is brown and no longer red, about 7-8 minutes. Remove off heat, transfer to a large plate to cool down completely.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Line two large baking sheets with two pieces of parchment paper.
- On a clean working surface, spread out the puff pastry sheets.
- Using a sharp knife, slice each sheet into 6 equal squares. You should have 12 squares in total, each at 5 x 5 inches in size. (If you could only find puff pastry dough, roll out your dough into large sheets on a well floured surface to about 15-inches long x 10-inches wide if possible to make 6 squares per sheet. If not, make them slightly smaller but reduce the amount of filling per square).
- Spoon 2 tablespoons the filling into the center of each puff pastry square.
- Fold one corner of the puff pastry square over to create a triangle.
- Using a fork, gently press the prongs down along the edges to seal the edges. With the same fork, poke three holes on top of the pies. This will allow for steam to escape.
- In a small bowl, beat an egg. Lightly brush the egg wash over each pie.
- Bake one tray at a time for 20 minutes each, until the pies come out golden. Repeat for the second tray. Enjoy hot!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
I love the combination of the crunch of the puff pastry and the savory beef filling. This would make the perfect appetizer for parties or holiday get togethers!