This Irish lamb pie is a great way to turn roast dinner leftovers into a hearty meal. In this recipe nothing goes to waste. Roast drippings are used to make shortcrust pastry from scratch and leftover meat, gravy and potatoes become the filling.
This large pie makes the perfect family meal and is inspired by the traditional Irish dingle pies which originate from the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland.
I'm a big fan of hearty Irish food like this recipe, along with shepherds pie and Irish stew. It makes for the ultimate comfort food on a frosty winter's day.
This savory meat pie recipe uses up left over roast lamb drippings, gravy, meat and vegetables and features a homemade shortcrust pastry pie crust.
It's a great way to use every part of your roast dinner to the fullest, and follows my favourite 'cook once, eat twice' philosophy.
Lamb is a rich source of high-quality protein, iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.
I love cooking with lamb because it's typically grass fed, readily available and reliably tender. I find roasts to be the easiest and most economical cut of lamb to buy and I can usually stretch one roast across two meals.
I also love using leftover roast lamb on homemade sourdough pizza. Download my FREE Beginners Guide to Sourdough for my quick and easy sourdough pizza crust recipe.
Irish lamb pie Ingredients
The key ingredients in this pie are are roast lamb and potatoes, gravy and herbs.
To learn how to make the best gravy from scratch, check out my gravy recipe.
Pie filling
- 280 g roast lamb, shredded or diced into small pieces
- 230 g roast potato or combination of other left over vegetables, diced into small pieces
- 250 ml thick gravy
- 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano)
- ground black pepper
Pastry
- 100 g cold lamb dripping (from roast), butter, or combination of each
- 190 g wholemeal all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, cold, lightly beaten
Egg wash
- 1 egg
- dash of milk
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Large mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Beeswax wrap or cling film
- Pie dish
- Fork
- Butter knife
- Pastry brush
How to make Irish lamb pie
First make the pasty. Add the flour and salt to a large mixing bowl and still well. Next add the cold dripping/butter to a bowl and rub with your finger tips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Next add the egg and water and mix with a wooden spoon until the pasty comes together to form a ball. If the pastry isn't coming together, add another tablespoon of cold water.
Cover the pastry tightly with wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the roast lamb, vegetables, gravy, herbs and pepper and stir well.
Preheat the oven to 200C/390F.
Grease the pie dish with butter or a little oil.
Once chilled, divide the pastry dough roughly into ⅔ and ⅓ portions. Take the ⅔ portion and roll to a thickness of 4mm on a lightly floured surface. Carefully transfer the rolled pastry over the base of the pie dish and press into place. Pierce the base of the pastry a few times with a fork.
Trim the pastry.
Bake the unfilled pie pasty for 10 minutes.
Add the pie filling.
Take the ⅓ portion of dough and roll to a thickness of 4mm on a lightly floured surface. Carefully transfer the pastry over the top of the filling.
Trim the pastry using a butter knife and pinch the edges of the pastry with a fork to seal.
Don't worry if your pie doesn't look perfect, the more rustic the better in my opinion!
Make a small venting hole in the middle of the top of the pie.
Whisk the egg and milk to make the egg wash.
Using a pastry brush, spread the egg wash over the top of the pie.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200C/390F for 25 mins or until golden brown.
Top tip
Next time you make roast lamb for dinner collect the lamb drippings and keep the leftovers to make this delicious Irish lamb pie.
Substitutions and variations
- Ground/minced lamb or beef can be used in place of roast lamb
- Any combination of vegetables can be used in place of potato
- Ready made puff pastry can be used to create a pot pie if you're short on time. Simply fill a pie dish with the filling, top with pastry, trim and bake.
- Top the pie with creamy mashed potatoes and a sprinkle of shredded cheese for a traditional Shepherd's pie.
Storing Irish lamb pie
Store leftover pie in and airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven for best results.
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Recipe
Irish Lamb Pie
Ingredients
- 280 grams roast lamb shredded or diced into small pieces
- 230 grams roast potato or combination of other left over vegetables diced into small pieces
- 250 ml thick gravy
- 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano)
- black pepper ground, to taste
- 100 grams lamb dripping (from roast), butter, or combination of each cold
- 190 grams wholemeal all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon water cold
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg cold, lightly beaten
- 1 egg
- milk
Instructions
- First make the pasty. Add the flour and salt to a large mixing bowl and still well. Next add the cold dripping/butter to a bowl and rub with your finger tips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Next add the egg and water and mix with a wooden spoon until the pasty comes together to form a ball. If the pastry isn't coming together, add another tablespoon of cold water.
- Cover the pastry tightly with wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the roast lamb, vegetables, gravy, herbs and pepper and stir well.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/390F.
- Grease the pie dish with butter or a little oil.
- Once chilled, divide the pastry dough roughly into ⅔ and ⅓ portions. Take the ⅔ portion and roll to a thickness of 4mm on a lightly floured surface. Carefully transfer the rolled pastry over the base of the pie dish and press into place. Pierce the base of the pastry a few times with a fork.
- Trim the pastry.
- Bake the unfilled pie pasty for 10 minutes.
- Add the pie filling.
- Take the ⅓ portion of dough and roll to a thickness of 4mm on a lightly floured surface. Carefully transfer the pastry over the top of the filling.
- Trim the pastry using a butter knife and pinch the edges of the pastry with a fork to seal. Don't worry if your pie doesn't look perfect, the more rustic the better in my opinion!
- Make a small venting hole in the middle of the top of the pie.
- Whisk the egg and milk to make the egg wash.
- Using a pastry brush, spread the egg wash over the top of the pie.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200C/390F for 25 mins or until golden brown.
FAQ
Blind baking requires you to briefly bake the pie pastry base before adding the filling. Once you have lined the pie dish with the pastry, trim it to size, then bake according to the recipe, or in a hot oven (200C/390F) for approximately 10 minutes. Depending on the recipe you may need to add pie weights, rice or beans on top of the pastry to keep the pastry from rising.
The key to a crispy crust on the bottom of a pie is to briefly bake the pastry base in a hot oven (200C/390F) before adding the filling.
Bake according to the recipe, or in a hot oven (200C/390F) for approximately 10 minutes.
In a hot oven 200C/390F.
Yes, blind baking shortcrust pastry is the key to achieving a crispy shortcrust pastry crust on the bottom of a pie.
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