A good steak & kidney pie

A good steak & kidney pie

An old favourite - a traditional steak and kidney pie, comfort food at its best.

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Takes around 2¼ hours, plus chilling

Method

  1. It's important to cook the meat a day ahead, so that you can discard any fat that has risen to the top, and so that the pastry doesn't slump in the face of a too-warm filling, so up to 48 hours ahead -make the pastry. Whizz the flour and a pinch of fine sea salt together for a few seconds in a food processor, then add the butter and whizz until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk together the egg yolk and 3 tbsp water and whizz with the pastry until it collects in a ball. Wrap in cling film and leave it to rest in the fridge for at least one hour.
  2. Cut button-mushroom-sized lobes of kidney from the white central core (discarding). Cut the beef into bite-sized cubes and cut the mushrooms into chunks.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large, heavy frying pan over a medium-high heat. Throw in the kidney and fry until lightly coloured. Tip into a colander to drain.
  4. Wipe out the frying pan and return it to a low-medium heat, adding 25g/1oz of the butter and 1 tbsp oil. Tip in the onion and fry for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly golden. Transfer to a large casserole, using a slotted spoon.
  5. Preheat the oven to 160C/gas 3/fan 140C. Tip the 85g/3oz flour into a large plastic bag, and season it generously. Throw in the beef and shake until lightly floured.Return the frying pan to a mediumhigh heat, adding a little more oil and butter if needed. Shake off any excess flour (reserving it) then fry the beef in batches until golden-brown. As each batch is done, transfer it to the casserole.
  6. Adding more oil and butter to the frying pan if necessary, fry the mushrooms for about 2 minutes until starting to wilt, then add them to the casserole with the drained kidneys, hot water, bouillon powder and bay leaf, plus the excess flour in the bag if you like a thick gravy. Stir well, cover and cook in the oven for 75-90 minutes until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick. Cool thoroughly, then put in the fridge (preferably overnight) so any fat will solidify - it can then be skimmed off and discarded.
  7. In the morning - return the pastry to cool room temperature, then roll it out thinly on a wellfloured surface. Invert a 28-30x23cm, 6.5cm deep pie dish on to the pastry. Mentally add an extra 1cm all round, then use the dish as a guide to cut out the pastry lid. From the remnants, cut out enough 6cm-wide strips of pastry to go round the dish - they should cover the flat rim and about halfway down the insides.
  8. Lightly butter the rim of the dish and line it with the strip(s) of pastry, sealing any joins with a little dab of water. Butter the shoulders of a pie raiser or an upturned egg cup and stand it in the middle. Spoon in the meat mixture to come level with the top of the dish. Don't overfill: reserve any excess gravy to serve hot with the pie.
  9. Brush the pastry rim with a little water, then drape the pastry lid over it, pinching the edges to seal. Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge if not baking immediately.
  10. Finally, an hour before serving - preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Make four slashes in the lid of the pie, then brush with the egg wash. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown, turning the heat down 10-20º after about 20 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and leave it to rest for around 10 minutes before cutting into it.

831 kcalories, protein 54g, carbohydrate 44g, fat 50 g, saturated fat 26g, fibre 3g, salt 1 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-38

  • Binder photo julie

    15 April 2010

    julie commented on this recipe

    made this pie ages ago and it was so easy to do and tasted great,as i used the magazine which is dated october 2002 i also did the side dishes that went with it and they tasted great too.

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  • Binder photo MelanieG

    04 May 2010

    MelanieG commented on this recipe

    I would like to follow this recipe as I love S&K pie, but the method reads like a rather confusing version of war and peace!! Anyway, have taken the tips of the users who made it with ready made pastry and I wont bother with kidneys. But it looks and sounds so delicious. Will report back when i've finished.

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  • Binder photo karen grant

    15 May 2010

    karen grant rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    This is a good recipe. It�s a little time consuming but tasty. www.EntertainingRecipes.org

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  • Binder photo adammatthews

    27 May 2010

    adammatthews rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Paul

    30 May 2011

    Paul commented on this recipe

    Why would you want to make a steak and kidney pie with vegetable stock? Use a beef stock cube dissolved in guinness and add a teaspoon of bovril for a decent colour.

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  • Binder photo The Pearsons

    09 September 2011

    The Pearsons commented on this recipe

    Thumbs up for this recipe I changed the pastry to suet and my son asked for seconds.

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  • Binder photo Ikarus

    18 September 2011

    Ikarus commented on this recipe

    Why, oh why, do people who do not like kidneys, and therefore leave them out, even bother to tell us about it. This is a recipe for steak and kidney pie! It's very good and non-kidney lovers should comment elsewhere!!

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  • Binder photo spookie

    04 October 2011

    spookie commented on this recipe

    loved this! added tom puree and worcester sauce as well. and i cheated with shop bought pastry. Nobody noticed the difference or are we just a family of phillistines? will cook again without the kidney just for a change.

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  • Binder photo Billie

    22 October 2011

    Billie commented on this recipe

    Made this for the family yesterday and it was a huge success. If you can do use the ox kidney which isnt always easy to get, but is much nicer than the lamb or pigs kidney. I didnt have the Swiss marigold but used beef stock instead, and used a diabetic recipe from my mums cookbook to do the pastry. The filling was fantastic, boodles of taste, and a great reminder of how tasty some of our traditional recipes are. Will definitely be making this again, well worth the effort :-)

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  • Binder photo Billie

    22 October 2011

    Billie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    sorry forgot to rate :-)

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  • Binder photo gbchef

    28 November 2011

    gbchef rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    Great recipe, but agree with other comments that it was difficult to follow and badly written. Once I'd read it over for the tenth time it made sense. I didn't do the meat overnight or leave the pastry over night - and it was still good.

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  • Binder photo RikRecipes

    11 May 2012

    RikRecipes rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    delicious recipe. i agree about the pastry comment though (as there's better pastry recipes out there) and would perhaps use ready-made puff pastry next time

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  • Binder photo Lorna

    11 August 2012

    Lorna rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Boyfriend got to make this for himself as I don't eat offal, but it smelt lovely. He only used 500g steak and got 3 good sized portions from it! Pie smelt very rich and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Great idea to cook filling the day before-amazing how much fat you can discard.

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  • Binder photo ValleyBaker46

    03 September 2012

    ValleyBaker46 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this last night and it was lovely! Used ready made pastry instead and left out the kidney and everybody loved it! Served with my famous mash ;P

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  • Binder photo Jodie Rees

    12 September 2012

    Jodie Rees rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    The pastry was really lovely. I had to use veal kidney as you cannot get ox in Abu Dhabi. Well worth the time it took - I was very pleased with myself when I presented the pie to my table of guests.

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  • Binder photo Chef Basil

    16 October 2012

    Chef Basil commented on this recipe

    Hey! We have just launched our new start-up, Cook with Basil, providing a fresh alternative to traditional cookery courses. We would really appreciate it if you could take the time to take a look and let us know what your thoughts are! The site is: www.cookwithbasil.co.uk Matt

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  • Binder photo Zoe

    21 February 2013

    Zoe commented on this recipe

    I made this pie for the first time and it was absolutely beautuful! My husband is rather a fussy eater so I kept to the exact recipe and timings. Using high quality ingredients is key, and the ox kidney renders a lovely flavour, without disintegrating into a mush with the lengthy cooking. However, I did cheat a little by using bought shortcrust pastry!

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  • Binder photo Helers

    16 April 2013

    Helers rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is delicious but I make a few alterations. Add 1 bottle of Guinness and top up with marigold stock, also add some carrot and thyme. I can't get Ox Kidney so use lambs but add it later, about 30 mins before the end of cooking. As I live on my own I make individual pies and use ready rolled butter puff pasty (Sainsbury's). However the smell when cooking is lovely and I can't wait for the pot to cool. I transfer one helping into an individual dish and top it with some herby dumplings and put it back in the oven for about 30 mins. Serve this with potatoes and green beans - delicious. With the rest of the casserole I follow the recipe as directed the following day with the pastry top. I give my individual pies to friends and they all love them.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Takes around 2¼ hours, plus chilling

Homemade and handsome

Ingredients

FOR THE PASTRY

  • 250g plain flour , plus extra for rolling
  • 140g cold unsalted butter , roughly cubed
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 small egg whisked with 1 tbsp milk, for the egg wash

FOR THE FILLING

  • 1 ox kidney , about 400g/14oz, get it fresh from your butcher. Pig's and lamb's kidneys aren't suitable as they only need short cooking
  • 1kg trimmed British top rump beef
  • 250g flat mushrooms , unpeeled but wiped with a damp cloth
  • 3 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 1 large onion , peeled and thickly chopped
  • 50-85g plain flour , depending on how thick you like your gravy
  • 600ml off-the-boil water
  • 1 tbsp Marigold Swiss vegetable bouillon powder
  • 1 large bay leaf
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831 kcalories, protein 54g, carbohydrate 44g, fat 50 g, saturated fat 26g, fibre 3g, salt 1 g

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