I love hand-held savory pies. And I especially crave them when stuffed with spicy crawfish filling and baked golden brown to crispy perfection in a puff pastry crust. These Crawfish Hand Pies are what I call “perfect pies” with a spike of heat, full of flavor, and the elegance of buttery, flaky pastry.
Crispy pastry surrounds a spicy crawfish filling in these classic Crawfish Hand Pies. (All photos credit: George Graham)
Hand pies are loved worldwide. Whether it’s an English pasty, an Italian calzone, a Latin American empanada, an Asian samosa, or just a plain American turnover, hand pies are a popular dish. Size, filling, and dough come in many variations, but each has cultural significance and a beloved culinary heritage.
Down South in Cajun country, we know a thing or two about hand pies. The sugary kind–sweet dough pies—are a cultural tradition with recipes handed down through generations. And the savory kind—the Natchitoches meat pie—has become world famous. But in between those two extreme examples are endless variations that pop up in Cajun and Creole home kitchens; every family has their favorite. And my family favorite are Crawfish Hand Pies.
Louisiana crawfish tail meat is packaged and frozen for convenience and year-round availability.
Most of the savory hand pies I’ve sampled are made with traditional piecrust and features an outer shell surrounding a filling of some sort. Sausage, ground meat (beef, pork, or chicken), and even boudin have been stuffed inside a hand pie. But with my recipe for Crawfish Hand Pies, I intend to outshine them all with a buttery crawfish filling based on a thickened étouffée recipe.
Find a circular plastic lid or a saucer to use as a guide to cut out the pastry for your Crawfish Hand Pies.
And to keep things simple, I’m using store-bought pastry—puff pastry to be exact. You see, most hand pies are deep-fat fried piecrust dough that has structure and is sturdy enough to be sold commercially. My Crawfish Hand Pies recipe using puff pastry is much more delicate and forgoes the fryer for an ultra-crispy golden brown finish in the oven.
Fill, brush, and seal for a perfect package.
Whether you serve these pastries by the basketful or as an elegant entrée alongside a green salad, give these Crawfish Hand Pies a try and see how easy and elegant this dish can be.
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- ½ cup diced green onion tops
- 2 tablespoons diced green bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons diced celery
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup seafood stock
- 1 pound Louisiana crawfish tail meat
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Acadiana Table Cajun Seasoning Blend, see recipe here
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Dash of hot sauce
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 package (2 sheets) Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheets, thawed to room temperature
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Kosher salt
- In a large cast-iron pot or skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the yellow onions, green onions, bell pepper, and celery, and sauté until the yellow onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, lower the heat to simmer, and stir to combine. Sprinkle ½ cup of the flour over the mixture, stir to incorporate, and cook the flour until it turns light brown, about 10 minutes. Add the stock, and stir until you reach a stew-like thickness.
- Add the crawfish tail meat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the paprika, Cajun seasoning, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. At this point, you want to thicken the mixture until it achieves the texture of a filling or stuffing by gradually stirring in the remaining flour. Bring the mixture back to a simmer and turn off the heat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- On a large countertop surface (granite or marble works well), sprinkle lightly with bench flour. Unwrap and lay out one of the puff pastry sheets. Unfold and sprinkle with more of the flour. Using a rolling pin, roll until it spreads out and expands to a thickness of ¼ inch. Using a 5-inch-diameter circle as a guide, cut around the dough with a sharp knife. You should get 4 of these circles out of one sheet of dough. Do the same with the second dough sheet.
- Using a one-tablespoon measuring cup, add about 2 tablespoons of the crawfish filling to the center of a circle. Brush along the edge of the inside of the dough and fold over the dough to form a half-moon shape. Using the tines of a fork (or a pastry wheel), crimp the edges tightly to seal in the filling. Place the hand pie on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Repeat with all the pies.
- At this point, you can refrigerate the pies until ready to bake. Just before baking, brush the top of the dough with egg wash and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake in the oven until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Serve in a basket as an appetizer or two of the hand pies as an entrée along with a side salad.
These Crawfish Hand Pies are perfect pies!
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I have really enjoyed your recipes and more importantly the stories behind them. I have been to LA many times and I am a firm believer that the best food in the country comes from that region.
My question about this crawfish hand pie recipe is concerning the flour. While I have not made the recipe “yet”, it seems that this method may not remove all the flour taste? Would it be better to first make the roux from the flour and butter so you could cook the flour taste out, then add the vegetables and other ingredients?
Patrick – Good question. Feel free to go with your instincts on the flour, but I found that the brief time spent simmering was enough that I could not detect a flour taste in the filling. Also, you could make a cornstarch/water slurry to thicken the filling. All the best.
Have you ever tried freezing these and how far in advance do you think they could be made? Haven’t worked much with phyllo dough so thanks for any tips!
Hey Traci – This is not phyllo dough, but rather puff pastry which is very different. While I have not frozen these pies before baking, I would think they would be perfectly fine. Give it a try and let us know.
Hi Traci – We are thinking of freezing these as well. Have you tried freezing? If so, how did that work out?
I’ve been making a similar recipe with the puff pastry for years and always make more than I intend to serve so that I can freeze some to bake later (I make them for Thanksgiving or Christmas and bake the frozen ones to bring to holiday parties as needed).
These are awesome! I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to fold them with both tablespoons, so I just did a little over one. Wish I had used more, but now I know I can, the way they bake. I can’t wait to make them again.
Thank you for sharing!!
Bob- Thanks for the report on your success with these hand pies. And I agree that two tablespoons is the perfect amount of filling for these packages. All the best.
Just made this, but did I overlook the directions as to when to put the onion tops? Can’t wait to give them a try.
Hey Jim – With your keen eye for detail, I have clarified that when I say “add the onions”, I mean both yellow and green. All the best.
I made these Christmas Eve! Omg! Wonderful!
Hey Ali – Thanks for letting us know your success with this dish. It is a very simple recipe, and perfect for any celebration. All the best for a Happy New Year!
I make a similar hand pie adding both shrimp and crawfish tails to the mixture. I also use celery in the trinity. This is my wife’s all time favorite dish that I make.
Looking forward to making this recipe. I’m a Floridian transplant in Louisiana. Have been here since 1964. I love Louisiana food. I had been eating shrimp all my life with just salt for seasoning. Wow, what a change for the better!
Hey Elaine – You are correct in your assessment that Louisiana food is a taste explosion. Best wishes and spicy dishes to you!
Can you deep fry instead of baking in an oven? I am competing in a cook-off and would like to do a rendition of this.
Hey Eddie-
I’ve never fried puff pastry, but after a little research, the answer is “yes.” Here’s the deal: Fry in a flavorless oil (canola would be my choice) and at a high temperature (375ºF is ideal) to prevent a greasy pie. Also, it will be crucial to seal the pies by crimping to prevent the filling from spilling out into the oil. I urge you to experiment with this process prior to the competition and determine the quality outcome. Best of luck.
Love these pies!! I would find many kind of hand pies across the states. In new York, I would find Jamaican pie. Although it is not Cajuns but delicious. I wonder if I could make it a bite size instead of hand size for the party….. Gonna try that.
Made them for dinner tonight. I BIG hit! Looking forward to making them again soon. They even looked perfect. Thank you for this recipe.
Charlotte-
Thanks for the generous comment. So glad you pointed out how “perfect” they look when following the simple method. This is one dish that will make anyone look like a superstar in the kitchen. All the best.
I made these about a month ago , everyone loved them ! I’ve been craving them ever since ! Making them again today for the Super bowl …..I can’t wait to eat em !
Thank you so much for this delicious, super easy recipe.
I’m anxious to try this recipe. Could you tell me what I can substitute for the seafood stock. I am allergic to shrimp. Thank you!
Hey Nora – Ideally a seafood-based stock (fish or crawfish) is ideal, but a chicken stock will work as well. All the best.
Thanks, George! I found Clam juice & used that successfully. I also decided to try cooking them in my Air fryer (350 for 10 mins.) They we’re perfect and sooo delicious. Thanks for sharing.
I also found Better Than Boullion lobster base works great, as well. Also, seafood stock is not readily available in a lot of grocery stores; you can buy it on Amazon in a quart container.
Hello George, I am excited to try this recipe. I am planning to take this as my contribution to Thanksgiving dinner at my sister’s house. Do you have a recommendation for how to keep them warm while I am transporting them so I do not ruin the flaky crust? Thank you for sharing!
Kendra- These pies transport easily if you take precautions that the crust doesn’t get beat up during transit. They are good to eat at room temperature, but even better if you are able to reheat them in an oven just before serving. All the best.
These are always our Christmas Eve meal. Tomorrow we’ll make them again. Everyone in the family is looking ahead to it. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Luxembourg, Europe.
Did anyone try to freeze them yet? I would love to make a bunch and freeze them. So, whenever I want one, I can just grab one and heat it up.
Looks yummy. One tip I picked up from Kevin Belton (NOLA Chef) is to use flour baked to a caramel color which I keep in the freezer. Cuts down on the time to cook flour in a traditional roux.
I’m going to make these soon. I’ll try this dough.
I have made Natchitoches meat pies. They freeze very well. Defrost about 30 minutes. Then bake at 350* for about 15 minutes.
I cook for the crew on a towboat which includes a few from south Louisiana.
This recipe caught my eye. I tried it. I used chicken stock since I didn’t have seafood stock, increased the vegetables a bit. Then cooled the mixture. Instead of using dough I used an entire pack of egg roll wrappers and fried them. We all loved them. This filling was awesome!!! Thanks!
Hey Elizabeth- Good idea on the egg roll wrappers. All the best.
Hi, I’m nowhere near Louisiana but one of our local rivers has crawfish so I’ll be making this
Hi! I made these one time, and the taste is so good, but the crawfish wilted down to hardly nothing. How do you keep the crawfish plump when baking these? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!
Hey Reda- Crawfish meat sold in 1-pound vacuum-packed packages is almost always small tails. I recommend you boil or buy whole crawfish and peel the tail meat from “select” size crawfish. All the best.
Trying this today .However my store was out of the pastry puff things. Will pillsbury pie crust work too?
Lacey- Yes…I have used the rolled piecrust with good results. All the best.
Made this exactly as recipe said. They were yummy. The inside stuffing made so much I could make 6 more. I only put 2 Tbs filling in each pie. Did I do something wrong or just lucky to have so many?
Hey Deanne- Next time, try adding a little more stuffing to each. And the leftover stuffing will freeze for your next batch. All the best.
I’ve made these three times and they were delicious. Lived in Louisiana for 22 years and have now lived in SW Florida for seven years. We miss crawfish greatly. We were in Louisiana in March and again in June, and were able to pick up a few packages of crawfish tails. I tried a batch with empanada dough disks, and they were not as good. The puff pastry makes a much better pie.
I tried making the round pies the first time, and I didn’t like wasting the leftover dough (made sweet pastry with the scraps). The second time, I made rectangles folded over and crimped on the sides. I got six per sheet of puff pastry.
Looking for more recipes. Thanks so much.
Hey Deborah- Yes, puff pastry is the way to go with this recipe. Try the recipe with shrimp or ground meat for different flavors. Your family will love it. All the best.
If you use crab meat (1 lb) instead of shrimp, would you keep the recipe the same?
Hey Adele- This recipe calls for crawfish tail meat, but feel free to substitute shrimp or crabmeat. No adjustments to the recipe are needed. Happy Cooking!
Made my own shell stuffed with crawfish and shrimp and all for your ingredients. My husband can’t stop eating them.
Hey Brenda – Great to hear, and I applaud your pastry skills. With the warm weather, it looks like crawfish are coming early this year. Your husband should be very happy. All the best and have a happy holiday season.