Indonesian Pasteitjes Recipe, Fried Meat Pastries
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Pasteitjes are crisp fried pastries filled with a savory meat and vegetable filling, common in Indo-Dutch (Indisch) home cooking. They’re made with a simple dough, shaped by hand, and fried until golden. This is a family recipe that’s easy to prepare ahead and can be enjoyed as a snack, appetizer, or light meal.
If you’re familiar with empanadas, English pasties, or Puerto Rican pasteles, pasteitjes are similar in shape and use, but feature Indonesian-inspired flavors adapted in Indo-Dutch kitchens. You can truly wake me up for these any day (or night).
Pasteitjes are great with sambal or a simple sweet chili sauce. Serve them warm for the best texture, but they’re also delicious room temperature, which makes them perfect to make ahead and bring to parties or serve as lunch.
If you enjoy pasteitjes, you might also like pastei tutup, a baked Indo-Dutch dish made with a similar filling and topped with mashed potatoes.
How to Make Indonesian Pasteitjes
The dough is kneaded, rested, and rolled thin before being filled and shaped into half moons. The filling is cooked separately, cooled, and then used to fill the pastry rounds. The pasteitjes are sealed, shaped by hand, and fried until golden.
You can adjust the filling by adding more or less sambal, using only beef, or adding extra vegetables if you like.
Continue below for the full recipe with ingredients and step-by-step instructions.
If some of these ingredients are new to you, I explain ketjap manis, laos, djinten, and more in my Indonesian ingredients guide.
Quick Tips
- Let the filling cool fully before shaping the pastries
- Don’t overfill, or the dough may open during frying
- Keep unused dough covered so it doesn’t dry out
About This Recipe
There are many versions of pasteitjes, and every family makes them a little differently depending on what’s on hand. This is our family recipe. Some versions include glass noodles or hard-boiled eggs as part of the filling, but we don’t use those in our pastries.
Pasteitjes are ideal to make ahead. The filling can be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated until you’re ready to shape the pastries. You can also assemble the pasteitjes ahead of time and store them covered in the refrigerator, or freeze them for longer storage. Fry them just before serving, or reheat briefly in the oven, and they’ll still have a crisp crust and full flavor.
Pasteitjes (Indonesian meat-filled pastries)
Crisp fried pastries with a spiced meat filling, easy to prep ahead and freeze. An Indo-Dutch family recipe that works for snacks, parties, or lunch.
This recipe takes some time. Plan accordingly, trust me the result is worth it!
Ingredients
Dough
- 8 cups all-purpose flour (1 kg)
- 1¾ sticks butter or margarine (200 g)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1¼ cups lukewarm water (300 ml)
Filling
- ½ cup neutral oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 leek, thinly sliced, some green included
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 lb ground meat, half beef and half pork (500 g)
- 3 tbsp sweet soy sauce (ketjap manis)
- 1 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar (15 g gula djawa)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp ground coriander (ketoembar)
- 1 tsp cumin (djinten)
- 1 tsp galangal powder (laos)
- 1 tsp chili paste, optional (sambal oelek)
- ¾ cup carrots, finely diced or grated, pre-cooked (100 g)
- ½ cup peas, fresh or frozen (70 g)
- 1 cup finely chopped celery leaves and tender stems (about 10–15 g)
- 1 egg mixed with a little water, for egg wash
- 2–3 tbsp all-purpose flour, optional, for binding
Instructions
- Add butter or margarine, egg, salt, and sugar to a large bowl. Knead until the fat breaks down into smaller pieces.
- Add the flour and knead into a firm dough. Gradually add the water while kneading until the dough feels smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky.
- Form into a ball, cover with a cloth or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- While the dough is resting in the refrigerator make the filling.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic until soft.
- Add the ground meat and cook until crumbly.
- Add the carrots and cook briefly, then stir in sweet soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, nutmeg, coriander, cumin, galangal, and chili paste.
- Add leek and celery leaves. Stir well and cook gently for about 15
minutes. If the mixture is very wet, add a little flour to bind. Drain the filling in a sieve and let it cool completely. - Roll the dough out thin, about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, and cut circles about 5 inches (12.5 cm) in diameter. Keep the dough covered while you work to prevent it from drying out. Avoid rolling it too thin, or the pasteitjes may crack during frying; too thick, and they won’t cook evenly.
- Place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center. Brush the edges with egg wash, fold into a half moon, and seal.
- Seal the edges by pressing with a fork, or for a more traditional look, create a hand-rolled spiral edge. Gently pull a small section of the dough outward, fold it inward along the rim, and continue this around the edge until the pasteitje is fully sealed.
- Heat sunflower oil to 350°F (175–180°C). Fry the pasteitjes until golden, then drain on paper towels. Serve warm for the best texture, or enjoy at room temperature.
Notes
Store cooked pasteitjes in the fridge for up to 3 days. Freeze cooked or uncooked pasteitjes for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven at 350°F for about 10 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 373Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 362mgCarbohydrates: 57gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 13g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated. These figures should be considered estimates.
Pastel Goreng is one of the recipes featured in my Indonesian snacks and fritters collection.
