This Saturday, August 6 is Jamaican Beef Patty Day. Ordinarily I’d be telling you to find a good Jamaican spot in your area to try the legit article. But if for some reason you don’t have one, you can actually grab a box at Trader Joe’s. For real. Trader Joe’s Jamaican (Style) Beef Patties come two to a box. So if you don’t want to split them, maybe grab two boxes.
The checker at my TJ’s advised air frying them and said he turned it to 400F to speed things along. I opted to follow the directions and air fried them at 350F for 15 minutes. And I have to admit, I didn’t believe they’d be as flaky as that box image promised. But I’ll be damned. I cut mine in half instead of just breaking it to show off the flakyness, but the pastry was flaky, not greasy at all, so we were off to a good start.
At 22 grams of fat and 440 calories per patty, we’re not talking health food here. I can’t tell you if it’s authentic, but among beef hand pies I’ve eaten, it was legit tasty. Just a little heat to kick things up. A flavorful filling. A little turmeric in the dough to give it a little color. What’s not to like?
Jamaican Beef Patties are right up there on the list of delicious hand pies from cultures around the world. If I was being nitpicky, I’d say I’d like the ground beef to be a tiny bit chunkier, but really, that’s just looking for something to point out.
You can kinda see what I mean in this cross section pic. Don’t get me wrong, it was fine, and it WASN”T pasty like the meat in those TJ’s Mini Tacos. Ugh.
Could I have eaten both of them? Oh hell, yes. Will I buy Trader Joe’s Jamaican Beef Patties again? Also yes. I might also track down a recipe and see how they come out from scratch. Anybody got one they love?
Check out these other We Tried’s from Trader Joe’s: