Samosas are irresistible stuffed pastry triangles with various fillings like ground beef, chicken, cheese or potatoes. They’re commonly made during special events including Ramadan and Eid. If you’re looking for the perfect beef samosa recipe for your iftar table, this is the one!
Whether you call them samosa, sambousa, sambousek, or something else, there’s no denying how addictive these beef stuffed triangles are. Wrapped in a thin pastry and deep fried until golden, samosas are a staple across Eastern nations, and are made in a variety of ways. Here I’m showing you how I make ground beef samosas that are delicious, and always a hit.
Tips for the Best Beef Samosas
Cooking Beef, Best Practices
- choose a lean or extra lean ground beef, fatty beef will not fry well. Speaking from experience: too much fat can result in samosas that have an almost black filling after frying.
- rinse the ground beef, and squeeze all the liquid out using a very fine mesh strainer. I know a lot of people don’t wash their meat, but this will ensure a cleaner flavour and scent.
- do not add oil to your skillet. The ground beef will release its own fat and juices.
- use a wooden spoon to break the beef up, much easier than using a silicone spatula
- cook on medium heat until the beef is cooked through, do not over brown or crisp it up.
- once the beef is cooked through, turn the heat up to high or medium high, and stir continuously until all the liquid has dried up.
- if there is too much fat in the pan, push the beef to one side, tilt the pan and spoon out or use a paper towel (and tongs to handle it) to remove any excess oil.
- to make life easier, I run the ground beef through a food processor quickly for a nice fine texture.
- let the beef cool *completely* before adding the raw aromatics
Aromatics
- I usually use red/purple onions for samosas, if you don’t have any feel free to use white instead
- fresh cilantro and mint add a lovely herbaceous flavour to the samosas, more is more here.
- chop both nice and fine, along with the green chilis. we want each bite to have uniform flavour.
- as much as I wish we could use a machine to chop the onions for us here, do NOT do it. you’ll end up with samosas that ultimately have too much liquid in them and don’t fry well. If you do decide to use a processor, don’t say I didn’t warn you 🙂
Other Ingredients
- Ginger garlic paste – for the best tasting samosas, use freshly ground ginger garlic paste. Store bought doesn’t compare. It’s as easy as buying peeled garlic, peeling some ginger and adding some green chilies to a food processor. use the ratio of roughly 1lb garlic to 1/2lb ginger and a few Indian green chilis (we don’t want this too spicy).
- garam masala – make this at home, or make sure yours is fresh and fragrant
- citric acid – this adds a nice tang to the mix. It can be omitted, but it provides a freshness that elevates the flavours of the filling.
Choosing the Right Pastry for the Best Beef Samosas
This is a tough one. I’ve tried several brands, and always come back to Spring Home. The largest size spring roll pastry is perfect to cut into thirds and fold into an ideal sized samosa – in my opinion. One day I’ll have to share a homemade pastry recipe, but for now we stick with store bought.
Samosa Frying Best Practices
Frying is an important step, and technique can make or break (literally) your samosas. Here are a few tips:
- Use clean oil: always start with fresh oil that won’t change the colour or flavour of your samosas.
- Turn heat up to medium high. Drop a piece of samosa pastry in, if it floats to the top immediately, or within a few seconds, it’s ready.
- turn the heat down to a low medium, and add in your samosas.
- do not overcrowd the pot. I like to add just enough to make a neat circle of samosas. Crowding can result in softer samosas, the goal is long lasting crispness.
- don’t rush the process of frying, fry until both sides are a light golden brown, they’ll darken a bit as they cool
Best Beef Samosas
These East African style sambousa (samosa) will quickly become a family favourite! Be sure to read all the tips in the blog post above before making them, and check out my reels on how to make the filling and fold the samosas! @threecupsofchai on instagram
Equipment
- food processor this is helpful, but optional. I often grind the beef to my desired texture to make it easier vs doing this by hand in the skillet. Not mandatory.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs extra lean ground beef
- 3 Tbsp garam masala
- 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper more or less, to taste
- 2 tsp salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice use fresh not bottled
- 1 medium bunch cilantro finely chopped
- 1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves finely chopped
- 5 Indian green chilis to taste, these add a wonderful flavour don't leave them out – if anything add less
- 3/4 lb yellow onion very finely chopped *by hand*
- 1/2 – 1 tsp citric acid depending on how tangy you like the filling
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet to medium high heat.
- Add the ground beef and ginger garlic paste.
- Mix well to combine.
- Cook the ground beef mixture, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go, until the beef is cooked through and the liquid has fully evaporated.Two key points for delicious samosa: finely minced ground beef (you may use a food processor to help with this), and beef that is not too wet, and not browned and crispy. We want ground beef that is moist in that it has not been cooked to dark brown dry, hard pieces – but there is no liquid left in the pan once it's done.Test the beef by pressing a good amount against the side of the skillet. If there is minimal liquid, it's done. If the beef is too fatty, there will be a lot of grease in the skillet. Tilt it to one side, push the beef to the other side, and drain the grease. Heads up: fatty beef does not make good samosas – so this is not the best option. Save the fatty beef for kababs.
- Once the beef has cooled, add in the garam masala, cayenne pepper, salt, cilantro, mint, green chilis, onions and lemon juice. Mix well to combine. Taste for spice, salt and acidity.
- Add more spices, salt, and the citric acid starting with 1/2 tsp as needed.
- The mixture should taste fresh, light, slightly spicy, and tangy/bright.
- Check out my reel on Instagram for how to fold the samoasas.
- Fry as explained in the blog post above, serve with lemon wedges and enjoy!
Notes
The recipe can be adapted to your liking, more cilantro, less cilantro etc. This is how we enjoy them – with fresh lemon wedges to squeeze into the crispy fried samosas to serve.
As always, feel free to leave a comment below or send me a DM on Instagram if you need any guidance!
