Air Fryer Hand Pies Recipe

Air Fryer Hand pies are super duper delicious, and so easy to make. These are vegetarian Air Fried mini hand pies and can also be identified as Hot Pockets made in an Air fryer or Mealhty CrispLid Deep Basket. 

An instructional video is given in the post for better understanding. Oven Bake Instructions are also included.

Since these are semi-homemade, these are done in much less time and without much prep. Don’t forget to check out my Vegetarian Air Fryer Recipes.

Important – Scroll down to the bottom of the post to get the complete recipe. In between, you will find more details and steps to get these right.

Air Fryer Hand Pies Vegetarian Recipe

What is a Hand Pie?

A hand pie is a miniature handheld version of Pie. You can pick it up with your hand without any mess and eat as a Finger Food. 

Since these can be savory or sweet, these are extremely versatile. Give them a fancier shape, and these are perfect crowd-pleasers. Recently I took these for a Movie Night and everyone loved it. 

These are excellent for parties since –

• these are great as finger food. Hence perfect for entertaining.
• you can bake, air fry, or cook in Mealthy CrispLid or Instant Pot Air-fryer/Vortex.
• One can make these in advance, store in refrigerator & warm in oven or air-fryer before serving.
• you can fill these with any filling of your choice.
• these can be savory or sweet.

You may call these by any name – Hot pockets, Hand pies or Turnovers. Nonetheless, these are delicious. 

Since these ones have TEX MEX filling, these will be perfect for a TEX MEX style Party Menu or otherwise.

Ingredients of the Recipe

• Market Bought Pie Shell
• Con Queso or Taco Cheese
• Salsa chunky (hot or mild)
• Cayenne Pepper powder
• Taco seasoning
• Frozen Corn
• Pickled Jalapeno or fresh
• Oil Spray

Kitchen Gadgets

• Air Fryer or Mealthy CrispLid with Deep Basket or Instant Pot Vortex
• Mixing Bowls
• Measuring cups & spoons
• Cookie Cutter 3 inches
• Cutting Board

How to make Vegetarian Hand Pies in Air Fryer?

It is a very simple process to make this appetizer in an Air-fryer.

1. Prepare the Filling – Thaw the frozen corn in the microwave. Mix all the ingredients of the filling & the corn. The filling is ready.
2. Prepare the Pie Shells for Hand Pies – Whenever you plan to make this recipe, make sure to take out the frozen pie shell and thaw at room temperature. Or follow the instructions given on the package. 1 box has 2 pie shells. Open or roll out 1 shell. Cut out 3 inches circles out of it. You will get about 14-15 circles from each shell and a total of 28-30 circles from 2 shells. Set them aside.
3. Preparing the Mini Hand Pies – Place 1 tsp full of filling in the center of 1 pie circle. Now gently put another pie circle on top. Press down the corners tight either by a finger or a fork. (Watch the Video)

Air Fryer Option (watch the video)

1. Spray the basket of the air fryer with Oil Spray. Place 4-5 hand pies inside the basket.
2. Cook them in the air-fryer for 10-12 minutes at 390*F or till you get the desired golden color on it. Flip it after 7-8 minutes for even cooking from both sides. These are ready.

Mealthy Crisp Lid Option (watch the video)

1. I have used Deep Basket for this recipe. You may use the one that you have. The deep basket gives the food enough time to get cooked from inside and not burning it from outside. 
2. Place the inside pot inside your 6 quarts Mealthy Multipot or Instant Pot and put the high trivet that comes with the basket. Now put the DEEP CRISP BASKET and spray with the oil spray. 
3. Place 5-6 hand pies inside the basket. Place the CrispLid on top and plug it in. Cook it for 10-12 minutes at 400*F till you get the desired color on top. Flip these after 7-8 minutes for even cooking from both sides. These are ready. 

Oven Bake Option

1. Preheat the oven at 400*F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place all the 14-15 hand pies on it. Bake for about 12-15 minutes till you get the desired color. Flip them after 8 minutes to get them evenly cooked from both the sides.

Some other Stuffing Suggestions

Now this recipe is Tex Mex flavored, but the possibilities are numerous. Here are some suggestions –

1. Pizza filling with marinara, cheese, chopped vegetables
2. Broccoli & cheese
3. Peas & spices
4. Spinach & cheese
5. Apples, sugar & cinnamon
6. Peaches & jam
7. chopped nuts, sugar, coconut and many more.

Can I freeze these?

You can prepare the pies and freeze them in a tray and then store them in the freezer friendly bag. Bake or cook as desired.

How to store the leftovers?

You can store these in an airtight container in the refrigerator. And just warm these up in the air fryer for 2-3 minutes before eating.

Can I make these Vegan?

In my opinion, anything can be “veganized” these days. Look for vegan pie crust and skip the con queso or use a vegan queso or vegan cheese. Substitute accordingly and make these Vegan Hand Pies.

Vegetarian Air Fryer Recipes

Air Fried Bread Rolls, Air Fryer Chickpeas, Air Fried Nuts, Air Fried Sabudana Wada, Air Fried Indian Stuffed Eggplant, and more.

Vegetarian Instant Pot Dessert Recipes

Mini New York Cheesecake, Mini Chocolate Cheesecake, Chocolate Cake in Jar, Red Velvet Cake, Pumpkin Cake, and more.

Watch the small Instructional Video Here

Air Fryer Hand Pies Recipe

I am sure you are going to try this recipe soon. Please leave your feedback under the comments section and RATE THE RECIPE. I would greatly appreciate it

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Sonal