"Big Moc" Handpies with Vegan Special Sauce!

These "Big Moc" hand pies stuffed with roasted potatoes, sauteed onions, cheese, and Impossible ground mixed with my “Big Moc” Special Sauce turned out even better than I expected! Served with a little more sauce for dipping plus a couple pickles and chips! Not a particularly sophisticated dinner but tasted pretty great and trust me, your kiddos will love them!

Some of you all will remember a few weeks back when my Pops requested a batch of my "Big Moc" sauce...well, there was just a bit of that batch left in the fridge when I was at their place over the weekend and I happened to have some Impossible Burgers in the freezer, but no burger buns and I was too lazy on a Saturday nignt to go run to the store to grab any so…these little babies were born!

What you are going to need to buy:

1 Frozen Pie Crust, thawed - (If you want your hand pies to be vegan you’re likely going to need to make your own crust, although Wholly Wholesome does make a vegan pie crust option!)

1 Plant Based Ground Beef - (I used an Impossible Burger)

1 cup of diced Potatoes

1/2 cup of diced Onions

1 teaspoon Minced Garlic - (we like these jarred options from Spice World!)

2 Dairy Free Cheese (Slices are easier for this)

Liquid Smoke, just a splash

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1/4 cup of “Big Moc” Special Sauce! (CLICK HERE FOR THAT RECIPE!) + more for dipping

What you are going to need to do:

Start by preheating your oven to 350

Filling will depend on how many pies you want to make. This recipe made two pies.

Dice your potatoes an onions into 1/2 inch pieces and saute on the stove-top until soft and golden, adding the minced garlic towards the end of cooking so it doesn’t burn, and salt and pepper, to taste.

In the same skillet, brown your plant-based ground beef with a little splash of Liquid Smoke. Set aside and let cool for a couple minutes.

Add your special sauce to the meat so the meat is well coated but not runny. The pies will dry out a bit in the oven so you can add a little more sauce than you think you’ll need as long as the meat isn’t going to run or drip out of the pie shell when you’re trying to close it.

Roll out your pie crust and cut four rectangles that are each roughly 3.5 x 6

Note: You can really use any shape that you like…even a circle is fine but I found that I have less waste by using rectangles.

Place both of the fillings into the center of the bottom crust making sure to leave a border around the edge so that you can seal the pies. Don’t be afraid to pile the filling pretty high because it will shrink down in cooking.

Top your fillings with a slice of your favorite dairy free vegan cheese. I found that a cheese slice worked best for this.

Run a wet finger around the border of the bottom crust to help with sealing the pie.

Gently place the top pie crust. If you have piled your filling pretty high it’s going to seem like it won’t fit, but you can gently pull on the crust and using the tines of a fork, crimp all edges to seal the entire pie.

Dock the top of each handpie with a fork several times to create some steam holes for cooking.

To make sure that the top crust browns nicely you can lightly mist the top of the pies with a cooking spray.

Loosely tent the pies, with tin foil, for the first 15 minutes of cooking so that the edges don’t get too dark before the rest of the crust as time to bake.

After 15 minutes, remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes uncovered.

At this point, it’s just a matter of watching your pies to see when the top has baked through and browned up nicely. Mine ended up baking for 18-19 minutes uncovered instead of the 15. Just keep your eye on them.

Let rest for about 2 minutes before serving. I like to serve mine with some extra special sauce on the side for dipping!

Enjoy!

Copy Cat Vegan Big Mac Special Sauce!

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions…all on a sesame seed bun! Who else remembers that little McD’s jingle from the late 80’s? Although it’s been two decades since I’ve had a Big Mac I can still remember the first one that I ate…on a Saturday morning, with my dad and my brother circa 1990…but let’s be real, all we really wanted to do was play on the playground!

One thing about my Pops is how much he loves burgers...specifically Big Macs, so I knew if I was going to convince him to try a plant-based burger it would be my "Big Moc" that would do the trick. Let's just say it was a huge success...so much so that he requested I make him a bulk batch of my "Moc Sauce" to keep in the fridge. #plantbasedwin

What you are going to need to buy:

Vegan Mayo - (We like THIS ONE from Hellman’s…who knew?)

Ketchup

Mustard

Relish, chopped fine

Minced Garlic - (we like these jarred options from Spice World!)  

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Vinegar (Optional)

White Sugar (Optional)

Onion Powder

What you are going to need to do:

You guys, this is so easy! In a bowl combine the following ingredients!

1/3 cup of Mayo
3 tablespoons of Ketchup
1 tablespoon of Mustard
2 tablespoons of relish
1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic plus a splash of the oil/juice that the garlic is packed in
Onion Powder, salt and pepper, to taste.

Note: Depending on how you like your sauce you can also add a splash of vinegar and some white sugar. I preferred to add a bit more relish if I wanted it more sweet or a bit more mustard if I wanted it more tangy!

Store in the fridge, in an airtight jar or container, for up to 3 weeks…but trust me, it won’t last that long!
Enjoy!

Impossible Vegan Big Mac with Homemade Special Sauce

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions…all on a sesame seed bun! Who else remembers that little McD’s jingle from the late 80’s? Although it’s been two decades since I’ve had a Big Mac I can still remember the first one that I ate…on a Saturday morning, with my dad and my brother circa 1990…but let’s be real, all we really wanted to do was play on the playground!

There isn’t too much to this recipe to be honest. Fry up a couple of vegan burgers, make some special sauce, chop some veg and assemble! I only have a couple of tricks!

• If you want to actually do that whole double stack, like a traditional big mac…make your patties really thin! (But, honestly…they would be just as good as just a single regular burger)

• Sometimes vegan cheese can take a little longer to melt so make sure to put in onto the top of your burgers as soon as you flip them!

• Just a little splash of liquid smoke and some minced garlic in the pan when you fry your burgers will make all the difference in the flavor profile!

What you are going to need to buy:

Impossible Burger from Impossible Foods

Liquid Smoke

Vegan Mayo - (We like THIS ONE from Hellman’s…who knew?)

Ketchup

Mustard

Relish, chopped fine

American Cheese - (love THESE SLICES from Follow Your Heart)

Minced Garlic - (we like these jarred options from Spice World!)  

White Onion

Onion Powder

Vinegar

Pickles

Lettuce

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Burger Buns

What you are going to need to do:

You can either buy the individual Impossible Burger patties or the block “ground beef.” Season with salt and pepper and a little liquid smoke.

Fry your burgers in a non-stick skillet on medium heat. Depending on size of the burgers they should take about 2 minutes per side.

To make the sauce:

1/3 cup of Mayo
3 tablespoons of Ketchup
1 tablespoon of Mustard
2 tablespoons of relish
1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic plus a splash of the oil/juice that the garlic is packed in
Onion Powder, salt and pepper, to taste.

Note: Depending on how you like your sauce you can also add a splash of vinegar and some white sugar. I preferred to add a bit more relish if I wanted it more sweet or a bit more mustard if I wanted it more tangy!

Chop Lettuce.
Dice Onions.

Assemble and Enjoy!

Oven Roasted Garlic Potato Wedges

I’ve been on a bit of a burger kick the last couple of weeks since I picked up a couple of packages of Impossible Ground and you can’t have burgers without fries…but these Oven Roasted Garlic Potato Wedges are, for sure, the next best thing.

This recipe is so easy and simple you can make it as a side dish for any weeknight meal! Soft and pillowy on the outside with a nice satisfying crunch on the outside it’s hard not to eat the entire plateful. Best of all, while they do take a little time, they don’t need a lot of baby-sitting so they are super easy to do while you make the rest of the meal.

What you are going to need to buy:

Potatoes - I used some redskin potatoes I had on hand but use what you’ve got!

Bread Crumbs

Nutritional Yeast (Note: this is what makes these wedges vegan, but if that’s not a concern for you, feel free to use dry Parmesan or even your favorite powdered cheese blend.

Minced Garlic - (we like these jarred options from Spice World!)  

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Paprika

Olive Oil

What you are going to need to do:

Preheat over to 400 degrees

Cut your potatoes into 1” wedges.

In a pot that will fit the amount of potatoes you plan to make, boil the wedges, in salted water, for 5-6 minutes until just fork tender. (This will save you lots of extra time in the oven.)

Drain the potatoes an let sit for 1 minute to make sure they are very dry! This step is what will help make them extra crispy when you make them.

In a sturdy ziplock bag (Freezer bags work great mix together your bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, minced garlic…(make sure to avoid getting too much oil that the garlic is packed in), salt and pepper, and paprika.

Honestly these measurements will depend on how many wedges you are making. I used 1 large potato in the photos you see and below are roughly the measurements that I used:

1/4 cup Bread Crumbs

2 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast

1 tablespoon Minced Garlic - (we like these jarred options from Spice World!)  

1 teaspoon Paprika

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Lightly coat your potatoes in olive oil and then, take 2-3 wedges at a time, place them in the bag with the crust mixture and shake until coated. Repeat until all wedges are coated.

Bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes, turning over half-way through cooking to crisp both sides!

These Oven Roasted Garlic Potato Wedges happen to be amazing with the “Special Sauce” recipe from last week! You can find that HERE.

Enjoy!