The Canadian Tourtière is a hearty, savory mixed-meat pie full of traditional French herbs and warm holiday spices bound together with mashed potatoes and enveloped in a buttery, flaky double-crust pie crust. What could be more satisfying in both flavor and indulgence during the holidays?
Canadian “Tourtière” Meaning
The French word tourtière derives from the shorter version tourte meaning enclosed pie (surrounded by pie crust). It may also be called pâté à viande meaning meat pie. The word tourte is not to be confused with the French word tarte which also refers to pie. The difference is tarte describes an open pie (without a top crust). Whew! Language and culture!!
THE Tourtière
Tourtière Origins
While tourtières are enjoyed all over Canada and even in New England, they have specific origination. Since “tourtière” is French, the dish is associated more with the Canadian (French) province of Quebec. But in truth, it was likely the British that influenced the meat and potato idea when they landed in North America. Like with most origin stories, the “truth” is hard to know. It is also thought that pigeons, which were in abundance prior to the 20th century, were hunted along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Then, of course, the meat ended up in a pie…
Original Tourtière Recipe
If you think logistically as to why and how the pie was actually made, it was likely due to convenience and based on what was available. Traditionally, whatever meat was available locally was used and mixed with potatoes. Pie dough was made with lard since other fat sources where expensive or difficult to find. Thus, you ended up with a mix of meat like beef, rabbit, pheasants, and / or moose, whatever spices or herbs that were grown or available along with vegetables like onions and potatoes. Bam! You have a hearty meat pie.
Tourtière as a Christmas Pie
Tourtières are enjoyed year-round, but they are traditionally served during the holidays. After Mass on Christmas Eve (the réveillon), on Christmas Day, or over New Year’s, tourtières highlight holiday tables. Families and regions in Canada have their own recipes, but the base is virtually the same. Simply pick your meat and herbs (if you want any), add some warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or allspice (if you want any), stir in cooked mashed potatoes, and surround it all in a pie crust. That’s your savory, holiday pie as simple or complex in flavor as you would like!
Popularity of Meat Pies
The French and Canadians are not unique in their love for meat pies. Countries all over the world indulge in “crusts” surrounding meat fillings. Latin America and southern Europe enjoy hand-held empanadas filled with meat or cheese and baked or fried. Jamaica has a wonderful turmeric hand-held pie crust filled will meat and spices. In the United Kingdom, you’ll find the British shepherd’s meat and potato pies (sans bread or crust) and Scottish haggis pies (organ meat mixed with oats).
Beyond the Americas and Western Europe, Eastern Europe enjoys pierogis (small yeast dough dumplings filled with meat, cheese, and potatoes). There are meat and rice pies in Lebanon and deep-fried knishes (hand pies) in Israel. How about the Indian hand-held baked or fried samosa pies filled with meat, potatoes, and veggies? China enjoys their own meat pie version called Xian Bing. Back to the Americas, we can’t forget the American chicken or beef pot pies. Whew! The savory pie list goes on…
My Canadian Tourtière Inspiration
If you follow my blog or YouTube channel, then you know my household doesn’t consume much meat… only 2-3 times a year. We don’t claim to be vegetarians, but we really do eat like vegetarians on a daily, weekly, even monthly basis. However, if we were or claimed to be vegetarians then we would eliminate incredible food and recipes that contain meat like the Jamaican Meat Pies and Canadian Tourtière. 😉
Thanks to my Sister for the Idea
My sister actually saw a tourtière pie a while back and mentioned it to me. Some ideas I dismiss because they don’t seem interesting, or a recipe’s traditional ingredients are not exciting to me. However, the Canadian Tourtière intrigued me because I imagined a mixed-meat pie with traditional French herbs and warm holiday spices. The mashed potatoes made it so much more appealing. Honestly, that is exactly what I thought when pondering what I wanted in this pie. With that idea, I created this meat pie exactly as I imagined it and wanted to eat. For the crust, I took my usual, savory pie crust recipe and added a mix of butter and shortening to make it more indulgent. And there you have it, my yummy (in my opinion) Canadian Tourtière pie was born. 😊
Canadian Tourtière Ingredients
The holidays are full of indulgent foods particularly sweets. With so many wonderful traditional holiday savory dishes, I’m excited to share my version of the Canadian Tourtière (The Christmas Meat Pie). For the pie crust ingredients, you’ll need all-purpose flour, salt, butter, shortening, water, and an egg to brush over the dough. The herb meat filling includes potatoes, ground pork, ground beef, dried savory, dried rosemary, dried marjoram, dried thyme, dried sage, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground allspice, cracked black pepper, and salt. You also need a little butter, oil, and beef stock or broth.
Make the Pie Crust
Prepare the Pie Crust Ingredients
Begin by preparing the pie crust. Place 1 cup of water with ice in a measuring cup in the fridge. Dice 113 grams (½ cup or 1 stick) of butter. Keep it in fridge until ready to use it. Also dice 100 grams (½ cup) of shortening or lard and place that in the fridge. If you’re short on time, you can certainly use store-bought, double-crust pie crust and skip this step entirely. Or you can make the pie crust up to a week ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
Combine all Pie Crust ingredients
In a large bowl, add 360 grams (3 cups) of flour and 6 grams (1 teaspoon) of salt. Give it a quick stir. Using a food processor or pastry cutter, cut in cold butter and shortening. Pour in ½ cup water and use a fork to press the water and flour against the bowl edges. Add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, as needed until all flour is just moistened and comes together in a cohesive dough.
TIP: Strain the water into a measuring cup to prevent ice from getting into the pie crust.
Divide Dough & Refrigerate 1 Hour to 1 Week
Time to divide the dough in half, eyeball or weigh each half. Form each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Place both disks in the fridge for at least 1 hour up to 1 week until you’re ready to use them.
Make the Mashed Potatoes
Peel, Dice, & Boil Potatoes
To make the mashed potato filling, you’ll need about 700 grams or so (about 2 pounds) of potatoes (russets are preferred). Peel and dice the potatoes. Add them to a medium saucepan. Cover the potatoes with cold water about an inch above the top. Season the water with ½ tablespoon of salt. Bring water to a boil over high heat.
TIPS: Start cooking the potatoes with cold water. Cold water heats up slowly cooking the potatoes evening. Hot water will cook the outside of the potato before the inside. Adding salt to the water seasons by soaking in the potatoes as they cook, so less salt is needed after they cook.
Cook, Drain, & Mash Potatoes
Once the potatoes begin to boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Potatoes are done when tender meaning a knife cuts easily through a potato. Drain the potatoes and return them to the saucepan so the hot pan can continue to evaporate any remaining liquid. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and mash the potatoes with a potato masher, ricer, or whatever tools you have. Then, set the potatoes aside.
Make the Herb Meat Filling
Preheat the Skillet
To make the herb meat filling, heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil over medium-high heat in a large 12-inch skillet.
TIPS: I like to use both butter and oil as butter adds flavor and oil maintains moisture. The skillet is hot enough when a small piece of onion sizzles when placed in the liquid fat.
Add Onion & Garlic
Once the butter is melted and sizzling, add 1 small, finely diced onion and cook a few minutes until translucent and soft. Add 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook for 1 minute to burn off the bitter garlic.
Time for the Meat!
Add 1 pound each ground pork and ground beef. Break up the meat mixture using a spatula or spoon. Traditionally, pork or beef is the primary meat; however, it’s very common to see a meat mix with port or beef and wild game. If you hunt, this is a good way to use your ground deer or elk.
TIP: I would not use ground sausage in this recipe because ground sausage has additional flavorings that you can’t control. But hey! It’s your dish!
Add Herbs & Spices
As the meat browns, add all the dried seasonings and spices. All the herbs in this recipe are measured out in 2 grams which is 2 teaspoons. You’ll need 2 g (2 teaspoons) of dried savory, 2 g (2 teaspoons) dried rosemary, 2 g (2 teaspoons) dried marjoram, 2 g (2 teaspoons) dried thyme, and 2 g (2 teaspoons) dried sage. For the spices, you’ll need 3 g (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon, .5 g (½ teaspoon) ground nutmeg, .5 g (½ teaspoon) allspice, 2,5 grams (1 teaspoon) ground black pepper, and 9 grams (1½ teaspoons) salt. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes.
TIP: It’s best to have a “mise en place” of ingredients all measure out and ready to add to the filling as needed. I usually measure out my herbs and spices in a small bowl and then just pour the mixture in when ready.
Add Beef Stock or Broth & Simmer
Pour in 1 cup of beef stock or broth. Stir everything together. Reduce heat to low- medium and simmer for 30 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.
TIPS: The extra liquid hydrates the herbs and blooms the spices. It encourages the herbs and spices to blend with the meat and aids in overall flavor. Once the meat is mostly cooked, I switch out utensils with a clean one to prevent cross-contamination of any uncooked food.
Taste & Add Potatoes
Taste the meat mixture and add additional salt or other spices as needed. Stir in the mashed potato mixture used as the binder for the meat and taste again adding more salt if needed. The mixture will be very thick resembling a paste. Scoop the meat and potato filling into a bowl to help cool it down. Set the mixture aside until it has cooled to warm, not hot.
Pie Assembly Time!
Roll Out Pie Dough & Fit in Pie Plate
Preheat the oven to 425˚F (220˚C) and set aside a 9- to 10-inch pie plate. Remove one pie dough disk from the fridge. Place the disk on a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it into an 11- to 12-inch circle, large enough to overhang the pie plate about 2 inches. Fold the rolled-out dough in half and in half again to create a triangle. Place the triangle corner in the center of a pie plate and unfold. Gently manipulate the dough to fit snuggly against the pie plate along the bottom and edges. Cut off excess dough that exceeds more than 2 inches beyond the pie plate.
TIPS: Folding the rolled-out pie dough into a simple triangle makes it easy to transfer from the work surface to the pie plate without tearing it. Use excess pie dough to patch any holes, tears, or areas where pie dough is lacking.
Fill Pie Dough with Meat Filling
Fill the pie plate with the meat filling pressing the mixture in the pie plate. Avoid mashing the meat, but it should be compressed somewhat to prevent voids within the pie.
Roll out Top Dough & Transfer to the Pie
Remove the other dough disk from the fridge. To form the top, roll out the dough just like the previous half to 11- to 12- inches in diameter, two inches just beyond the pie plate. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl and brush it along the bottom pie dough edges to create a glue for the top pie dough.
Transfer Top Dough & Add Egg Wash
Fold the top dough in half and again in half to reach a triangle. Place the triangle corner over the pie filling and unfold. Cut off excess dough exceeding two inches beyond the pie plate. Seal dough edges by rolling them under to sit on top of the pie plate edge. Use your fingers to crimp the edge or use fork tines and press along the edge to decorate as you choose. To allow steam to escape, cut 2-3 small slits in the top of the dough or other decoration which will allow steam to escape. Brush the exposed dough, tops and edges, with remaining egg wash.
TIP: For a decorative top, use a small leaf shape or holiday themed cut outs to remove shapes from the top dough. No need to add slits in the top if using cut outs. If using cut outs, make the cuts while the dough is on the work surface.
Bake, Serve, & Enjoy!
Place the pie in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake for another 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and the crust is baked through.
Close-Ups of Canadian Tourtière Final Product
Notice the golden-brown crust due to the egg wash. The butter and shortening produce a flaky crust. The rolled, thick crust edges create an attractive pie top. The decorative evergreen trees in the center illustrate the season. Once cut, the meat is the highlighted visual. Specks of potatoes stand out along with blades of rosemary.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this pie during the holidays… any holiday really. Since it’s traditionally served during Christmas and New Year’s, why not make it the day before and bake it the day you want to eat it. Serve this pie with a soup or salad and homemade yeast rolls to round out a good holiday meal.
Storage Suggestions
Once baked, you can serve the pie immediately or allow it to cool slightly about 15 minutes to make cleaner cuts as you remove it from the pie plate. The pie keeps very well covered and stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. For longer storage, cut the pie into serving slices and store in a sealed container in the freezer up to several months. From frozen, thaw the slices in the fridge overnight or for several hours before heating and consuming.
Optional Ingredient Suggestions and Substitutions
No time to make pie crust? No problem: just use a commercial version, but you’ll need two. Use any ground meat or mix of meats particularly wild game like deer, bison, or elk. Use any herb and spice combination you like; you can eliminate any of the recipe suggested herbs or spices if you don’t have them or don’t like them. For added flavor you can use sweet potatoes or a combination of sweet potatoes and russet potatoes.
Canadian Tourtière Final Thoughts
I love, love, love a savory pie! This pie doesn’t disappoint. The combination of meat and potatoes creates a comforting and hearty meal; it’s like a warm hug during the holidays. Even if this pie isn’t traditional in your household, it consists of what many of us would characterize as comfort food and would happily welcome it. The herbs and warm holiday spices permeate the house. The buttery, flaky pie crust is indulgent and the thick, rolled crust edge is like having a built-in side of bread. If you’re a hard-core carnivore, this recipe should hit the spot. We very much enjoy this meat pie. If you’re looking for a “different” yet comforting and elegant dish to serve during the holidays, you might give this one a try.
Baker’s Perspective
Ok, so yeah, this is a special-occasion pie. The steps are quite a few, but you can break the steps up by making the pie crust up to a week ahead of time or by simply using a store-bought version. You can even cook the meat and potatoes, combine them, and store them covered in the fridge the day before you want to eat it. Or why not prepare the entire pie the day before and store it unbaked, covered in the fridge. Then, bake it on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day… whichever day you want to serve and eat it. None of the steps in this pie are difficult, they are just time consuming. However, the result is very rewarding. So, I recommend breaking up the steps or use shortcuts, so you have time to make your homemade Canadian Tourtière for the holidays.
Taster’s Perspective
Yummy! I’ve made this pie several times and we have really enjoyed it. While this is a very meat-heavy pie, the soft potatoes are a subtle contrast and evident in flavor. Who doesn’t love meat and potatoes? I’m pondering other ideas like subbing winter squash for the potatoes to add sweetness and a different flavor to the meat. Why not some mushrooms in place of some of the meat? We discovered that the pie tastes best on the second day as time sitting in the fridge allowed the herbs and spices to meld and permeate the meat strengthening both flavor and aroma. In fact, this pie is great even 3 and 4 days later. This is a recipe I would love to add to my repertoire of holiday bakes, if not for Christmas Day, it would be great to serve guests at any time during the season. Keeper? Absolutely!!
Check out my YouTube video on the details of making this Canadian Tourtière meat pie. “Canadian Tourtière: Holiday Meat Pie with Warm Spices, Herbs, Mashed Potatoes, & Flaky Pie Crusts”
Canadian Tourtière: Holiday Herb & Spice Meat Pie
Ingredients
Double Crust Flaky Pie Dough (for 9-to 10” Pie Plates)
- 360 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour fluffed, scooped, and leveled off if using a measuring cup
- 6 g (1 tsp) salt
- 113 g (½ cup / 1 stick) COLD butter diced and kept in fridge until ready to use
- 100 g (½ cup) COLD shortening or lard diced and kept in fridge until ready to use
- ½ cup plus (8-12 tbsp) ICE cold water place 1 cup of cold water in ice and in fridge while preparing the dough
- 1 large egg beaten (to brush over dough)
Meat & Potato Filling
- 700 g (2 lbs) russet potatoes, peeled and diced ~5 small, 2-3 medium, or 1-2 large
- 14 g (1 tbsp) butter
- 1 tbsp oil avocado, olive, grapeseed, canola, etc.
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 g (2 tsp) dried savory
- 2 g (2 tsp) dried rosemary
- 2 g (2 tsp) dried marjoram
- 2 g (2 tsp) dried thyme
- 2 g (2 tsp) dried sage
- 3 g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
- ½ g (½ tsp) ground nutmeg
- ½ g (½ tsp) ground allspice
- 2½ g (1 tsp) ground black pepper
- 2 tsp (12 g) salt, divided plus ½ tbsp more to season potato water
- 1 cup beef stock or broth
Instructions
Prepare Pie Crust (make-ahead option)
- In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in cold butter and shortening using a pastry cutter, food processor, etc. Add ½ cup ice water (without the ice) and use a fork to press the water and flour against the bowl edges. Add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, as needed until all flour is just moistened and comes together in a cohesive dough. Divide dough in half, form each into a disk, wrap each in plastic, and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour up to 1 week until ready to use it.TIP: Cold ingredients produce flaky pie crusts as the butter and shortening remain solid until baked.
Prepare Mashed Potatoes
- Peel and dice potatoes. Place them in a medium saucepan and cover an inch above with cold water. Season water with ½ tbsp of salt. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Potatoes are done when tender, a knife cuts easily through a potato. Drain the potatoes and return them to the saucepan. Add ½ tsp salt and mash the potatoes with a potato masher or ricer. Set potatoes aside.TIP: Cold water heats up slowly cooking the potatoes evenly.
Prepare Meat Filling
- In a large 12-inch skillet, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat. Once heated, add diced onion and cook a few minutes until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.TIP: The skillet is hot enough when butter sizzles or a piece of onion sizzles when added to the hot oil.
- Add ground beef and pork and break up the meat mixture. Add the seasonings, dried savory through black pepper and add 1½ tsp salt. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Pour in broth or stock stirring everything together. Reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Taste mixture and add additional salt or other spices as needed.
- Stir in the mashed potato mixture as the binder for the meat and taste again adding more salt if needed. The mixture will be very thick like a paste. Place filling in another bowl to help cool down. Set the mixture aside until it has cooled to warm, not hot.
Pie Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 425˚F (220˚C) and set aside a 9- to 10-inch pie plate.
- Remove 1 pie dough disk from fridge. Place disk on a lightly floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll it into an 11- to 12-inch circle, large enough to overhang the pie plate about 2 inches. Fold the dough in half and in half again to get a triangle. Place the triangle corner in the center of a pie plate and unfold. Gently manipulate the dough to fit snuggly against the pie plate along the bottom and edges. Cut off excess dough that exceeds more than 2 inches beyond the pie plate.TIP: Folding the dough allows for easy transport between work surface and pie plate preventing tears.
- Fill the pie plate and dough with meat filling pressing mixture in pie plate.TIP: Compress the meat just enough to prevent voids within the pie.
- Remove the other dough disk from the fridge and roll it out 11- to 12- inches in diameter to form the top crust.
- Beat 1 egg and brush it along the bottom pie dough edges to create a glue for the top pie dough. Fold the top dough in half and again in half to get a triangle. Place the corner over the pie filling and unfold. Cut off excess dough if necessary. Seal dough edges by rolling them under to sit on the edge of the pie plate. Use your fingers to crimp the edge or use fork tines and press along the edge to decorate as you choose. To allow steam to escape, cut 2-3 small slits in the top of the dough or other decoration which will allow steam to escape.TIP: For a decorative top, use small leaf shape or holiday themed cookie or pie cut outs to remove shapes from the top dough. No need to add slits in the top if using cut outs. If using cut outs, make the cuts while the dough is on the work surface.
- Brush the dough with remaining egg wash.
Bake Pie
- Place the meat pie in the oven to bake for 15 minutes at 425°F (220˚C). Reduce heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake for another 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and the crust is a baked through. Slice, serve, and enjoy!TIP: If hot, the first slice will likely fall apart as it's removed from the pie plate. For pretty slices, wait ~15 minutes until the pie cools slightly before cutting.
Video
Notes
Check out these holiday recipes.
3 Simple & Flavorful Pie Crusts
Sweet Potato Swirled Babka Bread
Venezuelan Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread)
Grandma’s Yeast Rolls (The Berry Family Recipe)
French Pain d’Épices (Spice Bread)
Greek Vasilopita New Year’s Cake
Spanish King Cake (Rascón de Reyes Epiphany Bread)
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