Tourtière is a traditional French-Canadian meat pie. This is a savory tart eaten for dinner hot or cold, with pickles, relish, or ketchup. Typically, it is made with a combination of ground meat, including pork, veal, beef, or one straight up. But don't be bashful, try venison too! With a flavorful mix of spices, it's a winner! For more tasty recipes, make my Cassoulet Recipe, or Pork Apple, Chestnut Pie!
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❤️About This Recipe
It is often associated with the province of Quebec in Canada, but many people throughout the country and many other locations in the United States enjoy a version of this excellent pie.
This is a savory tart eaten for dinner hot or cold with pickles, relish, or ketchup.
🙌Variations
It typically is made with a combination of ground meat like pork, veal, beef, or one straight up. I have even heard of pheasant, turkey, and venison being added to the meat mixture.
The usuals also included onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.
There is also quite an array of seasonings that can be used, like cloves, cinnamon, and allspice.
🤔What To Serve With This Delicious Pie
- popular condiments are ketchup, relish, and pickles
- white mashed potatoes like Aligot
- mashed sweet potatoes,
- potato wedges
- ratatouille
- cauliflower au gratin
- salad nicoise
- French onion soup
- green beans with onions
- apple sauce
- roasted root vegetables
- French bread
- tomato salad
- mashed brussels sprouts
- beets sauteed with onions
❄️Storage
- Refrigeration: Tourtière, like other meat pies can be kept safely in the fridge for 3-5 days, well wrapped to preserve its freshness. Reheat in the oven at a moderate heat, 350°F/180°C/Gas 4, until hot in the center when tested. Cover the edges with foil to prevent burning and drying out.
- Freezing: This meat pie will freeze, well wrapped, for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen in a moderate oven 350°F/180°C/Gas 4. A minimum 1 hour for a full pie, then test center of pie for how hot you like it. Again, cover the edges with foil to prevent burning and drying out.
❔FAQ
Tourtière is a delicious meat pie from the province of Quebec, Canada, which is meatier and heartier than most meat pies, baked in a light crust.
Traditionally, it is served with roasted vegetables, a frisseé salad, pickles of various kinds, and crusty bread. It is also expected that everyone will eat this dish at least once throughout the holidays, served with a lovely tomato chutney or ketchup.
The only difference, which will vary between each pie made, is that traditionally, Tourtière is made with a variety of meat: beef, pork, veal, or any other choice of red meat, while a meat pie is usually made with one type of meat.
✨Try These Wonderful Recipes
📖 Recipe
Tourtière Meat Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Prepare The Crust
- If using store-bought crust unthaw and keep in fridge until ready to roll it out, remove from fridge 5 minutes before rolling out.
- If making your own crust prepare this short crust pastry recipe. You can make this a few days ahead of time so it is ready when you need it. Keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to roll it out.
Meat Filling
- 1 lb Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- Mix spices and herbs together in a bowl this way they will be evenly distributed throughout the filling
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground mustard
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Pie Crust Glaze
- one beaten egg
Instructions
Make The Filling
- Peel and cut the potatoes into 2-inch pieces, then put them into a medium pan, and cover with water.
- Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to medium-high or a temperature that will not boil over and cook the potatoes until tender, about 12 minutes.
- Reserve ½ cup of potato water and drain the rest. Mash the potatoes and set aside.
- While the potatoes are boiling heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the onions, and garlic, and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ground beef and pork and cook until the meat is no longer pink, stirring often. Drain off excess fat.
- Add the spice and herb mix, and reserved potato water to the meat mixture in the saucepan. Mix well and simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.
- Remove the skillet from the heat, mix in the mashed potatoes, and set the filling aside to cool slightly.
Assembling The Tourtière
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6
- On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and flatten one ball of dough with your hands. Roll dough to about 12 inches in diameter to fit a 9-inch pie pan.
- Place the pastry into the pie plate, by folding it in half, if you have a large flipper slide it under half of the pastry to help gently lift it into the pie pan.
- Then add the meat filling. Brush around the outer edge of the pastry with the beaten egg.
- Roll out the top pastry and place on top of the filling. Fold the top crust under the bottom crust or just pinch or flute the edges without fluting. The crust will shrink a little while baking so don’t cut to much off or it will shrink into the pie pan.
- Brush the entire top and edges with the egg wash and cut vent holes to prevent the crust from expanding into large billows. Be creative with the vent holes as this can create a beautiful looking pie you will be proud of.
Baking The Pie:
- Bake the pie in a preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
- Remove the Tourtière from the oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Judith says
We love this recipe at our house! It bakes beautifully, fills the house with wonderful smells, is so tasty, and warms you up on a chilly day. Couldn't ask for more from a meat pie!