While this recipe for French Canadian Tourtière (a meat pie) is known as holiday food; I think you will agree with me that this is so delicious it should be served year round! Made with a flaky homemade crust and so many fragrant fillings that your mouth will water as soon as you smell this dish baking!
Savoury Tourtière Ingredients
It would not be the holidays in my home without French Canadian Tourtière recipe. This meat pie has pork, beef and veal to create a trifecta of flavour that is perfectly complemented with hearty spices like nutmeg, cinnamon and clove. It is not only a tasty dish, but also a hearty one that feels decadent and cozy. A serving of this meat pie is just what any celebration needs!
Homemade Pie Crust
I like to use my homemade pie crust recipe which is included below. It is easy to make, and is really fuss free. Be sure to use real butter and not to overwork your dough to keep it flaky and tender. If you are more comfortable with a premade pie crust, be sure to get two as you need a top crust.
Side Dishes To Serve With The Tourtière
This dish pairs well with roasted root vegetables like carrots or beets. A simple side salad or even something pickled makes a good complimentary side dish also. My family likes it with mashed potatoes and peas.
If you are looking for more dinner ideas you won’t want to miss this easy vegetable beef soup recipe. Readers love these 12 Instant Pot Chicken Recipes and 15 Whole Wheat Bread Recipes.
How to make French Canadian meat pies
As I mentioned earlier this is traditional holiday food in my family, but we do not reserve it only for the Christmas season! It is also a great dish to serve any time there is an occasion to celebrate with a special meal!
Two other favourite French Canadian meals that I serve over the holidays are the French Canadian Ragoût de Boulettes (Meatball Stew) and the French Canadian “Ragoût de Pattes de Cochon” (Stewed Pig’s Feet)!
Pie Crust Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 6 tbsp of cold butter (unsalted)
- 4 to 6 tbsp. ice water
- 1 egg yolk (optional)
Tourtière Ingredients
- 1/2 pound ground veal
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of pepper
- 1/3 cup of water
- 1 onion chopped
- 1/8 tsp of ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp. of nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of all spice
- 1 tbs of vegetable oil or olive oil
Crust Pastry Instructions
- Recipe makes 1 pie crust, so make twice.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Mix together.
- Add butter into the flour mixture and work with a fork. Do not overwork.
- Add water by sprinkling over the dough and stir as you sprinkle. Stir with a wooden spoon to make the dough come together. After, you can use your hands to help mold the dough (like playdough).
- Flatten into a round disc.
- Wrap them in plastic wrap or container, and refrigerate for about 1 hour. In the meantime, make the tourtière filling.
Tourtière Filling
- Heat large skillet over medium heat and add oil.
- Add ground meats, salt and pepper. Cook until meat is browned and just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add onions, spices, and water, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Let cool completely.
How To Assemble The French Canadian Tourtière
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Lightly flour work surface. Roll each pastry round into an 11-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick.
- Use one pastry round and apply at bottom of glass pie plate.
- Add tourtière filling to pastry shell. Cover with a second pastry round.
- Seal edges with tines of a fork or your fingers.
- Brush pastry with egg yolk (optional).
- Score the top of the tourtière with a paring knife as this will allow steam to escape while baking.
- Bake tourtière for 15 minutes at 450 degrees F. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake until crust is golden brown for about another 20-30 minutes.
I hope you enjoyed my French Canadian Tourtière Recipe as much as my family and myself did! If you make it, please share your photos with us on Facebook or Twitter! Also, check out all of our other Recipes!
French Canadian Tourtières (Meat Pies)
Equipment
- 1 metal, ceramic, or glass plate for baking the pie
- 1 Bowl
- 1 1 small skillet over very low heat
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 6 tbsp butter cold (unsalted)
- 4 to 6 tbsp. ice water
- 1 egg yolk optional
Tourtière
- 1/2 pound ground veal
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 onion chopped
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 tbs vegetable oil
Instructions
- Short Crust Pastry
- Recipe makes 1 pie crust, so make twice.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Mix together.
- Add butter into the flour mixture and work with a fork. Do not overwork.
- Add water by sprinkling over the dough and stir as you sprinkle. Stir with a wooden spoon to make the dough come together. After, you can use your hands to help mold the dough (like playdough).
- Flatten into a round disc.
- Wrap them in plastic wrap or container, and refrigerate for about 1 hour. In the meantime, make the tourtière filling.
- Lightly flour work surface. Roll each pastry round into an 11-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick.
- Use one pastry round to a line at bottom of glass pie plate.
- Tourtière Filling
- 1. Heat large skillet over medium heat and add oil.
- 2. Add ground meats, salt and pepper. Cook until meat is browned and just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- 3. Add onions, spices, and water, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Let cool completely.
- Assembly
- 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- 4. Add tourtière filling to pastry shell. Cover with a second pastry round.
- 5. Seal edges with tines of a fork or fingers.
- 6. Brush pastry with egg yolk (optional).
- 7. Score the top of the tourtière with a paring knife as this will allow steam to escape while baking.
- 8. Bake tourtière for 15 minutes at 450 degrees F. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake until crust is golden brown for about another 20-30 minutes.
Thanks for the step by step,looks delicious.I cant wait for the moose meat pie on Christmas Eve.
That must be an amazing meat pie!
Oh is really is a tasty treat,have you ever had Moose
Wow, these look great and easy to make. It is a meat pie I have not tried yet.
Please share your comments here if you do make it!
dinner and dessert from one brilliant
Growing up in Quebec, these were some of our holiday traditions. Yum!
Wow, I love the idea of these! The Pets-de-Soeur look great and would be such a hit at my hosue!
Hope you make them!
Going to get this pie a try on Sunday for dinner
One thing I am no good at is pastry crust!!! My MIL used to say it was because my hands are too warm. She made the best pie crust and had the coldest hands around!!
This recipe is so easy and I am positive that you crust will turn out great. You do need to put it in the fridge, so no need for cold hands lol!
These sound fantastic, I’m a lover of brown sugar so I’ll be trying out the Pets-de-Soeur soon 🙂
Me too! Let me know if you like them.
You call them Pets-de-Soeur I grew up calling them brown sugar rolls. Either way they were always a favourite when I was growing up. I’ll have to make some over the holidays.
They are so yummy! I didn’t know that how they were called also. Thanks for commenting.
The meat pie looks delicious! I never made one before and need to try!
You should! Let me know if you do.
Being Anglophone and having some knowledge of French (but little Francophone culture), doesn’t Pets de Soeurs mean something impolite? Yummy, but rude….I like it!
I guess it does lol! I am not sure the origin of the name and worth looking into.
My grandma used to make meat pies, and my brothers best friend ALWAYS made pinwheels. Most delicious things ever
The Pets-de-Soeur look great and they are a must try.I love the toutiere pie and have made a similar one before.Thank you for this great post.
My pleasure and let me know how you like them:)
This all sounds sooo good!
looks wonderful. I am pathetic with pastry so I will probably not venture to try this.
I love the tourtiere pie and will be making it often.My family loves it too.Thank you.
Glad you liked it and thanks for commenting!
I love this meat pie and have added it to my favorites file.It is so delicious and savory.
Both recipes look amazing!! Thanks for sharing. I have a lot of cooking to do to try all these recipes out!
They are definitely delicious. Let us know how you like them. Thanks for commenting!
This looks delsih , i have never tried to make a meat pie , but i think i will when the weather cools , i love meat pie thanks for sharing your recipe !
omg it tasted so perfect
Your pieis delicious,it turned out perfect
Thanks for letting me know! I love them!
I am going to use your pastry recipe to make my Moose meat pies for Christmas Eve
I love these meat pies. My inlaws make them for Christmas every year and my mouth waters in anticipation every time. As for the brown sugar role, my mother has made these for as long as I can remember and I just love them because they taste so good !
I have never made tourtiere but I have a friend who always makes it at Christmas.
I would love to try this.
I make one every year its a family recipe that I grew up with the meats can change depending on what everyone wants but it is an amazing meal.
We love our meat pies too! Such a filling meal!