Tourtiere: French Canadian Meat Pie

You know how there are those certain foods your parents make you eat that you don’t quite appreciate until you’re an adult? Tourtiere is one of those foods for me. Growing up, my grandmother used to make “meat pie” every year for Christmas. And not just one, but several so that we could freeze them and have it throughout January.

As a kid, I used to wonder why our family couldn’t eat something normal for the holidays such as ham or turkey. But now, I couldn’t get through the winter without having a slice of meat pie, or tourtière as it is known in French. It’s a nice change from hot chili, soups, or stews and leaves you feeling cozy and full to warm you up on a cold day.

What Does Tourtière Mean?

Tourtière a French Canadian minced meat pie originating from the province of Quebec. It’s typically made with pork, veal, or beef, and potatoes. Sometime’s it is made with a blend of meats as well. Tourtière is flavored with seasonal warming spices like cinnamon, clove, and allspice.

But one thing you should know, every family has their own traditional recipe. My grandmother made hers with a blend of beef and pork. I learned my great aunts used to make theirs with only pork. And my mom once made a vegetarian tourtière. So if you’re French Canadian, feel free to adjust the recipe to your own nostalgic preference.

How Do You Pronounce Tourtiere?

Tourtière can be pronounced several different ways depending on where you’re from in Canada. One way to pronounce tourtiere, like you would hear in Quebec, is with a slight “s” sound, like “toor-tsy-air.” And in Acadia, or in more rural areas, it might have more of a “ch” sound, like “toor-chair.” 

The standard English way of pronouncing it is just like it is spelled, or “tort-tee-air.” I’ve also heard it said with a slightly softer “r” sound at the end, more like a “tort-tee-eh.”

What Is Typically Served With Tourtiere?

In my family it is normally served with ketchup. Yes, ketchup! If we have it around Thanksgiving, sometimes there might be a side of cranberry sauce (both homemade and canned). And I’ve also heard of toutriere being served with gravy or fruit chutney.

Since it essentially meat and potatoes in pie form, vegetables or a side salad is a good addition too. But truthfully, we’d have so much tourtiere left overs that sometimes a single slice with a side of ketchup and a cup of coffee for breakfast is how we’d eat it.

How To Make Tourtiere (Step-By-Step Photos)

Below you’ll find step-by-step photos on how to make this Canadian meat pie, with my grandmother, my “Mamère,” teaching me her recipe. First, we start with the ingredients.

Tourtiere Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground pork
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 8 white potatoes, peeled & cooked (approx. 3-4 pounds)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 –  refrigerated 9 inch pie crust

Step 1 – Peel and Chop Potatoes

Before you begin cooking, wash, peel, and chop your potatoes. We used 3 pounds of potatoes, but when it was all said and done, we realized we could have added another pound. You could also use “instant” mashed potatoes if you need to save time, but taking this extra step gives the tourtiere a better texture.

Step 2 – Cook The Meat

Warm a large stock pot on medium heat, then add the meat and break it up with a large spoon or potato masher as it cooks. 

Once the meat is fully cooked, drain the broth into a separate bowl and save it for later use.

Step 3 – Boil The Potatoes and Onions

With the meat set aside, we added the potatoes and onions back into the same pot with some fresh cold water and a bit of the broth left over from the meat to add flavor.

(TIP: Since making this more on my own at home, I’ve started sautéing and browning the onion along with the meat. You can cook the onions either way (sauté or boil) and I’ve left this photo and step here since it is how my grandmother would make it.

Step 4 – Add The Spices And Blend Ingredients

While making these meat pies with my grandmother, I only had whole cloves. So I used my mortar and pestle to grind them up. Mix the dry spices together before adding them to the meat pie filling to help make the flavor more even throughout the pie.

After the potatoes have cooked, drain them and add all the ingredients back to the pot. Using a large spoon or a hand mixer, blend all ingredients together and add the spices.

Step 5 – Prepare The Pie Crusts

Some families will make their pie crust from scratch. We always used store-bought refrigerated crusts. Either way is fine!

Roll out the pie dough into a pie pan and add the meat pie filling. This recipe makes enough filling two pies.

Using a little water, wet the edge of the bottom crust. Then add the top layer of pie dough, fold over the edge and pinch it together.

Create some vents on top of the pie crust by either using a knife or shaped cookie cutter.  (Got my little nod to Canada there with a maple leaf shaped cookie cutter.) 

Step 6 – Bake The Meat Pies

Cover the pies with foil and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then remove foil and reduce heat to 400 degrees. Bake for an additional 40 minutes.

Voila!  My first tourtiere!

My baking skills improved a bit over the years as I’ve made this…

How To Freeze Tourtiere

To freeze a whole meat pie, it is best to freeze a whole tourtiere BEFORE baking. This will help create a more crispy, less soggy crust and it will hold its shape better. If you plan to freeze a whole pie, assemble the pie in a disposable aluminum foil pie pan. Then wrap the whole thing tightly in plastic wrap. 

Personally, we cook our meat pies and then freeze individual slices as single servings to warm up in the microwave or oven. To do this, simply wrap each slice tightly in plastic wrap and freeze.

How To Reheat A Frozen Tourtiere

To bake a frozen tourtiere, start by transferring the pie from your freezer to your refrigerator and allow it to thaw overnight. Then bake the pie normally just as the recipe instructs. Cover the pie with foil and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then remove foil and reduce heat to 400 degrees. Bake for an additional 40 minutes.

And to reheat individual slices of frozen meat pie, remove the plastic wrap and place the pie slice on a large piece of tin foil. Close the foil over the top to create a sort of pocket, and heat the single frozen pie slice in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

What’s The History Of Tourtiere?

Our personal history of this traditional French Canadian meal is intertwined with Christmas time. We’d have slice of tourtiere before going to midnight mass. And some Christmases, we’d enjoy it while watching holiday movies all night until midnight when we’d each open one gift. One thing always remained the same though, there would be leftovers and we’d be eating meat pie all week long between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Baking a meat pie to celebrate the holidays has been a tradition that started with Québécois settlers in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Christmas Eve was celebrated after midnight mass with a late-night feast called a réveillon, with tables overflowing with meats and wine. Our humble meat pie was likely even European remnant of the Roman festivities of Saturnalia, which had similar celebrations around the same time of year.

All I know is that a hearty tourtiere, with a crispy crust full of meat and potatoes and winter spices, is the perfect comfort food during winter. We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

French Canadian Tourtiere

My Grandmother’s Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground pork
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 8 white potatoes, peeled & cooked
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 refrigerated 9 inch pie crust