A traditional winter French Canadian favorite, Tourtiere is a savory and hearty comfort food of spiced meat in a flaky pastry crust.
We love our comfort food and Tourtiere (French Canadian Meat Pie) is a seasonal favorite. Flavored with savory spices, this combination of ground beef, ground pork, onions, potatoes and gravy is baked in a crust and typically served in our house with either gravy or ketchup.
What You’ll Need to Make Tourtiere
- Ground Pork – A softer ground meat, the addition of ground pork to tourtiere helps the pie to not dry out while cooking.
- Ground Beef – 80/20 ground beef may be used for this meal as the meat is browned and the grease drained before using.
- Onion – We use one medium yellow onion, about 1 cup, diced. White onions, sweet onions, red onions, or even shallots may be used instead.
- Pantry Spices – Allspice, nutmeg, ground cloves, oregano leaves, onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt and black pepper.
- Mashed Potatoes – for best results, instant mashed potatoes should not be used.
- Cornflakes – Crushed. Using cornflakes in tourtiere helps to bind and adds a little bit of corn taste to the pies. Breadcrumbs may be substituted.
- Beef Gravy – helps to enhance the flavor of the tourtiere and increase the moisture content.
- Pastry – For convenience, we use 2 thawed deep dish pie shells with “unroll and bake” pie crusts for the tops. You can use homemade pastry (make a double batch) if you prefer.
- Large Egg – beaten with a tablespoon of water, an egg wash will give the top of the pie a shiny, golden brown appearance.
How To Make Tourtiere
Hearty and satisfying, Tourtiere, or French Canadian Meat Pie, is a traditional cold weather comfort food. This savory mixture of ground meat, mashed potatoes, gravy and warm winter spices baked into a pastry shell is perfect for Christmas eve, a holiday meal or any chilly winter meal.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground pork until cooked through and no longer pink.
Drain and remove to a large bowl.
To the same skillet, add ground beef, onions and all spices and cook until browned.
Drain and add to the large bowl.
To the bowl add mashed potatoes, cornflakes and gravy and stir until well combined.
Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and spices if desired.
Pour the mixture evenly into two deep dish pie shells.
Cover with “unroll and bake” pastry.
Trim excess from edges and then crimp the edges with a fork.
Cut a few small slits in the top crust to vent.
In a small bowl, create an egg wash by beating together the egg and 1 tablespoon of water until frothy. Using a pastry brush, brush the crust with the egg wash.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the rack positioned in the middle.
Bake for 1 hour until golden brown. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Other Easy Family Recipes You May Like
Spinach and Sausage Spaghetti Pie – With Italian sausage and spinach hidden inside this is an unexpectedly good (and super easy!) weeknight creation that the entire family will love.
Dutch Oven Chicken Pot Pie and Biscuits – a hearty and satisfying one pot meal.
Easy Weeknight White Chicken Chili – a simple and creamy slow cooker family favorite!
One Pan Egg Roll Bowl – family friendly, quick and easy!
Easy Lemon Chicken Skillet Dinner – Tender strips of chicken breast, baby potatoes and mushrooms smothered in a tangy lemon pan sauce.
Tourtiere (French Canadian Meat Pie)
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 1/2 tbsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp oregano leaves
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cup mashed potatoes NOT instant
- 1/2 cup cornflakes crushed
- 1 cup beef gravy
- 2 deep dish pie shells thawed, if frozen, or use homemade pastry
- 2 "unroll and bake" pie crusts or use homemade pastry
- 1 egg for egg wash
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground pork until cooked through and no longer pink. Drain and remove to a large bowl.
- To the same skillet, add ground beef, onions and all spices and cook until browned. Drain and add to the large bowl.
- To the bowl add mashed potatoes, cornflakes and gravy and stir until well combined. Taste and season with additional salt, pepper and spices if desired.
- Pour the mixture evenly into two deep dish pie shells. Cover with "unroll and bake" pastry. Trim excess from edges and then crimp the edges with a fork. Cut a few small slits in the top crust to vent.
- In a small bowl, create an egg wash by beating together the egg and 1 tablespoon of water until frothy. Using a pastry brush, brush the crust with the egg wash.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 1 hour until golden brown (or freeze before baking). Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition *
* The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
Chaz says
Q1.Is breakfast pork sausage you buy in 5 lbs roll at Gordon Foods the same type of pork needed ?
Q2.How do you keep the bottom crust from being gueey yet brown on bottom but being soft and gueey on top (like texture of not done and rest of pie is perfect and done ) ?
Thank you !!!!
Sincerely
Chaz
Michelle Mundy says
Hi Chaz! We typically do not use breakfast sausage as that has seasonings already in it. We use unseasoned ground pork from the fresh meat (butcher) section in the grocery store. By browning and draining the meat before combining with the other ingredients, the bottom crust isn’t saturated with grease so it cooks up nice and flaky. The mashed potatoes and the crushed cornflakes help with this as well! 🙂