How to Make Classic Tourtière (Québec Pork Pie Recipe)

On Christmas Eve, we almost always head to a beautiful candlelight service at our church and then drive home through the falling snow (on the years that it snows, obviously) to enjoy a late supper of Tourtière – Québec pork pie. This is a tradition fondly practiced throughout Québec, whether preceded by a religious service or not.

At our home, the tourtière is homemade, and we enjoy it throughout the holidays, not just on Christmas Eve. As I write, six wrapped pies sit in my deep freezer, waiting to be baked to golden perfection.

Essentially, tourtière is a meat pie; lightly spiced ground pork layered between flaky pastry, and served with a chunky green ketchup. It’s total comfort food, loved by all and needs nothing save a tossed salad or bowl of steamed peas to make up a complete meal. It can be enjoyed warm or cold, for brunch, lunch, or dinner – and makes a splendid midnight feast.

The Best Tourtière Recipe

Recipes for tourtière vary from region to region and kitchen to kitchen. It’s been said that the best recipe is the one your grand-mère gave you, but as my Baba is Ukrainian, I’ve sourced my recipe elsewhere!

Friend, Montrealer, and fellow food enthusiast, Ryk Edelstein, did his tourtière homework several years back. He gathered a handful of recommended recipes from various Québec regions -try about eleven- and proceeded to make them all. Twice. Ryk used as many ovens as he could convince his friends and family to allow, and twenty-two meat pies later, he narrowed down the recipes to two or three favorites.

This recipe, passed along to me from Ryk, is straightforward, appealing to all, and lends itself well to large batches. It is from Montreal Gazette food editor Julian Armstrong’s cookbook, A Taste of Québec, and apparently was one of the winners in a tourtière contest put on by the Gazette.

It’s a winning recipe in my books. Both of my boys tuck into it enthusiastically, and not just because I allow them to slather it with ketchup. It also makes scrumptious little hand pies, if you have time for that sort of thing. Wrap one of them, warmed, in a cloth napkin, tuck it into your pocket, and you have the perfect portable snack for a sledding expedition.

Classic Tourtière or Québec Pork Pie

4.46 from 22 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Dishes
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Servings: 12 people (two 9-inch meat pies)
Calories: 450kcal
Author: Aimee

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 pounds ground pork ideally organic & local
  • 1 1/2 cups cold water
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 bay leafs
  • 1 teaspoon dried savory
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Salt
  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • Pastry for two double-crust 9-inch pies
  • 1 egg beaten, for glaze

Instructions

  • In a large, heavy frying pan, combine pork with cold water and heat to boiling point. It should be slightly soupy.
  • Add onion, celery, pepper, bay leaf, savory, rosemary, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 1 1/4 hours; stir often. Add more water if mixture dries out.
  • Halfway through cooking time, season with salt to taste.
  • Stir in rolled oats and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bay leaf and allow to cool. Setting the entire pot in the snow bank speeds up this process!
  • Meanwhile, line two 9-inch pie plates with pastry. When meat mixture is lukewarm, divide it between two pie shells and spread it out evenly.
  • Brush around outer edge of pastry with the beaten egg. Place top crust on the tart and press gently around the edge to seal. Trim pastry, crimp edges and cut steam vents in top crust. Decorate as desired.
  • Bake in preheated 425°F oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375°F and bake another 25 minutes or until crust is golden.

Nutrition

Calories: 450kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 195mg | Potassium: 353mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 1.8mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1.9mg

Do-Ahead

Is there any point in making just one meat pie? Not really. They freeze beautifully; whether pre-cooked or frozen with raw pastry dough, which ensures that you can get a hot, filling meal during the busy days ahead.

I also make a few extra to give away. Friends who are adapting to life with a new baby in the house, or are going through a rough patch, can expect an edible gift of tourtière from my kitchen.

Pies can be frozen directly after assembly, with the dough still raw (this is what I do). Wrap them well in plastic wrap and freeze.

To cook:

  • Remove pie from the freezer and unwrap.
  • Brush the top with a little beaten egg and place frozen meat pie in a preheated 375°F oven.
  • Bake until golden and heated through, about 50 minutes.

Pies can also be baked and cooled, then wrapped and frozen. This is convenient when you really need an instant supper fix.

To serve:

  • Remove meat pie from the freezer a few hours before serving, if possible.
  • Wrap in foil to keep it moist and warm in a low (300°F) oven until heated through.

Whether you speak French or English in the home, celebrate Christmas or not, tourtière is an essential December dish around here.

What is your traditional Christmas Eve fare?

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160 Comments

      1. In the condiment aisle look for chow chow, same thing. In Quebec we make our own but the chow chow will suffice. Enjoy

  1. Finally a recipe with just pork as it should be. This is a New Year’s dish from way back when, but we start making them at Thanksgiving. I make 8 – 10 at a time. I do not use celery; ground pork, salt, pepper, onion, cinnamon and cloves. I render off the lard and use it for the pie crust by cooking the meat separately in a large kettle with just enough water to cover until it comes and stays to a rolling boil for 10 – 15 minutes. with no spices added. That is added after you pour the juices back in, less the lard, and cooked for about 10 minutes to soften the onions. I use cubed white bread for the binder. I do not and have never heard of Tourtiere from a true French Canadian, made with anything but ground pork.

    1. I am a chef and I collect old cook books. Being a Canadian I especially love old Candian cook books. Historically you will find in Quebec many game animals were often added such as rabbit or hare along with the pork to stretch and use what was available. But alas most recipes are straight pork these days. I like yourself have my prejudices and do not care for the idea of adding beef. I feel beef is a British pot pie of sorts not a tortier.

      1. I can confirm the mixed meats part. My husbands parents are Québécois and they both do it differently. While my mother-in-law will make it of pork and beef, my father-in-law who lives in Lac-Megantic will use deer or moose as a main. In some of these towns, game is all they eat cause they hunt, have rabbits and chickens, they have lakes with home grown trout…no need to buy beef or pork.
        I’m Italian, we don’t do meat pies so I love the holidays visiting them, I get my yearly fix!
        I’m trying your recipe this weekend.

    2. 5 stars
      My understanding is that there are as many types or tourtière as there are regions of Quebec. For example, tourtière Lac St-Jean uses beef, chicken, pork and veal. My family recipe, (French Candian from Lowell, Mass.) uses 3/4 ground beef and 1/4 ground pork, along with one mashed potato as a binder. It’s served with regular Heinz ketchup or gravy.

      1. Born and raised out here in Quebec.
        You can use Pork, veal, chicken, beef
        To be honest, people would use what they had in the kitchen, pork is cheap and its the same as our recipes “Pudding au chaumeur” (Poor mans pudding). Same kind of idea 😉

    3. Double hooray for only pork and no potatoes! I have my Great Grandmother’s original recipe and there is not oatmeal nor potatoes in it!!! It is fun to see the changes that have been made to the recipe. However, I will stick to my Great~Grandmother’s recipe!!!

        1. Hi Gayle,

          I do not have a written recipe, but my great grandmother from Canada also made her pork pies with pork only, onions spices. Pork, water, finely chopped onions, allspice, cloves, salt, pepper and either bell’s seasoning or better than bouillon in a large pot. Bring to boil and then I let simmer for a couple of hours. I don’t think it needs to simmer for a couple of hours, but that’s what I remember.

    4. My family is from Quebec and New Brunswick and my grandmother and mother used to swear by an equal amount of pork beef and veal

  2. Grew up in in Los Angeles CA, to my French Canadian parents who would always have large Xmas parties with all of their French Canadians cohars living in So Cal. Like clockwork just after chrismus mom would start her yearly grind, Home Made Fruit cakes, Tourtiere, with Swet catsup,her home made chocolate fudge and of course Sacreleme not sure if spelled correct.
    my mom would make the pies by the dozen ( and since my dad had a part time ice bussness we had plent of room to freez them where Mom would dish out pies and jars of her catsup to those in attendance. My wife only got to meet and eat my mothers cooking and has always been after me to get her the reciept so she can try making these treats. Looking forward to remembering my Youth Love ou in Heaven mom

    1. Hi Marc, just FYI , the word you were looking for is pronounced “sucacrem” which is really French Canadian slang for “sucre à la crème”, literally creamed sugar traditionally made using maple syrup as the sugar.

      1. Oh yum! When I was a cook at the Convent of Notre Dame (750 kingston Rd. Toronto) One of the visiting nuns from Quebec intorduced me to this wonderful little pie- geared for those of us with a sweet tooth. Very Rich and Very Yum. I think I shall have to make one very soon!

  3. I couldn’t find green tomatoes, or green ketchup, and so I made a sauce with cranberry sauce (1 part), relish (1/2 part) and ketchup (1/2 part). It was delicious!

    1. I made a chutney this fall from green tomatoes and Granny Smith apples, I think that will be awesome with it, in the past I have always just used ketchup.

  4. We add cloves to our filling and it is truly the defining spice in the pie for my family.

    I’m now a vegetarian but really love and look forward to the tourtiere I grew up with every Christmas…so we came up with a delicious veggie version.

    I substitute tvp and mushrooms for the traditional meat filling. I cook and season it the same way except of course that we use vegetable broth for the tvp.

    It tastes the same and evokes all of the magical holiday nostalgia as the original.

  5. It isn’t only pork pie. My family goes back a long way, almost 400 years, and pork was part, and only part, of tourtiére but always included beef in my memory and originally a now extinct bird. In the Manitoba, game is also part and sometimes all of the meat and may have been for the original habitants.

    1. The very first tourtiere would have been made with a game bird called tourterelle, that was abundant around the St Lawrence River. It was hunted to extinction be the settlers. My family uses beef, pork, and veal.

      1. I did not know that. With the spelling it really makes sense. What a great story. I have made tourtiere since coming to live in Canada 1975. Saw recipe and been a huge hit with my family ever since. Being partly British we are big fans of meat pies tourtiere being the firm favourite.
        Merry Christmas to you.

  6. 5 stars
    My wife still has cousins and cousinnes in Quebec, as far north as Rimouski. And here we are, living on the Arkansas/Oklahoma border. A few weeks back she hired a lady to round out her office crew, only to find out later on that the lady ALSO has relatives in Quebec, and she ALSO bakes the meat pie at Christmas. So we had the tourtière for the first time in Oklahoma. My crusty (no pun intended!) US Army retired 76-year-old father-in-law (whose first language was French) wept openly.

    1. Dan, Thank you for writing in. You made my Christmas! I really appreciate the feedback and your personal story. I’ve long known of the powerful connection between food and memories, and the holidays is always a particularly poignant time for making those connections.

      Happy holidays to your whole family, especially your father in law!

    2. 5 stars
      Awe that is very heartwarming to hear. that just blessed me hearing that. my father was French though I never knew him, and I have always had a love of Canada, and the northern territories. I HAD SOMETHING LOKE THE MEAT PIE SOMEONE MADE FOR ME. IT WAS CALLED A PASTY, AND SHE WAS FROM NORTHERN MICHIGAN OH, THET WAS JUS WONDERFUL, I LOVE THOSE. GOD BLESS. KATHRYN

      1. I had those as a child a long time ago when we lived in Marquette Mi. I believe they are Cornish Pasties that originated for people who worked in mines to take to eat. So good! I think you can find a recipe for them. The crust is a little different than pie crust.

      2. Pasty or Pastie – yes – very popular and delicious here in Michigan. They have migrated to Wisconsin some time ago.

        I make them as well using rutabaga and potatoes, no carrots. I love carrots raw, but once cooked, I cannot get them down. I use good ground beef with a little ground pork. Don’t make the mistake of using cheap potatoes. Use baking potatoes as that is what you are doing; baking these pasties.

        Enjoy the foods of Northern(Upper Peninsula of)Michigan.

        Darlene

    3. Dan – my Grandmother and Mother have passed years ago. I am 79 so do the numbers.

      I make, pork only, salt, pepper, onions, cinnamon and cloves and dried bread cubes for binding. Coolkinfg the meat on top of stove with just enough water to cover. The pork I used is very lean. Years ago, my mom use3d pork from our farm and had lots of fat it in. She would cook, like I said, on top of the stove and cool and take the lard from the top and use for the pie crusts.
      I made 28 this year for family and friends. I cancelled out some as it has gotten a little expensive and lots of work. It is hard to stop giving them as they look forward to them. Some have purchased them from Churches, made with beef, and cannot get them down the “hatch” and paid $15.00 and more for each one.

      Many years ago, a friend’s mom made some and insisted I try it. It was made with venison and beef. I could not eat it. Very dry and gaggy if that is a word.

      Thanks.
      Darlene

    4. 5 stars
      Thank you for sharing this, Dan. I love that your father-in-law was so moved by this dish. It is emotionally stirring to remember the fond memories and flavours of our past. Food – it feeds the body and soul 🙂

  7. Something seems wrong with the cooking times. The recipe header says “Prep time: 60 mins, Cook time: 55 mins, Total time: 1 hour 55 mins”, however step 2 says cook for 1 1/4 hours, then step 7 says to bake for 15 minutes, then additional 25 minutes. That’s a total of almost 2 hours of cooking time, unless the 1 1/4 hours was supposed to mean “one times one quarter of hour” instead of “one hour and a quarter”?

    1. 5 stars
      “This is a French Canadian recipe” is the reason for the time discrepancy. It’s always more about the end result being good rather than the apparent rationale (or lack thereof) of the steps taken to get there.

  8. 5 stars
    I could actually see my grandmother putting these pies together in my mind as I read your page. I’ve looked all over for her recipe and I’m pretty sure this is spot on.

    Thank you !

  9. It was great to see the recipe for tourtiere. My family is from Quebec since the mid 1600’s. My great grandmothers recipe is pretty basic. In the OLD days they used ground pork, water, onion, salt, dried bread crumbs, sage, a little pepper and a dash of nutmeg. She had an old tourt (clay casserole dish) to make the pie in. FYI that’s where the name came from tourtiere. My family are Peloquin (pillow kay), and Bruette. Yoyeux Noel to you and yours.

    1. I read in a Quebec book of old stats that the name “Tourtière” originated from the traveling bird (pigeon) called “Tourte” used by our ancestors to make tourtière until the beginning of the 19th century.

    2. Tourtiere Recipy:Ground pork.onions. salt.pepper.Cinnamin and cloves.put everything in pot on top of stove and cover with water cook till the meat changes color don’t over cook.put meat in pie crust and cook.this is my mother’s recipy her parents came from the Laurentien in northern Quebec. that’s the recipy I use but you can add any other meat you have, up to this day we put Molasse on top of the hot meat pie it is delicious.

  10. A note from a French Canadian American (my grand mother and grandfather are from Quebec), be sure not to over cook the pork, else it get a bit dry to the taste. No oats, no rice, no potatoes!

    Also, don’t over do the spices. Some of the best Meat pies have no spices besides salt and pepper, but a little allspice is good (although it flattens the flavor) and a tiny bit of cinnamon can sweeten, but not too much! You should be tasting the pork and veggie flavors all subtly but not be identifying “cloves” or “allspice” or “cinnamon” so be vary careful with the spices. Also as the mixture finishes cooking and cools the salt will enhance, so its wise to keep the salt a bit on the needing side until nearly done!
    A final note: Creton is made form this recipe, all you do it after the filling is cooked, run it through the meat grinder a fagain and add some spices to taste (allspice or cloves, or perhaps cinnamon if you must) but again, don’t over do the spices!

    Best Regards,

    Mike Lachance

    1. Mike and all,
      My family recipe (6x-great-grandpere Jean Jolin emmigrated from France & was a miller for Ile d’Orleans from 1690) has only salt and pepper like yours, to let the meat be front and center. We do 80% pork, 15% beef, 5% potatoes and onions. We always boil the unground meat whole with the onions, potatoes separate as they cook faster. Then we grind it all together, mix in cooking liquid (now a great broth) and salt/pepper to taste. Important to leave a little (like 2-5%) fat in the ground meat for added flavor. I do like the idea of venison instead of beef, but would reduce to maybe 5-10%. Happy eating to all.

  11. Hi Aimee, I just made this (recipe from BEJJ) for my husband for our Christmas Eve dinner. It was perfect and we are still munching on the leftovers for lunch for the past couple days. I even have a couple dozen hand pies saved in the freezer. Wishing you and your family all the best for a happy and healthy 2016.

  12. 2 stars
    What a great recipe! I used pork, beef and chicken added one carrot. I omitted the pepper, added gumbo filé, tarragon, thyme and cut back on the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and rosemary. I added bacon – yummy! It turned out absolutely perfect and most reminiscent of any tourtière I’ve ever eaten in my home province of Quebec but not so plain (which is also great). A good pie-crust is a must. Thanks so much.

    1. When i was a young boy,the youngest of a family of 10, i would watch my mother cook the filling for the pork pies.she would first cut up onions in a little fat (crisco or lard)simmer till tender then add the pork and maybe 1/3 ground beef and some water 1/2 cup. Salt pepper,some allspice or nutmeg a little cinnamon and clove and cook for a while till done.She made her own crust,she would mix some egg in it.She is the only person in ow that did this.She made the best pork pie I ever had.we would pickled beets with it Christmas Eve day or new year’s Eve.greatest memories of our large family.

  13. 5 stars
    This is a fantastic recipe. I love that the filling is cooked on the stove adjusting the spices midway through. This allows the spices to be perfected to each family’s taste. I found the recipe very easy to do and my family loved it. This will be my go to Tourtiere recipe now.

  14. 4 stars
    I just finished the filling made with pork. It’s delicious & I can’t wait to finish the pies. Our Girl Scout troop in Muskegon, Mi. USA, is having a party called world tasting day. Our individual troop chose Canada as our country. We each choose a dish from that country to bring. We have 12 girls, so we needed 12 Canadian dishes. I chose to make Tourtier. Can’t wait to see how it goes!

  15. Hi. I’m joint to make this pie for our ‘Canada night’ (each week we choose a different country). I’ll be making it gluten free. Any clues on what I can use instead of oats? If I don’t add oats would decreasing the water help? Do the oats absorb a lot of liquid and act as a binder!
    Thanks

      1. LOVE this recipe!!! It’s a huge hit in our house – 4 enthusiastic thumbs up! I managed to find gluten free pie crusts at my local grocery store and by the Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten free oats. Delicious!

  16. I’m of French Canadian descent (grandparents) and really enjoyed your post and also all the comments . I have several recipes from a few relatives and they are all slightly different. I do make tourtiere for Christmas Eve and it always reminds me of my family in New England. We live in California now and my daughter-in-law’s family , who is Hispanic love tourtiere!Thanks for the memories

  17. I still make them as my mother did, she was from Windsor Ontario, but I use corn starch to thicken the pork..my last go round I boiled the pork in chicken broth. It added just a little more flavor. I too couldn’t find her recipe so I borrowed ideas from other recipes. I like it simple…and serve it with creamed peas. Funny how we all have just a little twist in the recipe…
    I love it…and will try making the hand held size pies…yum!

  18. 5 stars
    Gosh — I wanted to like this but found it to be very plain. I’ve made tourtiere many times and this lacked depth of flavour. It needed some serious doubling of seasoning, perhaps broth to replace the water.

    It won’t let me give it one star. Only 4 or 5 is an option.

    Thanks anyway — it was worth a try.

  19. Being French Canadian and having a long family tradition of making tourtière, I need to say that the best tourtière and genuine tourtière is seasoned with ground CLOVE and cinnamon. You can skip all the other seasonings if you want a real tourtière. Chefs always mess up traditions by adding their own twist.

  20. 5 stars
    Made this today and am going to bake it for Christmas Eve tomorrow. I so look forward to it, because my Mother used to make this at Christmas so many years ago, even thought she’s 100% Ukrainian! The kitchen fragrances are already bringing back wonderful visions of a time and loved ones that can only found in my memories. Thanks for the recipe!

  21. 4 stars
    In my efforts to Google a Tourtiere recipe that is similar to my Mom’s I came across this post. It was wonderful to see such a long thread of comments spanning over 8 years. Tourtiere is near and dear to my heart. The only thing is that my family’s version includes is ground pork or any other meat that is ground. What we use is whole Pork Butt and we cook them down with water and a pot chock full of onions. By the time the pork is ready it has been reduced to shreads and the onions are no longer existent. Basically pulled pork without the BBQ sauce. What little liquid is left you make a wonderful gravy with and serve it on top of your homemade pasrty. My Mom was born in the Ilse de la Madeliene aka the Magdalen Islands . They are situated closer to Prince Edward Island but but are goverened by the province of Quebec. Does anyone else use whole pork? I’m very curious to know.

  22. I am so excited! This was a holiday staple. For those who omitted the spice, don’t! Give it a try. It’s a very specific and unique taste. Without it, it’s just any old pork pie.

    Amiee – do you have Herbes salées in your repitoire?

  23. 4 stars
    Hi, this is pretty much the Pork Pie Recipe that the French Canadians here in Woonsocket, RI , make. One big thing different though is the spice mixture, they use just ground allspice salt & pepper and bay leaf. This pie is a bit too flat for my liking, the ones I get here are mounded up high. I think these are best served at room temperature with ketchup.

  24. 5 stars
    Loved this recipe. Have been using one from Canadian Living Cookbook but this has more flavor. My family eats it with home made chili sauce. Thanks for sharing.

  25. 1 star
    I am from Québec and the classic and original recipe does NOT contain celery, rosemary or oats! Please do not put these ingredients in tourtière. Not only is not authentic, it ruins the dish completely. I made this recipe as is to try. A huge fail. Please, I implore you. Find another recipe. Google “tourtiere madame benoit”. That is authentic! Cheers!

  26. My grandmother and relatives were from Trois-Rivières and Rivière-du-Loup in Quebec. She always made tourtière for Christmas Eve, as did my mother. They made half and half with ground pork and ground beef, onions, mashed potato and spices. No celery, oats, rosemary…just allspice, nutmeg and S&P. I try to keep up the tradition, if I have the time, and make them around the holidays. Yum!

  27. 5 stars
    Thank you for this recipe! We make it every Christmas in Staunton, VA. It brings back so many memories of my prairie home in Manitoba!
    My American husband (the pie crust roller) won’t let a Christmas go by without 3 or 4 in the freezer