French Canadian Tourtière

Use all pork for truly authetic French Canadian flavor. You can fix the filling one day and serve the tourtiere the next day. Letting the filling sit over night really lets the spices flavor the filling. Update: I have found that it gets better the day after. So prepare it in advance and reheat if you have the time.

this is a great recipe. although you should cut back on the salt. also try adding 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. if you don't like the fat in ground pork, after cooking allow to cool in the fridge and take off fat, before spooning into pie crust. i've been making tourtiere, since i could help in the kitchen, making up to 12 or more during xmas. they make for great gifts during the holiday season. but save one for the tail gate party during superbow!

My husband is French Canadian and grew up eating pork pies...he says this is the BEST he has ever eaten! (even better than his sister's!!) Thanks for the recipe!

Hi, I am French Canadian and my mom always put 1/3 pork, 1/3 veal and 1/3 beef.... this has to much salt and shouldn't have to put water... my mom put a mash potatoe to reduce the liquid and to bind everything together...

Mmm, delicious. Made this for Christmas and it was a big hit. The only thing I noticed was that it needed more spice, but that could just be me, or my spices could have been old. Adjusted it by adding 3x the amount of spice, and added a bit of cinnamon too. Tastes just like my mom's (except she makes her crust, and I bought Tenderflake ones).

This recipe totally rocks!!!! My family and I totally loved it. It is a delicious change of pace. I am not much into making piecrusts and generally dont care to do so, but I absolutely HATE store bought ones. Reluctantly I made this piecrust and decided to use real LARD that I had rendered from a hog that we butchered in the back yard (yes people still do that) I have to say, it made the most awesome combination. A real Lard piecrust and the spices that are called for in the meat.....OMGosh, I thought I was in HEAVEN!!! My advise...dont leave out any of the spices that are called for and make your piecrust with real lard and you are in for a superior treat!!!! I have even made shephards pie from the meat portion of this recipe and that turned out awesome as well. Give it a try!

I made this for my family last weekend. It was a huge hit! I had taken some of the others advice and lessened the salt and doubled the spices. It was great...I am currently making more now as everyone wants to have them for Christmas. They all thought I had found Grandmas recipe from the 1940's!!

This recipe is delicous and so easy to make. I grew up having tourtiere at Christmas (my Nanna is french canadain) and it was such a treat having it Christmas Eve!!. I would add an egg to help with binding the meat. I'll make this again!

My Memere always made meat pie every Christmas, and the last few years I've picked up her tradition. No recipes were ever written down, so I developed my own recipe from what I remembered. She always made the pork and hamburg and after cooked with the onion and garlic, it is then mixed with mashed (with butter and milk) potatoes. Mix the meat and potatoes with spices. My spices are: cinnamon, poultry seasoning, salt/pepper, cloves, allspice. I sell them, they are that good. Sandy T

My mom Used to make tourtiere for me ALL the time, i always wanted to make it on my self and this recepie braught back memories!All my Friends loved it! The only change i made was adding gradded carrots!AWSOME!

I FOUND THAT THERE WAS TOO MUCH SALT.

Fabulous! Tasted exactly like my Quebecoise best friend made for me at her home in Quebec

Very good. This isn't exactly as I remember my French-Canadian grandmothers making, but it's pretty close. Changes I made: I used 2 lbs of ground pork (no beef), omitted the water (the onions and pork rendered plenty of juice), and brushed an egg wash onto the crust.

Exactly as I remember from home (Quebec) except my memere added a med. size potatoe which helps bind all the ingredients. Bon Appetite!

Excellent! Per suggestions I added 1 teaspoon cinnamon and decided to use beef broth instead of water. I thought my filling was a little watery so I drained meat, reserving the liquid. Set meat aside and in pan I used 1T butter melted and 1T flour to make a rue. Added back liquid and cookded until thickened. Mixed back into meat and then follwed recipe. My daughter took to school for a heritage project where she told about her French Canadian heritage and their Christmas traditions. It was a huge hit.

Being French Canadian, I can honestly say this is the best Tourtière I have ever tasted. When I made it at Christmas time, my entire family loved it. Thanks!

This is a wonderful recipe, I disagree with the pork only being the real recipe,, the original was rabbit or moose with pork as the meat was too dry on its own. today in many homes in canada ,, it is pork and beef..

I halved the salt and doubled the spices (personal preference). I replaced 1/2 lb. of the ground pork for 1/2 lb. of ground veal, which is often done here in Quebec. I made a good pastry with a blend of shortening and butter and I also put some thyme in the pastry as well. I've made it twice and the second time I put in a cup of frozen peas - not traditional, but it worked. I only like homemade tourtieres and now I have a recipe which is really appreciated. Thanks for sharing.

Yum! And a note to TCCBABY: a meat pie with veggies as you suggested would not be a French Canadian Tourtiere. Good luck in your quest for a meat pie that is not a toutiere.

Wow! I was very worried that this would not taste good. I needed a Canadian recipe for an Olympic theme pot luck. I loved it! Even kids like it, which surprised me. I highly recommend this recipe. I used 2 lbs of ground pork and 1/2 lb of beef, just because I love the pork better. It does fall apart when you serve it, but it still tastes incredible! I love the flavor! The Pilsbury pie crust was a great combination. I did brush the top of the pie crust with milk to brown it nicely. Please choose this recipe I did not add anything to it, although you can come up with you own creation.

This was pretty close to my Memere's recipe....however, she never put so many different herbs in hers. Equal amounts of beef and pork, diced onion, Bell's Poultry Seasoning, salt & pepper and 4-5 slices of fresh white bread, shredded finely.....helps to bind the meat and absorb some liquid. Then the mixture was stuffed into the turkey, where the turkey juices would flavor it all the more. We weren't offerend seconds, so there'd be enough leftover for the pie!

Husband is French Canadian and he thought this was better than what he remembers his family making, as theirs was too dry, this one was moist. I used all pork only, kept everything else the same to a T! Very good!

After cooking approximately according to directions I still had a fair amount of water left in the meat, I decided to boil just the water down and add it to add more flavor, it went really fast and I burned some of it. The portion I had left that was usuable was quite salty so I am guessing if I had used it all it might have been too salty. The recipe says to spoon the meat into the pie crust, I don't think the recipe was meant to have all the water and spices in it.

We were looking for something to have for our French Canadian heritage, so I found this and tweaked it a bit: I used 1/4 sage pork sausage and 1 lb ground beef, used no water just chicken broth(I used Progresso in the box and used about half the box), omitted the sage, added a TB of A-1 sauce to the mix. As it was almost done on the stove top with the access water, I added about 2 cups of mashed potato flakes to absorb the access liquid and mixed it until it had a consistency of pate', then baked it in a Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust and it came out amazing! My best friends' mother who is Polish, very picky about her food and eats nothing but Polish food "polished" this off! She wants me to make her an entire pie just for her.....which I think I shall soon! It is an unusual tasting meal....and very good! Very different, but very good!

My husband is French Canadian and eats this dish every Christmas Eve. He said he has never had a meat pie recipe this delicious. I will be making this often!

I was raised in a French canadian home--that was a tradition over the holidays--the only thing different that we always had in the Tourtiere was 2 large cooked potatoes, chopped--probably that would prevent it from being watery! great recipe!

SO GOOD!! I've never eaten anything like this, but I thought I'd give it a try. I am so glad I did! I made this for the in-laws right before Christmas, and they were impressed. This pie went a long way in my house, as it's very filling. It does taste great the second day as well. Thanks for sharing this gem of a recipe!!

Excellent recipe,deserves five stars.

The sweet clove with the two meats just DOESN'T work well! Also....the bottom crust did not cook well. It was not done but you wouldn't know because the top crust looked done, and have cooked as per the recipe. This is not savory. It was meat and crust with cloves. My idea of a meat pie would be much more hearty...at least some sort of vegetable. I read one review where the cook added carrot. At least that was probably more to look at. This was nice looking on the outside, then you cut in and all you see is brown meat.

This is excellent. I add 1 small russet potato, sliced thin, and a handful of minced parsely. I fill my crust with half the meat mixture, top with a layer of potato, then the remaining meat. Serve with ketchup or tomato chutney.

Great! Made it for Xmas eve dinner this year. I had to work 'till dinnertime, so I made the filling a day ahead, then just put it into the crust and the oven when I got home...mo muss, no fuss! I used 1lb pork and 1lb beef, and used veg stock instead of water....easily made enough filling for 2 9" pies, so I froze half of it for a later meal.

This is somewhat similar to a dish my grandmother makes. However, she adds a cup or two of small-dice potatoes or even leftover mashed potatoes and a pinch of nutmeg. For meat lovers only!

I doubled the spices & had 1 pound each of the pork/beef. I didn't have ground cloves so I substituted it with All Spice. I forgot to cover the pie with aluminum foil so I baked it at 400F. The crust came out fine but I found the mixture watery. Next time I won't add the water, or use the correct meat ratio.

I had this at Aux Anciennes Canadiens in Quebec City and it was served with a fruit relish made from tomatoes, onions, apples and peaches. The relish is a nice touch.

i am french canadian and was just looking up fun recipes to go with my heritage and was skeptical at first but with that first bite... yum! i'm gonna share this recipe with friends for years to come!

Easy to make, good taste, a little salty. Will make again but cut down on salt.

Phenomenal. I followed the recipe almost exactly. It was easy and delicious. Thanks so much!

This was an excellent recipe, but i did cut back on the salt and added more of each other spices...Mmmm delish!!

never making this kind of pie,I found this one was very easy to follow and make,I must say the smells in the itchen had everyone standing by with fork and knife,and yes it tasted just a good as it smelled I do remember having this back when I was young and yummy now I have a great recipe to make and enjoy this will now become a part of my family christmas thankyou so much for a great dish

I made this and it was a HUGE hit with my husband and 3 teen-age kids. My 16-year old said: It's like potato chips, you can't stop eating it. I would follow the suggestions next time to add potato. Loved it. Make 2 and freeze one for another time. (I tried to do this, but the second one never made it to the freezer!)

This was delicious! I added a few things to it so it probably wasn't authentic anymore, but it sure was good. I added a mashed, boiled potato, about 10 mashed baby carrots, a minced fuji apple, and some cinnamon. Mmmmmmm.

I served this as one of the dishes on a large dinner buffet and it was a big hit. Only one guest (a Brit) knew what it was and very excitedly cut himself a good sized piece. Because I was serving a large crowd, I doubled all of the ingredients and baked it in a 12" pie plate which fit quite nicely. I tend to roll out my pastry to be quite thin, so was still able to use the pastry sold for 9" pies. There was not even a shred of this left at the end of the night. Highly recommended!

5 star forsure! Delicious. I doubled the spices and used moose and pork. 80/20 moose to pork.

Tourtiere/meat pies are delish! For extra flavor I browned 1 lb. ground pork (all I had). I added a large shallot and 3 garlic cloves, then S&P, sage, rosemary and cloves. While that was sauteing, I boiled two small diced potatoes. I added those, non-mashed, with the potato water (about a 1/2 cup remaining) to the meat, along with a few tablespoons of white wine, to simmer till the water was mostly reduced. Added to an all-butter pie crust. It is delicious!!

My father, having some French Canadian in him, always used to make tourtiere on Christmas Eve when I was a child. This pie tastes almost like his...only thing that was missing was the mushroom gravy. P.s. Based on others comments I only used 1 tsp of salt in the pie and it turned out wonderful. No extra salt was needed.

Easy to make but too salty, perhaps reducing the salt by half would be better. Reheats well. Nice to try but not something I will make again soon.

This was delicious. I used 4 cloves of garlic and upped the sage to 1/2 tsp. It was so good, everyone went for seconds.

this was excellent!

Very good, huge pie! Nice flavour, will add more onions and garlic next time. Good seasoning.

Very good! And easy to make. I took advice from other reviews and I halved the salt, added an extra dash of all the spices, and threw in a second clove of garlic. Yum, yum.

I really enjoyed this, although my husband thought it was just so-so. I followed the suggestions of others, but nearly tripled the garlic & added an extra dash of the spices. I was out of sage and substituted dried savory, which worked just fine. Next time I'll increase the spices even more - the flavor was good but not as strong as I might like. I also used a Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust & this made a nice quick weeknight dinner (new potatoes w/ garlic & butter on the side - yummy!).

Definitely a keeper! I found the recipe by searching for traditional Christmas Eve dishes and thought it looked good so we made it tonight (Christmas eve.) I cut a Christmas tree with a star out of the left over pie crust and put it on top, it was beautiful! Even the 2 year old ate two pieces, thank you for sharing.

I made this for dinner on Christmas eve. It is a keeper in my household. I am still getting compliments from my husband on this. My father's family hails from French Canada dating back to early 1600's. Though he does not remember his mother making this pie, he did remember other's making it. It will be a tradition in our family now.

This is the one I grew up eating. Terrific recipe- I like to stir constantly while I cook the meat to achieve more a more finely textured filling.

Really tasty! Very close to my family recipe- make sure to eat it with chow chow instead of ketchup for pure québecois goodness!

This was excellent, just enough spices. The only thing I would do next time is put 1/4 cup water instead of the 1/2 cup since it had a wet bottom.

This is a great recipe. My French Canadian aunt made this at Christmas all the time and I make it now. In the crust she always added thyme also. Mmm delicious!

Very similar to my Gram's (long-lost) recipe. Added one egg and a little cinnamon and it was perfect. Thank you for this! Also - authentic French Canadian tourtiere is like authentic Italian pizza...not everyone grew up with or likes the exact same recipe. That doesn't necessarily make one less authentic than another.

My mother in law and I use this recipe but cut the salt down by half and use no water but instead a potato to bind everything together :-)

VERY GOOD!

My dad is from Quebec and knows his meat pies. I used only pork - no beef(real tourtiere uses only pork according to dad) and increased the sage to 1/2 tsp. and it turned out pretty good. Dad said it could be a little spicier though. My inlaws had never had it before and they loved it! I will definetly make again.

Excellent rendition of the traditional tourtiere. I've made this one a few times and its always been a favorite here at home. I tend to substitute the meat for a meatloaf mix at the butcher, it gives you a nice blend of beef,pork and veal. I must go and reheat some leftovers. Good one!

I was checking on the Touriere recipe, and it is identical to the one my mom gave me over 40 years ago, the only thing i changed, was to make a beef gravy in the meat mixture, and it is nice and moist.

this was very good, but very rich, so i would lessen the pork

This is absolutely delicious! I never realized the combination of spices could come out so good!

I didn't know what a tourtiere was; all I know is my french Canadian husband has been craving for it for years. We live in Australia. Found this recipe, made it and he was quite happy. Had to adjust the spices so it wasn't too bland. Would make it again.

I don't cook a whole lot but I managed to make this dish without any problems. It turned out excellent, everyone enjoyed it and went back for seconds. The next time I make it I might try it with a few more veggies, but for those folks out there than enjoy their meat, this is the perfect recipe!

I live in Vermont about 15 miles south of Canada and this is very close to what I grew up eating. I think my uncle's mom (from Lacolle) didn't use ground beef. I tried this recipe and it was very good; a little different from Yvette's though (again, I'm thinking it's the ground beef). We have this around Christmas time every year. My husband is from California and had never heard of this. First time I made it he ate 1/2 of the pork pie! I like mine with a some gravy and just veggies on the side.

I doubled the spices like other people had suggested and the flavor was great. I loved this recipe. My only issue was that the meat mixture was too dry and crumbled out of the pie. I did try adding mashed potato to bulk it up but it didn't work. I will definitely make this again, however I may try using an egg to keep the filling together. Otherwise yum yum.

I'm afraid I have to give this recipe only 3 stars as I think some of the other tourtiere recipes on this site are better. Some use mashed potato and I think that would help bind the meat better. Otherwise it's a bit crumbly. The combination of spices is good, but might add more next time. I didn't think the salt was overwhelming, but could cut it down if you're worried about sodium intake.

This is a delicious Tourtiere. My Mom introduced me to this years ago. I love the spices, not too overpowering. I used 1/3 pork, beef, and veal. I also use one cup riced boiled potato and my own pie crust recipe. My whole family looks forward to this dish each Christmas Eve following Church. It is especially good with Rhubarb relish preserves. The review suggesting the filling chill overnight for flavors to blend was great.

The only change I made was to decrease the salt to 1 tsp, and it was still too salty. I'd try 1/2 tsp next time. The flavor, though, was delicious. My only other complaint is that there is nothing to hold the meat together. This ended up being a plate of ground meat with pie crust nearby. I should have read the reviews first, since many recommend potato or egg as a way to keep the meat together. I'll still try this again with one of those, since the flavor was so good.

This pie was absolutely delicious. Best meat pie recipe I ever made. My husband just loved it and said if he was a judge he'd have to give me a blue ribbon, lol. Only thing I did was reduce the salt by 1/2 tsp & added about 3/4 cup mashed potatoes.

This was so good. I brushed egg on top of the crust. It tasted nice and buttery. I could taste all the seasonings I put in. Will definetely make this again.

Yummy, tyvm for sharing! This is my third time making the recipe and this time I used an extra 1/2 lb of pork because we like deep dish style pies so just upped all the ingredients about 25%. I (reluctantly) added about 3/4 tsp of cinnamon as some reviewers suggested and have to admit, it added to the already abundant flavor of the filling. My only suggestion would be to add a tbsp or two (as needed) of unseasoned breadcrumbs for binding but don't add too much - the last time I overdid it and the filling came out a tad dry but still tasted great! Personally, I like a filling that holds together. I made the crust using butter flavor Crisco - perfect every time.

This was the best pork pie my husband and myself ever had. I personally grew up in a very french family and was forced to eat pork pie. I haven't had it in years now and figured I would look at everyone else's recipes and compare them to mine. I followed everything on this one except for 2 things. I still added 3 meduim whipped potatoes(made mine with only 1 1/2 lbs of pork)like in the traditional pork pie, I sauted my onions in a little bacon fat for flavor and then I actually used phyllo dough since that's all I had in my house and couldn't get out. It was really good with this dough and since I'm not nuts about thick crusts anyways, this worked out great!

It was good, but not great. I would make it again, but this time add something to thicken the liquid and make it into a sauce. Also I would add potatoes, carrots, and maybe some cheese. I realize it would no longer be a traditional Tourtierre, however it would turn it into a 1 dish meal.

Wow just like grandma's Excellent!! This one brings back holiday memories

this is a very good recipe. i will make it again. its easy to make and my kids loved it.

Perfect!!! I come from a Canadian family and my father had made his Tourtiere for as long as I can remember. This totally out did his, but don't tell him. After making this recipe as is many time I branched out and now use half Turkey and half Meatloaf mix meat and i don't add any salt. Wonderful addition to our Christmas table.

This was a great dish. I used ground beef instead and it turned out great! Will definitely try it with pork next time. Served with roasted red potatoes and fresh green beans.

Very good! I added a dash more of seasonings, and before I put the top crust on, I sprinkled garlic powder on the meat. I'm glad I did! Thanks for the recipe!

This is okay. My dad's family is french canadian. Modernly in the maine area. We eat this every christmas eve and its supposed to have mashed potatoes in it.

This was a big hit a few nights ago. I chopped up some very fine pieces of celery and carrots to the meat mixture, very good!

Tastes almost just like my French-Canadian Grandmother's! Very good meat pie recipe, simple too!

Ihad a lot of liquid after baking too much tasted great but I'll put in an egg next time .

I love the flavors and ease of this pie. I need to figure out a way to make it hold together better. Otherwise, a definite hit. My sweetie suggested adding potatoe, and as I read some of the reviews, it seems there are some mashed potatoe fans. I have never met a potatoe I did not like, so that will go in next time,and maybe an egg. I did think this would make a great shepherd's (cottage) pie filling, and lard pastry would be divine!

A recipe that requires no modification. Made as is and it was amazing. I have also made this recipe more traditionally using only pork, both ways are equally delicious to my family.

My son had tried frozen store bought Tourtiere and really enjoyed it so I thought we would try this. I used beef boullion for the water and reduced the salt and thyme to 1/4 tsp. I added extra garlic and salt free Cajun seasoning but we still felt it was missing something. I will keep looking for the right recipe for us.

first time trying a tourtiere, this recipe make it so easy and good, everyone asked for seconds

Yumm! I will be making this again very soon! This is perfect with some homemade gravy. My suggestion is to scale back on the salt and add a bit of cinnamon to enhance the flavour. Thank you for the recipe!

This was a very good basic meat pie. I did double the spices and then it was savory and aromatic. I would press the meat down into the pie shell more as well as my pieces fell apart - but still good tasting messes! My family all liked it very much! I would make this again.

Added 2/3 c instant potato flakes. Also 1/4c chopped fresh parsley. This is yummy!

This was simple and decent, a good base recipe. I grew up in PQ having tourtiere every Christmas Eve - our recipe calls for diced apples as well. They keep everything very moist. I've made it with mashed potatoes as a binder but our pies always had finely diced potatoes and that's the way I prefer it. A mix of meat is fine, beef and pork are common but we also added venison if we had some from hunting season. The cloves are probably the most important spice to me!

The family loved it! Excellent recipe! Thank you

All pork, no clove. Added one small diced potato cooked in chicken broth and one egg for binder, once the meat mixture cooled. This was my mom's recipe served after Christmas Midnight Mass each year.

I made this for my family last year (2013) and it was the shining star of Thanksgiving! I took the advice of some of the folks who had made it, I reduced the salt and increased the herbs/spices. I used 1/2 a tsp salt then doubled the herbs & spices. Everyone raved about the meat pie and they are now requesting it for this Thanksgiving. :-)

This is a great recipe! If you are only using beef- use less salt (1/4 tsp). I suggest fresh thyme and sage if you have it. It is SO easy and YUMMY!

This was well-received by my French-Canadian side of the family as well as the Polish/Irish/German folks who looked at me like I had three heads when I said "meat pie"!?! I used the recipe for Tourtiere Spice Mix from this site - savory is a must, according to my aunt - and also used a cheddar cheese crust from a Chicken Pot Pie recipe here (I know, not authentic but had seen a recipe and just couldn't get it out of my head.) Ended up with a dish which will now be tradition for us.