Traditional French Canadian Tourtiere

Liquid chicken seasoning is not chicken stock. It's like liquid bouillon (concentrated chicken broth). It should be with the regular bouillon in your grocery store.

This is a great, great recipe. The flavor is just amazing. My only advice is DON'T make the full recipe! I did and it took me days. Yes, I now have 7 tourtiere's in my freezer for the winter but I almost lost my mind too! I now cook a manageable 3 at a time. (24 servings.) The smells and flavors of this dish make it the perfect fall or winter meal. Thank you so much for sharing!

This was very much like my mother used to make-seasoning is fantstic. I cut the recipe 'way down and used some ground turkey to lower the fat content- still great! One question though- what is liquid chicken seasoning? -I asked Allrecipes- and they thought it was chicken stock - is that right???

Being of French Canadian descent pork pies were a traditional meal on Christmas Eve. My Meme is long gone now and her recipe. This is dead on to what I remember in my childhood. the only thing I added was mashed potatoes to bind the filing. Other than that its a keeper. Serve with pickled beets and enjoy!!

The liquid chicken seasoning I use is Knorr's Bovril which is a bouillon concentrate. Available in Canada although I don't know about the USofA.

This is the authentic recipe for tortiere a la Quebecois. It had been several years since I had enjoyed this traditional Christmas Eve fare prepared by my mother-in-law in Laval Quebec, and it tasted just as I remembered it. French Canadians usually add a dollup of ketchup on the side when served, at least, my in-laws did. Somehow the spices come alive with the addition. This is as French Canadian as it gets. For a moister pie, use twice as much ground pork as ground beef in your recipe, and try a dab of ketchup on the side.

Hi Kathleen. This recipe probably comes the closest to the recipe that my grandmother told me about almost thirty years ago. Yours is the only one to have alspice in it that I've seen on the internet. My earliest and fondest memories was my Ma Mere making meat pies on Saturday mornings at 5 o'clock in preparation for the annual get together of the "family" on Saturday night. Meat pie was a weekend experience to sober up the men prior to driving home. Had it on Christmas, but never associated the pie with it. The "meat" that was left over went into plastic containers to be eaten on top of toasted bread with bananas in the morning. I'll try your Tourtiere to see how close it comes to my Grandmother's and hope it does! I've missed a good piece of meat pie for a very long time! Merci!

This is awesome. My first time making it and it tasted just like what I'm used to. The only changes I made were to scale the recipe to 2 pies, add 2 potatoes, boiled then mashed, and I made my own concentrated chicken liquid. I will be making this again soon.

Bovril was made in Canada. We heard the USDA restricted all imports of products containing any beef ingredients from Canada to the US due to the Mad Cow scare. As this item contained some beef ingredient, it is no longer available in the US.Best Substitute is "Better than Bouillon" but eliminate the salt called for in recipe or it will be too salty

Best tourtiere I've had since the ones my great aunt used to make in Montreal. Thank-you!

Wow - this recipe was a huge hit - by far it is my favourite tourtiere recipe. My French Canadian hubby loved it - thanks so much. I made a few changes as I had only 14 1/4 pounds total of about equal portions of lean ground pork, veal and beef so I used about 2/3 of the other ingredients called for. I used 6 bought frozen Tenderflake pie shells for bottom crusts and made 1 recipe of "Never Fail Pie Crust" using 1 pound lard (Tenderflake brand). The one recipe makes 6 pie crusts. After adding meat mixture to each pie shell, I added 1 beaten egg and the 1 tablespoon of the drippings - I think I would add closer to 2 tablespoons next time as you need to adjust for how deep and filled your pie shells are. Mix in well. Top with top crusts. I got 6 pies out of this. I froze them unbaked covered with plastic wrap, then foil wrap. You can freeze for up to 2 months for best quality. To bake, I pre-heated oven to 400 f. Remove wraps and bake frozen pies 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and bake another 30-40 minutes until a nice golden brown and heated throughout. Let rest 10-15 minutes and serve with gravy or ketchup. As a footnote, I wanted to add that the seasoning amounts were perfect. Just a respectful reminder to people that many dried herbs and spices have shelf lives of 3-6 months or less so if you are finding recipes bland - it may be that you need to replace them.

I am planning on making this on saturday, do I bake them before freezing?

This was just like my grandmother used to make. Great recipe!

Excellent recipe very traditional flavour we loved it. Only reason I did not rate it a full five was the lack of binder. I used mashed potato because I remember my Aunt and Meme doing that and it turned out perfect. Thank you so much for sharing.

I made this appetizer style using puff pastry circles..and folding them perogie style.. sort of a French Canadian "sausage roll".. a bit of work.. but a nice touch to add a bit of "home" to the holidays.. Nice flavour to the meat even though I didn't have the chicken flavouring. I did a bay leaf to the cooking water and I added some mashed potato to the mixture once cooled like my did...I will make this again..

this is the recipe I was looking for, my ancestors only pork, onions, garlic, water, and very little cloves and cinnamon, This is very close to the recipes of the Sagueny,Lac St. Jean area of Quebec, with no vegetables or potatoes. Claudette Bruneau/Heguy

Incredibly yummy. I cut the recipe down to make 2 pies because it was my first attempt at tourtiere. But next time I just might make the full recipe for the freezer!!

Hallelujah! People have begged for my toutière for years, and I never had a recipe to give them! (pinch of this...you know, like grand-maman!). This is so close to mine, I'm going to pass it on (with my little pinches here and there). Try dried poultry seasoning and garlic (powder or other) (to taste!) instead of the liquid chicken seasoning. Merçi!

This a a really authentic tasting french canadian meat pie ! Easy to make and tasty--the key is really in the meat ,mostly pork and I did also add veal. I also used herb de provence for that thyme flavour...really yummy!!

Husband says I could make this once a week. I made a few modifications, I nixed the water. Used a chicken boillion cube and added some left over mashed potatoes along with a cup of peas and a cup of corn. I had on hand a lb of ground beef and a 1.3 lbs of ground pork and one large sweet onion so it was scaled down a bit. 2/3 kids ate it willingly and husband had 3rds.

This recipe is amazing! I cut the recipe in half and I threw in about a pound of ground venison with the pork and beef. I also added 2 tbsp of potato flour as a binder. It turned out fantastic for sure a keeper. Just as I remember my French Canadian family making for Christmas. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!

Finally! I have been searching for a tourtière recipe like my mother in law used to make. My Québécois husband says this is it. The allspice is the secret. I add mashed potatoes to bind it as others have suggested. I use more than 1 tbsp of liquid as we like it a little moister. I too eat it with ketchup on the side.

this was fantastico but i did add some mashed potatoes to it.. Merci!!

Just like my Memere's!!!!! I loved it. Brought back lots of memories of childhood for me. I used lean pork and 90% lean beef so the only thing I will change next time is I would use a little more of the meat juices in it to make it just a little moister next time. Otherwise, it was excellent.

Flavour was great. Only thing I did different was I threw the mixture in the food processor to give it a smoother texture before baking it. YUM!

Superb!!! My husband had never had this before and just loved it!!!! Thank you!

Excellent!

My girlfriend and I made 6 of these Tourtiere's and they were exactly like our mom's would make them. Perfect for us first timers learning how to make them.

I have searched and searched to find a recipe containing allspice, cinnamon and cloves!! Fantastic!! Just like the recipe a Quebecoise friend gave me years ago. The only change I made was to use beef broth instead of water and the chicken seasoning. C'est magnifique!

Not the way my Mother-in-Law makes pies. She uses a whole roast beef and pork, boiled and the shredded, making sure all the fat is gone. Chopped onions and small diced potatoes. Everyone in New Brunswick swears by her receipe.

I made 1/8 of the recipe, for 1.5 pies. used Hot Water Pie Crust II (also from this site) The seasonings were well-balanced, the mix of beef and porc made for a good, moist pie.

Awesome recipe! I want to use this recipe for smaller individual portions.

I've never made tourtiere before so I was a little concerned. My pere (orginally from St. Jerome) said it reminded him of home. First time I made it it was a little crumbly so I added a little mashed potatoes as a binder as previous reviewers had. Worked great, didn't even notice the potatoes. I've been waiting to make this all year (only make it for Christmas dinner along with turkey, maple pecan pie, etc.). Have some "La tire d'erable" to end the meal!

I scaled this down and only made 1 pie. Followed the recipe as far as the spices, but did add mashed potatoes to bind. I didn't like the flavor of this pie at all and will not make this again.

This was absolutely wonderful! The flavour was out of this world! The whole family raved. Thanks so much for the recipe!

Very close to the recipe my mother makes... :)

I have not actually tried this specific recipe. Tourtiere is not hard to make and the seasonings are really personal preference, or family preference. As I looked through the recipes for this French Canadian tradition I LOLed and thought this was the most traditional because it was a recipe to make 8 at one time!! I don't know a French Canadian family that does not make at least this many to have on hand for the holidays! Love it :)

Excellent tourtiere! I made two large pies, and both were gone very quickly. I plan on making more soon.

Very nice although a little dry. I cut the recipe in half and made two pies. I guessed that liquid chicken seasoning means chicken stock.

I cut the recipe in half and made 4 pies. I also upped the seasonings a little bit for a more fragrant pie. The chicken seasoning was all the salt it needed. A delicious tourtiere!

I scaled this down because there would have been way too much. The flavour was amazing. I've made tourtiere many times and the seasoning in this was the best. It was quite crumbly though so next time I will mix in some mashed potatoes to see if that will hold it together. Gave this one a four because of it crumbling but once that is fixed it will be the only tourtiere recipe I'll use.

This is an excellent recipe. My boyfriend, who had never had tourtiere before, LOVED it. My aunt, who was used to a very dry recipe, was skeptical. I made this recipe and she loved it too. It's fantastic.

I've had both styles ground meat and cubed meat.Much prefer the cubed meat recipe but will give this a try and see what my french hubby thinks :-)

Best ever tasting tourtieres! I made half the recipe and added 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic, omitted the all spice, added 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 1/2 tsp savory, 1 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp cinnamon and only used 1/8 tsp ground clove. I used 3 cubes of Knorr chicken bouillon (sulfate free) in place of the Bovril. I reserved a portion of the raw meat mixture to make a batch of "Ragout de boulettes": Shape into small meatballs, roll into flour and drop into a pot of boiling vegetable stock( made of water, onion, carrot, celeri, garlic, bay leave, salt and pepper). When cooked, thicken with grilled flour and water and serve with mashed potatoes. Yum!

I made it exactly as the recipe says, however, I added 3 tbsp of the leftover liquid, because the last time I made it, it was a bit dry. My dad said it was exactly like his mom’s.

I love meat but thought this was really boring. I have a similar recipe made in phyllo dough that I love to make with dill, garlic, parsley more onion and a few other things.... I'll skip this one next time.

Good Flavor to the pie, but I still find them all a little dry. I am not a big fan of Ketchup, so I tried it with a little HP, is was ok. A friend told me to mix kethup and worchestershire together. I think i will try that next.

It had the perfect flavour but a little too crumbly...next time I'll add a little more of the juice back in. Very nice though...the French Canadian hubby actually liked it and he is super picky. Also watch out...the total time is misleading....it took about 40mins longer than it indicated!!

I added about three tablespoons mashed sweet potato,it was wonderful, will make it again for sure

I quartered the recipe because I didn't need 8 tourtière and added some mashed potatoes as a binding, but the spices are right on.

This was delicious. I used a little more liquid when boiling the meat and brushed the pie crust with egg yolk to brown it but other than that, it was fantastic!!! My husband is French Canadian and he was very happy, he practically ate half the pie in one sitting.

My mom's recipe greatly resembles this one but she always used savory and sage as her herbs; that's the taste I'm used to so wouldn't use the herbs/spices in this recipe.

I cut the actual recipe down to serve 6, which made two 9" pies and a 4" pot pie. I did add to that one cup of mashed potatoes, as I have been assured this is the way to make it moist. It is a perfect recipe this way. Many thanks for sharing!!

I liked this recipe. I did get a little carried away with adding the liquid back--I wanted it to be moist so I added more than the recipe said and ended up with a soggy bottom. Also, I ignored the instructions on the pie crust in favor of the recipe oven temperature. I think I should have followed the package directions (which called for 350 degrees) because the pie crusts got a little overbrowned.

This was delish! I left out the cinnamon and added more allspice, and I also added some mashed potato (that I added some beef broth and a touch of allspice to) just to make sure the pie was extra moist. I got rave reviews (and ate half the pie myself!). I will be making this pie again and again!!

This is it! I have been trying for years to make it just like my Memere'. It was so heart warming to have my whole family talk about her when we had it Chritmas morning.

This was easy to make and the taste was excellent. Also, this pie is huge, it will feed a lot of people.

not true enough to the traditional family recipe i have at home, but easy and yummy just the same.

Was just like the pie's I would buy at the farmers market loved it!

I've never had a tourtiere before but what I made tasted great. I used your recipe as a base but changed a number of the ingredients. I did not use pepper, cloves, cinnamon or chicken seasoning. I used chicken stock instead of water, added a wee bit more allspice, parsley and also some garlic paste. I don't know how much that changed the flavour as cooking is not my specialty but I would definitely make this again.

I've never eaten tourtiere before so I don't know what it's supposed to taste like. Having said that, we really liked this and I will definitely make it again. Thank you Kathleen!

A little dry, but good flavor. Not exactly what I was hoping for. Lived in Quebec for 10 yrs, and it is on that same page. Martha Stewart had a great recipe that I cannot for the life of me pull off. So on a quest.

It was quite dry....I would add more of the fat drained off in the future. Otherwise, the flavours were wonderful.

I added a bit more seasoning and a handful of breadcrumbs to the meat filling. I found it helped hold it together better. Also, I made a minty beef gravy for serving! DEEE-Lish!

I carefully reduced it by 8 so I could make one pie. The filling is VERY loose and crumbly despite my adding all the de-fatted liquid back in because it was so dry. The spices are really bland and would need at least doubling or adding after the meat has been simmered. Definitely needs a binder to hold the meat together. Doesn't come near to my memory of past pies.

can you PLEASE tell me the amount of ingredents to make only 2 pies

I wonder if pan-searing the meat mixture would add a bit of jump in flavour and colour to the end product. Spice mixture was superb.

A bit busy and many more steps than truly "Quebecoise" Tourtiere. I have my old family recipe, passed down from both sides of my family, that is less detailed and takes a lot less time. I'll post it here.It's posted as Nana's Meat pies.

My whole family loves this. I make it every Christmas Eve.