Canadian recipe

Québec Tourtière

Name: Québec Tourtière
Prep time: 55 min
Cook time: 1 h 35 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Canadian cuisine
Ingredients: 500 g ground pork; 250 g ground beef; 250 g potato, peeled and finely diced; 180 g yellow onion, finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 250 ml unsalted beef stock; 3 g ground cinnamon; 1 g ground cloves; 2 g dried summer savory; 6 g fine salt; 1 g black pepper; 30 g unsalted butter; 25 g all-purpose flour; 500 g prepared double pie pastry, chilled; 1 large egg, beaten with 15 ml water for glazing

A deeply savoury French-Canadian meat pie with pork, potato, onion and warm spices enclosed in flaky pastry and baked until burnished.

Québec and French-Canadian communities

Prep: 55 min
Cook: 1 hr 35 min
Total: 2 hr 30 min
Servings: 8

Golden Québec tourtiere meat pie with flaky pastry — **Real finished-dish photograph**Photograph by Al MendelsohnSource page · Original file · CC BY 2.0Cropped, resized, and compressed by Recipe Nest Vault.

Ingredients

500 g
ground pork
250 g
ground beef
250 g
potato, peeled and finely diced
180 g
yellow onion, finely chopped
2
garlic cloves, minced
250 ml
unsalted beef stock
3 g
ground cinnamon
1 g
ground cloves
2 g
dried summer savory
6 g
fine salt
1 g
black pepper
30 g
unsalted butter
25 g
all-purpose flour
500 g
prepared double pie pastry, chilled
1
large egg, beaten with 15 ml water for glazing

Method

01
Cook the meat filling
Put the pork, beef, onion, garlic and stock in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, breaking the meat into small pieces as it warms.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
02
Add potatoes and seasoning
Stir in the potato, cinnamon, cloves, summer savory, salt and pepper. Cover partly and simmer for 25 minutes, until the potato is tender and most liquid has evaporated.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
03
Thicken and cool the filling
Mash the butter and flour together into a paste. Stir it into the filling and cook for 2 minutes until glossy. Spread the filling on a tray and chill for 30 minutes.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
04
Line the pie plate
Heat the oven to 190°C. Roll out half the chilled pastry to 3 mm thick and line a 23 cm deep pie plate, leaving an overhang.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
05
Fill and cover the pie
Spoon the cooled filling into the shell and level it. Roll the remaining pastry to 3 mm, place it over the top and press the edges together.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
06
Vent and glaze
Crimp the edge, cut 4 small steam vents in the top and brush with the beaten egg. Set the pie on a rimmed baking sheet.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
07
Bake until golden
Bake at 190°C for 55–60 minutes until the crust is deep golden and the filling bubbles at the vents. Rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
08
Slice and serve
Cut the pie into wedges with a serrated knife. Serve warm with a tangy pickle or cranberry relish and crisp greens.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph

Practical notes

Tips

Keep pastry ingredients cold and chill the dough before rolling so the crust stays flaky rather than tough.
Cool a cooked filling before it goes into the pastry shell; hot filling melts the butter and weakens the base.

Common mistakes

Overworking pastry develops gluten and makes a tough crust; stop as soon as it holds together.
Filling an unchilled shell too full makes the filling bubble over and the pastry stick to the pan.

Substitutions

Use a chilled all-butter pastry if lard is unavailable; texture will be a little less tender but still flaky.
For berries, frozen fruit can go straight into the filling; add a little more thickener if the fruit has thawed and released juice.

Storage

Cool leftovers promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours at 0–4°C for up to 3 days. Reheat only the portion needed until piping hot throughout.

Cultural context

Tourtière is a French-Canadian meat pie associated with winter meals and Réveillon; fillings vary by family and region. This practical version uses pork and beef with potato and warm spices.

Sources and photo credit

This standardized method was independently rewritten after cross-checking the references below. Recipe Nest Vault does not claim that the credited photographer cooked from this exact version.

Recipe references

Tourtiere half.jpg — Photograph by Al Mendelsohn; CC BY 2.0.

Step illustrations: Original illustrations created by Recipe Nest Vault with OpenAI image_gen.

Back to Canadian recipes

Québec Tourtière

Ingredients

Method

Cook the meat filling

Add potatoes and seasoning

Thicken and cool the filling

Line the pie plate

Fill and cover the pie

Vent and glaze

Bake until golden

Slice and serve

Sources and photo credit

Recipe references

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