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Tourtieres
(Meat Pies)

Traditionally, this is eaten hot after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Serve piping hot with homemade ketchup or chili sauce. This pie is only served during the Christmas holidays and everyone looks forward to the holidays just for this pie!


1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 small potatoes or 1 medium
salt and pepper
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp to ½ tsp garlic powder
small pinch of ground cloves (if you like it a bit spicy, be careful because it can be overpowering) my mom omits it.


In large pot over medium-low heat, add ground pork and enough water to cover meat. Peel and chop potatoes into cubes and add to pork mixture. When pork is no longer pink, add ground beef, onions, salt, pepper, cinnamon (careful not to add too much), and garlic powder. Check seasonings to your taste keeping in mind that the cinnamon and cloves can easily overpower the taste. My mom uses cinnamon instead of cloves because she finds that cloves is too strong, but some people like it which is why I have included it in this recipe.

If water has evaporated too much, add a little more water. Take a large spoon and press down on the meat mixture to skim off some of the fat; but leave a little fat for flavour. When potatoes are cooked, mash them with a fork against the side of the pot. This will thicken the sauce.

When beef is no longer pink and potatoes are cooked and mashed, it's ready to be put into pie shells. The meat will finish cooking in the oven. Make sure you cut slits in the top of pie to let steam escape while baking. Also make sure that you add some of the broth with the meat but careful not too much or it will be too wet. You just want enough so that the pie is not dried out after baking; but nice and moist!

Bake in 350 F oven for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

** Pastry: Because this is a meat pie and not a fruit pie, use ¼ less of the shortening in your pastry recipe to allow for the fat in the meat. Otherwise, your pastry will be too greasy.

** 1 pound of meat = 1 pie

I hope you enjoy this pie as much as we French Canadians do!!