This is a Wagner family tradition that I’ve been warmly welcomed into since meeting my husband nearly 8 years ago. Every Christmas, Jon’s grandmother, Bev, makes this delicious French Meat Pie to celebrate the season. “Tourtiére”, as it’s called in French, translates to “pork pie” in English. And although this recipe has been made with both beef and pork for the last 50 years in Jon’s family, it literally is a Meat Pie.
I have to admit I was a little wary the first time I heard about “meat pie” back when I first spent the holidays with Jon’s family. To the average person, these are two words that shouldn’t normally fit together. Meat?…Good. Pie?…GOOD. Meat Pie? Hmm….
I’m here to tell you… it’s good!
This recipe for meat pie has been handed down through Jon’s great grandmother’s family for many generations and these days, Bev carries on the tradition.
According to Bev, meat pie was traditionally eaten as the first meal after midnight mass on Christmas Eve, after abstaining from meat during Christmas Eve day. It is usually served with currant or grape jelly…sounds strange, I know. I, along with both Bev and Jon’s mother, Linda, prefer mine with ketchup (although this is not recommended by true meat-pie lovers). My husband grew up eating his meat pie with jam(!) and to this day, he likes a big dollop of black raspberry jam smashed into his meat pie. Literally mixed in and all smashed up together. After all these years, I don’t question it anymore.
Either way you like it, it’s a wonderful family tradition. Bev usually makes six or more meat pies at a time…some to give away, some to freeze. She still uses her hand crank (isn’t it so neat?!) to mince the onion and potato together before adding it to the ground beef and pork.
The meat is then spiced with wonderful holiday spices like cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Smells just like Christmas.
We love cooking together and baking these pies every year with Bev, and this year, Em was able to help out, which made the day even more special.
Four generations making French Meat Pie together…that’s tradition.
Little Hands Can…
- Measure the spices
- Help grind the potatoes and onions by putting them into the food grinder, or into the bowl of a food processor
- Roll out pie dough
- Crimp the edges of the pie crust
- Use a fork to poke holes in the pie crust before baking
- ½ pound ground beef (very lean and ground together with the pork)
- ½ pound ground pork (very lean and ground together with the beef)
- 1 small onion
- 1 medium-sized russet potato
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- about ¾ cup of water
- 2 sheets pie dough, store-bought, or homemade pie crust for a 2-crust pie
- Currant or grape jelly, any jam you like, or ketchup for serving
- In a large, deep sauté pan or dutch oven, brown the beef and pork together over medium heat. Add a little water to the mixture so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Use a potato masher to grind up the meat as it browns (this is a key step in my husband's opinion). Don't be afraid to add more water as the meat cooks so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Peel the onion and potato and put them together in a food processor (a hand-crank/food grinder or heavy duty blender would also work). Pulse until finely minced.
- Add the onion and potato mixture to the browned meat. Then add the spices and salt and mix well.
- Simmer the meat mixture for approximately 1 hour, stirring frequently. Add more water if the mixture starts to look too thick.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- As the meat is simmering, prepare your pie crust. Place one sheet of pie dough (or one half of your homemade pie crust rolled out to about ¼ inch in thickness) into the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch pie plate.
- Scoop the meat mixture into the pie crust and level out the top.
- Top with the second pie crust. Trim off excess pie crust around the edges and then use a fork or your fingers to pinch the edges all the way around to adhere the top and bottom crusts together. Poke a few holes with a fork or cut a few slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes to an hour, or until golden brown.
- Let the meat pie cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting it into wedges. Serve warm with jelly, jam or ketchup.
Meat pie freezes easily in a freezer-safe bag. Reheat frozen meat pie in a warm oven until heated through (about an hour).
This recipe multiplies easily. Just multiply all ingredients by the number of pies you'd like to make. Be sure to taste your meat mixture while it's cooking and add more spices to your liking.
Original recipe handed down from Bev Kiernan (Thank you, Bev!)
On the Side
Since this is a Christmas tradition in my husband’s family, I thought we’d take this chance to talk about TRADITIONS!
The holiday season is all about traditions…Old traditions that have been around since before we were born, and new ones that we make as our own families change and grow.
Traditions are the passing on of customs and beliefs from generation to generation. Certain holiday activities or meals that started with your grandparents (or even before them) are passed onto you and then you pass them onto your children.
So many of our holiday traditions involve food because that’s what brings us together. Maybe you have a certain breakfast tradition on Christmas morning, or a certain dinner that you make the first night of Hanukkah.
Whatever your family food traditions are, get your kids involved! And then talk with them about how the tradition started and what makes it so important to your family. And if you don’t have any family food traditions yet, start a new one this year!
This tradition of making meat pies at Christmas is one that I’m happy to be part of…and I love that Em was involved this year, right along with her dad, grandmother and great-grandmother. It’s important that we’re able to spend that time together and start teaching Em about this wonderful (and yummy) family tradition.
With Christmas carols in the background, the Green Bay holiday parade on TV, and a prime geese-watching spot near Great-Grandma Bev’s back door, we had a great time making meat pies this holiday season. I love this tradition.
What are your family traditions?
What new traditions would you like to start this holiday season?
Disclaimer: As with all of our recipes, my suggestions for how kids can help with a particular recipe are based on what has worked in our kitchen. Your child may be able to help more or less based on their age and/or ability.
Samantha says
December 8, 2015 at 6:06 AMThis is so sweet! I love all of the family photos! And I am actually inspired to make Meat Pie-I think Mark and the kiddos would LOVE it!
Sally says
December 8, 2015 at 12:46 PMThanks, Sam!! It was such a fun day this year, making the meat pies. I was skeptical at first, but I actually love meat pie now! And it’s actually pretty easy to make…meat, onion, potato, and spices in a pie crust! Let me know if you guys try it and what everybody thinks!
Carol says
December 8, 2015 at 7:37 AMSally, this post is just fantastic! I am sure the meat pie is delicious – and the Wagner family story is so touching! The pictures of the four generations working together to preserve this tradition exemplifies love and commitment to each other. Well done!
You asked about our family traditions – making and decorating Christmas cookies is our most treasured tradition. I am also hoping to make gingerbread houses with the grandchildren this year and start a new tradition.
Thank you for this yummy and inspiring post!
Sally says
December 8, 2015 at 12:45 PMThank you so much, Carol! I love your cookie-making and decorating tradition…I hope to start that as an annual tradition with Em and her cousins this year as well. I’m sure the grandkids will LOVE the gingerbread houses. Will you make the gingerbread yourself? I would love to see some pictures of all of you guys working on the houses. So much fun. Merry Christmas!
Kristy says
December 8, 2015 at 9:08 AMI am loving your blog Sally! It puts such a smile on my face. The photos this time around are beautiful (as always), but I especially loved the sense of family you feel from each of them. Brilliant. Not so sure about the jam with the meat pie, but we too have some of those uncommon food traditions. Some delicious combinations are discovered this way! Happy holidays to you all! (And your crust is gorgeous!)
Sally says
December 8, 2015 at 12:40 PMThank you so much, Kristy! The jam with the meat pie isn’t my favorite either, but my husband simply loves it! Happy Holidays to you as well!
Mary says
December 8, 2015 at 10:33 AMSally, absolutely amazing! Thank you for the beautiful 4 generation photos.. I can vouch for the delicious tradition in our family that the meat pie is fabulous ! Thank you so much for honoring this tradition..
Sally says
December 8, 2015 at 12:42 PMThank you, Mary! It was such a fun day..I hope you will be able to be there next year too. There are several cute photos of the 4 of them, so I’ll print some to bring up with us.
Linda Toonen says
December 8, 2015 at 2:58 PMI’m conferencing with my international students today, and as each one enters my office, each one gets a look at our famous meat pie, your terrific photography, and of course, darling Emerson! I’m so proud to show off your work, terrific as usual.
Sally says
December 8, 2015 at 10:35 PMThank you so much, Linda! That made my day!
Ann Poupore says
December 20, 2015 at 8:55 AMSally, I grew up in a french home. We had meat pie Christmas Eve, as you stated. I am also a friend of the Grandmother Bev., so this presentation is doubly special. This presentation is supurb. What a neat idea and thanks for sharing.
Ann
Sally says
December 20, 2015 at 8:39 PMHi Ann, Thank you so much for reading the blog and I’m glad you enjoyed the meat pie post! We love making them with Bev every year. Do you make them nowadays as well? Merry Christmas to you!
Ann Poupore says
December 20, 2015 at 8:56 AMSally, I grew up in a french home. We had meat pie Christmas Eve, as you stated. I am also a friend of the Grandmother Bev., so this presentation is doubly special. . What a neat idea and thanks for sharing.
Ann