Whether you’re vegetarian or not, you’ll love this vegan meat pie, a healthy rendition of a Holiday tradition from Québec! Good news, it can also be frozen.
If you’re from Québec, you know what a tourtière is, no doubt about it. But if you’re not, introductions are in order. Tourtière is a traditional meat pie that you’ll find on pretty much every Christmas table in Québec, along with meatball stew and a turkey.
The name apparently has old origins as it was prepared with tourte, a bird that’s unfortunately gone extinct. It’s now usually made with ground beef and pork and Christmas spices.
I’ve been hearing about vegan meat pies for a while now and I was eager to try them. Since we’re staying in Hanover for the Holidays, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to recreate this tradition. I didn’t know that finding a pie plate in Germany would be so complicated though, but 5 stores and 24 euros later, Martin brought me a nice quiche-style mold that worked perfectly. It ain’t always easy living abroad! #firstworldproblem
I knew it would be good, but I didn’t expect the texture to be so similar to the meat pie my grandma makes! My skepticism quickly transformed into exaggerated excitement. I even called my sisters and wrote my best friend to tell them about my discovery!
I took my inspiration from different recipes and created my own and the result is quite impressive. The texture is soft and the taste if perfectly balanced! For the shortcrust pastry dough, I was a bit worried after reading lots of comments on diverse recipes.
I used this one from Cherry Pepper (video in French) and I can tell you that it will be my go-to recipe from now own! It’s easy to make and to handle, so much so that I was afraid it wouldn’t have the right texture, but no, it was just perfect!
Whether you’re vegetarian or simply want to eat a little less meat at Christmas and not feel like a stranded whale the day after Christmas, this vegan meat pie is for you. Millet is also a lot cheaper than meat and didn’t cause the useless death of a sensitive animal.
Plus, unlike the original version, my tourtière contains fiber and an array of vitamins and minerals. You can of course prepare it in advance, bake it a little and freeze it. you can also make mini pies as gifts for the Holidays!
Do you have your copy of My Vegan Christmas yet?
Let me know how your family likes it :) I wish you all wonderful Holidays with the people you love! Merry Christmas!
Vegan Québec-style meat pie
Ingredients
Millet
- 1 cup millet
- 1 ½ cup vegetable broth
Meat-Pie Filling
- 2 onions chopped
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 250 g button mushrooms chopped
- 2 potatoes finely diced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons vegan Worcesteshire sauce (if you can’t find any, replace it with soya sauce)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast optional
- 1 teaspoon steak spices
- 1 teaspoon dried mustard
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Vegan Pie Crust
- 500 g all-purpose flour (about 2 ½ cup, you can use half and half whole wheat and all-purpose)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 100 ml canola or mild olive oil
- 200 to 250 ml water
Instructions
Millet
- Rinse the millet well. Put it in a small pot and roast it a few minutes on high heat. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
Vegan Pie Crust
- Mix the dry ingredients for the dough. Add the oil and mix with your fingers until little lumps form. Add about 200 ml water and mix well by hand. Add the rest of the water if necessary. Knead until you reach a soft ball of dough. Set aside.
Meat-Pie Filling
- Using a food processor ideally, finely dice the onions, the garlic and the mushrooms in small batches. Finely dice the potatoes by hand.
- In a large pan, heat a little bit of oil on high heat. Add all the vegetables and cook for 5-10 minutes until they lose their water and it evaporates.
- Turn off heat, add the cooked millet, the sauces and the spices and mix well. Adjust to taste. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
Assembling
- On a clean floured working surface, roll the dough in a large thin disc. Fold it on the pin roll and gently place it in your 24cm pie plate.
- Add the filling and fold the dough to create a rustic-looking pie and cut the excess so it’s not too thick. Brush with a little bit of oil to get a golden crust.
- Bake on the lower grid for about 45 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool before removing from the plate using clean oven gloves.
Hi. Cannot wait to make this tourtière recipe. I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia though am from Ontario with all my grandparents who came from Québec, our traditions are still French Canadian at Christmas time. One son and his wife are vegan and I would finally like to try to make a vegan tourtière. I prefer the one in your video so will look for vegan “meat” hopefully without much salt. That is the problem I have with prepared foods. Even vegan food. So much salt and Ives vegan meat has lots of salt. Will let you know how it goes.
Hello! i have bought all of the ingredients and am currently putting all of this together now.
I realize you may not get this right away, so no worries. But I thought I’d try and ask…
When you are measuring your (teaspoon/tablespoon) ingredients do you use proper measuring spoons? Or just every day cutlery teaspoons and tablespoons?
Thank you!
Hi most all recipes use proper measuring spoons.. actually ive never seen a recipe that does use proper measuring spoons. Hope this helps
Merciiiiii, j’en ai fait deux, et j’en ai mangé une à moi toute seule :D
hahaha génial!! <3
Could you replace the millet with a veg ground round? I hate the texture of millet…suggestion?
Hi Dee,
I think you kind of lose the millet texture in this recipe, but veg ground would definitely work! I’ve actually been wanting to try it myself :)
You could use lentils or chickpeas.
Hi!
I am also a French Canadian living abroad. I just made these and they are incredible! They really are an amazing vegan alternative to traditional Quebec meat pies and even meat lovers wanted more. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with the world, it is a joy to have people like you help vegan navigate meat heavy, traditional meals.
I would love to send a picture to you so you see the result!
Merci!
Hi Ianne,
Thank you so much for your nice comment. I’m so happy I was able to offer you a piece of home with this vegan tourtière! Where do you live? :)
And I would love to see the result! You can either post it on social media and tag me or shoot me an email at [email protected]
Merci à toi!!
Perfect timing for savoury winter fare in New Zealand, a cold snap is coming! We can’t eat millet or any grains, BUT I’m going to try this with walnuts and buckwheat. And sunflower seed pastry. Thanks! Just going to look at your Tahini and Date Fudge recipe.
Looks like a lovely tourtiere. I must try it. thanks
Thank you! Please let me know how you like it :)