Pie is one of those foods that shows up in almost every culture, wrapped in pastry, filled with love, and bursting with local flavor. From flaky crusts hiding savory meats to sweet fillings that melt on your tongue, pies tell the story of a place better than almost any other dish.
Whether you are a seasoned foodie or just someone who loves a good meal, these 20 pies from around the world will make you want to pack your bags and eat your way across the globe.
1. Tourtiere – Canada
Quebec winters have a secret weapon, and it comes in the form of a perfectly spiced meat pie called tourtiere. This French-Canadian classic is packed with ground pork, veal, or beef, seasoned with cloves, cinnamon, and allspice for a warming, aromatic bite.
Traditionally served on Christmas Eve, tourtiere has been a family table staple for centuries. Finding it fresh from a boulangerie in Montreal is an experience no food lover should skip.
2. Spanakopita – Greece
Crispy, buttery, and packed with salty feta and earthy spinach, spanakopita is the kind of pie that makes you forget everything else on the table. Greek grandmothers have been layering tissue-thin phyllo dough for generations, and every bite proves why the tradition stuck.
Street bakeries in Athens sell warm slices wrapped in paper, perfect for eating while walking through ancient neighborhoods. The contrast of crunchy pastry and creamy filling is genuinely hard to beat.
3. Pastilla – Morocco
Sweet and savory in the same bite – that is the magic of Moroccan pastilla. Layers of paper-thin warqa pastry encase a filling of spiced pigeon or chicken mixed with almonds and eggs, then the whole thing gets dusted in powdered sugar and cinnamon.
It sounds unusual, but the combination is absolutely extraordinary. Marrakech is the best place to try an authentic version, especially in a traditional riad restaurant where the recipe has barely changed in centuries.
4. Meat Pie – Australia
At an Australian rules football match, the meat pie is practically a uniform requirement. Stuffed with minced beef and gravy inside a short pastry shell, this humble handheld pie has been fueling Australians since the 1800s.
Bakeries across the country compete fiercely for the title of best pie, and the quality can be surprisingly high. A squirt of tomato sauce on top is non-negotiable.
Harry’s Cafe de Wheels in Sydney has been serving legendary versions since 1945.
5. Cornish Pasty – England
Miners in Cornwall used to carry pasties down into the tin mines as an all-in-one lunch, holding the thick crimped crust as a handle to avoid touching food with dirty hands. That clever design has survived for centuries, and the pasty is now a protected food with EU geographical indication status.
Beef, potato, swede, and onion fill the D-shaped pastry casing. Grab one fresh from a bakery in Truro or St Ives for the full experience.
6. Empanada – Argentina
Argentina takes its empanadas seriously – so seriously that each province has its own official filling, folding style, and even a specific number of crimps that signals what is inside. Beef, olives, hard-boiled eggs, and spices are the classic Mendoza combination.
Baked versions are flakier and lighter, while fried ones are crunchier and richer. Either way, sharing a dozen at a Buenos Aires parrilla with a glass of Malbec is one of South America’s great simple pleasures.
7. Knish – New York, USA
Brought to New York by Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the early 1900s, the knish became a Lower East Side icon almost overnight. A pillow of dough stuffed with mashed potato, kasha, or spinach, baked or fried until golden, it is pure comfort food with a history.
Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery on East Houston Street has been selling them since 1910. Standing at that counter and biting into a warm potato knish is a genuine New York rite of passage.
8. Bobotie Pie – South Africa
Bobotie is South Africa’s beloved national dish, and when it gets baked into pie form, something truly special happens. Spiced minced meat mixed with dried apricots, raisins, and a hint of curry gets topped with a silky egg custard that bakes into a golden layer.
The Cape Malay influence in this dish tells the story of South Africa’s rich cultural history beautifully. Cape Town restaurants serve outstanding versions, and the sweet-savory balance is unlike anything you will find elsewhere on earth.
9. Kreatopita – Greece
While spanakopita gets most of the global attention, kreatopita is what Greek villagers have been making for special occasions for generations. Layers of crispy phyllo wrap around slow-cooked lamb or beef mixed with rice, onions, and fresh herbs for a deeply satisfying result.
Epirus, in northern Greece, is considered the heartland of Greek pita-making culture, and traveling there just to eat your way through a bakery tray of kreatopita is absolutely a legitimate travel plan.
10. Natchitoches Meat Pie – Louisiana, USA
Louisiana has its own meat pie, and it is nothing like anything else in America. The Natchitoches meat pie is a fried, crescent-shaped pastry stuffed with a boldly seasoned mix of ground beef and pork, onions, bell pepper, and Cajun spices that hit every flavor note at once.
Named after the oldest city in Louisiana, this pie has been sold at festivals and roadside stands for over 200 years. The annual Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival in September is the ultimate celebration of this crispy legend.
11. Pithivier – France
Puff pastry so perfectly laminated it shatters at the first touch – that is the calling card of a proper French pithivier. Named after a town in the Loire Valley, this elegant round pie is traditionally filled with frangipane, a rich almond cream that bakes into something almost caramel-like.
Savory versions exist too, often filled with foie gras or mushrooms. Either way, finding a freshly baked pithivier in a Loire Valley patisserie on a cold morning is a deeply rewarding experience.
12. Steak and Kidney Pie – England
Few dishes are more deeply British than a proper steak and kidney pie bubbling away under a thick pastry lid. Chunks of beef and kidney slow-cook in a rich, dark gravy until impossibly tender, then get sealed under pastry and baked until golden and fragrant.
British pubs have been serving this dish for well over a century, and a good version at a countryside inn on a rainy afternoon is one of England’s most comforting culinary experiences. Rules Restaurant in London has served it since 1798.
13. Key Lime Pie – Florida, USA
Tart, creamy, and cool, Key lime pie is Florida’s most famous contribution to the world of desserts. Made with the small, aromatic Key limes that grow in the Florida Keys, the filling is a simple mix of juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk poured into a graham cracker crust.
Key West is the undisputed home of this pie, and bakeries there take their recipes very personally. Florida law even requires the official state pie to use Key lime juice specifically.
14. Tiropita – Greece
Before the morning rush hits an Athens bakery, the smell of tiropita already fills the street. These flaky phyllo triangles packed with creamy feta cheese are Greece’s answer to breakfast on the go, and they are nearly impossible to eat just one of.
The cheese mixture sometimes includes ricotta or eggs for extra richness. Bakeries across Greece bake fresh trays throughout the day, and a warm tiropita eaten on a marble doorstep with a Greek coffee is one of life’s uncomplicated pleasures.
15. Buko Pie – Philippines
Young coconut meat, sweet and tender, suspended in a lightly sweetened cream filling inside a buttery pastry shell – buko pie is the Philippines’ most beloved road trip souvenir. The town of Los Banos in Laguna province is considered the capital of buko pie, with bakeries lining the highway selling hundreds of pies daily.
Travelers driving from Manila to the Bicol region always stop here. The filling is delicate and refreshing, nothing like the heavy sweetness of many Western pies.
16. Tofu and Vegetable Pie – Japan
Japan’s approach to Western-style pie is characteristically precise and creative. Tofu and vegetable pies found in Tokyo’s artisan cafes blend silken tofu with seasonal vegetables like burdock root, lotus, and shiitake mushrooms inside a thin, delicate crust.
The flavors are subtle, earthy, and deeply satisfying in a way that feels completely different from European pie traditions. Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa neighborhood is a great area to explore quirky, thoughtful cafes where dishes like this are taken seriously as culinary art.
17. Malawi Chicken Pie – Malawi
Street food culture in Malawi has a quiet star: the humble chicken pie sold at roadside stalls and market vendors across the country. Shredded chicken seasoned with local spices gets tucked inside a thick, hand-crimped pastry shell and baked in clay or wood-fired ovens.
The crust is dense and slightly crumbly in the best way, designed to survive a long walk home from the market. Lilongwe’s busy Old Town market is one of the best places to find an authentic version fresh from the oven.
18. Shepherd’s Pie – Ireland
Technically not a pastry pie at all, shepherd’s pie earns its place on this list by being one of the most comforting baked dishes on the planet. Ground lamb simmers with carrots, peas, and onions in a rich gravy, then gets blanketed under creamy mashed potato and baked until the top turns golden.
Ireland’s lamb-raising heritage makes it the spiritual home of this dish. A proper shepherd’s pie at a farmhouse bed and breakfast in County Kerry on a rainy evening is pure, unbeatable warmth.
19. Custard Tart – Portugal
The line outside Pasteis de Belem in Lisbon starts forming before the doors even open. Inside, bakers churn out thousands of pasteis de nata daily – small custard tarts with impossibly flaky shells and scorched, wobbling custard centers that have been made to a secret recipe since 1837.
A sprinkle of cinnamon and powdered sugar on top is traditional. These tarts have traveled the world through Portuguese colonial history, inspiring similar versions in Macau, Brazil, and beyond, but the original in Lisbon remains unmatched.
20. Butter Tart – Canada
Canada’s most passionately debated pastry question is not about flavor – it is about texture. Should a butter tart filling be runny or firm?
Raisins or no raisins? Pecan or plain?
Ontario’s small towns have turned butter tart tourism into a real thing, with dedicated trails guiding visitors from bakery to bakery.
The filling is a rich mixture of butter, brown sugar, eggs, and syrup baked inside a short pastry shell. Gooey, sweet, and deeply satisfying, butter tarts are Canada’s most underrated dessert export.