Vegetarian tourtière with lentils and mushrooms

At réveillon, tourtière has its reserved spot on the table. This version keeps what gives it character, the golden crust and the warm spices, but replaces the meat with lentils and finely chopped mushrooms, browned well in the pan. The filling is dense and fragrant, and it slices cleanly.

It can be made ahead, freezes raw or baked, and goes into our all-butter pie crust, which can also be made ahead. Serve it next to our traditional tourtière: everyone finds something to love. For the rest of the table, follow our menu of traditional Quebec holiday recipes, dish by dish.

Tourtière flavour starts with the spices

Myth: "a tourtière without meat doesn't taste like a real tourtière." Mostly false. First, tourtière has never had a single recipe. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that it is typically made with pork, sometimes mixed with game such as rabbit or moose, and that older recipes also used mutton, veal or chicken. Second, what sets it apart, according to food writer Julie Van Rosendaal at CBC, are its warm spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Keep that blend, add savory, and the holiday aroma is there. For spices that still have flavour, see our guide to holiday spices.

The mushrooms do the rest of the work. Finely chopped in a food processor or with a knife, they take on the look of ground meat, and columnist Eric Akis points out the meaty taste that brown mushrooms give his own vegetarian tourtière. The key is the cooking: all the recipes we consulted that use mushrooms cook them until their liquid has evaporated, which takes 7 or 8 minutes in the Noovo Moi and Flavour Network recipes. Then let them brown for a few more minutes. To buy local, mushrooms appear on the Aliments du Québec produce arrivals calendar, with availability that varies through the year: ask your grocer for Quebec-grown ones.

Lentils, no soaking needed

Myth: "lentils have to be soaked before cooking." False. Unlike dry beans and chickpeas, lentils do not need soaking: Lentils.org and the extension services of Colorado State, Iowa State and North Dakota State universities are clear on this. Rinse them, pick out any small stones, then simmer them for 15 to 20 minutes in about three times their volume of liquid. According to North Dakota State University, 250 ml (1 cup) of dry lentils makes about 625 ml (2 ½ cups) cooked.

Choose green or brown lentils. Colorado State University notes that brown lentils cook quickly and can turn mushy if left on the heat too long, and that red lentils become very soft: they are better for thickening soups. Canned lentils work too, well rinsed and drained, as in the pork and lentil tourtière from Lentils.org. Cooked more than you need? The extra keeps 4 to 5 days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer, according to Iowa State University. Dry lentils are often sold in bulk, and if the idea of setting meat aside a few nights a week appeals to you, we cover it in why and how to eat less meat.

Making it ahead and freezing it

The filling can be made the day before: once cooled, it waits in the fridge until you assemble the pie, as Eric Akis suggests, and several of the recipes we consulted put it into the crust cold. To cool it quickly, spread it in a shallow dish. Health Canada says to throw away any cooked food left at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

Myth: "a tourtière frozen unbaked has to thaw before going into the oven." False. The extension services of Clemson University and Ohio State University actually recommend baking frozen unbaked pies without thawing them. Clemson gives about 1 hour at 200°C (400°F) for a large pie; Ohio State instead advises keeping the recipe's temperature and allowing about one third to one half more time, or 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes at 190°C (375°F). Either way, the crust should be golden and the centre should reach 74°C (165°F). Freeze the tourtière uncovered until hard, then wrap it well. Clemson even suggests keeping only the top crust for pies meant for the freezer. In that case, replace the potato with 125 ml (½ cup) of rolled oats or breadcrumbs: both universities advise leaving potatoes out of dishes to be frozen, because they turn grainy or watery.

Prefer to bake it first? Let it cool, refrigerate it, then wrap and freeze it. Health Canada gives 2 to 3 months in the freezer for cooked dishes; Clemson goes up to 4 to 6 months for meat pies. Thaw it in the fridge and reheat it in the oven to 74°C (165°F) in the centre. For the rest of your réveillon leftovers, our article Holiday leftovers: how long to keep them in the fridge and freezer covers it all, and our make-ahead holiday freezer calendar helps you plan everything.

Free gift: get The Quebec Recipe Advent Calendar, 24 recipes ready in 30 minutes or less with local ingredients, one a day until Christmas Eve. The same page gathers all our holiday recipes and guides.

Sources

• Vegetarian Tourtiere Bake, Alison Kent, Flavour Network, 2024.
• Pâté à la « viande » (tourtière) végé (vegetarian tourtière; in French), Marie-Ève Laforte, Noovo Moi, 2020.
• Tourtière Two Ways (Pork & Vegetarian) with a Biscuit Crust, Julie Van Rosendaal, CBC News.
• Eric Akis: Mushrooms lend meaty taste to vegetarian tourtière, Eric Akis, townandcountrytoday.com.
• Tourtière, Sasha Chapman, The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2014.
• How to Cook Lentils, Lentils.org, 2024.
• Pork & Lentil Tourtière, Lentils.org.
• On the Pulse of Healthful Eating: Using More Pulse Foods in Your Diet (FN1714), NDSU Extension, 2019.
• Lentils — Food Smart Colorado, Colorado State University Extension.
• Lentils — Spend Smart Eat Smart, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
• Freezing Prepared Foods (HGIC 3065), Clemson Cooperative Extension, 2012.
• Food Preservation: Freezing Cooked Foods (HYG-5308), Ohio State University Extension, 2015.
• Food safety tips for leftovers, Health Canada, 2025.
• Storing leftovers (infographic), Health Canada, 2024.
• Produits et arrivages : calendrier des arrivages (Quebec produce arrivals calendar; in French), Aliments du Québec / Mangez Québec, 2026.