Meat pie (Australia and New Zealand)

In Australia and New Zealand, a meat pie is a handheld savoury pie containing diced or minced meat and gravy, sometimes with onion, mushrooms or cheese, and often consumed as a takeaway food snack.

This variant of the traditional meat pie is considered iconic. It was described by New South Wales Premier Bob Carr in 2003 as Australia's "national dish". New Zealanders also regard the meat pie as a part of New Zealand cuisine, and it forms part of the New Zealand national identity.

Meat pies are made in numerous neighbourhood bakery shops in Australia and New Zealand.

According to a 2003 study, the average Australian eats more than 12 meat pies each year. According to a 2004 study, the average New Zealander eats 15 meat pies a year.

Manufacturers of pies in Australia tend to be state-based, reflecting the long distances involved with interstate transport and lack of refrigeration capabilities in the early years of pie production.^{[citation needed]} Many pies are sold ready-to-eat at smaller outlets and are sold unbranded although some may be locally produced by a brand-name vendor, or even imported. Frozen pies are heated prior to serving.

An Australian meat pie, first produced in 1947, by L. T. McClure in a small bakery in Bendigo, became the well-known Four'n Twenty pie. Due to its association with Australian rules football, Four'n Twenty has iconic status in Victoria. Other manufacturers well predate this brand.

Sargents—once the dominant meat pie brand of New South Wales, but not made since 2022—could trace its pie making back to 1891.

In South Australia, Balfours have been making pies for over a century, but Vili's began in the post-war era. Both of these pie makers supply pies to various venues hosting Australian rules football games.