British Pork Pie

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup lard, plus more for greasing
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 lbs ground pork
• 4 oz diced pork belly or bacon
• 1 tsp sage, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 cup pork or chicken stock
• 2 tsp powdered gelatin

Method

1. Heat the lard and water together until melted, then stir into the flour to form a warm, pliable dough; keep warm while shaping.
2. Press two-thirds of the dough into the base and up the sides of a springform or raised-pie mold, reserving the rest for the lid.
3. Mix the ground pork, pork belly, sage, salt, and pepper together and pack tightly into the lined mold.
4. Roll out the reserved dough for the lid, seal it over the filling, crimp the edges, and cut a steam vent in the top.
5. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 75–90 minutes, until deeply golden and the filling reaches 160°F (71°C) internally.
6. Warm the stock, dissolve the gelatin into it, and pour through the steam vent once the pie has cooled slightly; chill several hours before slicing.

The Tale of British Pork Pie

Story updated September 19, 2026

Raised, hand-held pork pies descend from medieval English meat pies, in which a sturdy hot-water crust could hold and preserve the meat inside. Pork pastries appear in medieval recipe collections such as The Forme of Cury, compiled around 1390 for Richard II's court, though those are not the same as the modern pie. Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire has been known for pork pies since the 1700s, often linked to the local dairy industry, whose whey was used to feed pigs. The pies are said to have gained fame through visiting fox hunters. In 1831 baker Edward Adcock began sending them to London. Since 2008 the name Melton Mowbray Pork Pie has had protected geographical status.