COPPERWhat is the national dish of Australia?
Australia has no official national dish, but the meat pie is the one most often named: a hand-sized pie of beef in thick gravy, with a shortcrust base and a puff pastry lid, eaten hot with tomato sauce. New South Wales Premier Bob Carr described it as Australia's national dish in 2003. Roast lamb and Vegemite on toast are the other common answers.
Does Australia have an official national dish?
No. There is no law or government declaration naming one. The closest thing to an official statement came in 2003, when New South Wales Premier Bob Carr described the meat pie as Australia's national dish. He was a state premier, not the federal government, so it carries weight as an opinion rather than a status.
Wikipedia's list of national dishes gives three answers for Australia: the meat pie, roast lamb, which often forms part of a Sunday roast or a barbecue, and Vegemite on toast, a salty, savoury spread made from brewer's yeast, rich in B vitamins and eaten on buttered toast. Fish and chips and the sausage sizzle also come up. The meat pie is the one named most consistently.
What is in an Australian meat pie?
The Australian pie is built to be eaten in one hand, so the filling has to hold its shape when you bite it. Its parts:
- Shortcrust pastry base, firm enough to hold the gravy.
- Puff pastry lid, brushed with egg so it bakes deep gold.
- Beef, either minced or, as in our recipe, chuck cut into cubes and braised until it falls apart.
- Thick gravy made from the beef juices, stock, red wine, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce, thickened with flour.
- Tomato sauce on top, squeezed over just before eating.
How a meat pie is made
Our version uses beef chuck cut into 2.5 cm cubes rather than mince. The cubes are browned in batches, then onion and garlic go in, followed by flour. That flour is what turns the juices into gravy rather than soup. Beef stock, red wine, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and bay leaves are added, and the filling simmers covered for about 2 hours, until the beef falls apart, then uncovered for 30 minutes until the gravy holds a trail behind a spoon.
The filling must cool completely, ideally in the fridge, because a warm filling melts the pastry base. Six 10 cm tins are lined with shortcrust, filled, capped with puff pastry discs pressed at the edges to seal, brushed with beaten egg and baked at 200 °C for 25 to 30 minutes until puffed and deep gold. Every step is in our meat pie recipe.
How Australians eat meat pies
Meat pies are mostly a takeaway snack, commonly eaten at football matches. They are served hot with a ketchup-like tomato sauce spread or dripped on top. A 2003 study found the average Australian eats more than 12 meat pies a year. Our recipe ends the same way: eat them hot, in the hand, with tomato sauce over the top.
The pie also becomes the pie floater: a pie set upside down in a bowl of pea soup. The same pie tradition is shared with New Zealand, where it is just as common; see our article on the national dish of New Zealand.
Lamingtons: the cake Australia claims
If the meat pie is the savoury answer, the lamington is the sweet one: a square of butter sponge coated in thin chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut. It is usually said to be named after Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901, and its invention is often credited to his French chef, Armand Galland, working with leftover sponge for unexpected guests. In 2009 it was named one of Queensland's Q150 Icons, and 21 July is National Lamington Day.
The technique matters more than the recipe. The sponge is left uncovered overnight, because a day-old crumb holds together in the icing instead of falling apart. The squares are frozen for an hour so the edges stay sharp, then dropped into a runny icing of icing sugar, cocoa, boiling water and butter, kept warm over hot water. The icing should soak a thin dark layer into the crumb, not set as a shell, before the coconut goes on.
Other dishes to know from Australia
Barramundi is a fish of northern Australian rivers. It is cooked skin-down on a hot barbecue plate, pressed flat for 10 seconds and left untouched for 4 to 5 minutes until the skin is crisp, then finished with lemon myrtle butter and toasted macadamias, two native Australian ingredients. The coastal Indigenous method wraps the fish in soaked paperbark set straight on the coals.
Pavlova, the meringue dessert, is also eaten across the country, though its origin is contested because New Zealand claims its invention too. You will find all three Copper recipes on our page about the food of Australia.
The recipes
- Meat pie🇦🇺 Australia · 5 hours and 10 minutes
Lamingtons🇦🇺 Australia · 17 hours and 5 minutes
Barramundi🇦🇺 Australia · 30 minutes
Questions people ask
Is the meat pie from Australia or New Zealand?
Both countries share the hand-sized meat pie, and it is a staple in each. In Australia it is the dish most often named as the national dish.
What is served with an Australian meat pie?
Tomato sauce, squeezed or spread over the top. It is also served as a pie floater, upside down in a bowl of pea soup.
Is Vegemite Australia's national dish?
Vegemite on toast is often listed as one of Australia's national foods, but it is a spread rather than a dish. The meat pie is named more often.
Is pavlova Australian or from New Zealand?
The origin of pavlova is contested: both Australia and New Zealand claim to have invented it, and no answer is settled.
When is National Lamington Day?
National Lamington Day in Australia is 21 July.
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