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No Sauce Needed: The Best Australian Pies Worth The Roadtrip

No Sauce Needed: The Best Australian Pies Worth The Roadtrip

australian pie road trips

Where to find Australia’s best pies?

As Aussies gear up for more road trip holidays, it should not be without the mandatory pitstop to a bakery for ‘meal in your hands’, humble Australian pie. (To add tomato sauce or ketchup is debatable!) Local bakeries throughout the country sell many varieties of this Australian snack, from the classic beef pie to modern flavours including Tasmania’s curried scallops to actual Australian symbols, kangaroo and emu. We fill you in on where to find the best Australian pies.

From bakers to butchers, there are so many friendly locals ready to welcome visitors into some of Australia’s most beautiful destinations – and flavoursome pies! To get your hands and mouth around Australia’s best pies, the folks at Tourism Australia has baked us a treat with this state by state rundown of where to find them.

Time to pass the sauce or just jump straight in…

Western Australia

Pinjarra Bakery

Family-owned Pinjarra Bakery won best mince pie at last year’s national Great Aussie Pie Comp, where they walked away with fourteen gold, three silver and one bronze for their range of crowd-pleasing pies – what are you waiting for, try it yourself! 

Bindoon Bakery

A favourite of Prince Harry’s, Bindoon Bakery is worth a royal visit. From the classic pepper steak to their famous Moo and Blue (steak with a blue cheese centre) there is something for everyone. 

Croc Cafe Bakery

In the town of Wyndham, surrounded by some of the Kimberley’s most spectacular landforms, brave visitors can try crocodile and barramundi pies at much-loved bakehouse, Croc Cafe Bakery.

Related reads: 13 Top Instagram Feeds To Get You Excited To Travel Western Australia

Victoria

Kyneton’s Country Cob Bakery

In 2019, Kyneton’s Country Cob Bakery took The Baking Association of Australia’s prize for best pie for their Caramelised Pork and Pepper Pie. Co-owner and head baker Ryan Khuan champions flavours from his home country Cambodia and regularly spends months tweaking the flavours to suit Australians taste buds.

Hulm’s Bakery

For most Colac is a town you pass by on a longer journey, however, for those in the know, it’s the home of a 1950’s time capsule called Hulm’s Bakery. Their square pies are full of flavour, and despite the flaky pastry, hold their shape right until the end. A great tasting Australian pie.

Gladysdale Bakehouse and Tea Rooms

Gladysdale Bakehouse and Tea Rooms’ baker Jason Rush uses grass-fed beef from farms up the road, and red wines from the surrounding Yarra Valley, to create the ultimate Beef Burgundy Pie at regional favourite, Gladysdale Bakehouse and Tea Rooms. And if you’re looking for something to take home and feed the masses they even have frozen family-sized pies available to go. 

Australia Capital Territory

Elaine’s Gourmet Pie Cafe

There are three outlets of across Canberra, located in FyshwickDickson, and Phillip, and it’s easy for visitors to Australia’s capital to find one during a visit. What sets Elaine’s Gourmet Pie Cafe pies apart from others is their range and use of tender, slow-cooked pieces of meat. With a pie for everyone, in addition to the traditional favourites like chunky steak and pepper steak, Elaine’s offers unique iterations including a tuna mornay and a macaroni, bacon and shallot pie. Due to their size, they are best eaten with a knife and fork!

Crust Bakery and Café 

Nick and Louise Smith started at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets in 2010, with over 50 years of experience between them. There are 12 different pies to choose from at Crust Bakery and Café each day with pastry cooked to perfection, including Chickpea & Curry, Spinach & Feta, and Lamb, Rosemary & Shiraz. 

Related reads: 10 Natural Wonders That Are Uniquely Australian

New South Wales

Gumnut Patisserie 

With operations in MittagongBowral and Berrima, Gumnut Patisserie is unlike any other in the area with owners Tracy and Vicki Nickl combining tradition and pride to serve the perfect pie every time. It’s recommended visitors arrive early, as even the locals get up early on weekends to avoid missing out, with their shelves regularly empty by early afternoon. The menu winner is their ‘Eden Pie’. Made with beef braised overnight in a specialty beer from the local EDEN brewery, and mixed with Smokey BBQ sauce, along with a few vegetables and scooped into a savoury short pastry, and lidded with real butter puff pastry top it’s won countless awards.

Robertson Pie Shop 

At the intersection of the Illawarra Highway and Jamberoo Mountain Road is the famous family-run business Robertson Pie Shop since 1961. Grab a chicken, camembert and leek or shepherd’s pie, followed by an apple turnover for dessert and have no regrets about your culinary adventures at Robertson Pie Shop.

Heatherbrae’s Pies

A NSW road trip staple is a stop at Heatherbrae’s Pies . The pie-perfectionists have taken the humble Aussie meat pie and sausage roll and launched them into the modern era of convenience food competing admirably with neighbouring fast-food giants. The chefs take pride in producing premium quality foods using the freshest, and best quality produce for each pie’s unique recipe.

Glenorie Bakery Café

 Just 45 minutes from Sydney’s CBD, is Glenorie Bakery Café. It identifiable by the big old truck parked out front with a giant pie on the back of it. The family-run business that churns out over 300 freshly baked goods every morning is known by locals and out-of-towners for its extensive range of meat pies and decadent eclairs. Glenorie Bakery Café is worth a trip for the interiors alone, the vibe inside is old school industrial meets Country Western.

Related reads: 10 Australian Travel Podcasts To Satisfy Your Wanderlust 

Northern Territory

The Bakery Alice Springs

You can’t travel to the heart of Australia without visiting The Bakery Alice Springs. Everything is baked from scratch, and they pride themselves on making quality products using quality ingredients. The pastry is made from real butter, and the “creative pies” are made fresh from top quality, locally sourced meats and vegetables – exactly how a proper pie should be! They like to keep things fresh, and a little different from the standard bakery fare, so depending on the day travellers might even see a camel or kangaroo pie on the menu! 

Tommo’s Pies

The team at Tommo’s Pies in Darwin know that a true blue Aussie understands the majesties of the humble pie – it’s heaven in every bite! Tommo’s began making pies back in the seventies and are still going strong today. They keep it simple, with the classics, a few gourmet varieties such as Thai chicken curry and a vegan Mexican chilli bean pie – and a regular ‘pie of the month’ unique flavour. Situated perfectly just off the Stuart Highway, it’s the perfect spot to either start or end your Top End adventures!

Queensland

Yatala Pies

Yatala Pies has been a Queensland landmark for more than 130 years and no drive past Yatala (a 30-minute drive out of Brisbane) can be done without stopping in for one of these famous Australian pies. Selling a whopping 3,500 pies a day, they do a range of fantastic savoury and sweet pies, and despite the line up that’s usually out the door, people come from everywhere just to get a taste of one of these bad boys!

Jocheims Pies

Jochheims Pies have even caught the attention of actor Hugh Jackman while he was filming the movie Australia in Bowen! People can order a Jackman Hunky Beef Pie or try the creamy prawn pie, made with locally-caught seafood, which are some of the favourites among locals and visitors alike. 

The Old Fernvale Bakery

Old Fernvale Bakery has been established for more than three decades, and their baking team are the winners of hundreds of national pie and baking awards. With over 100 different flavours of pies including emu, crocodile, camel and kangaroo – pies can’t get more Australian than that!

Sutton’s

A visit to Stanthrope isn’t complete without grabbing a slice of mouth-watering Sutton’s apple pie. Each pie is handmade with no processed products and uses apples grown on the property from February to May. Outside of this season, they use freshly stored apples from local orchards located within 10kms of the café – always keeping the produce local. 

South Australia

Port Elliot Bakery

Located on the coastline between the towns of Victor Harbour and Middleton, approximately an hour drive from Adelaide is the coastal bakery, Port Elliot Bakery. It has been a staple since the 1860s and is known among locals as the best pies in South Australia. Usually, in summer, there is often a 25m queue to get in! Visitors can’t go past a Steak pie, but the bakehouse also has ‘Pies of the Month’ which have recently featured Hawaiian Steak and Red Wine Mushroom pies. 

Apex Bakery Barossa

Apex Bakery Barossa is an artisan bakery based in Tanunda of the Barossa Valley and known state-wide as the Barossa’s original wood oven bakehouse. While visiting family-friendly Tanunda guests can dabble in the small-town culture with numerous parks, playgrounds, picnic spots to explore with one of their Venison Ragù pies in hand. 

Tasmania

Blue Edge Bakery

Blue Edge Bakery is a family-owned bakery in Bicheno, offering freshly baked delights daily and the winners of Tasmania’s ‘Best Scallop Pie’ award 2019. Visit Blue Edge Bakery for a range of delicious baked goods and great coffee, friendly and welcoming café, which provides a perfect environment for families, locals and travellers alike. 

Ross Village Bakery

At the centre of the newly proclaimed Heritage Highway between Launceston and HobartRoss is one of Tasmanian’s early garrison towns. Ross Village Bakery has been operating on the site for over 100 years. The wood-fired oven is a unique piece of colonial history, a traditional semi-scotch brick “3 bag oven,” with the capacity to bake 300 loaves at a time. For a modern twist and in the interest of keen anime fans, the bakery resembles the iconic bakery from the anime Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989).

Feature image: Pinjarra Bakery

See more: Australian travel

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