How many calories in a pork pie? Mini, individual, Melton Mowbray and gala pie
A pork pie is about 360 kcal per 100g, so a mini pie is 180 and a 140g individual pie 504. Calories by size, why the hot water crust is the heavy part, and the salt.
A pork pie is a pastry case that happens to contain pork.
Pork pie is about 360 kcal per 100g. That puts it level with a sausage roll per gram, and the reason is the same: more than half the calories are in the pastry. An individual 140g pie is about 504 kcal, which is a meal, not a snack.
The pie looks compact and solid, so it reads as a modest portion. It is dense in every sense.
The quick answer
| Pie | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Bite-size pork pie | 25g | 90 |
| Mini pork pie | 50g | 180 |
| Snack pork pie | 75g | 270 |
| Individual pork pie | 140g | 504 |
| Large individual, Melton Mowbray style | 290g | 1,044 |
| Slice of gala pie, egg through the middle | 75g | 225 |
| Sixth of a 440g family pie | 73g | 264 |
| Quarter of a 440g family pie | 110g | 396 |
| Whole 440g family pie | 440g | 1,584 |
Where the calories are
This is the correction. A pork pie is sold and described by its meat. By calories it is mostly pastry.
Hot water crust is flour, lard and boiling water. It is made to be strong enough to stand up on its own while it bakes, which means a thick wall and a lot of lard. Once baked it is about 440 kcal per 100g, a little lighter than shortcrust but laid on thicker.
Here is 100g of a typical individual pork pie:
| Part | Weight | Calories per 100g | Calories | Share of calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot water crust | 48g | 440 | 211 | 59% |
| Seasoned pork filling | 44g | 330 | 145 | 41% |
| Jelly (set stock) | 8g | 15 | 1 | 0% |
| Total | 100g | 357 |
The pastry is about half the weight and nearly 60% of the calories. That is a smaller pastry share than a sausage roll (63%) or a Cornish pasty (about two thirds), because pork pie filling is denser meat with no vegetables. But the overall density is the same, because both the crust and the filling are heavy.
The jelly is the part people pick out and leave. It is set pork stock, mostly water and gelatin, and it is close to calorie-free. Leaving it saves nothing.
Mini pies add up faster than the big one
| Plate | Calories |
|---|---|
| 1 individual pie (140g) | 504 |
| 2 mini pies (100g) | 360 |
| 3 mini pies (150g) | 540 |
| 4 mini pies (200g) | 720 |
| 6 bite-size pies (150g) | 540 |
A mini pie has a higher share of pastry than a big one, because a small pie has more wall per gram of filling. If anything, 3.6 kcal per gram slightly undercounts them. Three minis are more than one individual pie, and they do not feel like a meal. Buffet tables are where pork pie calories hide.
Pork pie against the other buffet food
| Item | Calories per 100g | Usual portion | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pork pie | 360 | 140g individual | 504 | 14g |
| Mini pork pie | 360 | 50g | 180 | 5g |
| Sausage roll | 360 | 91g bakery | 327 | 8g |
| Scotch egg | 250 | 113g | 283 | 12g |
| Cornish pasty | 265 | 227g | 602 | 17g |
| Ham, sliced | 110 | 30g, 2 slices | 33 | 5g |
| Cheddar | 405 | 30g | 122 | 7g |
Per gram, pork pie and sausage roll are the same. Per portion, the individual pork pie is the heavier of the two because it is bigger. If the goal is protein from the buffet, two slices of ham give a third of the protein of a whole pork pie for less than a tenth of the calories.
The ploughman's plate
A pork pie is rarely eaten alone. In a pub or at a Boxing Day buffet, it comes with cheese, pickle and bread.
| Item | Amount | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Pork pie | 140g individual | 504 |
| Cheddar | 40g | 162 |
| Pickle, brown | 1 tbsp (15g) | 16 |
| Crusty bread with butter | 1 slice and 10g | 162 |
| Apple, pickled onions, salad | 60 | |
| Total | 904 |
The pie is more than half the plate. Halving it (most pubs will happily serve half a pie) saves 252 kcal, more than leaving out the bread and butter. Cheese figures come from the cheese breakdown.
The salt is the other trade
Pork pie is salty whether or not the meat is cured (a true Melton Mowbray pie uses uncured pork), at about 1.6g of salt per 100g. Adults are advised to keep below 6g a day, per the NHS.
| Portion | Salt | Share of 6g daily limit |
|---|---|---|
| Mini pie (50g) | 0.8g | 13% |
| Individual pie (140g) | 2.2g | 37% |
| Ploughman's plate, as above | 3.8g | 63% |
UK and US words
There is no common American pork pie, so most of these are UK terms with no direct translation.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Pork pie | Cold, raised pie of chopped pork in hot water crust, eaten cold |
| Melton Mowbray pork pie | Protected-name pie made in a defined area of Leicestershire with uncured pork, so the meat is grey, not pink. See the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association |
| Gala pie | A long pork pie with boiled eggs running through the middle, sold in slices |
| Raised pie | Any pie with a free-standing hot water crust wall |
| Picnic pie | A family-size pork pie, often with egg, sold for slicing |
| Tourtiere | French Canadian spiced pork pie in shortcrust, served hot. The nearest North American relative, around 280 to 320 kcal per 100g |
| Porky, pork pies | Cockney rhyming slang for lies. No calories |
How to log a pork pie accurately
- Use the weight on the pack and multiply by 3.6. It holds across minis, individuals and slices.
- Log a mini pie as 180 kcal, not "a small snack". Four of them are 720.
- For a slice off a family pie, a sixth is about 73g and 264 kcal.
- Do not subtract the jelly. It is close to zero calories either way.
- If you want the flavour for less, have half a pie with ham and salad rather than a whole one with bread and cheese.