Pie floaters are an iconic South Australian street food snack. This pie floater recipe features a crispy, flaky beef pie floating in a delicious homemade mushy pea soup. Serve with your favourite sauce for a filling meal – lunch or dinner!
Why We Love This
The pie floater may look like an odd dish at first glance. But there’s something special about the pairing of crunchy, flaky pastry wrapped beef pies floating on mushy green pea soup. You just HAVE to try it!
Pie floaters tick all the boxes: they’re totally delicious and super satisfying, not to mention budget-friendly and easy to make.
With this recipe you can easily make the pea soup and meat pies in advance. Just freeze them separately, then reheat and assemble when you’re ready to eat!
Related: Beef Sausage Rolls / Hungarian Goulash
What is a Pie Floater?
A pie floater is a beef pie served on top of a green pea soup, which is usually thick and mushy rather than smooth like regular pea soup. It’s often often topped with Australian style tomato sauce (quite similar to American ketchup), but other traditional sauce options include mint sauce, bbq sauce, gravy or even malt vinegar depending on your preference.
Where Did They Originate?
This recipe comes to you all the way from our hometown of Adelaide, South Australia. It’s considered to be Adelaide’s original fast food dish, and was always one of Laura’s Dad’s favourite meals to order at the local pub.
The pie floater tradition dates back to the 1870’s, when the original fleet of horse-drawn pie carts would traverse the city streets. Hordes of hungry locals would line up at the carts for a “Floater” as a quick dinner before heading out, or a late night snack before heading home.
With time, the horses morphed into modern food trucks, still drawing the long tram-style carts across the city. Unfortunately nowadays, despite being a South Australian Heritage Icon, the humble pie cart is a rare sight. These days you’re more likely to score a pie floater from a pub, restaurant or bakery – or homemade of course!
If you’re wanting to serve up a sweet treat afterwards, pair these with another classic South Australian snack – Candy Spuds, the small potato-like coconut treats that are melded together with condensed milk and cocoa. Yum!
What You’ll Need
This classic Aussie dish calls for three main ingredients (for the full list see the recipe card below):
- Meat Pies – You can use any store bought pie if you like, but for the best flavour we recommend making them yourself. Our Mini Meat Pies are the perfect accomplice to your homemade pie floater.
- Pea Soup – Our traditional-style soup is made with dried blue boiler peas or Marrowfat peas – they give the best texture for mushy pea soup once cooked! However, they both require some pre-planning since you need to soak them overnight. To save time you can use regular peas (fresh, canned or frozen) or green split peas, similar to our homemade Erwtensoep – Dutch Split Pea Soup. You could even use canned pea soup – though the flavour will never be the same as homemade.
- Tomato Sauce – In Australia we love tomato sauce, which is similar to American ketchup (definitely not canned tomato puree used for pasta).
Wandercook’s Tips
- Add the pie just before serving so the pastry stays crispy and flaky.
- To be extra authentic you should technically serve the pie upside down in the soup – but we couldn’t bring ourselves to do that when the lids of our homemade pies were so CRISPYYYY.
FAQs
Yes, you can make the pies and the soup in advance as long as you store them separately.
The pea soup will last for around 3 days in the fridge, up to a few months if stored in the freezer. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top.
Homemade beef pies can be stored in the freezer, then thawed completely before baking in the oven until heated through. Serve your assembled pie floater immediately.
This helps to break down the tough outer skin of the blue boiler peas, so they can soften and soak up the water.
If you’ve added too much water while cooking the pea soup, you have a couple of options to help thicken it:
– Add pureed vegetables such as potato, carrot or celery (best for extra flavour)
– OR, make a cornflour slurry from 1-1.5 tsp of corn starch and 3 tsp cold water. Stir through the soup to thicken.
Variations & Substitutes
- Pie – Use any kind of pie that you like – chicken, curry or potato pies would all taste amazing.
- Make it Vegan – Swap the beef pie for your favourite vegan pie, and use vegetable stock in the soup instead of chicken stock.
- Tweak the Sauces – Traditional options include mint sauce, BBQ sauce, or malt vinegar. Another popular version is to top with mashed potato and gravy! But if you’re feeling more adventurous, you could try it with Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce, Yakisoba sauce or even Takoyaki sauce. Those last two are amazing Japanese condiments with a similar flavour to BBQ sauce.
Want more great Aussie recipes to try? Here are some of our all-time favourites:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried peas 375 g blue boiler or marrowfat
- 6 cups chicken stock 1.5 L
- 1 tbsp bicarb soda
- 4 mini beef pies or whatever pie you like!
Optional toppings (to taste)
Instructions
- Pop your dried peas in a large saucepan (no need to soak!). Pour in your chicken stock and bicarb soda and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer on low.2 cups dried peas, 6 cups chicken stock, 1 tbsp bicarb soda
- Cook until the peas have softened and the soup has thickened nicely, around 1 hour. Stir every now and then to prevent sticking. Scoop off any foam as you go. Note 1: If it starts to boil over, you've got the heat too high! Note 2: If the liquid evaporates too quick, just add more water as you go, 1/2 cup at a time for a runnier soup.
- During the last 15 minutes of cooking the soup, pop your store-bought or homemade beef pies in the oven to heat and cook through.4 mini beef pies
- Transfer your mushy green pea soup into serving bowls and top with the hot flaky beef pies. Slather with your favourite toppings such as tomato sauce and tuck in!tomato sauce / ketchup, BBQ sauce, Mint sauce, Malt vinegar, Salt and pepper
Video
Recipe Notes
- Pies – You can use any store bought pie if you like – beef, chicken, curry or potato pies would all taste amazing. but for the best flavour we recommend making them yourself. Our Mini Meat Pies are the perfect accomplice to your homemade pie floater. Add the pie just before serving so the pastry stays crispy and flaky. To be extra authentic you can serve the pie upside down in the soup.
- Pea Soup – Our traditional-style soup is made with dried blue boiler peas or Marrowfat peas – they give the best texture for mushy pea soup once cooked! However, they both require some pre-planning since you need to soak them overnight. To save time you can use regular peas (fresh, canned or frozen) or green split peas, similar to our homemade Erwtensoep – Dutch Split Pea Soup. You could even use canned pea soup – though the flavour will never be the same as homemade. If your pea soup is too thin, try adding pureed vegetables such as potato, carrot or celery OR, make a cornflour slurry from 1-1.5 tsp of corn starch and 3 tsp cold water. Stir through the soup to thicken.
- Tomato Sauce – In Australia we love tomato sauce, which is similar to American ketchup (definitely not canned tomato puree used for pasta).
- Make it Vegan – Swap the beef pie for your favourite vegan pie, and use vegetable stock in the soup instead of chicken stock.
- Tweak the Sauces – Traditional options include mint sauce, BBQ sauce, or malt vinegar. Another popular version is to top with mashed potato and gravy! But if you’re feeling more adventurous, you could try it with Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce, Yakisoba sauce or even Takoyaki sauce. Those last two are amazing Japanese condiments with a similar flavour to BBQ sauce.
- Store & Reheat – The pea soup will last for around 3 days in the fridge, up to a few months if stored in the freezer. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top. Homemade beef pies can be stored in the freezer, then thawed completely before baking in the oven until heated through. Serve your assembled pie floater immediately.
Nutrition
22 Comments
Bob
01/06/2021 at 3:57 pmI think there’s a couple of things wrong with recipe first it has to be a Balfours square pie second it has to be upside down thirdly the pea soup needs tot be liquid
That’s the old pie cart presentation by the railway station and the town hall in south Oz
Wandercooks
02/06/2021 at 10:35 amHey Bob, you can most definitely cook your pie floater exactly like the ol’ pie cart’s version. 🙂 We have people cooking this all over the world, where the classic Balfour’s pie is not always available. Instead, we make our recipes easy and accessible for everyone to make at home. We mentioned you can add more water for a runnier pea soup – we just love ours thick! Thanks for sharing your memories of how you’ve had it in the past, and hope you enjoy cooking this yourself.
Anna
17/09/2020 at 3:54 pmHi,
Is green split peas similar to blue boiler peas? Can I use them instead?
Wandercooks
17/09/2020 at 5:08 pmHey Anna!
I’d use regular peas in the first instance. Instead of soaking them, you can boil them straight away, or just use a can of peas and cook until mushy and use half the chicken stock.
If you don’t have regular peas, then you can definitely use your green split peas. They will just have a slightly different texture and flavour. You could actually use our Split Pea Soup recipe for the base instead, up to you!
Hope this helps!
AP
25/05/2019 at 5:27 pm…so where does the Bicarb Soda fit in…???
Wandercooks
06/06/2019 at 11:45 amHi AP, thanks for stopping by! Great pickup – that’s meant to go in along with the chicken stock. We’ve updated the recipe now. 🙂
George
18/02/2019 at 5:58 amI know “tomato sauce” isn’t ketchup but is it just tomato sauce straight out of can?
Wandercooks
18/02/2019 at 2:25 pmHey George! Tomato sauce is the Australian term for Ketchup. 🙂 You could definitely try the recipe with canned tomatoes or passata and see how it turns out. Who knows! Haha otherwise, stick with ketchup. 🙂
Fair-go Dibbler
14/11/2016 at 3:54 amLooked up this recipe after listening to “The Last Continent ” by Terry Pratchett. But I’ll have to find a sauce recipe. Sorry, but I’m not spending over $30 for tomato sauce! No worries, good-on-ya!
Wandercooks
18/11/2016 at 10:41 amHey, thanks for stopping by! Got to love Terry Pratchett’s works, he was such a hilariously clever writer. Now, re the tomato sauce, looks like the shipping fee was the killer there! You could check out an import store and see if they stock any – we found Australian Vegemite and Tim Tams in the most random countries on our adventures, so you never know!
Noble Ayaia
01/09/2016 at 12:32 pmThere is nothing more iconic than the Aussie meat pie. We all love it and we all know a good pie immediately. Smothered with tomato sauce, not ketchup, this is comfort food down under.
Wandercooks
06/09/2016 at 12:01 pmCouldn’t have said it better ourselves. 😉
Jovita @ Yummy Addiction
07/08/2016 at 6:39 amWhat an amazing idea to pair meat pies with pea soup. Looks like a perfect lunch or light dinner!
Wandercooks
09/08/2016 at 12:53 pmIt’s an oldie but a goodie! And yep, just as good for lunch or dinner, and often eaten just as a snack too (depending on the size of those meat pies!).
J@BlessHerHeartYall
07/08/2016 at 1:10 amOh yum! I have never seen or heard of this but it looks absolutely delicious! I need to try this ASAP!
Wandercooks
09/08/2016 at 12:51 pmGo go go! Let us know what you think J! 🙂
Amanda {Striped Sptaula}
07/08/2016 at 12:00 amI’ve never heard of a pie floater, but YUM! Homemade pea soup is one of my favorites, and I can imagine that the meat pie and tomato sauce must take it to the next level. Sounds great!
Wandercooks
09/08/2016 at 12:48 pmTotally agree Amanda, pea soup is amazing! And Aussies are nothing if not ingenious when it comes to food pairing hahaha. 😛 Hope you enjoy!
Igor @ Cooking The Globe
06/08/2016 at 3:05 amI have never heard about this dish, but it looks amazing. Meat pies + pea soup = awesomeness!
Wandercooks
09/08/2016 at 12:45 pmHaha yep, nailed it Igor! 🙂
Florentina
05/08/2016 at 1:10 pmThis is all new to me too and I’m game. Your puppy looks like my baby Nala’s brother. Major awwwww moment over here!
Wandercooks
09/08/2016 at 12:45 pmCouldn’t imagine life without our pups! 🙂