Mom’s Chicken Pot Pie
There’s something timeless about a golden chicken pot pie pulled from the oven, steam curling out of its flaky crust. Rooted in British cooking traditions, this dish found a natural home in Canada, where cold winters called for hearty, warming meals. In Prairie kitchens especially, farm families stretched a single chicken with garden vegetables, flour, and milk to feed a crowd. Over time, it became a staple across the country — a Sunday dinner favourite, a holiday table centerpiece, and a freezer-friendly comfort for busy nights. Creamy, filling, and nostalgic, pot pie is more than a meal — it’s a piece of Canadian kitchen history.
Truely Canadian Chicken Wings
Few foods feel more Canadian than a plate of wings paired with a cold beer during hockey season. From pubs in Toronto to backyard barbecues in the Prairies, wings have become the ultimate game-day ritual. While Buffalo, New York, may claim their invention, Canadians have made wings their own — serving them by the platter at pubs, festivals, and living rooms across the country. Crispy, saucy, and meant to be shared, they’re part of our sports culture as much as cheering from the couch or celebrating a Saturday night win.
Creamy Butter Chicken
Butter chicken may have been born in Delhi in the 1950s, but it has found a true second home in Canada. With more than 1.8 million Canadians of South Asian heritage, the dish has become a staple in households and restaurants from Toronto’s Little India to Surrey’s vibrant Punjabi markets. Creamy, spiced, and deeply comforting, it’s the kind of dish that feels as Canadian as stew or chili — warming you from the inside out on a snowy night, shared with rice, naan, and family around the table.
Harissa Chicken and Vegetables
This dish balances warmth, colour, and spice in a way that feels perfectly at home in Canada. Harissa, a North African chili paste, has become a pantry staple in multicultural kitchens from Vancouver to Toronto. Canadians often give it a local twist — a drizzle of maple syrup for sweetness, or pepper jelly made from Prairie peppers for a distinctly regional flavour. Paired with hearty vegetables and comforting proteins like chicken or pork, this meal reflects the Canadian table: global inspiration grounded in local abundance.
Roast Chicken with Swiss Chalet Style Sauce
Roast chicken is one of those dishes that feels both everyday and extraordinary. In Canada, it carries two stories at once: the timeless Sunday supper, when families gather around the table for golden skin, tender meat, and the comfort of roasted vegetables — and the unmistakable nostalgia of Swiss Chalet. Since the 1950s, the chain’s rotisserie chicken and iconic Chalet sauce have been part of our national food memory. This version brings both traditions together, pairing crisp, juicy chicken with a gravy inspired by that legendary flavour, making it as Canadian as hockey nights or maple syrup on pancakes.
Healthy Frittata - On The Go
Inspired by Spain’s tortilla de patatas, the frittata has found a home in Canadian kitchens as a quick, healthy, and adaptable dish. It’s my go-to for using up vegetables, and with a little cheese baked on top, it turns golden, hearty, and comforting. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a simple lunch — and it keeps well in the fridge for busy mornings.
Quiche Lorraine (Bacon & Cheese)
Classic French in origin, Quiche Lorraine has been warmly embraced in Canada. With crisp pastry, smoky bacon, and creamy egg filling, it’s become a favourite for brunches, family gatherings, and even school lunches packed the next day. Comforting yet elegant, it’s a dish that always feels at home on the Canadian table.
Smoked Salmon Rösti
This dish takes me back to Toronto, where I first tried it at Mövenpick — a simple plate that felt both elegant and comforting. Crisp golden rösti topped with silky smoked salmon, a spoonful of cream cheese, and a perfectly poached egg turns humble ingredients into something restaurant-worthy. It’s the kind of dish that works at brunch, a holiday breakfast, or even as a light supper.
Peameal Bacon - BLT
This isn’t just any BLT — it’s Canadian through and through. Peameal bacon, often called “Toronto’s signature dish,” is lean pork loin rolled in cornmeal and fried until golden. A legend at St. Lawrence Market since the late 1800s, it remains a proud local favourite. Layered with lettuce and ripe tomatoes, this BLT takes a familiar classic and gives it a distinctly Canadian identity.
Pâté Chinois - Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s pie may have roots in Britain and Ireland, but in Canada it found a second life as pâté chinois — a French-Canadian classic that’s become part of everyday food culture. Simple layers of seasoned beef, sweet corn, and buttery mashed potatoes made it a staple in Quebec households, school cafeterias, and community suppers. It’s comfort food at its most familiar: hearty, humble, and tied to Canadian winters where a single dish could feed the whole family.
Grandma’s Chilli and Beans
Chilli is one of those dishes that feels like home — hearty, comforting, and perfect for sharing around a crowded table. My grandma’s version was simple yet full of character, built on fresh garden tomatoes, beans, and whatever ground meat was on hand. In Canada, chili became a staple of potlucks, hockey nights, and winter suppers, when a single simmering pot could feed a houseful of family, friends, and neighbours coming in from the cold. It’s practical, adaptable, and always satisfying — a true reflection of Canadian kitchens.
French-Canadian Beef Bourguignon
Beef Bourguignon, born in France’s Burgundy region, is a dish where humble ingredients — beef, red wine, and vegetables — become something extraordinary through slow simmering. In Quebec, it took root as part of the province’s deep culinary ties to France, evolving into a hearty stew that suited long Canadian winters. Often served with mashed potatoes instead of noodles, it feels rustic yet elegant, the kind of comfort food that bridges French technique and Canadian tradition. Whether cooked with a Burgundy or a local Pinot Noir from Niagara or the Okanagan, it’s a dish that embodies both heritage and adaptation.
Steak and Chips with Béarnaise
Steak and chips may be a French bistro classic, but in French-speaking Canada it has an added layer of meaning. Quebec’s cuisine has long been influenced by France, and steak frites with Béarnaise feels like a natural bridge between Parisian refinement and Canadian heartiness. Whether served in a Montreal brasserie or grilled in a Prairie backyard, a perfectly seared steak with golden fries and tangy Béarnaise captures the spirit of both worlds — elegant yet comforting, rooted in tradition yet proudly Canadian.
Swedish Meatballs – IKEA to Home
In Canada, Swedish meatballs aren’t just a Scandinavian classic — they’re a household staple thanks to IKEA, where they’ve fed millions of hungry shoppers since the 1970s. With tender spiced meatballs, creamy gravy, and a side of mashed potatoes or noodles, they became more than cafeteria food: they’re comfort, convenience, and a taste of global culture at the Canadian table. Today, they’re just as likely to appear at family dinners and potlucks as they are in shopping carts, bridging Scandinavian tradition with Canadian practicality.
Holubtsi – Cabbage Rolls
Across the Canadian Prairies, few dishes carry as much heart as holubtsi, or cabbage rolls. Brought over by Ukrainian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they quickly became a fixture of church suppers, wedding feasts, and Christmas tables. More than food, they are memory and ritual — families gathered in kitchens to blanch leaves, roll fillings, and line trays for baking. Stretching humble ingredients like rice, meat, and cabbage into something festive and sustaining, holubtsi remain a symbol of resilience and celebration in Ukrainian-Canadian communities.
Tourtière with Chili Sauce
Few dishes capture the essence of French-Canadian tradition like tourtière. Golden and spiced, this meat pie has graced holiday tables since the 1600s, when early settlers adapted Old World pies to the ingredients of New France. Over time, it became inseparable from réveillon, the late-night Christmas Eve feast, where families gathered after midnight mass to share food, stories, and song. In many homes, including Grandma’s, tourtière was paired with homemade chilli sauce. Today, tourtière endures not just as a holiday classic but as a symbol of French-Canadian heritage, a dish that ties family, memory, and culture together in every slice.
Canadian Beef Wellington
Beef Wellington is the ultimate showstopper — rich, indulgent, and perfect for holidays or celebrations. In Canada, it often appears on special-occasion tables, blending British elegance with local ingredients like Prairie beef and wild mushrooms. Wrapped in golden pastry with a creamy, sherry-kissed mushroom filling, it’s a dish that feels both festive and deeply comforting.