The New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards has been skewed toward North Island pies in recent years, with the location of the awards among several disadvantages perceived by South Island bakers. We’ve been travelling the South Island for years, trying many pies along the way, and finally feel qualified to wade into the great New Zealand pie debate. Here are our top 12 pies in the South Island, New Zealand!
Fat Bastard Pies, Invercargill
We pulled up outside Fat Bastard Pies to find a huge (by Invercargill standards) line of people waiting for their chance to buy a pie. These pies are highly-rated in Southland and we’d been waiting for years to finally try one. We thought they were slightly overrated in terms of taste (still a great pie though) but I reckon it’s the biggest and most filling pie on this list, so definitely one to seek out if you’re hungry.
Miles Better Pies, Te Anau
Miles Better Pies is a popular pie shop in Te Anau. If you love pies and are heading out on a Great Walk you could use the thought eating a delicious pie at the end of it all as inspiration to get yourself through the hard times on the trail. I tried these pies years ago and enjoyed them at the time — that’s all I remember!
The Butcher’s Pie Shop, Christchurch
Riverside Market is the best food market of its kind in the South Island, with heaps of different food to try from around the world. The Butcher’s Pie Shop has your New Zealand style hand-pies covered (I only recently heard them hand-pies). The pie we had (steak and cheese) was enjoyable — nice enough to make the list but not quite special enough to be higher up.
May’s Pies, Timaru
May’s pies, small in stature and with a taste that stood out from the crowd, were a favourite food of mine as a kid growing up in Timaru. I’ve only had one since (in a random pie warmer a long way from Timaru), and it wasn’t quite what I remembered, but I reckon a properly cooked May’s pie will still hit the spot.
Kai Pies, Wanaka
With its location on the waterfront in Wanaka, it’s easy to grab a Kai Pie and eat it at the beach with Lake Wanaka and the mountains as the backdrop. Idyllic scenes, but what are the pies like? Pretty good from what I remember. I put them in that “slightly forgettable but enjoyable at the time” category of pie — not one you’d travel for but not one you’d ever complain about eating.
Nana Ni’s Pies, Reefton
It was a rainy day in Reefton and we were starving — nothing better for it than a pie! Nana Ni’s Pies stands out on Broadway, the main street in Reefton, beckoning tourists in with the promise of hot meat and pastry. We ordered one steak and cheese and one chicken and they were meaty and filling — perfect rainy-day food.
West Coast Pie Company, Westport
This bakery in Westport is famous for its wild meat pies (venison, thar, rabbit among others) — unique pies for a unique part of New Zealand. Gia had a smoked wild pork pie a few years back and really enjoyed it — I’m not sure about wild meat in general but I’m keen to try some of these pies.
Barker’s, Geraldine
Barker’s is famous throughout New Zealand for its jams, cordials and chutneys, with its base in Geraldine featuring a garden café serving up delicious pies, cakes and more. It’s a popular spot on the South Canterbury tourist trail — definitely one of the better cafés of its type in the South Island. We loved the pork belly pie and thought it rivalled the Fairlie Bakehouse version — we’ll have to try the others to really judge it properly.
Danish Delights, Dunedin
The humble suburban bakery is a staple of the Kiwi lunchbreak, serving up pies, cream donuts and dozens of other treats to tradies and other hungry locals. You’ll find them in towns and cities all over the island and many would deserve to be on a list like this. I stayed loyal to my local bakery, Danish Delights, as I reckon they make the best pies in Dunedin — and I’ve tried lots of them!
The pies at Danish Delights are the meatiest I’ve tried anywhere in New Zealand. You’ll get a perfectly cooked bit of steak in pretty much every bite and I can’t recall ever finding any gristle! They are on the small side though. Their other food is good too, especially the chocolate eclairs.
Jimmy’s Pies
Most of the pies on this list are only found in specific shops or regions, but the good old reliable Jimmy’s pie is found in petrol stations and convenience stores throughout the lower South Island, with Central Otago (Roxburgh specifically) its spiritual homeland. It’s your best bet for a 2am emergency bite to eat or a last-minute lunch on the road.
Fairlie Bakehouse
Famous for its pork belly pies and surprisingly long lines for an otherwise quiet country town, Fairlie Bakehouse has a prominent position on the road between Christchurch and Lake Tekapo. I’d heard tales of the Fairlie Bakehouse pork belly pies long before I tried them and they didn’t disappoint. It’s the king of pies in the South Island, or so we thought!
Sheffield Pies
If it wasn’t for its famous pie shop you’d drive right through Sheffield without a second thought. In recent years this tiny bakery on the road between Christchurch and Arthur’s Pass has seen thousands of tourists snapping up delicious pies — a last stop before leaving civilization behind for the wilds of the Southern Alps. It’s so good I reckon people will drive there from Christchurch just for a pie!
What About North Island Pies?
Patrick’s Pies in Tauranga won the Supreme Pie Award for the eight time in 2023 — impressive considering it had only been running for 25 years. We tried them a few years ago and they were good, although they didn’t stand out as much as we thought they would. It seems to have lost it’s aura a bit judging by the 2024 awards, although those awards don’t seem to mean much (Fairlie Bakehouse wasn’t even entering it as of 2023).
Premium VS Budget
You can’t go wrong with most of the highly rated pies in New Zealand as most use premium meat and good pastry. There’s a big difference between those and cheap petrol station / supermarket pies though! I have a little rule that may make your pie eating endeavours more pleasant – if it’s a gourmet pie go for steak (steak and cheese etc) and if it’s a budget, mass produced pie go for mince. The “steak” in those cheaper pies is often chewy and gristly.
What are your favourite pies in the South Island? Let us know in the comments below!
Jon Algie
Latest posts by Jon Algie (see all)
- Top 12 Pies in the South Island, New Zealand - April 30, 2025
- Best Things to Do in Dunedin with Babies / Toddlers - March 8, 2025
- Supermarkets in New Zealand: A Guide For Tourists - February 10, 2025