A pie is something very different. A pie has pastry, fruit, sugary goodness. A pizza has meat, entirely different dough, lots of savory food. What makes pizza deserve the name “pie”?

33 comments

  1. I don’t believe that “pie” necessitates sweetness. Cottage Pie, Shepard’s Pie, Beef or Chicken Pot Pie are all savory.

  2. You forget Shepherd’s Pie, Meat Pies, Chicken Pot Pie, etc! And the reason pizza is called a pie is that when Italian immigrants first brought it to the US, Americans thought the slices looked like a tomato pie.

  3. A.) Not everyone calls it a pie. In fact, outside of very specific circumstances: “A piece of the pie rewards” slogan from Dominos, for example, it’s almost always just called a pizza.

    B.) The main leading theory seems to from Italian immigrants who used “pie” because pizza looks roughly like a pie.

  4. your definition of pie is too narrow and restrictive.

    Moreover it is pretty presumptuous and rude to tell people that they don’t understand their mother tongue.

  6. Pies can be savoury.

    Pies from my country are traditionally handheld and filled with beef

    I went to a Palestinian restaurant last week and had a sfiha with ground lamb

    Empanadas are usually savoury and can have cheese and tomato, depending on the country of origin

    Last time this question was asked, I think someone mentioned something about Italian immigrants calling it a tomato pie, because the area they settled was mostly British at the time, and typical British pies at the time were savoury dishes (and still are, IMO)

    Tbh, I always associated pies being sweet with America so it’s ironic to me that you do the opposite

  8. We usually have people here complaining that we only call sweet things pies. Now we have someone complaining that we call something savory a pie.

  9. Your initial statement is incorrect. The UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland all use “Pie” as name for things such as a savory sausage or lamb pastries.

  10. Most people just say pizza. I have never heard anyone say let’s have a pizza pie.

    ETA: in the middle of the US I have not heard people say let’s have a pizza pie.

  12. Your definition of pie is incorrect.

    Pie originated in early medieval ages as a derivation from piehus, or bakery. Pie referred to the method of collection and preparation, not the contents. For centuries, pies were all savory.

    The original method of cooking food encased in pastry dates back to Greek and Egyptians. The ancient Greeks ate pie (artocreas), and it was of the savory type with meat in an open pastry shell.

    It was only in the 16th century and Queen Elizabeth that fruit pies became in fashion. Queen Elizabeth liked cherry pie, and sugar was becoming more available as an ingredient.

    Pizza pie would be completely in line with these definitions. It is a savory pie filled with a variety of savory ingredients. Pizza is the shortened version.

    And incidentally, I’ve had good savory meat pies in Amsterdam. They’re common in cultures around the world.

  13. Because Frank Sinatra needed something to rhyme with eye, especially when one is hit with one.

  15. – c. 1300 (probably older; piehus “bakery” is attested from late 12c.), **”baked dish of pastry filled with a preparation of meats, spices, etc., covered with a thick layer of pastry and baked,”** from Medieval Latin pie “meat or fish enclosed in pastry” (c. 1300), which is perhaps related to Medieval Latin pia “pie, pastry,” also possibly connected with pica “magpie” (see pie (n.2)) on notion of the bird’s habit of collecting miscellaneous objects.

    https://www.etymonline.com/word/pie

    Edit: It’s interesting that someone from Netherlands is alluding to the idea that native English speakers are using the language incorrectly. That’s astoundingly arrogant.

    For example, would you ask if Britons are using the word lorry incorrectly?

    – “a truck; a long wagon with a flat bed and four wheels,” 1838, British railroad word, probably from verb lurry “to pull, tug” (1570s), which is of uncertain origin. Meaning “large motor vehicle for carrying goods on roads” (equivalent of U.S. truck (n.1)) is first attested 1911.

    Seems to have gained more wheels over the years and is no longer sequestered to the railroad.

    You should know that words evolve.

  16. Meat pies are a thing and actually predate dessert pies.

    Pies are circular and cut into slices. American style pizza is circular and cut into slices. “Pizza pie” is an alliteration and fun to say. There are so many reasons.

  17. Your definition of pie is too narrow and the English Language has a lot of savory pies. Chicken Pot Pie, Kidney Pie, Shephard’s Pie, Cottage Pie, and Fritos pie are just a few examples of savory dishes that have the name pie.

    It is also not really common for Pizza to be called “Pizza Pie” in the US. That term really only exists in communities of Italian descent or regions with a lot of people of Italian descent living there.

  18. > A pie has pastry, fruit, sugary goodness.

    Shepherd’s Pie, Pot Pie, Meat Pie, and Fisherman’s Pie have neither of that.

    Anyway, when pizza was introduced to America it was commonly called tomato pie.

  19. Sounds like somebody doesn’t realize that the English language is composed of many dialects, and can be stretched in ways that other languages can’t be.
    The term “pie” can be used to describe basically any dish that is supported or encapsulated by dough.
    It can also be used to refer to foods cooked or served in a pie dish, regardless of whether or not there is pastry involved.
    But back to the English language; like I said, it’s very flexible.
    The pronunciation of words can be changed drastically while still retaining meaning.
    Furthermore, the definition of words can change completely based on the context of their usage.

  20. It depends on the region, in the north east (NJ/NY) you can say I’m going to get a pie and most people will understand that you mean pizza.

  21. In my experience most people calling it a pie are kinda being silly about it, most people call it pizza. Except for the northeast, they really call them pies up there.

    I notice more and more that people get a lot of their ideas about America from movies, and usually movies like to depict New York. It’s weird because literally the entire rest of America is wildly different. When I moved there I felt like I was almost in a different country

  22. Also, we usually don’t say “pizza pie”.
    We use the term “pie” typically when discussing how many individual pizzas are at stake.
    For example; Eyyyy, Tony, yah wanna get pizza for da’ big game?
    Yeah, ow’ many pies?
    I think two’ll be good, one plain, maybe one with pepperoni?

  23. There’s savory pies, too. I’d argue that Chicago style deep dish pizza has many pie characteristics.

    But also, a lot of areas don’t call it pizza pie at all. We don’t in California at least… I always associated that with NYC and the East Coast.

  24. First you are wrong about pies being sweet. Surely you have heard of cottage piez Shepard pie, etc etc etc.

    It’s ingredients on dough, it qualifies.

    But surely you seen circles with triangles cut out of them be called pies before.

  25. [https://www.tastingtable.com/694533/savory-meat-pies/](https://www.tastingtable.com/694533/savory-meat-pies/)

    There are savoury pies all over the world.

    Also, [https://www.crustkingdom.com/why-is-pizza-called-pie/](https://www.crustkingdom.com/why-is-pizza-called-pie/) TL;DR:

    >Pizza was first called pie when Italian immigrants arrived in the United States in the late 1800s. Pizza had similarities to a pie – with a crust, sliced triangle portions and its circular shape. Italian-Americans sold and popularized the pizzas, and the exotic dish picked up the English name “tomato pie”. Sometime thereafter the languages met in the middle to give us the term “pizza pie”.

    Most people in the US do not actually use the word pie in reference to pizza.

  27. That’s an east coast thing. No one calls pizza “pies” where I’m from and when I hear people say it I think it’s funny

  28. It is round and has a crust containing a filling.

    We have plenty of savory pies, shepherds pie, pot pie, mincemeat pie, cottage pie, hand pies, things like empanadas such are basically folded over pies, hand pies which are basically like empanadas.

    Think a little more expansively about what constitutes a pie and “pizza pie” makes more sense.
    Mug you really want a pizza that is like a pie check out Chicago Deep Dish pizza which is basically a savory pie.

  30. “English speakers are using this word in a way I’m unfamiliar with. They must be using it incorrectly and not just in a way I, a non-native speaker, don’t understand. Why do all of you speak your own language incorrectly?”

  31. A pie was made to hold the food…. A pie crust tasted horrible but as most don’t have utensils and ate with their hands, a pie crust was basically a plate to eat off of. If you go to the UK, you can commonly find meat/savory pies. I’m n thé US the most common meat pie is chicken pie.

  32. Because they have a deeper and more detailed knowledge of what can constitute ‘a pie’ then you do.

    [Pizza pie](https://tastecooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/12.13_bar-pie-2000×1331.jpg), [Pot pie](https://thewoodenskillet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/easy-chicken-pot-pie-recipe-1.jpg), [Shepard’s pie](https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Shepherds-Pie5.jpg), [Pork pie](https://assets.bonappetit.com/photos/57afb8ae53e63daf11a4e62d/1:1/w_1920%2Cc_limit/tourtiere-du-shack.jpg) are just a few. There’s a very wide variety of dishes referred to as ‘pies’.

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