Montana’s Favorite Forgotten Dish Is One You Need to Try

BUTTE, MT - There are certain smells that instantly transport you back in time.

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A whiff of browned butter. A warm puff of flaky crust. The earthy perfume of potatoes, onions, and meat, all bubbling together like a love letter to simpler days.

If you grew up in Montana—or had the pleasure of passing through during the right season—you might already know where this is going.

Montana isn’t often credited enough for its culinary scene. We’re the land of cattle and huckleberries, frybread and trout.

But nestled somewhere between cowboy grub and campfire coffee lies a dish so iconic, so belly-filling, and so Montanan, it once defined entire towns. And then, somewhere along the way… it kind of disappeared.

Before we get to Montana's favorite forgotten dish, check these out:

It wasn’t fancy. It didn’t need to be. This was food for hard workers—something you could eat with your hands deep in a copper mine, or wrapped in wax paper on a snowy walk to school.

It had a crust tough enough to hold up in a lunch pail, but tender enough to make your grandma tear up when she got it just right.

Ask an older Butte resident what the “real food of Montana” is, and they won’t hesitate.

But newcomers might blink. Wait, a what?

A pasty, my friend.

That’s right. The Cornish meat pie that once powered a generation of miners is Montana’s favorite forgotten signature dish—and if you’re lucky, you can still find one steaming in a local bakery or tucked behind the counter at a mom-and-pop diner. And yes, we’ll take ours with brown gravy, thanks.