The best meat pies and sausage rolls in Australia have been named – and the top pick is just outside Melbourne

Australia’s best meat pie and sausage roll have officially been crowned for 2026.

After four days of judging and a staggering 1,821 entries, a small bakery in Melton, in Melbourne’s west, has taken out the coveted title of Australia’s best plain meat pie at the 37th annual Official Great Aussie Pie Competition.

Buddy Bakery’s winning creation was a chunky mince pie, which impressed the judging panel enough to beat hundreds of entries flown and hand-delivered from bakeries across the country.

However, Victoria didn’t have all the glory, with South Australia’s Orange Spot Bakery in Glenelg named the competition’s Overall Winner after triumphing in both the Plain Sausage Roll and Meat Pastie categories.

The annual competition, held at Fine Food Australia at the Melbourne Convention Centre, attracted entries from more than 250 bakeries – and, for the first time, butchers – from across Australia.

Demand was so high that organisers were forced to close entries early for the first time in the competition’s history.

A team of expert judges spent four days tasting, examining and ranking everything from traditional meat pies and sausage rolls to more unusual creations, including a seafood paella pie.

The competition was overseen by veteran Head Judge Mike French, who has been involved with the event for more than three decades.

When it came to arguably Australia’s most fiercely contested bakery staple, however, the judges were unanimous.

Buddy Bakery’s chunky mince pie was crowned the Overall Plain Pie winner for 2026, beating Gisborne Bakery & Café’s mince pie, which finished runner-up.

News of the win was quickly celebrated by loyal customers, many of whom said the accolade came as no surprise.

‘We love your bakery, congratulations,’ one person wrote on their Facebook page.

‘Congratulations dude, you guys did it again!’ another said.

‘Awesome pies, my favourite,’ added a third, while another declared the victory ‘well deserved’, adding that they did indeed have the ‘best pies ever’.

One longtime customer even recalled eating Buddy Bakery pies as a child.

‘I remember when Kurunjang Primary School first opened and the canteen was run by volunteer mums, it used to only stock the lovely pies from Buddy’s Bakery that were made to a special recipe from memory,’ they wrote.

While they claimed the traditional meat pie crown, Victoria also dominated the more experimental side of the competition.

Rolling Pin Cakes & Pies in Ocean Grove won Overall Gourmet Pie for its Roo Rendang Pie, combining kangaroo with the flavours of the Indonesian slow-cooked dish.

Paul the Pieman Bakery in Inverloch, Victoria, meanwhile, claimed Overall Gourmet Sausage Roll with its Jalapeno Beef & Cheese Sausage Roll.

South Australia’s Orange Spot Bakery proved particularly formidable, taking home two major titles.

The Glenelg bakery was awarded Overall Plain Sausage Roll as well as Overall Meat Pastie, earning it the title of Overall Winner for 2026.

The Official Great Aussie Pie Competition has been running since 1989 and has become one of the country’s longest-running annual contests celebrating the bakery staple.

Organisers said winning can also have a huge impact on business, with previous champions experiencing major spikes in demand as customers travel for hours to try their award-winning creations.

Some former winners have reportedly faced queues out the door and months of increased demand after taking home a title.

And with almost 2,000 products put before the judges this year, Australians looking to settle the age-old question of where to find the country’s best bakery goods now have several new destinations to add to their road trip list.