Every December, alongside the mulled wine and questionable office karaoke, one myth resurfaces with the persistence of tinsel: that eating a mince pie on Christmas Day is illegal in the UK. Yes, apparently Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan pals outlawed our beloved festive pastry, and the law has never been repealed.

Let’s go back to the 1640s–1660s. England was in the grip of Puritan reform. The “Christmas pie” of Cromwell’s era was not the sweet treat we know today. It was a hefty meat pie, rich with suet and spice. To ordinary folk, it embodied joy, but to Puritans, it embodied gluttony and Catholic ritual.

Christmas, was seen as sinful excess and in 1644, Christmas Day inconveniently fell on a mandated fast day. That meant no feasting, and certainly no pies stuffed with meat, suet, and spice. So while mince pies weren’t singled out in statute, they were collateral damage in the broader war on Christmas indulgence.

Jump forward to 1647,  Christmas Day was abolished as a feast day and holiday. The statute declared that the Nativity, Easter, Whitsuntide, and other “superstitious” holy days were also no longer to be observed. Unsurprisingly, banning Christmas sparked riots. People weren’t just defending pies – they were defending tradition!
The ban ended with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, when King Charles II reinstated traditional Christmas celebration (phew).

So why does the mince pie myth prevail?
Well, it’s quirky. Who doesn’t love the idea of a centuries‑old law lurking in the books, waiting to catch out unsuspecting pastry lovers? It also plays into the British fondness for eccentric legal trivia – like the oft‑quoted (but equally dubious) claims about eating swans or carrying planks of wood down the street. And frankly, it’s more fun to imagine Cromwell as the Grinch who stole Christmas pies than to remember the reality of Puritan austerity.

So, no, mince pies are not illegal. They never were, except by implication during the Puritan ban on Christmas itself. Today, they’re a legal, delicious, and essential part of the festive season. Now next time someone solemnly warns you that your Christmas pudding is contraband, you can smile, raise your fork, and say: “Actually, the case of the illegal mince pie was dismissed in 1660.” … then you’ll look really fun at parties.