Cheese and Onion Pasties with Potato

These easy cheese and onion pasties with potato are delicious vegetarian Cornish pasties that are hard to beat. The generous and flavourful filling plus the crisp yet tender shortcrust pastry makes these cheese pasties practically irresistible.

Cheese and onion pasties with potato are a fabulous meat-free answer to Cornish pasties. They are chock-full of filling and come encased in a robust shortcrust pastry that holds its shape well.

If you love a good pasty but don’t always fancy a meaty filling, then these vegetarian pasties are a great option.

Why you’ll love these cheese pasties

There are plenty of reasons why you’ll enjoy making and devouring these cheese and onion pasties:

• They are large and stuffed to bursting point with ingredients making them wonderfully filling.
• But, since the filling does not need to be cooked prior to use, the recipe is relatively straightforward.
• Rather like a traditional Cornish pasty, these cheese pasties come well seasoned with black pepper for that hit of warmth in the filling.
• The shortcrust pastry is robust, making it possible to hold these pasties in your hand as they are eaten.
• They are meat-free, so they are a great choice to offer alongside more traditional beef pasties.

Are these like Greggs cheese pasties?

No, they are not. I’ve never had a Greggs cheese pasty, so I have not tried to replicate that bake in any way. Instead, I’ve developed a recipe more akin to vegetable Cornish pasties.

There are a number of obvious differences between my cheese and onion pasties and the Greggs cheese pasty:

• The pastry – my cheese and onion pasties are encased in shortcrust pastry, just like a true Cornish pasty would be. Greggs, however, use puff pastry.
• The shape – Greggs cheese and onion pasties resemble a slice rather than a classic pasty shape.
• There’s also only one type of cheese present in my recipe for cheese pasties whereas Greggs uses a blend of numerous kinds of cheese.
• Unlike the Greggs version, I’ve also included potatoes in my cheese pasties.

Of course, I cannot claim that these are authentic vegetarian Cornish pasties because genuine Cornish pasties have protected status. A true Cornish pasty must be made in Cornwall and they must also contain meat.

So, clearly, whether a pasty that contains no meat should really be called a vegetarian Cornish pasty at all is a bit of a moot point. But I’m not here to get pedantic. I’m just here to deliver some delicious cheese and onion pasties.

Ingredients notes

Strong bread flour: this is by far the best flour to use when making a savoury pasty. It creates a strong yet pliable dough that can be filled, sealed and crimped easily. Once baked, the pastry will be strong enough for the pastry to be eaten hand-held without falling apart.

Note that the use of strong bread flour does mean that the dough will need to be kneaded for 3-4 minutes until elastic and it will then need to rest in the fridge for 3 hours, but the result is entirely worth this extra effort and time.

Fat: a mixture of butter and vegetable fat (such as Trex) is used to replicate the pastry used in an authentic Cornish pasty. Technically, a true Cornish pasty would use lard rather than vegetable fat, but I’ve made this easy switch to ensure that these are in fact vegetarian pasties.

Onion: white onion is the best option here. Put aside those fancier red onions and stick with the classic.

Potato: pick a waxy variety that will stay firm and not turn mushy as it cooks. You want it to retain its shape as these cheese and potato pasties cook.

Cheese: use mature cheddar cheese for a full and thoroughly enjoyable cheesy flavour that pairs beautifully with the onion.

Step-by-step instructions

It’s not difficult to make this cheese, onion and potato pasty recipe and the process is easily broken down into 3 stages:

Make the pastry

1. Rub the fat into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Add the egg yolk and ¾ of the water. Mix with a blunt knife until a dough forms, adding more of the water as necessary.
3. Knead on a lightly floured worktop for 3-4 minutes until the dough begins to feel elastic.
4. Shape into a disc and wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 3 hours. Bring out of the fridge 30 minutes prior to rolling out.

Make the filling

6. Slice the potato and onion into thin pieces in line with the filling of a Cornish pasty. It bakes wonderfully in the time the pastry takes to cook (see the step-by-step images for guidance).
7. Coarsely grate the cheese.
8. Put the potato, onion and cheese into a large mixing bowl, add the seasoning and use your hands to mix the ingredients together.

Assemble and crimp the pasties

9. Divide the dough into 4.
10. On a floured surface, roll each piece out to approximately 2mm thick and cut a 20-22cm circle from it (lay a plate or cake tin onto the pastry and cut around it).
11. Share the cheese, onion and potato filling between the 4 circles.
12. Brush egg wash around the edge of half of the circle and fold the dough over to encase the filling, pushing any stray pieces back inside as you seal the pasties.
13. Crimp the edge by using your index finger and thumb to push down and twist the edge of the pastry over to form a crimp. Repeat along the entire length of the pasty then tuck the ends underneath (see the video if you are struggling to visualise this technique)
14. Place on a baking tray, slit the top of each pasty with a knife and brush all over with egg wash.
15. Bake at 200C/ 400F/ GM 6 for 15 minutes then turn the heat down to 150C/ 300F/ GM 2 and bake for a further 45 minutes.
16. Cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before eating.

Expert tips

• Don’t skimp on the time required to knead the pastry or the chill time of the dough. Both are essential to ensure your pastry turns out well.
• Cut the potatoes and onion uniformly to ensure they cook evenly. See the images for an approximate size guide – don’t cut the potato too thickly as it will take too long to cook.
• Don’t be afraid to season the filling well, especially with black pepper. It makes a world of difference to the overall flavour of these cheese and potato pasties.
• When filling the pasties, you will perhaps think that there is too much filling. Do try to fit it all in – remember that the cheese melts during cooking, so they are unlikely to burst open in the oven but leaving some out will result in a disappointingly filled pasty once baked.
• Crimping is the best way to seal these cheese pasties. It also gives the pastry structure and it helps to prevent the filling from falling out. See my video if you are unsure how to crimp a pasty.
• Let these cheese and potato pasties cool for around 20 minutes before attempting to eat them, otherwise, they will be too hot to fully enjoy.
• If you need to reheat your pasty, please do so in the oven. Never microwave any pastry as it will end up soggy and that, my friends, is an atrocity. Pastry should always be treated with respect. Can you tell I have a fiendish love for pastry?

Frequently asked questions

Variations

Try the following ideas to ring the changes in your cheese and potato pasties.

• Replace the onion with an equal quantity of leek. Just slice into thin rounds and then quarter each round.
• Vary the cheese. A good blue stilton is a good bet as it still has a strong and punchy flavour.
• Add some herbs. Try stripping the leaves from a few stems of thyme and mixing them into the filling.

More savoury bakes

Have you made these cheese and onion pasties? Please do let me know how you got along by leaving a comment and/ or a rating. It really does help other readers know that they can trust this recipe (and I always love to hear from my readers).