This cheese savoury recipe is quick & easy and makes a tasty cheese savoury sandwich filling perfect for lunches, picnics, and afternoon tea.
You could also use it to fill cheese scones.
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Why I love this recipe
- Quick & easy: Ready in 5-10 minutes.
- Taste: This cheese savoury filling is packed with bold flavours – tangy cheese, warming paprika & mustard, creamy mayo, savoury onion and sweet red pepper. It’s a loaded, delightful sandwich filling.
- Texture: Expect a light crunch from peppers & salad onions.
- Appearance: Vibrant and colourful, savoury cheese sandwiches are bound to catch the eye.
THIS POST IS WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION WITH PORTMEIRION. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE MY OWN.
Few things beat a good cheese sandwich for a crowd-pleasing lunch, and my cheese savoury recipe takes it to a whole new level.
With its colourful appearance, slight crunch, and bold flavour, this cheese savoury sandwich filling works any time but is special enough to feature on an afternoon tea spread.
Unlike traditional pairings like cheese & pickle or cheese & ham, this cheese savoury recipe offers a fresh twist on the classic cheese sandwich.
What is cheese savoury?
Cheese savoury originates in Northern England and traditionally comprises cheese, carrot, onion and salad cream. It is used to fill sandwiches, rolls and, in the North, stotties.
My version of this British sandwich filling offers a twist: red pepper replaces carrot, mayonnaise takes the place of salad cream, and a touch of paprika and Dijon mustard add a flavour boost this savoury cheese filling.
Be sure to look at some of my other classic British sandwich recipes including egg mayo sandwiches and coronation chicken sandwiches.
Ingredients notes
Cheese: Use a mix of strong cheddar cheese and Red Leicester for flavour and visual appeal. The pale yellow Cheddar contrasts beautifully with the vibrant orange Red Leicester.
Mayonnaise: Essentail for binding the other ingredients together, mayonnaise also adds rich & creamy flavour to this savoury cheese sandwich filling. Store-bought mayo is perfectly fine but homemade mayonnaise can also be used.
Bread: Classic options include sliced white, brown, wholemeal, or granary bread. You can also use stotties, rolls, pitta bread, or even spoon the filling onto a baked potato.
Paprika & Dijon mustard: Optional but highly recommended for added depth of flavour.
Substitutions and variations
Classic Northern Cheese Savoury: replace the red pepper with grated carrot, swap the mayo for salad cream and omit the paprika & mustard. This is more in line with the original Northern cheese savoury recipe.
Spicy Cheese Savoury: try adding in a pinch of cayenne pepper, chilli powder or even a dash of hot pepper sauce such as Tabasco.
Make It Extra Creamy: For a richer texture, add a tablespoon of cream cheese alongside the mayonnaise.
Step by step instructions
How to make cheese savoury sandwich filling
- Chop the red pepper finely and leave it to drain on kitchen paper. Finely dice the salad onion.
- Mix the mayonnaise with the paprika, Dijon mustard and black pepper.
- Grate cheddar cheese and Red Leicester cheese finely, then toss together in a bowl (use your hands). Add in the pepper & onion and mix again.
- Stir in the mayonnaise mixture.
Your sandwich filling is ready to use.
How to assemble savoury cheese tea sandwiches
- Cut the crusts from the bread. Lay a generous spoonful of the cheese savoury filling onto one slice of bread and spread it to the edges with a blunt knife.
- Top the filling with another slice of bread and cut the sandwich into slices – my bread allowed 3 sandwiches to be cut from each slice. Repeat as necessary with more slices of bread.
Expert tips
Top tip: I didn’t butter the bread as I felt that the creamy filling didn’t warrant it. But if you prefer to have buttered sandwiches, go ahead.
- Do not use store-bought grated cheese as it has added ingredients and tends to be dry.
- There is enough filling to make around 16 dainty finger sandwiches each measuring approximately 3cm wide by 8cm long.
- The filling can be made in advance. Simply store it in the fridge (covered) until ready to use. Stir briefly before use.
Frequently asked questions
I like to use mature cheddar cheese and Red Leicester for their bold flavours, contrasting colours, ease of grating and budget-friendly price. They are perfect for this savoury sandwich filling.
That said, plenty of other cheese work well too, provided they grate well.
Whatever cheese you use, you must be able to grate it for this savoury cheese sandwich filling. Experiment with milder Cheddars, firm blue cheeses like Stilton, or regional favourites such as Lincolnshire Poacher, Cheshire, Cornish Yarg (without the nettle wrapping), and Double Gloucester.
In fact, using leftover bits of cheese in this cheese savoury recipe is a great way to use them up.
Other popular ingredients to add to cheese savoury sandwich filling include grated carrot, grated onion and grated celery.
When making a cheese savoury sandwich you could also top the filling with sliced tomato, sliced cucumber or lettuce leaves.
Yes, you can!
I do not recommend freezing this sandwich filling as the texture is likely to be compromised. The red pepper, or any other vegetables included, are likely to soften and the mayonnaise may separate or become watery after it has defrosted.
Once prepared, cheese savoury sandwich filling will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just give it a quick stir before using.
More savoury cheese recipes
Have I tempted you to make this cheese savoury recipe? If you have children, get them involved in selecting the menu, the baking and setting the table. It’s a lovely meal to create with people.
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📖 Recipe
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Cheese Savoury Sandwich Filling
Ingredients
- 75 g Red Leicester cheese or other strong red cheese
- 75 g Mature white cheddar cheese
- 5 tablespoon Mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika sweet and mild
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon Black pepper ground
- ¼ Small red pepper
- 2 Salad onions
- 11 Slices Bread White or Brown, for making finger sandwiches
Instructions
Make the Cheese Savoury Filling
- Begin by chopping the red pepper finely and leaving to drain on kitchen paper .
- Next, finely dice salad onion.
- Mix mayonnaise with paprika and dijon mustard.
- Grate the cheddar cheese and Red Leicester cheese finely, then toss together in a bowl – use your hands, it's easy this way.
- Add in the pepper & onion and mix again with your hands.
- Finally, stir in the mayonnaise using a metal spoon.
- Cover and chill until ready to use.
Make the Sandwiches
- Cut the crusts from the bread.
- Cut one of the slices of bread in half – we will only cut 1 sandwich from this slice.
- Lay 5 of the full-sized slices out, along with one of the smaller pieces of bread.
- Stir the filling briefly and spoon a generous amount onto each slice of laid out bread, spreading it out using a blunt knife.
- Top each slice with another piece of bread of equal size.
- Cut into slices – my bread allowed 3 sandwiches to be cut from each large piece of bread and just one from the smaller sandwich. In total, you should cut 16 small sandwiches.
- Cover until ready to serve and consume as soon as possible (within the hour to avoid the bread drying out).
Notes
- In total this recipe will make around 16 dainty sandwiches each measuring approximately 3cm wide by 8cm long. I used average-sized sliced bread. If you have small/ large slices be prepared to increase/ decrease the number of slices of bread needed to obtain this number of sandwiches.
- Alternatively, the filling can be used to make 4 regular sandwiches (crusts not cut off).
- I didn’t butter the bread as I felt that the creamy filling didn’t warrant it. But if you prefer to have buttered sandwiches, go ahead.
- The filling can be made 24 hours in advance and stored in the fridge. Do give it a stir before using to mix in any liquid that has drained out of the peppers.
- Do not use store-bought grated cheese as it has added ingredients and tends to be dry.
- Try other cheese too – as long as they grate well. Experiment with milder Cheddars, firm blue cheeses like Stilton, or regional favourites such as Lincolnshire Poacher, Cheshire, Cornish Yarg (without the nettle wrapping), and Double Gloucester.
Gretchen
Is there an American counterpart to Red Leicester? This recipe sounds great – as does the instruction on afternoon tea!
Thank you.
Jane Coupland
Hi Gretchen – I chose Red Leicester to give colour contrast to the pale cheddar. It has a robust taste and the texture is similar to cheddar. I suggest you take a look in the cheese section at the supermarket and pick a hard cheese with a bold flavour that offers colour contrast to your cheddar too. Failing that, just go 100% cheddar 🙂 Hope that helps… I love preparing afternoon tea.
Emma
I’m sure this sandwich is delicious, but it’s far too long post for just a cheese sandwich.
Jane Coupland
Hi Emma, thanks for your comment. I hope you spotted the ‘jump to recipe’ button at the very top of the post – it’s there for anybody not wishing to read the full blog post 🙂
Beth
What a lovely day that could be with the children and a friend or two.
Jane Coupland
Definitely, especially if you get the children involved in making a few parts of the tea as well.