Buttery shortcrust pastry filled with a gooey cheese, potato and onion mixture. These cheese and onion pies are packed with flavour and make a comforting, meat-free dinner that recalls classic chip shop pies.
“These cheese pies are the best thank you for sharing the recipe”
– Wimpie
Nicky’s Notes
As a Northern lass, pies are close to my heart.
Since moving to Devon, I’ve missed the local chippies that used to sell cheese and onion pies. The fish and chips here are fantastic, but sometimes I crave a proper cheese and onion pie.
This is my homemade take: rich, cheesy and comforting — perfect for a meat-free evening meal.
Table of Contents
- Nicky’s Notes
- 📋 Ingredients for Cheese & Onion Pies
- 🧑🍳 Abbreviated recipe
- Pro Tip
- 🍽️ What to serve them with
- 📺 Watch how to make it
- Individual Cheese and Onion Pies Recipe
- 🍲 More recipes with pastry
📋 Ingredients for Cheese & Onion Pies
- Pastry – use shortcrust pastry. Shop-bought ready-rolled pastry works well, or make your own if preferred.
- Cheese – choose a mature or strong cheddar for maximum flavour.
🧑🍳 Abbreviated recipe
Full recipe with detailed steps is in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Line four individual pie dishes with shortcrust pastry, prick the bases, then blind-bake them for 10 minutes with baking parchment and baking beans.
- Boil diced potato until very tender. Meanwhile, soften sliced onion in butter.
- Stir in plain flour, then gradually add milk and a splash of cream. Add grated mature cheddar, mustard powder, salt, pepper and the cooked potatoes to make a thick, cheesy filling.
- Fill the pre-baked cases with the cheesy mixture, trim the pastry, top with pastry lids, crimp the edges, brush with egg wash, pierce vents and bake for 20–25 minutes until golden.
- Remove the baking parchment and beans, spoon in the filling and trim the pastry.
- Top each pie with a pastry square, crimp the edges and brush with egg wash.
- Bake until the pies are golden and piping hot.
Pro Tip
Use the back of a fork to crimp the pastry for that classic, neat edging.
Serve the pies warm from the oven.
🍽️ What to serve them with
- Crispy chips — potato with potato works perfectly here.
- Mushy peas for a traditional British pairing.
- Mashed potatoes if you prefer a classic East End pie-and-mash combination.
Or simply serve them on their own — they’re filling enough without sides.
📺 Watch how to make it
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Individual Cheese and Onion Pies
20 minutes
45 minutes
1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 x 320 g (2 x 11oz) packs ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
- 1 medium potato (about 200g/7oz), peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) whole (full-fat) milk
- 50 ml (2 tbsp + 1 tsp) double (heavy) cream
- 150 g (1 1/2 packed cups) mature/strong cheddar, grated
- 1/4 tsp mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 egg, lightly whisked (for egg wash)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F (fan).
- Unroll one pack of pastry and cut into four squares. Line four individual pie dishes (approx. 11cm diameter x 3.5cm deep) so pastry covers the base and sides, using leftover pastry to fill any gaps.
- Prick the base with a fork, cover each case with baking parchment and baking beans, and blind-bake for 10 minutes to par-cook the bases.
- Remove the bases from the oven, cool for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the parchment and baking beans.
- While the pastry bases cook, add the diced potato to a pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10–12 minutes until the potato is very tender. Drain and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a second pan, add the sliced onion and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until softened.
- Sprinkle over the flour, stir to coat the onion and cook for 1 minute.
- Gradually add the milk while stirring until the sauce is smooth, then stir in the cream, grated cheese, mustard powder, salt, pepper and the cooked potatoes.
- Stir until the cheese has melted and the potatoes begin to break down. The filling should be thick but just pourable; add a splash more milk if needed.
- Divide the filling between the four pie cases, trim any overhanging pastry with scissors and brush the edges with a little egg wash.
- Unroll the second roll of pastry, cut into four squares and place a square on top of each pie. Trim excess pastry, crimp the edges with a fork and brush the tops with egg wash. Pierce two small vents in each pie.
- Bake the pies on a tray for 20–25 minutes until golden brown and piping hot.
Video
Notes
Yes — make the pies, cool, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat uncovered on a tray in the oven at 180C/375F for 20–25 minutes until piping hot.
Can I freeze them?
Yes — cool the pies, put them in an airtight container and freeze. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven at 180C/375F for 20–25 minutes until hot throughout.
Nutritional information is per pie.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.
This cheese and onion pie recipe was first posted in March 2021 and has been updated with improvements since.
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Some links in this post may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Nutritional information is approximate.