There’s something wonderfully comforting about a classic cheese and onion pasty, simple ingredients wrapped in golden pastry, baked to perfection, and bursting with rich, savory flavor. This traditional British favorite has long been a go-to snack for anyone craving hearty, no-fuss food that feels like home.

Whether enjoyed hot straight from the oven or savored cold on the go, the cheese and onion pasty delivers that unmistakable blend of creamy, tangy filling and flaky crust that keeps it firmly rooted in England’s culinary heritage. In this article, we’ll explore what makes this humble pasty so beloved, how it earned its place in British food culture, and why it continues to stand the test of time.

While these pasties are often made with puff or flaky pasty, this recipe is using savory shortcrust pastry, eitherway they are delicious. I must also mention that these always contain mashed potato which acts as a binder and keeps everything together, all togther with the cheese and onion they are a great combination.

Note, these are not Cornish Pasties, click here for Cornish Pasties.

This recipe will make 6 pasties based on a 8 inch plate for the dough base.

Pastry

Notes

1. This pastry recipe is the standard flour/fats 2:1 ratio, for the butter and lard you can just use 113 g which is 1 stick and it won't make any difference.
2. It is important to use bread flour when making the pastry for a pasty. This is because using bread flour will make a stronger pastry (because of the higher protein content), this will help stop the pastry breaking when being folded over and when crimping.
3. The salt added to egg wash helps the egg breakdown and this produces a silky smooth egg wash. Make sure you beat it well.

Filling

There are no fixed rules about the filling, but using 1/1/1 ration for potato, cheese and onion seems to work, but you can change the ratios to suit your tastes.

 Notes

1. You can use either mashed or cube potatoes, if using cubed they should be preboiled until just tender but not mushy. Some recipes don't use any potato but it's much better if you use some, it acts as a binder and also soaks up any fat from the cheese during baking.
2. You can change the seasoning to whatever you want, I've seen mustard powder used instead of the onion and garlic powder, I'm sure it's good as well.

Preparing The Pastry

1. The pastry is standard shortcrust pastry, except as mentioned, it's important to use bread flour, so if you are familiar with making pastry you can skip a head to the making the filling.
2. Mix the flour and salt.
3. Cut the cold butter and lard into small cubes, in a large bowl add to flour and use fingers to make a bread crumb type consistency (or use a food processor).
4. Add the cold water a little at a time, mix with a wooden spoon, bring the dough together and tip out on to a lightly floured surface. Knead for a few minutes until you have a fairly uniform and smooth dough, needing is required to develop some gluten so the dough has some strength required for folding and crimping. Wrap in film and leave in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preparing The Filling

1. Make the mashed or cubed potato, you can use either real potato or powdered as long as it is decent, allow to cool a little.
2. In a bowl add the potato, diced onion and shredded cheese and all the seasoning, mix well.

Building the Pasty

1. Cut up the pastry into approx 4-6 pieces, roll into a ball then roll out so it is at least 8 inch in diameter, use an 8 inch plate to cut out a circle.
2. Wet half the edge of the circle with water, add approx 3 tablespoons of the cooled filling into the center in a strip, lift up the edges and form the pasty. If the filling looks too dry, ad a few tablespoons of water and mix before adding to the pastry, you want the filling to be moist.
3. Do either a Cornish Pasty style crimp or just use a fork, cut a hole in the top to let steam out.
4. Make up the egg wash and beat really well until smooth, egg wash the pasties and leave in fridge for a while to firm up again

Baking the Pasties

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F, if you want a really great golden color egg wash the pasties again. Bake in oven for about 30-35 minutes, as the filling is already cooked (unlike Cornish Pasties) you are only baking the pastry. Bake until golden brown but not burnt!.