A vegan version of Greggs classic cheese & onion bakes (puff pastry pasties/pies filled with a cheesy potato & onion mix). Serve hot or cold.
Greggs is a British institution. A popular bakery takeaway on high streets across the land (well, all 4 lands).
They are popular for their freshly cooked sausage rolls, steak bakes and various other savoury or sweet bakes like doughnuts and yum yums.
One of their most popular items, apart from the sausage rolls, is a cheese and onion bake, and while they have a good range of vegan offerings (including vegan sausage rolls), they don't serve a vegan version of the cheese & onion bake, which is a crying shame!
I thought I'd put that right, by creating a deliciously easy plant-based version you can make at home with a few simple ingredients.
Utterly comforting and so, so tasty!
Jump to:
- 🧀 Why cheese & onion bakes?
- ⭐ Why are these vegan cheese & onion pasties so good?
- 👩🏻🍳 Serve them hot or cold
- 💭 Perfect for a comforting dinner too!
- 👪 Lunch box favourite
- 🌡️ And they freeze well
- 📋 What you need to make these better than Greggs savoury bakes
- 📋 Related recipes
- ⭐ Save your recipes for free!
- 👩🏻🍳 How to make Gregg style cheese & onion bakes
- 📖 Recipe
- Comments
🧀 Why cheese & onion bakes?
Why, because everyone loves a bit of cheesy comfort in a pie and even vegans deserve a bit of a treat at lunchtime.
And not only are they cheesy, but they are full of a soft mashed potato based filling.
Yep, I have your attention now, don't I?
These beauties had to be veganised!
⭐ Why are these vegan cheese & onion pasties so good?
Well, they aren't really pasties as they are shaped all wrong, but they do have the perfect filling for a plant-based pasty. Take note Cornwall!
Warm, flaky pastry hugging an unctuous filling of cheesy mashed potato flavoured with soft, fried onions and a few other simple flavourings and seasonings.
Mmmmm, like a hug for lunch!
I gave some to my friend Andrew to try (I test my recipes thoroughly on family and friends before they reach you), and he sent me a WhatsApp saying ...
👩🏻🍳 Serve them hot or cold
These luscious cheesy pastries are good served hot or cold.
They are obviously rather special hot out of the oven, but we've tested them cold in lunch boxes, and they still hold up as a tasty lunch option.
They will keep in the fridge for a few days too.
💭 Perfect for a comforting dinner too!
Now don't judge me, but I like to serve these vegan cheese and onion pastries hot for dinner with chips (I mean fries, not crisps) and baked beans.
I know, it's very British of me, but everything is good served with chips and baked beans!
- Sausages, chips and baked beans? Yes!
- Vegetable fingers, chips and baked beans? Don't mind if I do!
- Burger? Forget that roll! Serve it with chips and beans!
- Vegan sausage roll? Yep, they are good with chips and beans too! And we are back to Greggs with that one, although my spicy chickpea sausage rolls are far superior to any sausage roll they sell!
- Cheese & onion bake with chips and beans? The perfect combo!
A real family favourite.
And if you have kids, they will love one of these served with chips and beans (and probably a dollop of tomato ketchup on the side too, if I know kids), heck all the adults will love it too!
👪 Lunch box favourite
But don't forget they are fab cold in lunchboxes.
For children or adults.
Something nice and hearty to fill you, and you can add some fruit for afters to balance it out!
🌡️ And they freeze well
Once you've made a batch of these dairy-free cheese & onion pies, you can, as I said, keep them in the fridge and serve them hot or cold later in the week, or freeze them.
Once made, you can flash-freeze them on a tray (before the brushing with oil and baking them stage).
Then wrap them individually in freezer-friendly parchment paper (baking paper), to prevent them from sticking together and pop them in dated and labelled freezer bags or tubs.
They will sit in the freezer happily for 3 - 4 months.
Brush them with a little oil and bake from frozen when you need them.
They will probably take a few more minutes than the freshly made ones to bake through until they are piping hot and the pastry is golden.
📋 What you need to make these better than Greggs savoury bakes
Here are the simple ingredients you need to make these rather gorgeous cheesy potato pastries.
Sadly, with shrinkflation (yes, supermarkets and big brands are shrinking goods and putting the prices up), you need two packs of puff pastry to make 8 of these beauties.
However, you can make them and enjoy some for lunch or dinner and freeze the rest (see above).
Scroll down for the step-by-step photos (I know some of you love seeing the process) followed by the printable recipe.
Ingredients - cheese & onion bakes
- Olive oil - to saute the onion and for glazing the pies for that golden finish, instead of using an egg wash
- Puff pastry - I like to use ready-rolled pastry for convenience, but you could buy a block of puff pastry and roll it out yourself or use homemade if you are a domestic goddess
- Potatoes
- Onion - I use white onion, but heck, if you only have red onio,n use that
- Leek - it just adds to the flavour
- Garlic - add more if you like
- Mustard - I use Dijon mustard, but English mustard or yellow American mustard would work too
- Vegan cheddar
- Nutritional yeast - also called nooch, to add to the savoury, cheesy flavour, and it adds a boost of vitamin B12
- Salt & black pepper
- White pepper - yep, these are well seasoned, and the white pepper adds a warmth
See the recipe card below the step-by-step photos for full quantities and method.
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📋 Related recipes
Looking for more puff pastry lunch recipes? Try these:
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👩🏻🍳 How to make Gregg style cheese & onion bakes
These step-by-step photos will show you how to make these gorgeous golden puff pastry cheese, potato & onion pies.
Step 1
- Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks and boil in salted water until tender (you could steam them instead).
- Drain and then leave them to steam dry in the colander before returning them to the pot.
- Mash well until smooth, but don't add any butter or margarine or oil of any kind. Just mash them dry, but season them well with salt and black pepper.
Step 2
- In another pan, saute the onion, leek and garlic with olive oil until soft and season.
- You can mix filling in the pot you cooked the potatoes in, if it is big enough, if not, spoon the mashed potatoes and other fillings into a large mixing bowl.
- I add the cooked onion mixture to the mashed potatoes in the pot and mix before adding the cheddar.
Step 3
- Time to preheat the oven (temperature and time in the recipe card below.
- Take the pastry out of the fridge.
- Add the rest of the flavourings and seasoning to the mixture and mix well until well combined, that's your filling ready!
- Unroll the puff pastry and cut it in half lengthways, then into 8 rectangles.
- Add filling to 4 of the rectangles, leaving a border free around the edge.
Step 4
- Rub a little water around the edge of the filled pastry rectangle, then add another piece of pastry on top as a lid.
- I give each top piece a gentle stretch to make it a little wider and longer than the bottom piece to allow it to stretch over the filling.
- Press down along the edges, then use a fork to seal the edges and leave a nice edge all the way round.
- Do this for all four pastries, then cut slits in the top of the pastry to let out steam (no soggy bottoms here!). I just add 3 or 4 slits, but Greggs cut slits in v shapes (in a chevron pattern).
- It's up to you, go as plain or fancy as you like. It's only there to let out steam as they bake.
- Brush the pies with oil for that golden finish and bake on a lined baking sheet (sheet pan).
- While the first batch of four is in the oven, make the second batch the same way. I like to do one batch at a time, as pastry gets warm in the kitchen and harder to use and keep neat.
- Once baked and golden, serve and enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Cheese & Onion Bakes (better than Greggs)
Ingredients
Potatoes
- 400 g potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)
- 1 pinch salt & black pepper
Onion mixture
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ large onion (halved, peeled and thinly sliced)
- ½ large leek (washed well and thinly sliced)
- 1 clove garlic (peeled and crushed or finely grated)
- 1 pinch salt & black pepper
Cheese etc
- 150 g vegan cheddar (grated)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (also called nooch, optional, but adds flavour)
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard (alternatively English mustard or yellow American mustard)
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper (more if you like)
Pastry
- 640 g puff pastry (2 x 320g/11⅓ oz ready rolled pastry, if your pastry is a little bigger, that is fine too)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (to brush the pastry before baking)
Instructions
Potatoes
- Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks and boil in salted water until tender (you could steam them instead). Drain and leave to steam dry in the colander, then return to the pot and mash well dry (not fat added) just season with salt and black pepper and set aside.
Onion mixture
- Saute the onion, leek and garlic with olive oil in another pan until soft, season with salt and black pepper.
Make the filling
- If the pot the potatoes are mashed in is big enough to mix the filling for the bakes in, just add the onions to the mashed potatoes in the pot, if not spoon the onions and potatoes into a large mixing bowl and mix well (I like less washing up and use the pot).
- Add the cheese, nooch, mustard and white pepper and mix really well.
Make the bakes/pies & bake
- Preheat the oven to 200 ℃ / 180 ℃ fan / 400 ℉ / gas mark 6, then line two baking trays and take one roll of pastry out of the fridge.
- Unroll the puff pastry and cut it in half lengthways, then into 8 rectangles. Move 4 of the rectangles to a lined baking tray, leaving space between them.
- Add a fat pillow of filling to the rectangles, leaving a border free of filling around the edge.
- Rub a little water around the edge of the filled pastry rectangles, then add another piece of pastry on top as a lid. I give each top piece a gentle stretch to make it a little wider and longer than the bottom piece to allow it to stretch over the filling.
- Press down along the edges to seal the pastry, then use a fork to press down all around the edge to make sure it's a good seal and leave a nice finish.
- Do this for all four pastries, then cut slits in the top of the pastry to let out steam (no soggy bottoms here!). I just add 3 or 4 slits, but Greggs cut slits in v shapes (in a chevron pattern). It's up to you, go as plain or fancy as you like. It's only there to let out steam as they bake.
- Brush the pies with oil for that golden finish. While the first batch of four is in the oven, make the second batch the same way or wait and put them both in at once.
- Bake them side by side or on different shelves, then swap them about part way through the bake. They will take 20-25 minutes.
- Once baked and golden, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- These will bake quicker in an air fryer, so keep an eye on them if that is your baking method.
- Once cool, keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Once made (steam holes cut, but not oil and not baked), flash freeze on a tray, then individually wrap in freezer friendly baking paper and pop in a labelled and dated freezer bag or tub.
- Freeze for 3-4 months.
- Bake from frozen, brush with a little oil first. they will take a few more minutes to bake.
Jill says
Oh my goodness, you know the way to my heart Jaqs. I cannot wait to try these! Lynsey will love them. Jill x
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I hope you and your daughter enjoy them Jill. I am pretty sure you will, if the feedback I am getting is anything to go on.
Graham Meldrum says
You can make some more next week if you like!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
You still have 2 left in the fridge from this batch Graham Meldrum! Glad you are enjoying them though.
Renee Rutledge says
These sound luscious! But, alas! Since I am gluten-free, I have no idea how to make an adjustment to try these out. Can I make the filling only and just use it as a spread? I’m new to your website and I look forward to viewing more recipes. Thanks a bunch!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
They should work fine with gluten-free puff pastry. A lot of people in my facebook group Living on the Veg make my sausage rolls and other pastries using gluten-free pastry and tell me they get good results.