This Potato, Cheese and Onion Pie is hearty, loaded with flavour and beyond simple to make!
This is one of the greatest pies of all time and I think you’re going to be shocked at just how easy it is to make. Follow me…
Potato, Cheese and Onion Pie Ingredients
Besides being atrociously delicious, the awesome thing about this pie is that it only requires a handful of ingredients. Plus, there aren’t any fancy ingredients needed; everything can be found at the supermarket. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Pastry – I love a combination of puff and shortcrust. The shortcrust pastry offers a nice, sturdy base, where the puff offers a nice crispy finish on the top.
- Potato – Any regular baking potatoes will do. They just need to be thinly sliced into rounds.
- Cheese – I love a combination of Cheddar for a strong punch of flavour and Red Leicester for some gorgeous colour.
- Onion – This will be grated to offer a deep oniony flavour.
- Spring Onion – This complements the grated onion and offers a slightly different flavour dynamic.
- Butter – To fry the onion.
- Flour – To create a roux and thicken the sauce.
- Milk – Creates the sauce.
- Mustard – I love adding a dollop of English mustard to really enhance the cheesy flavour.
- Egg – This will be used to glaze the pastry.
Preparing the potatoes
I did originally test this recipe by adding the raw slices straight into the pie, and whilst it worked okay, I found they didn’t quite cook through properly. Plus, they made the filling a little watery, because the raw potatoes released moisture as they cooked.
As such, we’re going to give the potato slices a quick bake before adding them to the pie. This is also a good excuse to season the potato directly too. I typically leave the skins on, mainly for ease, but the skin also adds flavour. You can peel the potatoes though if you wish.
Process shots: thinly slice potato (photos 1&2), add to baking tray with oil and seasoning (photo 3), bake until tender (photo 4).
Recipe Tip
Because the slices are thin, they will likely try and stick to the pan. Unless you’ve got a decent greaseproof tray, I recommend using parchment/baking paper.
Cheese and Onion Sauce
When I say this is the type of sauce I could drink, I truly mean it.
You’ll start by frying the onion in butter, just to soften it slightly and take a little of the ‘bite’ out. The longer you fry it, the less intense the oniony flavour. As such, I only fry it for 1 minute. That way, you still get a lovely hit of onion flavour, but it’s not too sharp and pungent.
Please note that the sauce will also be very thick. It needs to be more ‘spreadable’ than pourable. If the sauce is too thin, it’ll just pour straight out the pie when you slice into it.
Process shots: melt butter (photo 1), fry onion (photo 2), stir in flour (photo 3), whisk in milk (photo 4), stir in cheese (photo 5), stir in mustard and seasoning (photo 6).
How to stack the pie
As mentioned, I opt for shortcrust on the bottom and puff on the top. You might find that the pastry on the bottom doesn’t quite cover the whole dish, in which case you can just use any excess pastry to patch it up if needed.
From there, you can stack the pie in alternate layers of cheese sauce and potatoes. Just overlap the potatoes as needed – they don’t need to be perfect.
Process shots: grease pie dish (photo 1), add shortcrust (photo 2), add cheese sauce (photo 3), add potatoes (photo 4), repeat x2 (photo 5), add puff then egg wash and bake (photo 6).
How to serve the pie
Once the pie has cooked, it’s essential to let it rest before you slice into it. This will mean the pastry won’t be quite as crisp in comparison to if you served right away. However, if you slice straight in, the cheese sauce will simply just pour straight out. It needs to sit to reform its shape.
From there, I like to serve with a simple side salad (I know, who am I these days?). But jokes aside, it’s quite a rich and carby pie, so the salad complements it nicely.
For another potato, cheese and pastry combo check out my Potato, Cheese and Onion Pasties!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these potato, cheese and onion pie shall we?!
How to make a Potato, Cheese and Onion Pie (Full Recipe & Video)
Potato, Cheese and Onion Pie
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Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Baking Tray & Baking/Parchment Paper
- Large Pan, Wooden Spoon & Whisk
- 22cm/8.6" Pie Dish
- Brush
- Jug (for milk)
- Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 400g / 14oz Baking Potatoes, sliced into 1/2cm/0.2" rounds
- 3 tbsp / 45g Butter, plus extra for greasing the pie dish
- 1 large White Onion, grated
- 2 large Spring Onions, finely diced
- 3 tbsp Plain Flour
- 240ml / 1 cup Whole Milk, preferably at room temp
- 100g / 1 cup freshly grated Mature Cheddar Cheese
- 100g / 1 cup freshly grated Red Leicester Cheese (see notes)
- 2 tsp English Mustard
- 1x 320g/11.2oz sheet of Shortcrust Pastry
- 1 medium Egg, beaten
- 1x 320g/11.2oz sheet of Puff Pastry
- Oil Spray, as needed
- Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Lightly spray a large baking tray with oil and spread out the sliced potatoes (use two trays if you need to). Spray the potatoes with oil, then sprinkle over a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until soft and just starting to turn golden. The potatoes may stick a little, so use a spatula to scrape them off if you need to. Keep the oven on at the same temperature.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and spring onions and fry for 1 minute. Stir in the flour to create a roux, then gradually pour in the milk, stirring as you go to prevent lumps from forming. Add the cheeses and swiftly stir until they melt. Stir in the mustard, then season with a pinch of salt and pepper. The sauce will be very thick at this point – more spreadable than it is pourable. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Rub the base and sides of a 22cm pie dish all over with a knob of butter. Line the dish with the sheet of shortcrust pastry. Trim any excess pastry around the top.
- Spread a layer of the cheese sauce over the base of the pie, then top with a layer of potatoes, overlapping if needed. From there, you’ll do three more layers of cheese sauce and two more potato layers, finishing with a layer of cheese sauce. Brush the rim of the pastry with the egg.
- Lay over the sheet of puff pastry and trim the excess. Use a fork to crimp around the edges, then trim with a knife. Brush the top with more egg wash, then slice a few small steam holes in the top.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until deep golden and crisp on top. Allow the pie to rest for 15 minutes before slicing (important or the cheese will all spill out).
Video
Notes
b) Cheese – using half Red Leicester gives the sauce a gorgeous orange colour and a slightly different flavour dynamic. You can sub with more Cheddar, though, if you’d prefer.
c) Onion – grating the onion is key and is what gives this pie its iconic flavour. The longer you fry it, the weaker the onion flavour becomes, so just a minute will do the trick.
d) Baking tray – unless your tray is good quality/non-stick, the potatoes might stick a little. If you’re at all wary, then consider using baking paper to line the tray.
e) Cookbook – this recipe is featured in my debut cookbook ‘Comfy’.
f) Calories – this is an overestimate as not all the pastry is used, which is where most of the extra calories come from!
Nutrition
For more similar recipes check out these beauties:
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