Bacon and Cheese Turnovers

With golden flakey puff pastry, melted cheese and crispy bacon, these easy bacon and cheese turnovers take just minutes to prepare and are a delicious brunch or lunch that the whole family love.

Like my cheese and onion rolls, these cheese and bacon turnovers are similar to the ones you can get in the British bakery chain Greggs, and bring back many childhood memories. Crispy puff pastry wraps are filled with smokey bacon and gooey cheese to create the most delicious snack or simple meal. Whilst my Irish jambons are made with a white cheese sauce, this bacon and cheese turnovers recipe uses cream cheese to add an extra layer of moistness.

Jump to:

• Why we love this recipe
• Ingredients notes and substitutions
• How to make these bacon and cheese pastries
• FAQ
• My recipe tips
• Storage
• Variations
• More puff pastry recipes
• Bacon and Cheese Turnovers
• Bacon and Cheese Turnovers

Why we love this recipe

• Bacon, cheese and puff pastry – what’s not to love?!
• These cheese and bacon pastries are like the British bakery chain Greggs bacon and cheese wraps.
• Poplar with kids and adults alike, these bacon turnovers make a great addition to lunchboxes and picnics as well as a tasty brunch or lunch for lazy weekends.
• Simple to make, these puff pastry parcels taste delicious warm or cold.
• The recipe for these savoury cheese turnovers can easily be scaled up to feed a crowd.

Ingredients notes and substitutions

Please scroll down to the recipe card at the end of the post for ingredient quantities.

• Puff pastry – In Australia I use Pampas frozen puff pastry sheets measuring 24 cm x 24cm and weighing 160g each. If you are in the UK you can use a 320g box of ready rolled puff pastry such as Jus-roll puff pastry or half a block of puff pastry rolled out to ¼ cm / 0.1 inch thick.
• Bacon – we prefer to use smoked bacon, but you can use unsmoked bacon if you prefer. I use 2 middle bacon rashers (they contain both shortcut and streaky bacon), if you can’t get them use 4 rashers of back bacon.
• Cheese – grated cheddar cheese or grated tasty cheese, it is best to grate the cheese yourself.
• Cream cheese – I prefer to use full fat cream cheese as it is less watery than reduced fat cream cheese.
• Mustard – dijon mustard, or wholegrain mustard. Adding mustard is optional, but I do recommend it!
• Worcestershire sauce – like the dijon mustard, this is optional but adds extra flavour to the bacon cheese turnovers.

How to make these bacon and cheese pastries

For full detailed recipe please scroll to recipe card at the bottom of the post.

1. Place the rashers of bacon on a tray lined with foil and bake for a couple of minutes. Take the bacon out of the oven and leave to cool slightly.
2. Mix the cream cheese with the Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce.

3. Cut the puff pastry into 4 squares. Place a quarter of the cream cheese mixture in the centre of each square, spreading out slightly to two opposite corners.
4. Slice each bacon rasher in half or quarters, depending on the cut of bacon you use, and place on the cream cheese. Top with grated cheese.

5. Brush all the edges of the puff pastry with beaten egg. Take the two opposite corners without any filling and pinch together firmly, then fold this point over the top of the turnover to seal. Place on the lined baking tray.
6. Repeat with the other 3 puff pastry squares. Brush the tops of the pastries with beaten egg, then place in the preheated oven and bake until golden brown.

FAQ

My recipe tips

• Don’t overcook the bacon before placing in the pasty, as it can become dry and chewy once cooked in the parcels.
• Let the cooked bacon cool slightly before placing on the cream cheese / pastry, otherwise the heat will melt the cream cheese / pastry before the parcels go in to the oven.
• Pinch the pastry well to seal.
• If you don’t want to use an egg to glaze the pastry – use a little milk instead to seal the pastries, and also to brush them with. They may not stick quite as well (you will have to pinch them extra hard!) and wont be as golden and shiny, but will still taste just as good.
• If you have leftover ham or gammon these would be a great recipe to use them up.

Storage

• Store these cheese bacon turnovers in the fridge, covered, for up to 2-3 days.
• Freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight. If you want to crisp the pastries up place them in a moderate oven (180˚C / 356˚F) for 5-7 minutes until warmed through, or in the air fryer for 3-5 minutes.

Variations

• Without cream cheese – you can make these cheese turnovers without cream cheese, using just bacon and grated cheese. They will be slightly drier in texture, but are still tasty.
• Ham – use ham instead of bacon.
• Vegetables – if you want to add some vegetables to your savoury cheese turnovers, some of our favourites to use are: sliced mushrooms (allow 1-2 mushrooms per turnover), a handful of cooked drained spinach, a little finely chopped pepper / capsicum or a spoonful of sweetcorn.
• Cooking bacon and cheese turnovers in the air fryer: Preheat your air fryer if needed. Place the turnovers in the basket, making sure they aren’t touching. Cook at 180˚C / 356˚F for 12-14 minutes. You may need to cook them in batches, depending on how big your air fryer basket is.

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