Table of Contents
- Why This Is Worth Making
- Full Cost Breakdown
- Ingredients
- Step-by-Step Method
- What If It Goes Wrong?
- Common Mistakes
- Is This Worth Making?
- Storage and Freezing
- Allergen Information
- FAQ
Why This Is Worth Making
A Greggs vegetable bake will set you back around £1.65. One. A single one. This recipe gives you six pasties for £1.99. The maths speak for themselves.
The filling is a proper veg mix — onion, celery, carrot, cabbage, potato, and peas, all cooked in vegetable stock and thickened with a touch of cornflour. The pastry is a traditional half-butter, half-lard shortcrust that bakes into something genuinely short and crumbly. Not puff pastry from a packet. Actual pastry, made from scratch, in about 15 minutes.
These work as a packed lunch, a light tea, or a snack with a bit of coleslaw on the side. They also freeze beautifully, which means you can make a batch on Sunday and have six lunches sorted for the week. At 33p each, that's a lunch budget of under £1.70 for the whole week. Nothing else in the freezer aisle touches that.
The vegetable swap options are almost endless. What's here is what makes sense at Aldi and Lidl right now, and what keeps the cost below 35p per pasty without compromising on flavour. You could substitute swede for the cabbage, add a handful of frozen sweetcorn, or throw in some leftover cooked broccoli. The pastry recipe doesn't change at all — just the filling.
A reader asked in the comments of the potato wedges recipe whether pasties could work as a cheap packed lunch option. They absolutely can — and these are the proof. More filling than a sandwich, cheaper than anything from a bakery, and they don't need reheating if you're taking them out.
Full Cost Breakdown
All prices checked at Aldi and Lidl, April 2026. Where an item is used in part, the cost reflects the portion used in this recipe only.
| Ingredient | Amount Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| FILLING | ||
| Onion | 1 medium | 9p |
| Celery | 1 stick | 6p |
| Potato (Maris Piper) | 120g | 11p |
| Carrot | 100g | 5p |
| Cabbage | 70g | 10p |
| Garden peas (tinned) | Quarter tin | 12p |
| Vegetable stock cube | 1 cube | 12p |
| Cornflour | 1 tsp | 2p |
| Dried thyme | Half tsp | 2p |
| Dried parsley | Half tsp | 2p |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | 4p |
| Vegetable oil | 1 tbsp | 2p |
| PASTRY | ||
| Plain flour | 450g | 22p |
| Unsalted butter | 112g | 87p |
| Lard | 112g | 15p |
| Salt, cold water | Pinch + 170ml | 1p |
| TOTAL BATCH (6 pasties) | £1.99 | |
| Cost per pasty | 33p | |
⚠️ Prices reflect amounts used in this recipe, not full pack prices. Checked at Aldi and Lidl, April 2026. Prices vary by store and region. Butter in particular fluctuates — check your local price before shopping.
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry:
- 450g plain flour
- 112g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 112g lard, cold and cubed
- Good pinch of salt
- 170ml cold water
For the vegetable filling:
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
- 120g Maris Piper potato, cut into small cubes
- 100g carrot, cut into small cubes
- 70g cabbage, finely chopped
- Quarter of a 400g tin of garden peas
- 1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 150ml boiling water
- 1 tsp cornflour
- Half tsp dried thyme
- Half tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
For the egg wash:
- 1 egg, beaten (or use milk if no egg available)
Step-by-Step Method
Step 1: Make the pastry
Put the 450g plain flour into a large bowl with a good pinch of salt. Add the cold cubed butter and lard. Using your fingertips, rub the fats into the flour, lifting the mixture and letting it fall back in to incorporate air. Keep rubbing until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. There will be a few small lumps — that's fine, don't overwork it.
Add the cold water a little at a time, mixing as you go with a butter knife or your hands, until the dough just comes together. You may not need all 170ml. Bring it into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap in cling film, and put it in the fridge while you make the filling. At least 20 minutes is ideal.
Step 2: Cook the filling
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and celery and fry, stirring occasionally, until softened — about 5 minutes. Don't rush this. Soft, slightly translucent onion makes a much better filling than crunchy raw onion that hasn't had time to cook properly in the oven.
Add the diced carrot and chopped cabbage. Pour in the dissolved stock cube. Stir everything together and let it simmer gently for 5 minutes. The liquid should be well below the top of the vegetables — you want just enough to flavour and steam them, not drown them. Add a splash more water only if the pan is drying out completely.
Now add the cubed potato, the garden peas, thyme, parsley, and black pepper. Stir well. Cover the pan and cook on a low heat for another 5 to 7 minutes — the potato should be just starting to soften but should not be falling apart. You're after small, firm cubes that will finish cooking in the oven.
Mix the cornflour with a teaspoon of cold water to form a slurry, then stir it into the pan. The liquid should thicken noticeably within a minute. If the filling still looks very wet, strain some liquid off with a slotted spoon before filling the pasties. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool completely. This is important — hot filling in cold pastry will start melting the fat before it even hits the oven.
Step 3: Roll and cut the pastry
Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan) / 180°C (conventional) / Gas Mark 4.
Take the chilled pastry out of the fridge. Cut it in half — there's a lot of it and it's easier to work with in two portions. Flour your surface and rolling pin generously. Roll the first half out to around 5mm thick. You're aiming for oblong shapes of about 18cm x 13cm (roughly 7 inches by 5 inches). Cut as many as you can from each piece of rolled pastry, then gather the scraps, re-roll, and cut again. You should get 6 oblongs from the full batch.
Step 4: Fill, seal, and crimp
Place a good heaped tablespoon of the cooled filling onto one half of each pastry oblong, leaving a 1cm border around the edges. Don't overfill — if filling spills over the edge, the seal won't hold and your pasty will burst open in the oven. First time I made these I packed them too tight. Two burst. Don't do that.
Brush egg wash around all four edges of the pastry. Fold the empty half over the filling and press the edges firmly together with your fingers. Run a fork all the way around the sealed edge to crimp. Then use a sharp knife to cut two small slits in the top of each pasty — this lets steam escape during baking and stops the top from puffing up and cracking.
Place on a lined baking tray, brush the tops generously with egg wash, and bake on the middle shelf for 30 to 35 minutes until the pastry is a deep golden brown.
What If It Goes Wrong?
Pastry is tough and hard to eat: Over-rubbing the fat, or using warm butter rather than cold. The fat needs to stay in small pieces — if it fully merges with the flour, you lose the short texture. Work quickly and keep everything cold.
Filling leaking out during baking: Overfilling, or the egg wash didn't reach all the way to the edge. A 1cm border is the minimum. If a pasty has burst already, it will still taste fine — just less neat.
Soggy base: Filling was too wet when it went in. Next time, drain off more liquid before filling, or give the cornflour slurry another minute to thicken fully before taking the pan off the heat.
Undercooked pastry on the bottom: The oven was too cool or the tray was too thick. Use a thin metal tray and bake on the middle shelf, not the bottom.
Common Mistakes
- Using warm butter. Cold fat is what creates the short, crumbly texture. Take it straight from the fridge and work fast.
- Putting hot filling in cold pastry. The heat starts melting the fat before baking begins. Let the filling cool fully — at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or speed it up in a cold water bath.
- Cutting vegetables too large. Thick chunks of carrot or potato won't cook through in 30 to 35 minutes inside a pastry case. Small cubes, no bigger than 1cm, every time.
- Skipping the cornflour. The filling will be too wet and the base will go soft. One teaspoon makes a real difference.
- Overfilling the pasties. They burst. Every time. A heaped tablespoon per pasty is enough.
- Not cutting steam slits. The top will puff, crack randomly, and split at the seam. Two small slits are all it takes.
- Re-rolling scraps more than once. Pastry gets tougher with each re-roll. Use scraps for one extra roll only.
Is This Worth Making?
Storage and Freezing
Fridge: Store cooled pasties in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in an oven at 160°C for 10 to 12 minutes. Don't microwave — the pastry goes soft and the base turns soggy. Not worth it.
Freezer: These freeze very well. Allow to cool completely, then wrap each pasty individually in cling film or a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen at 160°C for 20 to 25 minutes, covering with foil for the first 15 minutes to stop the top over-browning before the centre is heated through.
Packed lunch (cold): These travel well cold. Wrap in foil. No reheating needed if you're taking them out for the day. The shortcrust holds its shape and doesn't get soggy in the same way puff pastry does.
If you're making a double batch specifically for the freezer, the same freezer-friendly approach used in the mince pie filling recipe applies here — cool completely before wrapping, and label with the date.
Allergen Information
Contains depending on brand: The vegetable stock cube — check the label, as some brands contain celery or sulphites.
Lard: Not suitable for vegetarians or vegans. Substitute with vegetable shortening (Trex) or an extra 112g of cold butter for a vegetarian version. The texture will differ slightly but the pastry will still bake well.
Egg wash: Can be substituted with whole milk or oat milk for a dairy-free or egg-free glaze. The colour will be slightly less deep golden but the pastry will still seal properly.
Always check individual product labels for allergen information, as formulations can change. This information is a guide only.
About the Author
Vinod Pandey researches and documents budget recipes from real UK home cooks. Every recipe on Baking on Budget is sourced from verified UK cooking sources, with ingredient costs checked against current Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl pricing. No guesswork — exact pence, every time.
Questions or corrections? Get in touch · LinkedIn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use ready-made pastry instead of homemade?
Yes. A 500g block of shortcrust pastry from Aldi or Lidl costs around 79p to 89p, which will push the cost per pasty up to around 50p to 55p but saves 15 minutes of rubbing. The texture won't be quite as short as the homemade half-lard version, but it will still bake well. Avoid puff pastry for this recipe — it's too soft for a hand-held pasty and won't hold the filling properly once cooled.
What vegetables can I swap in?
Almost anything that cooks through in the same timeframe. Swede, parsnip, frozen sweetcorn, courgette, leek, or leftover roasted vegetables all work. Avoid anything too watery (courgette needs frying off first to remove moisture) or anything that releases a lot of liquid in the oven. Whatever you use, cut it into small cubes — under 1cm — and pre-cook it until just starting to soften before filling the pasties.
Can I make the pastry in a food processor?
Yes — pulse the flour and cold fats together until it reaches the breadcrumb stage, then add the water through the feed tube a little at a time. Be careful not to over-process. Ten to fifteen pulses to start, then check the texture. It should look like rough, slightly clumpy breadcrumbs, not a smooth paste. Add water and pulse again just until it comes together.
Can I make these vegan?
Yes. Replace the butter with cold Trex vegetable shortening and use the same weight of Trex in place of the lard. The pastry will be slightly less short in texture but will bake well. Use plant-based milk (oat milk works well) instead of egg wash. The filling is already vegan — just check your stock cube brand for any dairy or non-vegan additives.
How do I stop the pastry going soggy on the bottom?
Three things help: cool the filling fully before using it, thicken the filling properly with cornflour so there is no excess liquid, and bake on a thin metal tray rather than a heavy ceramic dish. A pale or room-temperature baking tray will also slow down the base cooking. If you want extra insurance, place the tray on the bottom shelf of the oven for the first 10 minutes to give the base a head start, then move to the middle for the remainder.
Make the pastry first, let it chill while the filling cooks and cools, then assemble and bake. That's the sequence. Everything else is just detail. Six pasties for £1.99 — start to finish, about an hour and a quarter of your time.
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