These Cheese and Bacon Turnovers are crispy little pillows filled with savory bacon and melty cheese. A delicious appetizer for the holidays or any time of year!
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Why Make This Recipe
- So tasty: buttery puff pastry combined with bacon, cheese, and onions—you’ll be going back for more as soon as you bite into one of these!
- Easy to make: only 7 ingredients, and using store-bought puff pastry makes these a snap to put together.
- Make-ahead: You can make these easy bacon and cheese turnovers ahead of time and freeze before baking, so they are ready to go whenever you need them.
🥗 Ingredients
- Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheese: we chose a combination of cheeses for this recipe. Cheddar brings big flavor, and the Monterey Jack is super melty. You can use whatever cheese you prefer, but we recommend using at least one cheese that melts well (fontina and mozzarella are other good options in this category).
- Bacon: Microwaving bacon is an easy trick for cooking it with a minimum of cleanup. Regular sliced bacon takes to this method the best, so if you have thick-cut bacon, keep in mind that you may need to add extra time or consider cooking another way.
- Puff Pastry Dough: Buying the puff pastry dough that is already in sheets makes these turnovers even faster to make.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Grate 1.5 ounces each of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and chop an onion.
Line a large plate with two layers of paper towels. Drape 7 bacon slices over paper towels and cover with an additional paper towel.
Microwave for about 1 minute per slice (check during the process to make sure they don't overcook). Remove from microwave and let cool.
Heat a small skillet over medium-low heat, and add 1 tablespoon butter. When butter has melted, add chopped onion.
Sauté for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and beginning to brown.
Pour onion into a small bowl. Chop bacon, and add to bowl with onion. Chill onion-bacon mixture in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Roll out 1 sheet of puff pastry dough to an 11-inch square, then cut each side evenly into 4 pieces, so you have a total of 16 small squares.
Crack egg into a small bowl and whisk with a pinch of salt to make the egg wash. Use a pastry brush to paint two connecting edges of a square with egg wash.
Add a small spoonful of the bacon/onion mixture and a pinch of cheese to each square and fold over one side to make a triangle.
Crimp the sides with a fork to seal.
Repeat with remaining puff pastry squares.
Lay turnovers on the baking sheet, leaving an inch or two of space between them. Paint each with egg wash.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, until pastries are golden brown.
Let cool for a few minutes before eating—the filling is super hot right after they come out of the oven!
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Cheese and Bacon Turnovers
Yes, these turnovers are great for making in advance. Follow the recipe up through the step of crimping the edges, then put uncooked pastries on a parchment or wax paper-lined plate in the freezer. Freeze until they are solid, then move into a freezer-safe ziplock baggie. When you’re ready to bake, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and brush with egg wash. Then bake as directed, adding a minute or two of bake time to the estimate.
Yes. In addition to freezing the unbaked turnovers (see above), you can also freeze them after baking. Let them cool completely before freezing, and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator, then reheat in the oven or air fryer for maximum crispiness.
Puff pastry loses its crunch and gets a bit soggy in the microwave, so always try to reheat your turnovers in either a hot oven (around 375 or 400 degrees) or in an air fryer. Popping them in an air fryer is the fastest way to get it done.
The answer to that question really depends on how much you are able to fill each turnover. Full nutritional information is at this bottom of this post, but with this recipe each turnover has about 233 calories.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
If you’ve never microwaved bacon before, please try it! So fast and easy, and minimal cleanup. Note that cook time depends on your microwave, so use 1 minute per slice as an estimate, but know you may have to adjust to more or less time depending on the wattage of your microwave. Also, for best results, make sure the bacon is both on a bed of paper towels, and covered entirely by a full sheet of paper towel.
Puff pastry dough is notoriously hard to work with when it gets warm. Make sure to chill the bacon/onion mixture so that it doesn’t melt the dough when you place it on the puff pastry squares. And, if you leave the dough out for too long, and it becomes hard to work with, just pop it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up.
Forming these bacon cheese turnovers can be a little difficult at first. You do want to stuff them with as much filling as you can—they are much tastier that way. You may find it’s easiest to pick up each puff pastry square with your fingers after you have put on the filling. Hold the turnover at the folded edge with one corner pointed to the top, then use your fingers to stuff in the filling while you pinch the edges closed. It’s fine to pull the pastry dough a little if you need too—just try not to stretch it too thin or it may split in the oven.
And now that you have the technique down, try your hand at a sweet puff pastry turnover recipe, these Strawberry Turnovers!
Other Savory Puff Pastry Recipes
Now that you’ve seen how easy it is to create these delicious savory cheese turnovers with store-bought puff pastry dough, check out some of our other favorite puff pastry dough recipes. Or, check out our Appetizers archive for more ideas!
If you try this Bacon and Cheese Turnover recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Bacon and Cheese Turnovers
Ingredients
- 1 ½ ounces cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ ounces Monterey Jack cheese
- 6 ounces bacon slices
- 1 small onion
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry dough, thawed (8.8 ounces)
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Grate cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese.
- Line a large plate with two layers of paper towels.
- Drape bacon slices over paper towels and cover with an additional paper towel. Microwave for about 1 minute per slice (check to make sure they are not overcooked).
- Remove from microwave and let cool.
- Meanwhile, peel and chop onion into small pieces.
- Heat a small skillet over medium-low heat, and add butter.
- When butter has melted, add chopped onion.
- Sauté for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and beginning to brown.
- Pour onion into a small bowl.
- Chop bacon, and add to bowl with onion.
- Chill onion-bacon mixture in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Roll out puff pastry dough to an 11-inch square, then cut each side evenly into 4 pieces, so you have a total of 16 small squares.
- Crack egg into a small bowl and whisk with a pinch of salt to make the egg wash.
- Use a pastry brush to paint two connecting edges of a square with egg wash.
- Add a small spoonful of the bacon/onion mixture and a pinch of cheese to each square and fold over one side to make a triangle.
- Crimp the sides with a fork to seal.
- Repeat with remaining puff pastry squares.
- Lay turnovers on the baking sheet, leaving an inch or two of space between them.
- Paint each with egg wash.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until pastries are golden brown.
Notes
Puff pastry dough is notoriously hard to work with when it gets warm. Make sure to chill the bacon/onion mixture so that it doesn’t melt the dough when you place it on the puff pastry squares. And, if you leave the dough out for too long, and it becomes hard to work with, just pop it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up. Forming these bacon cheese turnovers can be a little difficult at first. You do want to stuff them with as much filling as you can—they are much tastier that way. You may find it’s easiest to pick up each puff pastry square with your fingers after you have put on the filling. Hold the turnover at the folded edge with one corner pointed to the top, then use your fingers to stuff in the filling while you pinch the edges closed. It’s fine to pull the pastry dough a little if you need too—just try not to stretch it too thin or it may split in the oven.
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this bacon and cheese puff pastry recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Jennifer says
These look delicious. Bacon and cheddar are such a classic combo.
I’ve never used a puff, do you think I could swap with a pie crust?
Chef Molly says
I'm sure you could. I haven't tested that, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. The pastry wouldn't be quite as fluffy and layered as with puff, but still delicious!
Jeff the Chef says
What a nice hors d'ouvres this would be for a Thanksgiving meal! Thanks for the recipe!
Chef Molly says
My pleasure! Really loved testing this one... 😋