Cheese and Onion Lentil Rolls

ByBecca Heyes
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Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 40 rolls
4.75 from 4 votes
Cheese and onion lentil rolls, made almost entirely from frozen and store-cupboard ingredients! So convenient, perfect for picnics, and so delicious!
Allergens: 🧀 Dairy 🍞 Gluten
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Cheese and onion lentil rolls, made almost entirely from frozen and store-cupboard ingredients! So convenient, perfect for picnics, and so delicious!

A few cheesy lentil rolls on a paper plate in front of a picnic basket.

This is the kind of recipe that makes me so, so desperate for someone to invent a healthier version of pastry. I could happily eat a million of these cheese and onion lentil rolls. I didn’t though, of course – I managed to stop myself after about thirty five.

(That’s a joke by the way, before anyone tells me that eating 35 of these wouldn’t be sensible. I know that.)

(Would be really tasty though.)

Cheese and onion lentil rolls on a paper plate with a napkin.

Cheese and onion rolls

I’m sure you’ve all tried cheese and onion rolls in the past, but they’re usually made with potato for bulk. This version uses lentils instead (hence the name!). Much as I adore potatoes, I wanted to try something a bit different that still kept the focus on the cheesy, oniony filling. But don’t panic if you’re not a huge lentil fan – my husband claims to hate lentils, and still polished off a whole load of these. So no fear! They’re not super lentil-y. The cheese and onion flavour totally shines through.

These cute little lentil rolls are absolutely perfect for picnics (if the sun decides it’s going to grace us with its presence again this year…). And the best thing about them is that they’re made so much more convenient using frozen ingredients!

A collage showing how to make cheese and onion lentil rolls.

Simple frozen ingredients

Yep – those flaky rolls are made entirely from frozen and store-cupboard ingredients. Well, plus a bit of cheese – but what self-respecting British household doesn’t have a block of cheddar in the fridge at all times anyway?

Since picnic weather is so unpredictable in the UK, it’s always a good idea to have an easy picnic recipe ready to go when the sun decides to shine without warning. Just have a block of puff pastry ready in the freezer, and whenever you’re woken up by the sun streaming through the window, you’ll know it’s time to get your picnic on.

I also used frozen parsley, and frozen onions, a.k.a my new favourite – I’ve always hated chopping onions. With frozen ones you don’t cry, you don’t have to faff about peeling off layers of papery skin, and you don’t even have to dirty a chopping board. Perfect for lazy cooks like me!

A few vegetarian sausage rolls on a paper plate with a picnic basket.

Cheese and Onion Lentil Rolls

Cheese and onion lentil rolls, made almost entirely from frozen and store-cupboard ingredients! So convenient, perfect for picnics, and so delicious!

If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!

4.75 from 4 votes
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Allergens: 🧀 Dairy 🍞 Gluten

(if you suffer from allergies, please double check all ingredients before eating)

Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 40 rolls
Calories: 88kcal
Author: Becca Heyes

Ingredients

  • 500 g puff pastry (~ 17.5 oz)
  • 215 g (~ 1 cup) dried red lentils, or 560g (~ 2 1/4 cups) cooked red lentils
  • 1/2 vegetable stock cube
  • 1/2 tbsp oil
  • 250 g frozen diced onions (~ 2 cups)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Flour for rolling
  • 150 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 1 1/2 cups grated)
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley (I used frozen)
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • 1 tbsp milk

Instructions
 

  • Allow the frozen pastry to thoroughly defrost – either overnight in the fridge, or a few hours at room temperature.
  • Boil the lentils in plenty of water, with half a vegetable stock cube crumbled in. When they’re completely soft (after around 20 minutes), drain them, and set aside to cool.
  • Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan, and add the diced onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes or so over a medium heat, until soft. Set aside to cool.
  • When the pastry is defrosted, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it’s around 3mm thick. I ended up with a rectangle measuring around 18 x 14 inches, but it’s okay if your rectangle is a slightly different shape. Cut the pastry into strips measuring around 4.5 inches wide (I ended up with 4 strips, each measuring around 14 x 4.5″).
  • When the lentils and onions have cooled, add them to a mixing bowl, along with the grated cheddar cheese, chopped parsley, and plenty of salt and pepper. Mix well.
  • Heat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
  • Spoon the filling along the lengths of each of your pastry strips. Using a clean finger or pastry brush, dampen one long edge of each strip with milk, and bring the edges together over the filling. Squeeze the edges together to seal.
  • Cut each strip into 2 inch pieces, and place seam-side down on a lined, lightly greased baking sheet. Brush again lightly with milk.
  • Bake for around 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

Notes

These lentil rolls are great eaten hot or cold! If you want to reheat them, they’re best reheated in the oven briefly, as microwaving them can make the pastry a little soggy.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Cheese and Onion Lentil Rolls
Amount Per Serving (1 roll)
Calories 88 Calories from Fat 43
% Daily Value*
Fat 4.8g7%
Saturated Fat 1.7g9%
Cholesterol 4mg1%
Sodium 50mg2%
Potassium 71mg2%
Carbohydrates 8.2g3%
Fiber 1.9g8%
Protein 3.1g6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.

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Vegetarian Food Blogger

Becca Heyes is a full-time vegetarian recipe developer, cheese eater extraordinaire, and the creator of Easy Cheesy Vegetarian. She has been developing and publishing reliable, family-friendly vegetarian recipes since 2011, with 15 years of professional recipe development experience.

Becca has been a vegetarian for 25+ years. She specialises in hearty, approachable meat-free meals made with everyday supermarket ingredients. Every recipe is created and thoroughly tested in her home kitchen.

4.75 from 4 votes (1 rating without comment)

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74 Comments

  4. What a great alternative to meat sausage rolls and also to potato based filling which can be a big claggy. These look perfect for summer picnics and parties.

    Reply

  9. Oh Becca, my favouritest food blogger on the entire Interwebz!

    I wonder, do you have any other finger-food-y, snack-like, potential brunch items somewhere in your vast archives of nommyness? I have foolishly offered to host a family brunch later this summer and I’ve been making a list of things to put on it. Since these here seem like just the thing to include and I wanted to make the whole thing vegetarian, I figured I’d ask if you had any other ideas. Can’t have eggs in it, though, because of family member with allergy.

    Reply

    1. (Note, I have been surfing around under snacks and such on my own, but feeling slightly overwhelmed by the choice since I don’t have time to test everything out first. Which is why I wondered if you had some more specific suggestions.)

      Reply

    2. Ooh sounds like it will be brilliant! I reckon any or all of these would make a pretty good spread:

      https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/cheesy-tex-mex-tortilla-roll-ups/
      https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/black-olive-halloumi-filo-cigars/
      https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/healthy-spinach-dip/
      https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/homity-pie-bites/
      https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/white-bean-pate-sun-dried-tomatoes-olives/
      https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/taco-potato-crisps/
      https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/mini-cheesy-lentil-loaves/ (this one does contain egg though!)

      Hope that helps! :)

      Reply

  10. OMG, these look good. I love cheese and onion rolls (ok, lets face it, I love anything with pastry), but a certain member of my family refuses to eat twice cooked potato (she suffered a bad bubble’n’squeak encounter as a child) so these will be perfect.

    Reply