These 3-ingredient Cheesy Ham Puff Pastry Pockets are perfect for easy school lunches or after-school snacks. These tasty hand pies are delicious hot or cold, your kids will love them, and they only take 20 minutes to make!
Looking for a simple school lunch idea?
Hi everyone! Are you looking for an easy, homemade recipe that’s customizable to your tastes for school lunches? We have you covered with these Cheesy Ham Puff Pastry Pockets!
This recipe only takes minutes to prepare using store-bought puff pastry sheets and deli meat and cheese. In only 20 minutes, you can have hot and fresh hand pies for school lunches or as easy after-school snacks.
You can customize these hand pies by using your favorite cheese. I love the taste of Swiss or Cheddar with ham, but by all means, get creative and use the cheese you or your kids love.
You can make these and keep them in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for when you need them.
These hand pies are so convenient for eating on the go.
If you prefer, you can customize them with other deli meats as well or do a combination. You could use cut up cooked sausage too and get creative with your favorite flavors.
How will you customize these 20-minute hand pies?
I put an Italian shredded cheese blend on top just to make it extra melt-y, but you can just use more Swiss/Cheddar if you wish. When selecting cheese, if you have more than one cheese, picking a medium to soft cheese, paired with a dry cheese, works best. You’ll get the flavor of the drier cheese (like Swiss) and the melt-y effect of the other cheese(s) (like Cheddar or the cheese blend) to make the hand pie super satisfying.
A lightly-floured pastry mat helps as a surface for preparing the hand pies, but it’s totally optional. You could use a cutting board or just your counter top surface.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry (thawed)
- 3-6 slices deli ham
- 3-6 slices Swiss or preferred cheese
- Optional: 3 tbsp shredded cheese blend (1 tbsp per hand pie)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- On a lightly-floured surface, open a thawed puff pastry sheet. Cut into 3 long pieces along the creases.
- On one side of each piece, lay a slice of folded cheese, then 1-2 pieces ham and top with optional shredded cheese or another slice of deli cheese.
- Fold over to close and using a fork, bind the edges together. You can use some water or egg wash optionally, if the pastry dough is getting dried out and needs help adhering to itself.
- Arrange hand pies on a rimmed baking sheet. Using a knife, carve small holes in the top of each pie to allow steam to escape.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before eating, enjoy!
Notes
Home Chef Tip: 1. You can use a lightly-floured pastry mat or cutting board to prepare the hand pies. 2. I suggest using a sheet of parchment or silicone baking mat for baking on the rimmed baking sheet for easy clean up in case any cheese leaks.
We hope you enjoy these Cheesy Ham Pastry Puff Pockets from SoFabFood Home Chef, Sara from Life’s Little Sweets, as much as we do. If you love this recipe, you can find more like it by visiting our Lunch Section. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook and follow us on Pinterest. Enjoy!
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