Cheese and Onion Sandwich Filling – how to copy a deli filling, much cheaper!

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Aug 8, 2025 | 2 comments

What do I need to make a cheese and onion sandwich filling?

cheese and onion deli filling in a duck egg blue bowl, looking a little loose immediately after mixing.

Immediately after mixing, the mixture looks a little loose, but it thickens up after an hour or two.

Cheddar – a full flavoured mature cheese
Red Leicester – this appears to be in the recipe for the attractive appearance of the little red shreds. You cannot taste it, so if you want to minimise the cost, just use more Cheddar. Although supermarket value Red Leicester is a very similar price to mature Cheddar, so there is that
A small amount of onion, chopped very fine. Red onion would look nice, but certainly not necessary
I used a leaf of spring onion for the green effect because I have some in the garden, again, purely optional
A little mayonnaise, branded or value, it won’t matter much
A few tablespoons of water to loosen the mixture

I used the Red Leicester as it was the same price as the cheddar, but you really wouldn’t be able to taste it at all

How do I make a copy of a deli cheese and onion sandwich filling?

a close up view of a cheese and onion sandwich filling, in a duck egg blue bowl, with a spoon.

The mixture an hour or two after being mixed, you can see that it has thickened quite a bit.

Grate the cheese(s)
Finely chop the onion, and spring onion leaf if using
Mix with the mayonnaise and water
I found that the mixture definitely needed a bit of moisture to make it spreadable, hence the water

Having mixed everything together, I tasted and compared with the bought version. The more I compared, the less I liked the bought one, it started tasting artificial and the texture seemed gloopy compared to the one I’d just mixed up. I don’t generally buy sandwich fillers, so this was new to me. When I first tasted it, I’d quite liked it!

How to store homemade cheese and onion sandwich filling

This will sit happily in the fridge in a covered container for 5-6 days.

Will this filling freeze?

Unfortunately, mayonnaise tends to split and go watery if frozen, so this filling won’t freeze very well and is not recommended. Also, onions may well go mushy when defrosted.

What other ingredients could be used in a homemade cheese and onion filling?

Vary the flavour of the mayonnaise. Most supermarkets have several different flavours available
add some mustard, Dijon would work well
A little dollop of mango chutney would be delicious in this
Add a little finely chopped vegetable
- very finely sliced celery
- grated carrot
- fine chopped black olives
- add some fresh spinach leaves, lettuce or good old iceberg
vary the bread, dependent on what you have in – sourdough, granary, floury baps, wraps or anything else you fancy
add some sliced gherkins
swap the mayonnaise for soft cheese for a different flavour
when making the sandwich, add a good layer of crisps (chips) – perhaps cheese and onion?

How much does this sandwich filling cost?

front of a pot of supermarket cheese and onion sandwich filling.

back of pot of purchase d cheese and onion filling.

Sums!

priced at Tesco.com in August 2025

I bought a pot of cheese and onion deli filling from Tesco (price matched to Aldi) and reverse engineered it. This is what I found.

The sums to make a 235g pot

60g cheddar Tesco Mature Cheddar £6.57 / kg – 39p
60g Red Leicester Tesco Red Leicester cheese, £7.88 / kg – 47p
20g onion chopped very fine, £0.99 / kg, 2p
37g mayo, Tesco £0.19 / 100ml, 7p
56g water
a spring onion leaf from the garden for a bit of green colour.
Costs 95p against £1.40 purchased from Tesco so home made is two thirds of the cost (and much nicer!)

Total cost of the home made pot of deli filling is 95p
Total cost of purchased filling is £1.40, saving 45p

this makes 5 sandwiches, so 10 slices of bread. Toastie bread, 75p, 34p for 10 slices
Total cost of filling, £0.95 for 235g. The equivalent in Aldi at the time of writing is £1.40 for 235g, so this is around two thirds of the price
Plus 34p for bread
Cost per sandwich 26p
Cost per sandwich using purchased deli filler 35p, so making your own is two thirds of the price – got to be worth doing!

What else can I use this for

You might not want four cheese and onion sandwiches, so what else can you use this mixture for?

enjoy it with pasta, either hot or cold – great for a packed lunch box, or perhaps couscous, rice or quinoa
top a baked potato with it
dip some carrot batons or pepper sticks in, for extra veg – we could all do with that!

Other deli sandwiches fillings in this series

Chicken and Sweetcorn Sandwich – how to copy a deli filling for a third of the cost

Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich

Tuna and Sweetcorn Sandwich

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2 Comments

Thrifty Lesley on August 11, 2025 at 12:15 pm

Ooh, that definitely sounds worth a try!
Kim on August 10, 2025 at 10:25 pm

In Ireland there’s a version of this cheese and leek if looking for a variation

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