A turnover is a small

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

, made by placing a filling on a piece of

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

dough. The dough is then folded over and sealed, and is then cooked by either

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...

frying Frying is the cooking of food in cooking oil, oil or another fat. Similar to sautéing, pan-fried foods are generally turned over once or twice during cooking to make sure that the food is evenly cooked, using tongs or a spatula, whilst sautéed ...

. Turnovers can be sweet or savoury and are often eaten as a sort of portable meal or dessert. Throughout the world, turnovers are known by different names, for example in Spanish speaking countries they are known as

empanada An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover (food), turnover consisting of pastry and stuffing, filling, common in Culture of Spain, Spain, other Southern European countries, North African countries, South Asian countries, Latin American c ...

, while

pasty A pasty () or Cornish pasty is a British baked turnover pastry, a variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall, but has spread all over the British Isles, and elsewhere through the Cornish diaspora. It consists of a filling, ty ...

, originally a Cornish term, has spread across the globe. It is common for sweet turnovers to have a fruit filling and be made with a

puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as , is a light, flaky pastry, its base dough () composed of wheat flour and water. Butter or other solid fat () is then layered into the dough. The dough is repeatedly rolled and folded, rested, re-rolled and folded, encas ...

shortcrust pastry Shortcrust is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart, quiche, pie, or (in the British English sense) flan. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche, lemon meringue or chicken pie. ...

dough and covered with icing. Savoury turnovers generally contain meat, vegetables or a mixture of both, and can be made with any sort of pastry dough. Savoury turnovers are often sold as

convenience food Convenience food (also called tertiary processed food) is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) for ease of consumption, and is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have ...

s in supermarkets.

Fillings

Common turnover fillings include fruits such as apples, peaches and cherries, meats like chicken, beef and pork, vegetables such as potatoes, broccoli and onions, and savoury ingredients like cheese. Specialty versions are also found, such as wild rabbit and leek. In the United Kingdom, turnovers are usually filled with cooked apples, but any fruit can be used, as described in

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management ''Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management'', also published as ''Mrs. Beeton's Cookery Book'', is an extensive guide to running a household in Victorian Britain, edited by Isabella Beeton and first published as a book in 1861. Previously ...

. In the United States, savoury products that are identified as a turnover (for example, "Beef Turnover" or "Cheesy Chicken Turnover") have to contain a certain amount of meat or poultry under the Food Standards and Labeling Policy. A similar law, the Meat Pie and Sausage Roll Regulation 1967 exists in the United Kingdom, which states that Pasties must contain meat that is a minimum 12.75% of the weight of the pastry.

List of Turnover names

Around the world, Turnovers are known by different names. For example, in the United Kingdom, turnover is generally used as the name for sweet versions, however savoury turnovers can be called Pasty,

Bridie A bridie or Forfar bridie is a Scottish meat pasty that originates from Forfar, Scotland. History and preparation Bridies are said "to have been 'invented' by a Forfar baker in the 1850s".Gow, Rosalie. ''Modern Ways with Traditional Scotti ...

(a Scottish term), Clanger or Oggie. There are different used names around the world:

Similar food types

There are food products that look similar to Turnovers, but are not made from Pastry dough. In Italy, the

Calzone Calzone is an Italian oven-baked folded pizza. A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in an oven and stuffed with prosciutto or salami, mozzarella or ricotta, and Parmesan or pecorino, as well as an egg. Different regio ...

, which originated in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in the 18th century, is essentially a folded pizza. Traditionally made from salted bread dough, baked in an oven and is stuffed with salami, ham or vegetables, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan or pecorino cheese, as well as an

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

.Gosetti (1967), p.785 The

Panzerotti Panzerotti, also known as panzarotti, are Italian savory bread product, originating in the Apulia region, which resemble small calzones, both in shape and in the dough used for their preparation. The term usually applies to a fried turnover ra ...

, which originated in the

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

region, are a smaller hand-held version of a Calzone, and are classically filled with tomato and mozzarella, though other typical Italian fillings are common such as cured meats, varied cheeses and greens such as the Pugliese favourite: cime di rapa. Panzerotti are deep-fried instead of being baked."Deep Fried Panzerotti"
food.com. Retrieved February 13, 2016. Another folded and stuffed bread product is

Scaccia ''Scaccia'' (: ''scacce''), ''scacciata'' or ''schiacciata'' is a Sicilian stuffed flatbread. ''Scaccia'' is made with a very thin rectangular layer of dough, folded on itself three or four times. It can be stuffed with different ingredients, ...

, a Sicilian stuffed

flatbread A flatbread is bread made usually with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are Unleavened bread, unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread. A Se ...

References

{{Authority control Desserts Pastries Pies Stuffed dishes

Fillings

List of Turnover names

Similar food types

See also

References