Sometimes they are filled with ingredients such as mushrooms, beef, or ham; in this case the gougère is usually made using a ring or pie tin.

While the term currently refers specifically to savory choux pastries, eighteenth and nineteenth century records suggest that it was once an umbrella term for a number of preparations, some composed of just cheese, eggs, and breadcrumbs.

[5][6] Earlier forms of gougère were more a stew than a pastry, including herbs, bacon, eggs, cheese, spices, and meat mixed with an animal's blood, and prepared in a sheep's stomach.

In medieval France, it was a kind of cheese tart or pie.

[8] The word gougère was formerly spelled gouiere, gouyere,[9] goïère, goyère, or gouyère.