Make these quick and easy Pesto Spinach Puffs for your next party! All you need is a few ingredients and a cupcake pan to make a perfect bite that everyone will absolutely love. With a flaky puff pastry base, these spinach puffs are creamy, cheesy, and simply delicious.
I wanted to create a simple, but impressive appetizer for Vol. 3 of my Fall Puff Pastry Miniseries... and what better recipe than Pesto Spinach Puffs? These are the perfect two-bite hors d'oeuvres.
The filling is a beautiful pesto & creamed spinach mixture, cooked in buttery puff pastry cups shaped by a muffin pan. These can be served hot or room-temperature too, so they are great to make ahead if needed!
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $1.71
- Total Cost (about 4 servings): $6.82
- Those Other Guys: $12.00 per 3 puffs
Ingredients
- Frozen Puff Pastry Dough – For our Fall miniseries, we’re going to use frozen puff pastry dough to shave off tons of prep time in the kitchen. I love to use the Pepperidge Farm brand because it’s incredibly easy to cook with. All you do is thaw it out for about 20 minutes before you’re ready to use it.
- Frozen Spinach - If you've been a member of the Coined Crew, you know that I LOVE frozen spinach and usually keep a few bags in the freezer. It's very easy to throw into the pan and heat, like we're doing with this recipe.
- Salted Butter - We cook the spinach in a bit of butter before assembling our filling.
- Pesto Sauce - The pesto provides a salty, cheesy contrast to our cream cheese that takes these spinach puffs to the next level. If you want to go a step above using the jarred kind, try my 3-Minute Nut-Free Spinach Basil Pesto!
- Cream Cheese - This ingredient is going to bring the filling together in a warm, cozy way that only cheese can. I like to cube my cream cheese block before adding to the pan so it melts evenly.
- Dijon Mustard and Lemon Juice - The dijon adds an extra layer of flavor to our filling, and lemon juice provides some acidity to cut through all of the creaminess of the other ingredients.
- Spice Blend - A blend of salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and chili pepper go into the spinach and pesto mixture.
- Egg - To create an egg wash which is brushed onto the puff pastries before baking. This gives the spinach puffs a golden brown color and flaky texture.
Variations and Substitutions
Cranberry Brie Puffs: Instead of cream cheese, stuff your puff pastry cups with brie cheese and finish each one with a cranberry-orange glaze. So good for the holidays!
Sweet Cream Cheese Puffs: For a sweeter version, make a filling with cream cheese and powdered sugar, then top with fruit compote like my homemade strawberry jam.
Smoked Salmon Cream Puffs: Whip your cream cheese into a silky smooth consistency, then top each puff with smoked salmon, a few capers, and bagel seasoning.
Puff Pastry Pizza Christmas Trees: Try a festive shape for the holidays with these strips of puff pastry filled with pizza toppings, molded into handheld Christmas trees!
How to Make Spinach Puffs in the Oven
You're going to be shocked at just how easy it is to make these puffs!
Step 1: Add all of your meatball ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Form into ball shape with your hands.
Step 3: Using a mini cookie scoop, portion out the mixture into even-sized meatballs.
Step 4: You can bake as is, or gently roll them to make a smoother meatball.
Step 5: Add a touch of cooking spray to the meatballs for extra browning. Bake at 400°F for 12 minutes, then broil on low for an extra 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 6: Finally, brush the hot meatballs with a combination of melted butter and Italian seasoning.
Recipe Pro Tip
- Make sure your puff pastry is completely thawed. Frozen puff pastry dough is difficult to slice and shape into the muffin tins. Set your dough on the counter about 15 minutes before you're ready to start the recipe to ensure it's no longer frozen solid.
Recipe FAQs
You certainly can! I love the frozen kind just for convenience, but if you have an amazing puff pastry dough recipe – feel free to use that.
Yes, you could use a mini cupcake pan to make these truly bite sized. Just cut the puff pastry into smaller cubes to account for the size change. Everything else in the recipe will stay the same - you'll just get way more servings!
Butter burns very easily. An egg wash gives the puff pastry a perfectly golden-brown crust without burning too quickly.
Store these puffs in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
When you're ready to reheat, use toaster oven or air fryer to get them crispy again. These will last up to 5 days.
Other Meal Ideas from my Puff Pastry Miniseries!
If you tried this Pesto Spinach Puffs Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
Pesto Spinach Puffs
Equipment
- Skillet
- Wooden Spoon
- Chef's Knife
- Measuring Spoon tablespoon sized
- Muffin Pan
- Pastry Brush
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry defrosted
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- 5 ounces frozen spinach half of the bag
- 4 ounces cream cheese cubed
- 2 tablespoon pesto
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground oregano
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- pinch salt optional - for taste
- 1 count egg for an egg wash
Instructions
- Take your frozen puff pastry sheet and let it thaw on the counter until soft and pliable.
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the frozen spinach and cook for a few minutes until it begins to soften.
- Add in your cubed cream cheese, pesto, and lemon juice and continue to cook until everything is melted and combined.
- Season the spinach mixture with the Dijon mustard + listed seasonings, adding a pinch of salt to taste if needed. Let the mix cool while you preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Cut the thawed puff pastry into 9 even-sized squares. Prepare a cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place your puff pastry squares into the cupcake pan inserts and then top each square with about 1 ½ tbsp. of spinach mixture. This is about 30 grams of filling per puff.Fold the pastry corners over the creamed spinach.
- Take the egg and whisk it with a bit of water to create an egg wash, then brush the tops of the spinach puffs with the egg wash.
- Bake at 400°F for 16-18 minutes, until the spinach puffs are golden brown. Serve topped with fresh parsley and a hint of flaky salt. Enjoy!
Savannah says
Loved the crunch on these spinach puffs! We used dairy free cream cheese and it was delicious.
Shani W. says
Yum! Thank you for commenting Savannah!
Alex says
these look so good! im going to make them this weekend