These are seriously some of my favorite childhood snacks. Chicken in puff pastry is basically savory chicken turnovers or little golden brown triangles of crunchy, buttery, delicious puff pastry wrapped around a creamy chicken filling. You can bake immediately or freeze and bake at the drop of a hat when you need a snack for the kiddos after school or an appetizer for your next book club meeting, potluck, or party. These are customizable, so feel free to add other ingredients, fresh herbs, and seasonings. Each bite is a little bit of flakey puff pastry, creamy peppered chicken and it’s seriously a little pocket of heaven! They’re a classic appetizer in Pakistan and other South Asian countries. You’ll find them served at afternoon tea, but they’re also extra popular in Ramadan, and as an appetizer at parties like baby showers, birthday parties, New Year’s Eve, and pretty much every other gathering you can think of!
Ingredients to make chicken puff pastry:
Puff pastry sheets: You’ll need puff pastry sheets for this recipe, which can easily be found in almost any grocery store. It’s usually in the same aisle as phyllo dough – the frozen dessert section. Phyllo dough cannot be used interchangeably with puff pastry dough, so make sure you grab the right kind. Puff pastry is layers of dough that are laminated with thin layers of butter in between. It puffs and flakes up when it bakes.Chicken breasts: I almost always cook chicken breasts at home for this recipe. You can poach chicken on the stove or cook a larger batch in the instant pot. Then, shred and freeze it for later. I usually season 1½ pounds of chicken with a big dash of garlic powder, onion powder, and a few cracks of black pepper. Then, sear this in an instant pot with a drizzle of oil for 30 seconds. Add ½ cup of chicken stock and pressure cook for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size.) Do a natural pressure release for 5 minutes. You won’t need all of the chicken for this recipe. Leftovers are easy to store in the freezer for next time. All you really need is shredded chicken, so feel free to use a store-bought rotisserie chicken to save some time! I also have a homemade rotisserie chicken recipe that you can prep and shred (don’t toss the bones, they make a mean chicken stock!) Butter: We’ll use a couple of tablespoons of butter to melt in a skillet to create the roux or white sauce that the chicken will simmer in.All-purpose Flour: Helps thicken the roux. It’s important to make a thick sauce so that it doesn’t ooze out of the puff pastry.Yellow Mustard: Adds the most delicious flavor to the chicken. I know it’s a shocking ingredient – especially if you’ve made chicken puff pastry or chicken patties before and haven’t seen it used. But trust me, it adds the best flavor to the chicken.Seasonings: I keep things pretty simple with a little garlic powder, salt, and lots of black pepper. Feel free to add fresh parsley, or even minced jalapeños or serrano peppers to kick things up!Milk: Is added to butter and flour roux to make a white sauce.An egg: The egg wash is just a beaten egg that we’ll brush on top right before the chicken puff pastry goes in the oven.
How to make the creamy chicken filling:
Instructions for chicken puff pastry:
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Original recipe shared Feb. 2014, updated with minor recipe edits, new images, and post April 2022.
Puff Pastry: You can also use larger sheets of puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farms.) I suggest rolling those into a 10x10 inch square, cutting them into 4, then proceeding as written. You’ll need 2 boxes so that you have enough for the filling.Mustard: Once you’ve made these a few times, you’ll know whether you prefer this with 1 or 2 teaspoons of mustard. We prefer it with 2, so I add 2 teaspoons in step 1.Variations: you can play with this recipe a ton, swap the seasonings, can add minced pickled or fresh jalapeños or even minced sautéed onions or mushrooms in place of 1-2 ounces of chicken.Leftover chicken puff pastries: should be stored in the refrigerator. Reheat in a 300ºF oven or air fryer for 5-8 minutes or until heated through.
