These spinach puffs are easy to make with flaky puff pastry, cream cheese, fresh spinach and savory bacon. One of my favorite holiday appetizers to serve at parties!
More party appetizer favorites include bacon wrapped smokies, grape jelly chili sauce meatballs and baked spinach artichoke dip!
Why I Love This Easy Spinach Puffs
- Quick and easy appetizer: Simple ingredients make spinach puffs the perfect snack year round but I especially love to serve them as a New Year’s Eve appetizer!
- Creamy and cheesy: A savory filling of two kinds of cheeses plus bacon and Italian seasoning makes these spinach puffs with cream cheese so flavorful!
- Crowd pleasing: Made popular by Kronk in The Emperor’s New Groove, Kronk’s spinach puffs are loved by both adults and kids alike!
How to Make Spinach Puffs
In a small bowl, combine softened cream cheese, egg, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder, salt and pepper until well combined then fold in the spinach, Parmesan and bacon. Roll out pastry sheets then cut each into 9 puff pastry squares.
Press pastry squares into the bottom of the muffin cups and evenly divide the spinach mixture among the cups. Using your fingers, pull the 4 pastry points on one cup over the filling and the press them together.
Lightly brush the tops of the puffs with the melted butter. For a shinier spinach puff, brush tops with an egg wash instead.
Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to serve.
Tips and Variations
- Kronk’s spinach puffs: Use 4 ounces of cream cheese and 1/2 -1 cup ricotta cheese, feta cheese or sour cream.
- Savory onion and garlic: These aromatics are a popular spinach puffs addition but will need to be sauteed before adding to the mixture.
- Frozen spinach: Can be substituted for fresh but will need to be thawed and drained well to remove excess moisture.
- Cone shaped: Place squares on parchment paper lined baking sheet, place filling in the middle and seal two sides together with an egg wash.
- Mini muffin pan: Cut the puff pastry into smaller squares and bake puffs in mini muffin pan. Baking time will be 10-15 minutes.
- Extra puff pastry: Try cranberry brie Bites or kielbasa puffs, two more crowd pleasing appetizer recipes!
Make Ahead and Storage
- Make ahead. This spinach puff recipe can be prepped up to 3 hours in advance. Simply cover unbaked puffs and store in the fridge before baking uncovered at 400°F for 20 minutes.
- Freezing uncooked puffs. Freeze assembled uncooked puff pastry appetizers for 2-3 hours in the muffin pan, then remove and store in an airtight freezer container up to 2 months. Place frozen puffs in a muffin pan and bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through.
- Freezing baked spinach puffs. Cool completely then place them in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper. Freeze for up to 2 months then reheat in the oven or microwave before serving.
More puff pastry recipes that are crowd-pleasing include cranberry brie Bites or kielbasa puffs.
More Appetizer Recipes
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Spinach Puffs
Video
Equipment
- 2 9-cup muffin pans
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 cups chopped fresh spinach , packed
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 5 strips bacon , cooked and crumbled (about 1/3 cup)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 (17.3-ounce) package Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry , thawed (2 sheets)
- 2 Tablespoons butter , melted
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Spray 2 9-cup muffin pans with nonstick spray.
- Combine filling. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave 8 ounce cream cheese 10 seconds at a time until softened and melted but not steaming. Stir in 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper until well combined.
- Add spinach and bacon. Add 4 cups spinach, 1/2 cup parmesan and 5 strips bacon. Using a fork, mix in the cream cheese mixture.
- Roll out puff pastry. Lightly dust flour on a work surface. Unfold 1 puff pastry sheet onto the flour. Roll a couple times each way with a rolling pin to smooth it out. Using a knife or pizza cutter, slice into 9 squares. Repeat with the remaining puff pastry sheet.
- Assemble puffs. Press the pastry squares into the bottom of the muffin cups. Evenly divide the spinach mixture among the cups. Using your fingers, pull the 4 pastry points on one cup over the filling and the press them together. Repeat with remaining puffs. Lightly brush with the melted butter.
- Bake 20 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen from the pan.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Appetizers, Christmas, Freezer-Friendly, Mini appetizers, Nut-Free, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
My friends want this recipe! I made it for a party
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Colette!
These were SO delicious! Made these for a Christmas Eve appetizer and they were such a hit and quickly disappeared. People are already asking me for the recipe!
These spinach puffs with bacon are so good and super easy to make! They are a great appetizer for game day, game nights, or other parties. Love these!
The only thing I will say is that I wish I made more- they were gone in minutes! I might make them again for tomorrow for football!
Made these today & they are fantastic & so easy & a lovely appetizer!!!😊