These Chicken Florentine Puffs combine a creamy chicken and spinach filling wrapped in flaky pastry pockets. They’re warm, cozy & delicious!
Did you catch the crock pot rotisserie-style chicken I posted about Monday? It was truly a game-changer. I’ll be using that method over and over. With the leftovers, I decided to try something new. I had some puff pastry in the freezer and decided to cobble together a recipe for a chicken and spinach puff. Oh, dolly, did I hit the big time.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
FLAVORS! I loved all the flavors going on here–the basil, spinach, roasted pepper, gruyere. Sigh. So tasty. We ate them fresh out of the oven, reheated from the microwave, and baked in the oven after having frozen them. They were delicious every time, though the texture was predictably much better when re-heated in the oven. It’s a great meal to make ahead of time, or to eat half and freeze half for later.
VERSATILITY. I also think they’d make a great appetizer. These were made dinner-sized, but you could certainly make them half this size for appetizers. You’d just need to decrease the baking time a little.
How to Make Chicken Florentine Puffs, Step By Step
As always, you can find the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below!
- Preheat & Prep. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them and set aside.
- Combine Filling. In a large bowl, combine chicken, spinach, red pepepr, cream cheese, gruyere, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss until well combined and cream cheese is completely mixed in.
- Make Egg Wash. In a small bowl, combine an egg wash by beating egg with water.
- Assemble Puffs. Roll out puff pastry on a sheet of parchment paper or a lightly floured surface. Slice each sheet into 4 pieces (for 8 squares total). Divide filling among the 8 squares. For each puff, place filling in the center. Brush the edge of one half with egg wash and fold in half diagonally to form a triangle. Press down the edges with a fork to seal.
- Brush & Garnish. Then brush the top of the puff with egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of fresh parmesan, if using. Make 2-3 small slits in the top to allow steam to escape during baking.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden.
FAQ + Tips & Tricks For The Best Chicken Turnovers
Cream Cheese. You can use 1/3 less fat/Neufchatel cream cheese for this recipe, but you do NOT want to use fat-free cream cheese.
Roasted Peppers. Also, you can use either a jarred or freshly roasted red pepper. To make a freshly roasted one, place a red pepper on a baking sheet and place under the broiler until blackened on all sides, rotating every couple of minutes. When blackened, place pepper in a paper or plastic bag to steam about 5 minutes. Peel off charred skin, discard seeds and stem, and slice or dice as desired.
Gluten-Free! Keep an eye out for gluten-free puff pastry! We’ve had great luck with Schar Gluten-Free Puff Pastry.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tell me all about it! Leave a star rating below when you try our Chicken Florentine Puffs recipe. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Chicken Florentine Puffs
Ingredients
- 2 sheets puff pastry thawed and rolled out
- 2 cups cooked chicken cubed or shredded
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach – thawed and liquid squeezed out
- 1 roasted red pepper diced
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup gruyere grated
- 2-3 Tablespoons fresh basil or 2 tsp dried
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon water
- Parmesan cheese optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat & Prep. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them and set aside.
- Combine Filling. In a large bowl, combine chicken, spinach, red pepepr, cream cheese, gruyere, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss until well combined and cream cheese is completely mixed in.
- Make Egg Wash. In a small bowl, combine an egg wash by beating egg with water.
- Assemble Puffs. Roll out puff pastry on a sheet of parchment paper or a lightly floured surface. Slice each sheet into 4 pieces (for 8 squares total). Divide filling among the 8 squares. For each puff, place filling in the center. Brush the edge of one half with egg wash and fold in half diagonally to form a triangle. Press down the edges with a fork to seal.
- Brush & Garnish. Then brush the top of the puff with egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of fresh parmesan, if using. Make 2-3 small slits in the top to allow steam to escape during baking.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden.
Notes
- To re-heat frozen puffs: place on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake at 400 degrees 15-18 minutes or till heated through.
- Red Pepper. You can use either a jarred or freshly roasted red pepper. To make a freshly roasted one, place a red pepper on a baking sheet and place under the broiler until blackened on all sides, rotating every couple of minutes. When blackened, place pepper in a paper or plastic bag to steam about 5 minutes. Peel off charred skin, discard seeds and stem, and slice or dice as desired.
Nutrition facts are an estimate only and will vary based on brands and amounts used.
Find it Online:
https://www.onelovelylife.com/chicken-florentine-puffs/
I made this but didn’t have Spinach. I used Spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese.
the recipe makes 8 total and I’ll be baking them tomorrow. they smell good and look nice
Hi Emily,
This receipe looks terrific! I am ready to make for the first time and I was wondering if you can make the filling ahead of time and then prepare with pastry and bake later in the day ??
Sue, you can absolutely mix up the filling and keep it chilled in the fridge for the day. Then, just finish assembling them in the pastry right before baking 🙂
Do you have a salad that pairs well with this?
Yes–lots! Some of my favorites…
This Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
This Strawberry Spinach Salad (I skip the chicken if I’m serving it as a side)
This Honey Lime Fruit Salad is always a hit
or This Italian Chopped Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette (you can add whatever goodies you like when serving it as a side) 🙂
Hope that helps!
I made this recipe. With a slight twist. Lol only because my family is huge. Instead of the squares I just made 2 huge braided rolls. Hmmmm this was just perfect!. I’m gaining the strength to make smaller pop sized puffs. Crossing fingers!
What a great idea! Perfect for a crowd!
Making these for Mother’s Day dinner tonight, I think they will be perfect! Thanks!
I’ve been looking so hard for a delicious but easy recipe for those type of puff pastries, and I’m so excited I found this one. It looks so good, I’m going to try them with spinach n cheese. I think they’ll come out amazing! ?
I’m making these for supper tonight. Can’t wait to taste! Yum. They will be awesome!
Where do you find puff pastry?
Meredith- I’ve always found it in the freezer section.
Can I prep these ahead of time & freeze them? How long do I thaw them out and/or should I bake them longer? Thank you
Sharon – you sure can! I’d bake them first, then freeze them. To re-heat frozen puffs, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake at 400 degrees 15-18 minutes or till heated through.
Hi Emily, thank you so much for this great recipe. Making these tomorrow for a date 🙂 What do you recommend as a side dish?
Brandon – we serve ours with salad and fruit. Simple, maybe boring, but it has been just about perfect. If you want, you could try some roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash instead of fruit. Good luck on your date!
Your PDF has the wrong oven temp. It says 300 degrees and the blog says 400 degrees.
Janet – thanks! I’ll fix it 🙂
I have these in the oven right now. But I’m thinking the temperature in your recipie is wrong – 300 degrees? My puffs have been in the oven for 30 minutes and are still raw looking.
I’ve cranked up the heat to 400 degrees to try to brown them.
I’m making these tomorrow for dinner! How much should I roll out the puff pastry?
Rachael- You can roll it as thin as you like. I just roll it out enough to smooth out the creases, so not much. Just enough to smooth it out. Hope that helps! Best of luck!
Emily! I usually don’t leave “after I’ve made this recipe” comments, but these were a HUGE hit! Everyone loved them at the shower and my toddler and husband have been devouring the leftovers cold, right out of the fridge. This is a new staple in our house. Thank you!
I am planning on making these for a baby shower. They sound amazing! I’m wondering if you have a cheese suggestion to sub the gruyere? It’s just so expensive and I’m planning on tripling the recipe. Thank you in advance!
Jessica – no worries! You can use 1/3 the amount listed and use fresh parmesan, or you can use the full amount of Swiss or mozzarella.
Ok Emily, you have such AMAZING recipes, beautiful too. Pretty please with cherries on top, will you come see me for Foodie Friday sometime!?!?! (It’s a blog hop I am co hosting with 3 other bloggers each and every Friday.) Bonus, each recipe gets linked to all 4 sites. I would LOVE it if you could come by and share! Double bonus, your amazing blog gets extra traffic. 🙂 No pressure! I still love ya no matter what….HUGS~ T
Oh my gosh, I’m so excited to eat these. They look delicious!
My mouth is watering…