Spinach, Artichoke and Chicken Hand Pies

Have you ever found yourself noshing on a bowl of warm, cheesy spinach and artichoke dip, and wondered “Can I just eat this for dinner?” We’ve all been there. Spinach Artichoke dip is America’s #1 favorite dip for a reason: it’s delicious!

So to turn this dip into a meal, we did two things. We added some shredded chicken, to make it a little more filling. We also turned the spinach and artichoke dip into the heart of crisp, buttery, puff pastry hand pies.

check out the video for this recipe

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what even is a hand pie?

Any savory pastry you can eat out of the hand would fit the bill. Many cultures have their own version of the hand pie. In England, it’s called a pasty or cold pork pie. In Latin America, it’s an empanada. All of these use thick shortcrust pastry, creating a sturdy shell you can carry around in your pocket if you so wish. In the US, we have the turnover, which is most often sweet, but also available as a savory counterpart. Turnovers do use puff pastry, like our version, but they’re typically made by folding a single piece of dough into a triangle.

So to keep things general, as well as please geometry enthusiasts, we decided to call our pastries “hand pies”. You can eat them straight from the oven, but they’ll be just as good packed in a lunchbox or taken to a picnic.

first, make the very best spinach artichoke dip

The perfect warm Spinach Artichoke Dip has a balance of textures and flavors that makes it pleasing to almost all palates. We’ve tasted versions that were almost all cheese, with just a sparse scattering of vegetables, and conversely, versions that were so restrained, they might as well be a hot salad.

Our version is creamy and cheesy, but is still vegetable forward. It has layers of flavor from garlic, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. We also like a mix of cheeses: added gruyère (or sharp cheddar) for nuttiness, and mozzarella for that cheese-pull gooeyness.

The base of the dip is the classic warm dip trifecta, cream cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream. You could probably substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream, but I wouldn’t use 0% or even 2% fat, because it will likely split and turn grainy and watery.

You can make the Spinach Artichoke Dip up to two days ahead of time. Just keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to turn them into spinach and artichoke pies.

This is the easiest dip in the world to throw together, but here are a few tips to make it even easier.

• Leave the cream cheese out overnight so it softens to room temperature. It will make it much easier to mix with the other ingredients.
• Frozen spinach is a great time (and money) saver, but try to find “cut leaf” spinach if you can find it. It has the best flavor and texture.
• Once you thaw the spinach, squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
• Also (gently) squeeze the excess liquid out of the artichokes and give them a rough chop.
• We mix the cheeses and flavoring together first, so the spinach, artichokes and chicken don’t get broken up too much.

Now let’s turn that dip into spinach and artichoke pies.

Frozen puff pastry is your secret weapon

Unless you’re competing on the Great British Bake Off, there’s no reason to make your own puff pastry. Actually, I’m going to walk that back. It’s super fun to take on a project like making your own laminated dough. We love doing crazy, time consuming projects like that, but it is crazy and time consuming. I’m sure it tastes amazing and is super satisfying but for most occasions, but we’d rather reach into the freezer and instantly have perfect dough.

One note though, it’s so worth it to find a good quality puff pastry dough. We love Dufour which is made with all butter, but it’s pricy and might be challenging to source in some areas. We most often use Pepperidge Farm, which isn’t all butter, but is still pretty good. Trader Joes is supposed to be great, but we don’t have one near us so we’ve never tried it.

Full disclosure: we used a cheap store brand for these so they didn’t puff as much as they would with a better product. Live and learn.

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The Process

Thaw the puff pastry in the refrigerator overnight. Generously flour a work surface, lay one of the 10″ X 15″ sheets down and lightly roll it out to about 12” x 17”.  Cut the long side into thirds and the short side in half to make six equal rectangles. 

Mound about 3/4 cup filling on 3 of the rectangles, leaving about an inch clean on all sides. Brush a little egg wash around the edges and lay the other 3 on top. Crimp the edges with a fork to make sure the pies are well sealed. Repeat with the rest of the dough until you have 8 pies (or make 6 very filled pies).

At this stage we like to place them on the parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate them for at least 20 minutes to re-chill the dough. You could also wrap the trays in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for up to a day. The colder the dough, the greater the puff. If it’s warm in your kitchen, you can pop it back in the refrigerator any time it starts to feel too soft and sticky.

When they’re chilled, take them out and cut a few slits in each pie to allow the steam to escape. Brush the tops and edges of the pies with egg wash, which helps them turn deep golden brown and glossy.  We like to sprinkle on some sesame seeds, though you could use any topping you like, or none at all. 

Note that this amount of filling will make 8 nicely filled pies, but it does mean using 2 boxes of pastry (with some left over. Our favorite way to use up extra dough is to cut strips and roll them cinnamon sugar and bake until crisp. Instant dessert!) You could use the entire filling in 6 pies but they will be more stuffed. If you’re wondering, yes, you can half the size of each pie and double them up to make 12 party-sized mini spinach and artichoke pies.

Let the dip be your inspiration and the world be your oyster. Or, in this case, pie.