Puff pastry seems to be one of those forgotten frozen shortcuts. Most people use it during the holiday time and forget about it for the rest of the year. Canned biscuit dough is everyone’s go-to hack, but puff pastry is just as easy and maybe even more delicious. You can defrost the puff pastry the night before in the fridge, but if you’re short on time don’t fret — simply let it rest at room temperature for 45 minutes. I use puff pastry all of the time; it makes an ordinary dish look extraordinary without any sweat or tears. Once you start using puff pastry you’ll wonder why you’ve never used it before! Try any of these six genius ways to bake with puff pastry, and you’ll be whipping out an impressive dish in no time. No one has to know about your new secret shortcut.

Sheet Pan Chicken Pot Pie


I love chicken pot pie, but after making the filling I don’t want to roll up my sleeves to make a from-scratch dough. For this Sheet Pan Chicken Pot Pie, puff pastry saves me from making a pie crust. I simply cut long strips of thawed puff pastry, arrange the strips over the filling, brush the pastry with egg wash and viola, no flour-covered kitchen or measuring cups in sight.

Chicken Broccoli Puff Pie


Frozen puff pastry is your key to having a restaurant-worthy savory pie, like this one. Just roll the dough out and it’s ready to go. There’s butter in the pastry, so you won’t have to grease the pan. But like with any pie dough, poke a few holes in the puff pastry to help it keep its shape while baking.

Haitian Beef Patties

Haitian Beef Patties
It doesn’t matter what time of day you have them because these Haitian Beef Patties hit the spot. Beef pairs with fragrant onions and spicy jalapeno for a taste that will take you on a trip without even leaving your home. This recipe comes together in no time, thanks to puff pastry. Simply cut the thawed dough into rectangles, stuff with the filling, and seal it all with an egg wash. You can prep the patties and freeze them, then you have an easy freezer-to-oven-ready snack on hand.

Easy Ground Beef Wellington


Beef Wellington is one of those impressive show-stopping meats that puts everything else on the dinner table to shame. But the cut of the meat is so expensive and making it is so labor-intensive, no wonder why no one makes Beef Wellington. Well, now there’s no excuse. Enter the easiest Beef Wellington and the fanciest meatloaf ever. Here we made the duxelles family-friendly by pureeing the sautéed mushrooms and onions for a smooth agreeable texture. Instead of using a tenderloin, we made a deliciously seasoned meatloaf. All of this gets encased in store-bought puff pastry. Don’t forget to score the top of the pastry, this scoring makes it easier for steam to escape.

Puff Pastry Fruit Pizza

Puff Pastry Fruit Pizza
Impress people without the stress with this Puff Pastry Fruit Pizza. Again store-bought puff pastry does all of the heavy lifting, just bake and decorate! The hardest thing about this recipe is cutting up the fruit topping.

Blueberry Custard Cheesecake


We’ve used puff pastry as the crust for a savory tart, but what about for dessert? With a flaky and buttery texture, puff pastry is the perfect crust for this Blueberry Custard Cheesecake. This dessert is the best of both worlds. The puff pastry bakes up like the best buttery pie crust and the filling is the most luscious cheesecake I’ve eaten to date.