St. Patrick's Day Appetizer

Paddy Pockets - Filled shamrock hand pies! These easy, festive St. Patrick's Day appetizers will outshine the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! Shamrock-shaped "hot pockets" stuffed with your favorite fillings are a perfect addition to your March menus.

My current life phase is one of conflicting desires; I’ve never lost the urge to entertain or celebrate all occasions, but I can most certainly do without the extensive prep work and cleanup required for larger gatherings. {Especially because I get to cleanup enough dinosaur toys and monster trucks on the daily without adding to the task list.}

Ever since we moved into our house, entertaining has become somewhat easier once again with more space and storage, so we’ve started to host small gatherings more often. The key to hosting more get-togethers on the fly is having a stockpile of festive supplies and a pantry & freezer full of ingredients that can easily become party snacks without a ton of work.

Appetizers and finger foods are my favorite things to make when I’m having friends and family over and don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen. Elaborate cheese boards, 5 ingredient crowd pleasers and even high quality frozen hors d’oeuvres can make last minute gatherings seem thoughtfully planned and well-executed.

This year, St. Patrick’s Day falls on a weekend, so there’s even more reason to dress in your emerald best and invite the crew over for some Irish-inspired celebrating.

These “Paddy Pockets” are a perfect example of the types of party foods that I love to serve for casual occasions. Made with just a handful of ingredients {most of which I almost always have on hand at any given point in time}, these St. Patrick’s Day appetizers will become a fan favorite.

Store bought pie dough {or puff pastry, pizza dough or even crescent roll dough if you wish} shaves off prep time and helps you get started on creating these delicious bites that go with the theme. Simply bust out the St. Patrick’s Day cookie cutters {check your local craft store or baking supply store, or plan ahead and buy online} and crank out some shamrock-shaped dough pieces that will house your preferred fillings.

I filled mine with a spinach and Fontina cheese mixture to make sure I got a bit of green in the mix {no pinching!}, but you can also stuff these shamrocks with other mouthwatering combinations influenced by the Emerald Isle!

Filling Options for Paddy Pockets

• Colcannon -- a mixture of mashed potatoes and cabbage or kale
• “Bangers & Mash” -- mashed potatoes with cooked pork sausage
• Corned Beef & Cabbage -- use up St. Patrick’s Day leftovers and turn them into a filling for these hand pies!
• Cashel Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onions & Apple Jam

Once your Paddy Pockets are filled, the edges are lightly pressed to seal in the cheesy, spinachy goodness, and they’re baked to golden perfection. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination and appetite, so don’t hold back! 

{As a side note, this filling makes an amazing quick spinach dip to serve with chips, pita chips, veggies or sliced baguette. SO GOOD. I may or may not dipped some raw broccoli florets in the extra filling for lunch.}

Put out some St. Paddy’s party plates & napkins and serve up these tasty appetizers with a pint of Guinness for entertaining on the fly!

“Paddy Pockets” – Filled Shamrock Hand Pies!

The Kitchen Prep

Paddy Pockets – Filled shamrock hand pies! These easy, festive St. Patrick’s Day appetizers will outshine the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! Shamrock-shaped “hot pockets” stuffed with your favorite fillings are a perfect addition to your March menus.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 9 Paddy Pockets

Ingredients

  

• 1 package frozen pie crusts * thawed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ cup onion finely chopped
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• ½ cup cheese shredded{I used Fontina but Irish cheddar would work well here, too}
• 1 pinch Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prepare a baking pan by lining with parchment paper.
• While the oven preheats, make the filling: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until tender and just translucent, about 5-7 minutes. {Add a tablespoon or two of water if pan gets dry.} Stir in the cream cheese, breaking up with a spoon until it begins to melt, then add the frozen spinach and mix until the mixture is combined. Add the shredded cheese and stir until fully melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then set aside to cool slightly.
• Roll out your pie crusts to smooth them out. Using a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter, carefully cut out as many shamrock shapes as possible from both crusts, and place them on the lined baking pan as you go. {I was able to get 9 from each pie crust, but it may vary depending on the size of your crusts and cutter.}

Assemble Paddy Pockets:

• Scoop about a tablespoon of the cooled filling in the center of half of the shamrock shapes. Use the remaining shamrock shapes to top each of the filled ones, and press down lightly around the edges to adhere. {Note: You may have extra filling left over. It's delicious as a dip!} If you're worried about the pockets leaking, you can moisten your finger with a bit of water and run it along the edge of each shamrock shape before covering with the second piece of dough to act as "glue." I didn't do this and mine hardly leaked.
• Space the Paddy Pockets out evenly on the baking pan and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the tops are set.
• Remove from oven and cool slightly before moving and serving.

Notes

*I used Trader Joe's frozen pie crusts that come in a 22 ounce package. I thawed them out, then rolled them out slightly to smooth them before cutting out shapes with a cookie cutter.

*The filling recipe was adapted from Food Network.