Savory Hand Pies

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

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.

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 savory hand pies will become a favorite appetizer for St. Patrick’s Day appetizer and beyond!

Looking for more recipes for St. Patrick’s Day? Try my Irish Cheddar Bread, Cabbage Hash Brown Skillet or Irish Coffee Chocolate Cakes!

Ingredients

• Frozen pie crusts, thawed
• Olive oil
• Onion
• Cream cheese
• Frozen spinach
• Cheese (Fontina or Irish cheddar)
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add chopped onion and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add a little water if the pan gets dry.

Stir in cream cheese until it begins to melt, then add frozen spinach and mix well. Add shredded cheese, salt, and pepper. Set aside to cool slightly.

Roll out your pie crusts and use a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Aim for about 9 from each crust.

Assemble the Hand Pies: Spoon about a tablespoon of the cooled filling onto half of the shamrock shapes. Top with the remaining shapes, pressing lightly around the edges to seal.

Space the hand pies evenly on the baking pan and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Recipe FAQ’s

Variations & Substitutions

Try these other filling options for these savory hand pies!

• 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

Savory Hand Pies

Savory 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.

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Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings 9 hand pies

Author Dianna Muscari

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°F . Prepare a baking pan by lining with parchment paper.

Make 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.

Cut Out Pie Crusts

• 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 Hand Pies

• 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 hand pies 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.

Dianna’s Tips

*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.