Spinach Artichoke Tartlets are just in time for your holiday appetizer table. The spinach and artichoke mixture comes together in minutes in your food processor and can be made ahead of time.
Fill store-bought phyllo shells before your party, pop them into the oven for 15 minutes, and you’re ready to go. Did I mention that they are absolutely delicious?
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Ingredients: Here’s What You’ll Need
I used the following ingredients for this simple and delicious appetizer: Thawed frozen chopped spinach, marinated artichoke hearts, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and store-bought Phyllo shells.
I bought the Phyllo shells in the frozen food section of my grocery store – close to the puff pastry.
Here’s How I Made the Spinach Artichoke Filling
- I started by squeezing the liquid out of the spinach. It’s amazing how much liquid actually comes with the spinach!
- Then, I drained the artichoke hearts and cut them into small pieces. In doing so, I removed the tough outer leaves. I figured that if the knife wouldn’t cut through the outer leaves, the teeth would have a hard time! Anyway, that was the extent of the prep.
- Next, I placed the spinach, artichokes, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, and Parmesan cheese in the bowl of my food processor fitted with a steel blade.
- I pulse-processed the ingredients 7 or 8 times until they were well mixed. Because I was going to pipe the spinach artichoke mixture into the Phyllo shells, I ensured that the artichokes were well chopped. Otherwise, they would clog up the piping tip!
The spinach artichoke filling can be made in advance up to this point.
Finishing the Spinach Artichoke Tartlets
- I transferred the spinach artichoke mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1M large star tip.
- I piped the spinach artichoke mixture into the Phyllo shells and placed them onto a baking sheet lined with reusable parchment paper. The reason that I lined the baking sheet was to make the cleanup easier.
- Once all of the phyllo shells had been filled, I sprinkled on some additional Parmesan cheese and paprika. I placed the spinach artichoke tartlets into a preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes.
- I removed the tartlets from the oven and let them cool for about 10 minutes before serving them.
The Spinach Artichoke Tartlets were little bites of heaven! The spinach artichoke mixture was perfectly flavored with the crispy Phyllo shells, an added bonus.
These little morsels are consistently the first to disappear from the appetizer table, and for good reason. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
I know that some people would prefer not to use mayonnaise in a recipe such as this. Therefore, a reasonable substitute is sour cream.
You can make the filling up to a day in advance. Just be sure to cover the filling well before refrigerating.
Sometimes it’s difficult to find phyllo shells. When this is the case, I use Tostitos Scoops instead of the phyllo shells. The Scoops work quite well with this filling.
Tips and Tricks
- When you process the spinach artichoke filling, make sure that the artichoke hearts are finely processed. Otherwise, they could clog the piping tip.
- The spinach artichoke filling makes a delicious dip on its own. I like to serve it cold with tortilla chips or Ritz crackers.
- If you don’t have a piping bag and tip, you can spoon the filling into the phyllo cups. You could also transfer the filling to a Ziploc bag, snip off the corner and use that to pipe the filling.
- These Spinach Artichoke Tartlets are equally good served at room temperature.
Other Holiday Appetizers
If you’re in the market for more holiday appetizers, you’ve come to the right place.
If you liked this recipe for Make Ahead Spinach Artichoke Tartlets, please consider rating it and leaving a comment. I’d love to know how you liked it!
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Recipe
Make Ahead Spinach Artichoke Tartlets
Ingredients
- 10 ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove liquid
- 12 ounce jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (See Note 1)
- 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature (See Note 2)
- ½ cup (4 ounces) mayonnaise
- ¼ cup (2 ounces) sour cream (See Note 3)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup (2 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 30 Phyllo shells (2 packages)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Set aside. (See Note 4)
- Add all ingredients except for Phyllo shells to bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Pulse process 7 or 8 times, or until mixture is well combined and artichoke hearts are finely chopped.
- Transfer mixture to piping bag fitted with large star tip. (See Note 5)
- Pipe mixture into Phyllo shells and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until mixture is thoroughly heated.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 30 Spinach Artichoke Tartlets.
Chula’s Expert Tips
- Inevitably, the outer leaves of the artichoke hearts are tough and inedible. Therefore, they should be removed. Let your knife be your guide in terms of what needs to be removed and discarded, i.e., if the knife struggles to cut through the leaves, they should be discarded.
- I used light cream cheese, but you could use full-fat cream cheese.
- I used light sour cream, but you could use full-fat sour cream.
- The reason that I line the baking sheet with parchment paper is to minimize the cleanup. It’s not necessary in terms of the tartlets sticking.
- I used an Ateco 825 star tip for the piping. If you don’t have piping gear, you could also spoon the filling into the Phyllo cups.
Just curious if these can be made up several days ahead and froze until ready to use??
Melissa, I’ve never frozen these, but have successfully frozen and thawed spinach artichoke dip. Therefore, I suspect that these would be fine frozen until you were ready to use them.
What if I don’t have a food processor? Can a blender be used?
Brenda
I’ve not used a blender to make the spinach artichoke filling, so don’t know whether a blender would work or not. Sorry.
Chula
Do the shells have to be cooked before you put spread in?
No. Once the filling has been added, the shells with the filling are baked.