Chicken bouchees are bite sized appetizers that are always a favorite at parties! Very easy to make, delectable, and impressive!
Bite sized choux pastry puffs, filled with a creamy, cheesy chicken filling – the perfect party appetizer!
I grew up calling these chicken bouchees, some call them chicken puffs. Either way, these bad boys should come with a warning label. These are always a hit at parties, and you’d be surprised at how many of these you could put away without breaking a sweat.
These are DELICIOUS and very easy to make. I love these as an appetizer, and even more as a treat yo self snack for whenever. A savory choux pastry is not just a delectable idea, but also a unique idea.
Components for chicken bouchees pastries
- Choux pastry puffs
- Cream cheese chicken filling
Choux pastry
Choux pastry is not difficult to make.
It’s one of those things I can make with my eyes closed, and I have a comprehensive recipe and troubleshooting guide for making perfect choux pastry, which you can find right here!
The choux pastry puffs need to be small for this recipe. Chicken bouchees are meant to be eaten in one or two bites, so you don’t want to make them too big.
Tips for making perfect choux pastries
Getting the right consistency for the dough is the most important step. Adding too much egg can lead to flat, sad choux pastries. Too little eggs can lead to heavy, dense pastries.
The pastries puff up as they bake, so pipe smaller dough mounds and provide enough space for them to puff up.
Bake them for the correct amount of time. If you remove the choux puffs earlier than needed, they will deflate. So let them bake till they turn a beautiful golden brown in color first. Then quickly poke holes in each of the puffs and bake further until they start to darken a little.
To get smooth choux puffs (not poop emoji like puffs), make sure the tip of your pastry bag is always just under the surface of the dough when you pipe. And remember to slowly draw the piping tip up as you pipe to get rounded pastry mounds. These tips will give you beautiful, round pastry cases.
Since these will be used for a savory choux pastry recipe, I sprinkle the tops with maldon sea flakes. This adds a little salty crunch to each puff.
For all the detailed tips and tricks on how to make perfect choux pastry, check out my post here.
Cream cheese chicken filling for the bouchees
This cream cheese and chicken filling is super flavorful. The cream cheese not only adds a wonderful creaminess, but a little tang too.
You could also just make a creamy chicken pot pie filling, or even a chicken salad filling with mayonnaise instead. However, this filling is pipeable, and has a cheesy creaminess that makes these chicken bouchees irresistible.
For this filling, you can use any kind of chicken you like. So it’s quite flexible.
- Poach some chicken with your favorite aromatics,
- Pan fry boneless chicken pieces,
- Or for the easiest option – buy a rotisserie chicken and use that meat instead.
I prefer to use chicken breast because it breaks down easier with the cream cheese. But you can use the dark meat too, just make sure to chop it a little more finely.
Secret ingredient for the filling
Caramelized onion!
Yes, it’s an extra step that requires you to slowly cook down the onions until caramelized. But boy, does it add a ton of flavor! Use chopped onions which will caramelize a little faster, than if you were to use larger pieces of onion.
If you wanted to skip this step however, I recommend using shallots instead of raw onions for the filling. Shallots have a sweeter flavor that won’t overwhelm the chicken flavor.
Assembling chicken bouchees
The chicken bouchees that I’ve had in the past were always choux puffs that had the chicken filling piped in. So you can’t really see the filling from the outside.
But to make these look prettier and festive, I decided to slice each puff in half and fill the cases with a swirl of chicken filling (using a piping tip), and then re-place the sliced half on top.
But feel free to fill the choux pastry puffs however you like.
Make ahead tips
You can make the chicken filling about 2 days ahead of time.
The choux pastry puffs can also be made the day before, but they will need to be stored in an air-tight container. Remember, choux pastry doesn’t remain crisp for long, so it’s normal for them to get soft quickly. And even more quickly, once filled.
However, you can “freshen up” your unfilled choux pastry puffs in the oven. Just warm them up slightly and they are good to go.
Chicken bouchees should only be filled before serving. At most, 1 or 2 hours before serving.
Final notes
I’m always thrilled to see this appetizer whenever I see them at a dinner party or birthday party. These are the perfect little appetizers for gatherings. Bite-sized, creamy, cheesy, delicious, and most importantly, easy and impressive.
Once you’ve popped one in your mouth, it’s easy to lose count quickly!
I hope you guys love these chicken puffs just as much as we do! 🙂
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Chicken Bouchees Recipe
Ingredients:
Choux pastry
To cook the chicken
- 340 g chicken breast 1 large or 2 medium/small
- Salt
- Pepper
- Thyme
- Water
For the filling
- ½ of a large onion chopped (or 2 shallots, chopped)
- Cooked chicken cut into cubes
- 226 g cream cheese softened
- 80 g sour cream ⅓ cup
- 3 tbsp chives finely chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Choux pastry
- Make the choux pastry by following this recipe.
- Place the dough in an uncut pastry bag, then seal it well and let it rest until you’re ready to pipe the choux pastry. It can also be stored overnight, as long as the dough is not exposed to air.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (conventional oven).
- Pipe 1.5 inch wide, and 1 inch tall pastry mounds. Flatten the tips with a slightly moistened fingertip.
- Sprinkle the top with maldon sea salt flakes (optional). Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown in color (30 – 40 minutes depending on the oven and size of the pastry mounds).
- When the choux pastry is golden brown, open the oven door and quickly prick each case with a toothpick to let out any excess air. Let the pastries bake in the oven for a further 5 minutes until they are slightly darker in color.
- Remove the cases from the oven, then prick them again on the opposite side, and let them cool completely.
Chicken filling
Chicken
- Place the chicken in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Add a generous amount of salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Place the lid on the saucepan (keep it slightly ajar), and heat over medium / medium high heat until the water comes to a simmer. This will poach the chicken. Cook until the chicken is cooked through, or registers 165°F in the middle.
- Remove from the heat and place the chicken pieces on a plate. Cover and let the chicken cool down to room temperature.
- Chop the chicken into small cubes and set aside until needed.
Caramelized onion
- This step is optional. You can use chopped shallots if you don’t want to caramelize onions. You can also saute the onions and only use half the amount instead.
- Preheat a non stick pan over medium heat. Drizzle about 1 – 2 tbsp of oil (any type of cooking oil).
- Once the oil is preheated, add the chopped onion into the pan.
- Cook the onion, while constantly stirring over medium heat until they start to soften, and then change color. Keep cooking until they turn golden brown in color, and have shrunk in size as well. This should happen quickly since the onion was chopped. Don’t walk away from the stove when the onion starts to color, as it can burn very quickly.
- Place the caramelized onion in a small bowl and set aside until needed.
Chicken filling
- Place the cream cheese and sour cream in a large bowl. Whisk or mix until the cream cheese is whipped, soft, creamy, and smooth.
- Add the caramelized onion, chives, and chicken. Mix until everything is well mixed. Season with salt and pepper.
- Scrape the chicken filling into a piping bag with a ½ inch tip attached (round, star, or french tip).
- Place the filling in the fridge until you’re ready to fill the choux pastry cases.
Assembly
- Slice the tops off of the choux pastry cases. If there is an excess of “webbings” inside the cases, remove it with a fingertip.
- Fill the bottom part of the choux pastry cases with chicken filling. Then replace the cut half on top.
- Alternatively, you can make a hole on the bottom of the pastry cases and fill the pastries from the bottom as well.
- Serve immediately.
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