It’s been a nice quiet holiday season, but things are starting to ramp up again. As we get busier, though, we don’t want to lose our focus on getting outside, because it is still one of the most important aspects of our lives.
Our trips may be transitioning from extended camping trips to shorter, more spontaneous day trips, but including healthy and satisfying meals is still an essential. Wes and I recently became certified foster parents, and we’re excited to include kids in our near-future adventures. We don’t have any kids in the house yet, so we are using this time to do any last minute preparations we can think of. This includes figuring out how to streamline our normal routines so we can spend more free time playing with kids. It also includes figuring out some easy kid-friendly outdoor recipes.
We’ve started leaning back into the idea of portable foods wrapped in baked bready things. Most of our recent trips have included standard pigs in a blanket (hot dogs and cheddar cheese rolled in crescent rolls from the can). I highly recommend these, but if you swap crescent rolls for frozen puff pastry and hot dogs for buffalo chicken, you up your fancy game significantly.
The toughest part of this recipe is remembering to thaw your puff pastry in time to bake it (I prefer to stick it in the fridge the night before if I think of it), and deciding on your favorite shape to form it into. As you can see, I’m not great at picking a favorite shape (they’re all so fun!).
Everyone will love this recipe and it tastes just fine out of a cooler or even at room temperature. Feel free to swap the chicken with veggie chicken strips or baked marinated tofu to make it vegetarian and less perishable.
Buffalo Chicken Turnovers
Yield
8 turnoversPrep Time / Cook Time
/Activity Guide
Day Trip, PicnicIngredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/3 cup Franks Red Hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 sheets puff pastry
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Tools
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Large bowl
- Rolling pin
- Skillet
- Spoon
- Stove
- Sheet pan
- Oven
- Small pot
- Sauce brush
Method
- Saute the chicken in half of the oil over medium-high heat until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Add the remaining oil to the same pan and saute the onion and bell pepper until softened, about 5 more minutes. Add salt and pepper. Then add the mixture to the chicken and stir to combine.
- Meanwhile, add the hot sauce and butter to a small pot and heat on low until the butter has melted, about 2 minutes. This can also be done in a small bowl in the microwave. In this case, you will only need to heat the mixture for about 20 seconds. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- On a cutting board, open up one sheet of your puff pastry. Leave the other one in the fridge until you are ready for it. If you have something to roll it with (rolling pin, water or wine bottle), roll it out a bit.
- Cut the sheet into 4 equal-sized squares.
- Brush or spoon about 1 tablespoon of sauce onto each square, leaving about an inch around all sides sauceless.
- Scoop about 1/4 cup of the chicken and vegetable mixture onto the center of each square. Spoon a little more sauce on top if you like.
- Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of cheese on each pile of chicken and vegetable mixture.
- Fold your puff pastry in your preferred shape (I always have a difficult time deciding my favorite and make multiple, but a simple triangle turnover shape is best for even cooking and keeping all the filling inside rather than all over the forest). If you want to play with other options, here is a fun video tutorial.
- Repeat process with the second sheet of puff pastry.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden brown. Cool and pack for your trip, along with some fresh celery sticks and blue cheese.
