Vegetable Strudel in Puff Pastry
This vegetable strudel wraps a savory filling of sweet potatoes, onion, peppers, apple, spinach & goat cheese in a flaky puff pastry. It’s a wonderful make-ahead main or side dish for a special occasion. And easy a store-bought puff pastry.
Play around with the vegetables and flavors to suit your tastes.
I’ve been imagining some sort of vegetarian puff pastry recipe for some time now. I saw something similar and scoured my magazines for weeks trying to find what I think I saw. No luck.
So I decided to forge ahead with a strudel recipe, combining flavors and textures I like and, of course, making it as simple as possible with a nice presentation. My testers gave it two thumbs up. Blog worthy they both said.
It’s all a matter of taste of course so feel free to balance the ratios you prefer or even use different vegetables. The goat cheese gives the dish some tang and creaminess and it also serves to hold things together nicely. I love the apple in the vegetable strudel combination which adds some sweetness.
Serve the savory strudel with a nice creamy tomato soup or a simple fig salad with pomegranates.
If you love sweet potatoes and a similar combination of veggies, try our popular Vegetarian Sweet Potato Hash as a quicker alternative.
Tailor To Your Taste
- Use alternative vegetables or leave out the ones you don’t like. Just try to keep the approximate total quantity the same. If you use veggies with high water content like zucchini and mushrooms, make sure you cook off the water before making the strudel to avoid sogginess.
- Use different seasonings like rosemary or sage instead of thyme. Or add cumin if you like.
- Try other cheeses like Gruyere or Fontina. If you leave the cheese out, be sure to saute out the liquid so the filling still holds together.
- Instead of one big log, make individual portions with the puff pastry.
- Use the filling to make knishes. See our Super Easy Potato Knishes recipe.
Shortcuts
- The strudel recipe calls for a store-bought puff pastry. I use the kind that already comes in rolled sheets (two per box) which eliminates any rolling of the dough. You will just need one sheet. It’s so easy and works perfectly every time.
- Use a food processor to chop the vegetables. I do this all the time. And don’t worry about exact measurements.
- If you don’t want to bother with a processor, microwave the sweet potato for about 4 minutes, then peel and dice it finely. Easier to cut and sautéing will take less time.
Make Ahead Strudel Recipe
- Instructions for 3 options are in the recipe notes – make ahead the same day, make ahead the next day or freeze the unbaked vegetarian strudel and bake it when needed.
Vegetable Strudel in Puff Pastry
This vegetable strudel wraps a savory filling of sweet potatoes, onion, peppers, apple, spinach & goat cheese in a flaky puff pastry. It's a wonderful make-ahead main or side dish for a special occasion. And easy a store-bought puff pastry.
Servings: 8 slices
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large sweet potato (about 3/4 lb), peeled
- 1 onion (about 1 1/2 cups chopped)
- 1 red pepper, cored, seeded
- 1 large apple diced small
- 2 teaspoon garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 110 gram goat cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon thyme, rosemary or sage (or a combination)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
Puff Pastry Wrapping
- 1 frozen puff pastry sheet , defrosted (usually comes two pre-rolled 10 x 10 sheets per box)
- Egg wash: mix one egg with a tablespoon water.
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400F/204C.
- PREPARE AND SAUTE VEGETABLES/FRUIT: Dice onions, sweet potatoes and peppers finely (1/4-1/2 inch). Shortcuts: Chop vegetables in food processor in 2-3 batches. For easier peeling and dicing sweet potato, microwave it first (pierced with knife) for 4 minutes, peel and dice. If you do this, saute other veggies first, then add sweet potato as it will take less time. Heat oil in large skillet to medium high. Add onions, peppers and sweet potatoes. Saute for for 6-9 minutes until sweet potatoes are almost soft. Add apples, garlic and seasonings. Saute another 2-3 minutes until potatoes are soft (not mushy). Mix in spinach until wilted, one minute. Turn off heat. Mix in crumbled goat cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings. Set aside.
- MAKE STRUDEL: Unfold puff pastry sheet onto flat lightly floured surface. (If puff pastry is not pre-rolled, roll it on floured surface to approximately 12 x 10 inch rectangle.) Spoon vegetable mixture into center, leaving enough room to fold dough over like an envelope. Wrap vegetable mixture by overlapping dough from sides and ends. Pinch dough together to secure.
- BAKE: Place strudel seam side down on pan lined with parchment paper. Use pastry brush to brush egg wash on top and sides. Make 8 evenly spaced small horizontal slits to allow steam to escape. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before slicing.
- SERVE: Slice strudel into 8-9 pieces and serve as a side dish or as a main dish with soup or salad. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream if desired.
Recipe Notes
Variations
- Use alternative vegetables or leave out the ones you don't like. Just try to keep the approximate total quantity the same. If you use veggies with high water content like zucchini and mushrooms, make sure you cook off the water before making the strudel to avoid sogginess.
- Use different seasonings like rosemary or sage instead of thyme. Or add cumin if you like.
- Try other cheeses like Gruyere or Fontina. If you leave the cheese out, be sure to sauté out the liquid so the filling still holds together.
- Instead of one big log, make individual portions with the puff pastry.
- Use the filling to make knishes. See our Super Easy Potato Knishes recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 261kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 364mg | Potassium: 218mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 4115IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 2mg
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The vegetable strudel recipe, first published in 2017, has been updated with new tips and pictures.
For other sweet potato recipes, try:
Vegetarian Sweet Potato Hash
This quick Vegetarian Sweet Potato Hash recipe with onions, garlic, peppers and smoked paprika is a delicious side, main, breakfast item or filling.
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Oven Roasted Vegetable Recipe
This oven roasted vegetables recipe is simple comfort food. Sweet potatoes, peppers, eggplant, apples and rosemary create a delicious side dish. Not to mention healthy and colorful. And never mind that an apple is not a vegetable. It works perfectly.
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Easy Hasselback Sweet Potatoes (15 min)
Showcase these unique hasselback sweet potatoes in the star supporting role at your next BBQ or gathering. Choose one of four delicious seasoning combinations to take them to the next level.
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Could you please explain how you folded puff pastry – didn’t quite understand. Thank you – recipe sounds awesome.
Hi Gwen. No problem. You will have the puff pastry sheet on a floured cutting board with the vegetable filling on top, leaving enough dough free on all sides to wrap it up. First, fold the two short sides inward onto the filling. Then fold the two long ends inward toward the middle and pinch them together to cover the filling. You are folding the dough over like an envelope. Make sure everything is pinched and secured so the filling doesn’t leak out when baking. Transfer the strudel, seam side down, to a parchment lined baking sheet. I hope that helps!
You had me at goat cheese and sweet potatoes! So yum!
Funny?. Glad you enjoyed it!
I made this last year for a vegetarian guest at Xmas and I’ll be making it again this year just because I loved it so much! I followed your recipe exactly and won’t be making any changes this year either. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe.
Lovely to hear Haley. Thank you.
Loved this! Flavors were great and the puff pastry made assembly relatively simple. Made per recipe with the exception of swapping fontina for the goat cheese. Top crust was perfectly golden and tasty. I did have a problem with the filling binding. Also bottom of strudel was a bit soggy and as a result tasted under done. I’m sure these issues were pilot error and I will definitely be making this again.
Any tips on how to overcome the issues I had?
Thanks!
Hi Shelley, Glad you like the strudel! The soggy bottom crust could have be caused by the veggies having too much moisture. To fix that you could sauté them a little longer to evaporate the moisture or sprinkle a little cornstarch or flour on the bottom of the puff pastry before adding the filling. This will help to absorb excess moisture. Another option is to cook the strudel a little longer. I hope that helps.
What kind of apple would you use in the vegetable strudel recipe?
Hi Kim, any apple that will hold their shape when cooking is good. Examples are Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith. I hope that helps.
I love making strudel with puff pastry. My favourite combos these days are cabbage, mushroom, onions, garlic, caraway, dill and Parmesan . Even lower calorie!
That sounds like a delicious combination. I love when people experiment with their own veggies and flavors. Thanks for sharing Allie.
I made a ‘ratatouille’ version of this strudel as a vegetarian main for Rosh Hashanah and it was a huge hit! Instead of the listed filling ingredients, I used 1/2 an eggplant, 1 zucchini, 1 red pepper, 1/2 red onion, a few cremini mushrooms, all in 1/2 inch cubes, tossed with olive oil, fresh thyme, basil and parsley. I roasted it at 400 degrees for about 30-40 mins. After letting it cool a bit, I added a tablespoon each of tomato paste, pesto and panko breadcrumbs to ensure it didn’t come out soggy. I then added about 2-3 oz cubed cream cheese (some family members don’t like goat cheese!), parmesan and shredded fontina. I wrapped it in the puff pastry and baked as per instructions above. So good!! Will definitely make it again, and also try the ‘original version’.
That sounds amazing Silvia! I need to try that. Thanks for inspiring our readers. And me 🙂
Love this combination of veggies and cheese. And puff pastry makes everything better.
Agree about the puff pastry. And although I’m not a big fan of goat cheese, I find it works really well in this recipe, adding tang and creaminess. Thanks for leaving a comment Silvia.
I love making savory strudels. Thank you for a new recipe to try! It’s such an easy, versatile, dish for us vegetarians (and non-vegetarians) alike. I have a garlic salt/black pepper/white pepper blend I added to the recipe as well. It’s in the oven now!
Hi Diane. Thanks for leaving a comment. Let us know how it turned out and if you used any variations that worked well for you.