Parmesan Popovers with Chives
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My savory popovers are seasoned with cheese, freshly ground black pepper and fresh chives — they’re fun to make and so delicious served warm and puffy.
The recipe for these Parmesan popovers came about when I wanted something freshly baked to serve instead of muffins or quick bread, and I wanted it to be quick. I went with popovers because they’re easy to make at the last minute, they can be seasoned in endless ways, and they’re big on the “wow” factor.
I tweaked a basic popover recipe, which typically have a sweeter profile, with the addition of sugar. Instead, I went for a savory route and mixed in grated Parmesan cheese, black pepper and fresh chives to the popover batter.
My recipe turned out to be a community winner on Food52, and I’m happy to share the original with you!
These popovers rise impressively, and when you pull them apart fresh out of the oven and take a bite, you’ll see that they have a crisp exterior and an airy, almost creamy interior.
Serving Parmesan popovers
- Make a batch to serve with dinner, rather than the usual rolls or bread.
- Put a basket of warm popovers on the table for lunch or brunch, along with a simple salad and soup.
- Chives have a very mild onion flavor (and they happened to be in full bloom in my garden when I created this recipe), but any fresh aromatic herb would be great to use in this recipe. Think thyme, tarragon or basil.
Puffy Parmesan Popovers with Chives
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (350 ml) whole milk
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) butter, melted
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup (35 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 (230 C) degrees for at least 25 minutes. Lightly coat a 6-cup popover pan with oil or cooking spray.
- Whisk together the milk, eggs and butter in a large bowl until blended. Add the flour, salt, black pepper, Parmesan, chives and lemon zest and mix well.
- Place the empty pan in the oven to heat for 7 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and fill the cups evenly with the batter (this is less messy if you transfer batter to a 4-cup liquid measuring cup).
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350 (175C) degrees. Continue baking until the popovers are deep golden brown, 15-18 more minutes.
- Cool for 3 minutes in the pan before removing to a rack. Serve warm.
Notes
- A popover pan is ideal, if you have one. The cups are narrower and taller than traditional muffins, which helps the batter to rise higher. However, a regular muffin tin (preferably nonstick) with 12 cups works just fine, too. The recipe will fill 10 of the cups — pour hot water into the empty cups so the popovers bake evenly.
- Make ahead: The batter may be prepared and kept refrigerated up to 1 day in advance. About an hour before baking, take the batter out of the fridge to bring to room temperature. Stir it well in case it has separated.
- Reheat cooled popovers in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. They won’t be as puffy, but still taste great!
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
There is no mention of the flour in the instructions. I assume it’s mixed together with other ingredients, but . . . ?
Hi Mary! Yes, thanks for noticing that was a typo! The flour goes in with the other dry ingredients. I just made the correction.
Can you make the batter the night before and bake off the next day? Thinking about Thanksgiving prep options. Thanks.
Hi Katey – Yes! The batter may be prepared and kept refrigerated up to 1 day in advance. About an hour before baking, take the batter out of the fridge to bring to room temperature. Stir it well in case it has separated, then proceed with baking.
That cross section <3 I gotta try this one!!
Looks delicious :0!! Can’t wait to try
yum!
I love popovers and these look so delicious! Love the chives and pepper with the parmesan.
I just made these last night, and they turned out terrible!! At first they looked great: golden brown and they had risen a lot. Then I took them out to cool and they completely shrank down, and when I opened one, it was very doughy inside!! It wasn’t bread-like, like the photo, or hollow like a popover. Where did I go wrong?
I just started looking around for a variation on popovers and found this recipe. It sounds heavenly with the cheese and black pepper and there’s a pot of chives growing on the kitchen windowsill. My recipe is one from my grandmother who moved west when she was in her early twenties from Massachussetts back in the early twentieth century. I grew up eating them on the weekends and make them for my own family. I also use a regular muffin tin and they puff up like a chef’s hat. Will definitely try this variation.
I love making popovers and this recipe looks amazing. I am going to build an entree around this next week.
These look amazing!
Love your site!
they look beautiful!
Janice – I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you! I have family in Portland, too. I feel so lucky…hope to see you in Austin next year.
Maria, you don’t need to buy a special pan since a regular muffin tin will work, but I will say that you get a much higher rise with the popover pan. So much fun and a great excuse for another kitchen toy.
Tayla, I’m so happy to hear from you, and that your popovers were a success. Yay! I bet they were delicious with the Asiago cheese, too.
Thanks, Laura. I think you would like to eat one, no?
Yum! Just made these. I used asiago and extra chives, and only have a mini muffin pan at the moment. Turned out GREAT! Mine weren’t dense at all, had a lovely, hollow center.
Thanks for the great recipe!
I have never made popovers, I think it is time I go shopping and buy a pan so I can make your recipe.