Cuisine Adventures Puff Pastry Bites Review
Author’s Note: As per always, this is not a paid review. I have no affiliation with Cuisine Adventures or Costco.
Fantastically flakey, flavorful, flawless, and frugal.
This is the fourth Cuisine Adventures brand appetizer I’ve tried. I thought I liked the Mini Quiches best. But I was wrong. These Puff Pastries are my favorite. Hands-down. In fact, these might be the best store-bought appetizers I’ve ever tried.
(If you’d like to know how other appetizers compare, here’s my review of finger foods from Costco.)
Texture
The pastry is absurdly crisp and flakey. It almost dissolved in my mouth. The layers are delicate and “buttery,” but not heavy-tasting. By contrast, the soft filling is creamy-smooth, cheesy, and peppered with tender veggies.
The ratio of filling to puff pastry is ideal. Not so much filling that it oozes or becomes messy. But not so much pastry that it drowns out the flavors.
Flavors
Ahhh, the flavors. If you love savory appetizers, these shall delight. The flavors are rich and full-bodied. There’s a deep cheesiness (they even smell cheesy) from five different cheeses. A surprising kick of heat from the peppers (yes, there are jalapenos). Robust (but not overpowering) notes of roasted garlic, balsamic vinegar, and caramelized onions. Plus a little acidic bite from real lemon juice. And the quiet satisfaction of wholesome spinach and ricotta.
Appearance
They are beautiful. If aesthetics are your jam, these little dudes deliver. The tops each feature a different design — either cut-outs in the puff pastry, or sprinkles of crunchy crumb confetti.
I’m a fan of variety. There are four different appetizer varieties in the box. And yes, each of them has a distinct flavor and appearance. It really feels like four different products. I love this.
Fool-proof prep
I was also impressed by the fool-proof preparation. Trust me, because I am a fool. These pastries go straight from the freezer to the oven. I cooked mine on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, and they came out perfect.
The end result is toasty-browned, but tender inside. None of the filling oozed out, and there was no sticking or burning. I love that they all cook at the same time and temperature. I don’t think you could screw this up. But you can try.
They make a glorious sizzling sound when they come out of the oven, and they smell amazing. Sublime.
Serving the appetizers
The pastries taste best still warm (not hot) from the oven. But they’re still delicious, even when they’ve fully cooled to room temperature. Notably, these are tidy/self-contained morsels. Easy to pick up and eat without a mess.
They’re pretty small, and fairly lightweight. So, not tremendously filling. Some appetizers make a good meal; these don’t. If you want a heartier appetizer, I recommend the Cuisine Adventures Mini Quiches. Those are pretty rib-sticking! Or, for a veggie-filled option, you might prefer the Cuisine Adventures Spanakopita.
I think these puff pastries would be my top pick for a sophisticated dinner party or cocktail event. They’d also be fantastic for a fancy tea party. They look fussier and more expensive than they are!
Packaging
Sadly, the appetizers are packed in four individually sealed trays, sorted by flavor. So if you want to cook a few of each flavor, you’ll have to open every single tray. To freeze the rest, I portioned them into ziplock bags and squeezed all the air out to keep them fresh. My freezer got shenanigans sometimes. I take no chances.
![INGREDIENTS: Dough: Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), modified palm and canola oils shortening, water, egg, salt, yeast. Roasted red pepper and cheddar filling: Cream cheese (milk, cream, nonfat milk, salt, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, bacterial culture), red bell peppers, onion, Cheddar cheese (pasteurized partly skimmed milk, bacterial culture, whey cream, salt, microbial enzyme, calcium chloride), water, tomato paste, roasted red bell pepper concentrate (roasted red bell peppers, sugar, potato flour, salt, dried red bell pepper, natural flavor, corn oil), garlic, modified corn starch, lemon juice concentrate, salt, corn starch, bread crumb (enriched wheat flour [enriched with niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], sugar, yeast, salt), vinegar, modified cellulose, spice. Spinach and Parmesan filling & dough topping: Cream cheese (milk, cream, nonfat milk, salt, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, bacterial culture), spinach, Parmesan cheese (pasteurized milk, bacterial cultures, salt, microbial enzymes, cellulose), light cream (milk, cream, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, carrageenan), egg, water, bread crumb (enriched wheat flour [enriched with niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], sugar, yeast, salt), modified corn starch, canola oil, salt, onion powder, lemon juice concentrate, sugar, corn starch, garlic powder, modified cellulose, parsley, spice. Artichoke , jalapeno and cheese filling: Cream cheese (milk, cream, nonfat milk, salt, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, bacterial culture), onion, artichokes (artichoke pieces, water, salt, citric acid), Monterey Jack cheese (pasteurized partly skimmed milk, bacterial culture, whey cream, salt, microbial enzyme, calcium chloride), jalapeño pepper (jalapeno peppers, vinegar, salt, natural flavors), low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese (milk, milk protein concentrate, whey protein concentrate, nonfat milk, milkfat, salt, bacterial culture, calcium chloride, microbial enzyme), light cream (milk, cream, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, carrageenan), egg, canola oil, garlic, vinegar, modified corn starch, jalapeño pepper concentrate (jalapeño pepper, salt, sugar, potato flour, jalapeño powder, natural flavor, corn oil), modified cellulose. Caramelized onion and ricotta filling & dough topping: Cream cheese (milk, cream, nonfat milk, salt, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, bacterial culture), fried onion (onion, canola oil), egg, Parmesan cheese (milk, bacterial culture, salt, calcium chloride, microbial enzyme, cellulose), ricotta cheese (whey, milk, bacterial culture, salt, citric acid), bread crumb (enriched wheat flour [enriched with niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], sugar, yeast, salt), balsamic vinegar (wine vinegar, concentrated grape must, caramel color, sulfites), brown sugar, onion, modified corn starch, natural flavor (sunflower oil, natural flavor), salt, yeast extract, corn starch, granulated garlic, parsley, modified cellulose, spice. CONTAINS: WHEAT, MILK, EGG. LES PLATS DU CHEF ULC 575 OSTER LANE VAUGHAN, ONTARIO CANADA, L4K 2B9 Contains Bioengineered Food Ingredients Product of Canada](https://snarklesauce.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Cuisine-Adventures_Puff-Pastry-Bites_ingredients.jpg)
Ingredients in Cuisine Adventures Puff Pastry Bites
There are four different appetizers in this box, and each has its own ingredients:
- Spinach & Parmesan
- Roasted Red Pepper & Cheddar
- Artichoke, Monterey Jack & Jalapeno
- Caramelized Onion & Ricotta
Overall, the ingredients are “not horrible.” There’s “modified shortening” in the pastry dough. I don’t love this. And there’s preservatives and gums in the cream. There’s natural flavor added. Otherwise, these ingredients don’t make me mad.
More information from the label:
- Vegetarian
- No artificial flavors or colors
- Contains bioengineered food ingredients
- Made in Canada
Nutrition Facts
There are an odd 9 servings per package. Since there are 48 appetizers, that means a serving is 5.333333333 appetizers. As usual, I question who determines the serving size for these kinds of products. Why are you the way that you are?
Anyway. If you ate 5.333333333 puff pastries, it would be anywhere from 280-320 calories, depending on the flavor. You’d be getting 20-23 grams of fat (11-12 grams saturated fat) and 5-7 grams protein. There are 20-22 grams total carbohydrates, of which 1 gram is fiber, and 1-3 grams are sugars. There’s a modest 14-17% your daily value sodium per serving. Plus, you get 8% your daily value of iron.
Price and Servings
The 27.9 ounce (1.7 pound) package cost $12 at my local Costco. Since there are 48 appetizers per box, each pastry costs 25 cents. If you ate a serving of 5.333333333 pastries, it would cost $1.333333333. Which seems oddly fitting.
My local Costco stocks these seasonally, between October and December.
Shelf Life
The “best by” date on my package allowed about 11 months to consume.
Preparation Instructions
The instructions recommend baking in a conventional oven without thawing first (keep frozen) and explicitly forbids microwaving:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Remove from plastic trays.
- Place pieces (flat side down, one inch apart) on a baking sheet on middle oven rack.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes (until puffed and “golden”). Internal temperature should reach 165 degrees.
- “Careful, the product will be hot!”
Dramatic Conclusion
These are outstanding appetizers. I would buy them again! They’re fantastically flakey, flavorful, and gloriously elegant. The preparation is flawless. And they’re a decent value, too. If I was forced to pick just one appetizer for a party, these would probably be my go-to choice.
On my highly scientific “Awesome-o-Meter,” these score a rare “Speechless.”
The End.
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