I made filo salmon pies the other weekend for one of our appetizer night dinners. Appetizers for dinner is one of our favorite family traditions. I think it started years ago when we would join friends for super bowl parties. Then later, when we had our little baby twins, and couldn’t really handle a full super bowl party with all that noise (and beer), Chi Chi and I would make a bunch of mini finger foods and set out a spread in front of the TV to enjoy while watching the game.

We love the way that appetizers bring people together, so we decided to do appetizer nights outside of game night. We discovered that appetizers, like these crispy little salmon pies, are perfect for long dinners sitting around the table enjoying conversation and company.

Mini salmon pies make the perfect appetizers

Why, you ask do mini salmon pies make a great appetizer? Because, they taste delicious at room temperature! No need for them to be hot to enjoy. Whether you are making appetizers to satisfy a crowd of sports fans, or having appetizer night at the dinner table among family, every dish needs to be unfussy and taste great at room temperature.

Appetizer night is all about variety

Appetizer nights at our house focus on mini bites, lots of veggies, some crunchy things, dippy things, and just one or two dishes that incorporate fish or meat. For this appetizer night, these mini salmon pies were the star. They pair beautifully with grilled asparagus, carrot and celery crudités, and even our Okra Pork Rolls (niku maki).

Make a lot of mini salmon pies or pair them with a second pie

Since I made these mini salmon pies just for our small family, I didn’t want to make an entire tray of 12. So, I filled half of the muffin tray with salmon filling and the other half with Japanese curry pie. The recipe below makes a full batch of 12 salmon pies, but if you want do the same, just halve the ingredients and hop on over to my recipe for Japanese curry pies. I say variety is always more fun, isn’t that what appetizers are for anyway?

These mini salmon pies are dairy free

Most salmon pie recipes call for cream or dairy. But, as you might already know, I don’t eat dairy. So, to make the salmon creamy (but not too creamy), I added some Kewpie Japanese Mayonnaise. The Kewpie not only gave the salmon a light, creamy texture but added a zingy tang to the dish. It’s worth tracking down some Japanese mayo to makes these salmon pies unique.

Filo dough makes these salmon pies extra flaky

I made these mini salmon pies with pre-made filo dough which saves the hassle of having to roll, cut and shape actual pie dough into the right shape for mini pies. But, I have to say that using frozen filo does require some planning. You will need to defrost the frozen filo in the fridge for about 8 hours then let it sit out on the counter to thaw for another 1-2 hours.

Prep a pie making station before rolling out the filo for quick pie assembly

Before unrolling the filo dough from the package, I set up my pie-making station with a little bowl of oil, my silicone pastry brush. I had my pie filling with spoons for scooping and, of course, my muffin pan all ready for quick assembly. I made sure to prep my pie making station so that I could quickly work with the filo before it starts to dry up and crack (which is a bit of a project kill).

How to prepare the filo dough for mini salmon pies

When preparing the filo dough, I rolled out the thawed dough cut it in half length-wise and then rolled up the rest of the dough for later. Since this recipe only calls for half a package of filo, you will want to roll up the rest of the dough right away and put it back in the freezer for a future recipe. Filo dries out quickly once its unrolled so you don’t want the unused portion to go to waste.

I cut the filo dough into approximately 5×5 inch squares and then filled each muffin cup with 6 sheets of thin filo dough. To create a nice little pie pouch I placed 3 sheets in each muffin cup, and brushed with oil. I added the next 3 sheet layer of filo in each muffin cup creating a flowering shape, and gave it another brush of oil before adding the salmon mixture. Finally I carefully folded the filo dough around the salmon mixture and gave it one more brush of oil.

These would be just as impressive with pie dough if you don’t have filo (or the time to thaw the filo dough). Let me know if you do make these with filo or pie dough! Share your recipe with me in the comments.