We taste-tested six brands of puff pastry you’re likely to find at your local supermarket. To find the very best ones, we sampled each without knowing which was which. Our winner is Dufour Puff Pastry Dough, though we also crowned one worthy runner-up.
Homemade puff pastry is a labor of love. Making it requires laminating—encasing a block of butter in dough, then rolling and folding it over itself again and again—to create numerous layers that bake into crisp, flaky pastry. For that reason, most people opt to go the store-bought route when they need some to make an appetizer, elegant entrée (hello, beef Wellington!), or impressive dessert. The question is: Which brand is worth buying?
To find the very best puff pastry, our editors taste-tested six widely available brands you’re likely to find at your local grocery store. We baked them according to package directions and sampled them in random order, without knowing which was which, then tabulated the results and crowned an overall winner and a runner-up.
The Criteria
Puff pastry should be crisp and flaky. It should have numerous layers and a rich, buttery flavor. The pastry should be neutral enough to pair with a wide variety of flavors, but shouldn’t be bland—nor should it be overly sweet or salty. When baked, it should be nice and light, and should not come across as greasy. I’d even go so far as to say that puff pastry should be delicious enough that you’d happily eat it on its own, sans toppings or sauces.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Overall Winner
Dufour Puff Pastry Dough
This puff pastry was a hit with almost all of our tasters—it was the top pick for all but one of the tasters,who all commented on how buttery it tasted. “Crisp, tender, good,” our editorial director, Daniel, noted. “I taste butter!” Similarly, our associate editorial director, Megan, liked that it was “nice and buttery,” with good flakiness. Both Daniel and Megan named it their clear favorite overall, as did visuals editor Jessie and our associate culinary editor, Laila. Jessie liked that it was rich-tasting, while Laila appreciated that it had a “nice amount of salt.”
Runner-Up
Trader Joe’s All Butter Puff Pastry Sheets
Almost every editor enjoyed this puff pastry—just not quite as much as they loved our winner above. “The butter flavor isn’t as pronounced as my overall winner, but it’s there,” Daniel noted, ranking this one just behind Dufour. Like Daniel, Megan—who also put it in second place on her list behind Dufour—thought this pastry had “good texture, but not quite as nicely buttery” as our winning puff pastry. Jessie described its texture as “very, very flaky,” while our associate visuals director, Amanda, enjoyed its “nice and buttery taste.” Though Laila liked its crisp exterior, she thought it was a touch too chewy.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Contenders
- 365 by Whole Foods Market Puff Pastry
- Dufour Puff Pastry Dough
- JusRol Puff Pastry
- Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets
- Trader Joe’s All Butter Puff Pastry Sheets
- Taste of Inspirations Puff Pastry Dough
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
Traditionally, puff pastry is made with just a handful of ingredients: flour, butter, water, salt, and an acidic component, such as vinegar or lemon juice. Our winner, Dufour Puff Pastry Dough, is one of only two brands that make their puff pastry with butter. It is also the only brand that specifies the grade of butter used—USDA Grade AA butter, the highest possible standard in the US—and the only product that lists butter as its first ingredient. Dufour’s puff pastry is made with just five ingredients: butter, flour, water, salt, and lemon juice.
Our runner-up, Trader Joe’s All Butter Puff Pastry Sheets, is the only other brand that uses butter in their dough and, like Dufour, makes their pastry with just five ingredients: flour, butter, water, distilled vinegar, and sea salt. If you can’t find Dufour, this is a great option. It was also a bargain, at $5.49 compared to Dufour’s $11.99.
Overall, our editors strongly preferred puff pastry made with real butter. Other brands we sampled use vegetable shortening, palm oil, canola oil, soybean oil, and/or hydrogenated cottonseed oils. Though these ingredients may be high in saturated fats—which is great for producing flaky layers—they lack the rich flavor of butter, which was a clear downside for our tasting panel. Some also tasted slightly bitter, which can happen when oils become rancid. For those reasons, we recommend looking for puff pastry made with butter.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Our Testing Methodology
All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.
