Do You Want Puff Pastry or Phyllo Dough for That Recipe? Here's How to Choose

Puff pastry and phyllo dough have a lot in common: both are many-layered pastry doughs (unlike the traditional pâté brisée that we use in so many of our recipes), and both bake up with crispy, crunchy, flaky layers, but there are distinct differences. Learn what each dough is made from and the techniques for making and using them.

What Is Puff Pastry?

Known as pâte feuilletée in French, puff pastry is a puffy, soft yet crunchy pastry. It is made by rolling out pastry, placing a square of butter inside it, folding the dough, and then rolling it out and folding again, repeating these steps to create contrasting layers (and layers) of butter and dough. The dough is refrigerated frequently during the process. Though you can't really see the layers when the dough is made, those folds produce separate airy, flaky layers and a crunchy exterior when baked.

Homemade or Store-Bought

You can make puff pastry or its easier cousin rough puff pastry, but many cooks opt to use frozen puff pastry (check the label to make sure it's made with pure butter and not another type of fat).

What Is Phyllo?

Phyllo consists of tissue-thin sheets of dough. Phyllo, also spelled filo or fillo, means "leaf" in Greek, and the pastry dough is widely used in the Balkans and Middle East. Each sheet is usually brushed with melted butter before baking. Phyllo gets crisp and flaky when baked but it doesn't have the same rich, airy quality that puff pastry has.

Homemade or Store-Bought?

Most recipes call for store-bought phyllo dough, which is available frozen in grocery stores, and occasionally fresh at Greek markets.

Phyllo Dough vs. Puff Pastry: What’s the Difference?

The main differences between puff pastry and phyllo dough are their fat content and preparation. Puff pastry is a laminated dough that gets its signature airy puff from layers of butter, while phyllo dough is comparatively low-fat.

Phyllo dough is mostly flour and water and can dry out easily. The fine sheets of pastry dough create a crispy, crackly effect when layered and baked. Fat is added to the phyllo dough as you stack the sheets; usually, each layer is brushed with butter, then stacked. The individual layers form a flaky crust. If you compare the two, phyllo looks like a sheaf of tissue paper while puff pastry would seem much thicker, more like regular pastry dough.

Can You Swap One for the Other?

Yes and no, and it depends—mostly on the recipe you are using. Substitute one for the other and your baked goods may bake up different than expected.

How to Use Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is used for both sweet dishes, everything from Fresh Fruit Tarts to cookies, and savory ones, from breakfast to dinner.

How to Use Phyllo

Like puff pastry, phyllo is used for both sweet and savory dishes. Perhaps the most famous dish made with phyllo is spanakopita or the famed baklava found in Greece, Turkey, and other Middle Eastern countries. Phyllo can also be used for all kinds of savory pies, such as our individual Eggplant Feta Phyllo Pies, as well as for dessert pies like our Chocolate Mousse Pie and dessert cups.