With the holiday season around the corner, you may be thinking about what you need to make some of your favorite delicious pastries. One of these could be phyllo dough. Phyllo dough is very commonly used to make dishes that are sweet and savory, but you may have realized that you are out of phyllo dough. Luckily, here are five substitutes for phyllo dough that are the best.
Phyllo dough is used to make delicious recipes, but there are substitutes you can use if you are out of phyllo dough and are not able to go out and find more. Some of these substitutes include puff pastry, homemade dough, strudel dough, and spring roll wrappers.
Continue reading to learn more about phyllo dough as well as what substitutes you can use when you run out of phyllo dough.
Phyllo dough is a very thin dough that is unleavened. It is often used in Middle Eastern and Blakan countries to create dishes such as baklava and borek.
Pastries that are created using phyllo dough often are made by layering many sheets of phyllo dough and brushing the dough with oil or butter. This is then baked.
The dough itself is often made using flour, a small amount of oil, and water. This type of dough is not easily made as it takes time and skill to perfectly make the phyllo dough, so it is best to use a substitute when you run out of the dough rather than trying to make some yourself.
Can I Substitute Puff Pastry for Phyllo Dough?
You can substitute puff pastry for phyllo dough. The two are very similar, so it is okay to use puff pastry in your dish when you run out of or have no phyllo dough. However, there are some dishes when you should not use puff pastry as a replacement for phyllo dough.
Puff pastry is much denser than phyllo dough. Puff pastry also has a different flavor and texture when compared to phyllo dough, so this can change the flavoring and texture of the pastry or dish you are creating.
For some dishes, this is not an issue, but others can be changed dramatically when having puff pastry substituted for the phyllo dough.
What Can I Use Instead of Filo Dough?
Phyllo (Filo) dough is a great option to use to make some deliciously sweet and savory pastries, but there are other options that you can use when you run out of phyllo dough and are unable to acquire more.
Whether you have run out of phyllo dough or you are unable to find it in your local grocery store, there are many options you can use as substitutes that you are likely to be able to find. All five of the substitutes listed below are commonly used as a replacement for phyllo dough when phyllo dough is unavailable.
It may still be better, however, to still aim to get phyllo dough if you are able to as the pastries are designed for this type of so, so it can make the pastries taste better.
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1. Puff Pastry
Puff pastry is one of the most common substitutes used when people are unable to get phyllo dough. Much like phyllo dough, puff pastry helps to enhance the flavor of the dish you are creating and have a flaky texture similar to phyllo dough.
However, there are some downsides to using puff pastry. Puff pastry is much denser than phyllo dough, and it has a different flavor and texture. This can change parts of the dish, but most dishes are fine to use puff pastry in place of phyllo dough.
If you are watching the amount of calories you are eating, you do not want to use puff pastry. Puff pastry is known to have more fats and calories than phyllo dough. This could add more unnecessary calories to the dish you are creating.
2. Spring Roll Wrappers
Spring roll wrappers are another great substitute for phyllo dough. Phyllo dough and spring roll wrappers are similar in the fact that both are lightweight. Spring roll wrappers also become a golden crust when fried, similar to how phyllo dough looks when baked.
It is recommended, however, that if you use spring roll wrappers in place of phyllo dough that you roll the ingredients in the wrappers and deep fry them. This is the preferred way to cook with spring roll wrappers. This is a great option if you are making a dish like baklava.
The best part about using spring roll wrappers is that you do not need to worry if your ingredients are gonna fall out as the best way to cook them is to roll the ingredients in the wrap which prevents them from falling out.
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3. Homemade Dough
You can make your own homemade phyllo dough. However, this can be time consuming. The main ingredients you will need to make your own phyllo dough include:
Flour
Water
Vinegar
Oil
Salt
These are ingredients you most likely already have in your home. This can be a great substitute for store phyllo dough because you are making it yourself, and you can continue to make it once you learn.
4. Strudel Dough
Strudel dough can also be a great option as a substitute for phyllo dough. This dough is great because strudel dough is designed to be used as a thin wrapping around heavy filling. It does take more preparation to use strudel dough than phyllo dough.
For preparation, you will need to use more eggs and oil when preparing the strudel dough compared to how much you would use preparing phyllo dough. There are two different ways you can go about using the strudel dough for savory and sweet dishes.
For savory dishes, you want to pre-bake the strudel before incorporating the filling to the dish. For sweet dishes, you want to substitute an equal amount of strudel dough for how much phyllo dough you would have used.
5. Canned Biscuit Dough
Canned biscuit dough can be a very convenient substitute for phyllo dough. You want to just flatten the biscuit dough and cut it into either sheets or strips depending on what you are using it for.
If you plan on making a savory dish, it is recommended to cut the dough into strips, while you may want to cut the dough into sheets for sweet dishes. You can also get creative when using the biscuit dough for these dishes and experiment with different ways you can use the dough with the dish.
Related Questions
How do you make phyllo dough?
While you can buy phyllo dough from the store, you can also make your own phyllo dough at home that you can use. To make phyllo dough:
You first want to gather your ingredients
Next, you want to mix the ingredients until the dough comes together
Then, you want to knead the dough until it is smooth
You want to make a ball of the dough to place at room temperature for around one to two hours
You then want to divide this dough and roll into smaller balls
You want to use a cornstarch mix to layer the dough
You then want to roll the stack into a large circle
You want to repeat this process using all of the dough
You can find homemade phyllo dough recipes online, but you can buy it in stores if you prefer.
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What type of pastry is filo?
Phyllo (filo) is a paper-thin pastry. It is commonly used in Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Greek cooking. The most common dish that uses phyllo (filo) dough is baklava.
Why is it called phyllo dough?
In Greek, the word “phyllo” means “leaf”. The way that phyllo dough is thinned and stretched makes it like a tissue or a leaf.
Phyllo originated during the time of the Byzantine empire. It has traces in origin to both Greece and the Balkans. The Greeks have used this type of dough to create dishes for a long time.
If you have ever eaten a dish that has phyllo dough, you will notice that the dough is similar to a leaf. Both are very thin and can easily fall to the side. When you bake phyllo dough, it can have somewhat of a crunch to it that may be similar to when leaves turn brown during the Autumn.
Conclusion
Phyllo dough is a paper-thin pastry dough that is commonly used in dishes from the Middle East, Greece, and the Balkans. One of the most common dishes that uses phyllo dough is baklava.
Phyllo dough can be hard to find in stores, and it can take some time and effort to make the dough yourself. This is why there are some great options that you can use as substitutes for phyllo dough. Some of these include puff pastry, spring roll wrappers, and canned biscuit dough.
You will need to take into consideration how using the substitute will change parts of the dish, and some dishes cannot be properly made if you use a substitute.
