Samosas are one of my very favorite Indian dishes.
Whenever we go out for Indian food, we always order samosas.
Because of how much I absolutely love this delicious dish, I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to make my own. I decided to make them vegan samosas as well.
My Favorite Samosas
If you’ve never tried samosas before, they consist of a pastry shell stuffed with delicious fillings, such as potatoes, peas, lentils, meats, or even cheese. Samosas are generally served with chutney for dipping.
My absolute favorite samosa fillings always include potatoes and peas, so that’s the direction I went with my Puff Pastry Vegan Samosas.
These vegan samosas are filled with potatoes and peas, and seasoned with the comforting flavors of curry and garam masala, two of my favorite Indian spices.
Puff Pastry: My Time Saving Trick for Vegan Samosas
As you can probably guess, the most time intensive part of traditional samosas is the pastry shell. That’s where the puff pastry comes in here!
Using puff pastry for the vegan samosa shell means a whole bunch of time saved, since we don’t have to make the dough, and most of the rolling has already been done.
But in addition to the time saver that puff pastry is, I absolutely love pairing the warm, Indian spices of the filling with the light, flaky, European-inspired pastry shell. It’s a mix of cultural flavors and textures that is exceptionally delicious!
And did you know that Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets, the puff pastry commonly found in most grocery stores, is vegan??!
YES.
So that means my vegan samosas are convenient to make, and conveniently vegan!
Cilantro Mint Chutney for Vegan Samosas
I use the word “chutney” for my cilantro mint sauce very loosely—chutney does not traditionally have nuts or Vegenaise/mayonaise in it, and it’s generally got a bit more texture than my sauce here does. But this sauce doesn’t taste like an aioli, and as it’s sweet, tangy, and refreshing like my favorite chutneys always are, I went ahead and called my cilantro mint sauce a chutney. And I’m sticking to it!
Make my Puff Pastry Vegan Samosas with Cilantro Mint Chutney as an appetizer, or make these samosas a meal by pairing them with my Classic Crispy Tofu and some basmati rice. (You could even just make the filling and serve it with tofu and basmati rice, I’ve done that too!)
No matter how you serve them, these vegan samosas are absolutely addicting, and I guarantee they won’t last long!
A Few Things!
You may already know that most of my favorite spices are from Simply Organic. This is definitely my favorite brand for spices. So I highly recommend using Simply Organic’s curry powder and garam masala for my samosa filling in this recipe.
Simply Organic’s curry powder and garam masala complement each other perfectly. There’s a warmth and sweetness to both, and neither are overly spicy. You can find Simply Organic curry powder here [aff. link], and Simply Organic garam masala here [aff. link]. Trust me, you’ll be so impressed with the quality and flavor of both.
My Favorite Way to Shape Samosas
Feel free to shape the samosas however you like. My favorite method is to use a 2 cup Pyrex bowl as my guide. I place the bowl over the puff pastry, and with a sharp knife, cut around the bowl.
I roll my dough out to about 22 by 17 inches, and with the Pyrex bowl as my guide, I get six half-moon shaped samosas per sheet of puff pastry. With the extra puff pastry, I make a few smaller, square-shaped samosas.
And always be sure to prick each samosa with a fork before baking! This will ensure that steam can escape during baking so the puff pastry doesn’t get huge air bubbles!
Puff Pastry Vegan Samosas with Cilantro Mint Chutney
Ingredients
For the potato filling:
- 1½ pounds potatoes, cut to ½ inch pieces
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp curry powder
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1½ cup peas, frozen
- 1 Tbsp flour, (or sub with corn starch to keep this filling gluten free)
- 1 tsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
For the chutney:
- 1 garlic clove
- 3 Tbsp cashews
- 1 cup cilantro, fresh
- 3 Tbsp mint, fresh
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Vegenaise, or mayonnaise
- ¼ cup water
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
- ½ tsp maple syrup
For the pastry:
- 1 package puff pastry, defrosted, use vegan puff pastry, such as Pepperidge Farms, to keep the samosas vegan
- Flour, for rolling
- Sweet Paprika, for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the samosa filling
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat for about 30 seconds until warm. Now add the onion.
- Cook the onion over medium heat for 5 minutes, until it begins to soften.
Add the potatoes
- Now add the potatoes to the pan and stir to incorporate with the onion.
- Add the vegetable broth, ¾ tsp of the sea salt, garlic powder, curry powder, garam masala, and cumin.
- Stir, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. It should boil in about 3 minutes.
- Let the mixture boil for 1 minute.
Simmer the potatoes
- Now turn the heat down to low, cover the pan and let everything simmer for 22 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. Prick a potato with a fork to test.
- Be sure to stir the mixture every few minutes to keep the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add the peas
- Once the potatoes are cooked through, add the peas and 1 Tbsp of flour. On medium low heat, stir continuously until the peas are heated through, the flour is completely incorporated, and the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Take off the heat, and add the last ½ tsp of sea salt and the lime juice.
- Samosa filling is done!
Roll out the puff pastry
- Flour a clean surface. Place a puff pastry sheet on top, flour your rolling pin, and roll the puff pastry out until it is about 22 by 17 inches.
- It doesn’t have to be perfect, just do your best! Always roll from the center of the puff pastry out to the edges. This will ensure that the pastry stays an even thickness.
Shape the samosas
- I like to make my samosas the shape of piroshkis (or pierogis), so I use a circular, 2 cup Pyrex bowl to get the correct size for each samosa. (See photos above.)
- Put the bowl on top of the puff pastry, and with a knife, cut around the Pyrex bowl. (See photo above.) I get about 6 circles per puff pastry sheet (there are generally two puff pastry sheets per box) using the 2 cup Pyrex bowl, then I just make miniature samosa squares with the leftover dough.
Fill the samosas
- Put 1 Tbsp of filling on one side of each circle of puff pastry (see photo above). Use a little less filling if you choose to make smaller samosas.
- Note: you will have left over filling, espeically if you don't plan to use both sheets of puff pastry. The filling alone makes an excellent meal. (See note below.)
- Now fold the other side of the puff pastry over the side with the filling. Use your fingers to pinch the puff pastry edges together so that the filling is closed inside the puff pastry (see photo above).
- If the puff pastry is not sticking together, dip your fingers in a little water, then pinch the edges together again. The water will help the pasty edges stick.
- Prick the top of each samosa with a fork to allow steam to escape during baking.
Bake the samosas
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- Brush each samosa with olive oil if desired, and bake on an oiled cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 25-28 minutes, until the puff pastry has puffed up and turned golden brown.
- A few of the samosas may open up a little bit while baking and some filling may be exposed, but don’t worry! That’s just the nature of puff pastry. The filling will still stay inside and be delicious.
- While the samosas bake, you can make the chutney.
Make the chutney
- Start by adding the cashews, garlic, salt, cilantro, and mint to your food processor. Pulse a few times, then process until everything is finely ground.
- Now add the water, olive oil, Vegenaise, lime juice, and maple syrup. Process again until completely combined and mostly smooth. There will still be a little texture.
- Chutney is done!
Serve and enjoy
- By this time, the samosas have probably finished baking.
- Take the samosas out of the oven, and sprinkle each one with a little bit of sweet paprika.
- Samosas are done!
- Dip the samosas in the cilantro mint chutney as an appetizer, or make the samosas and chutney a meal by serving them with some basmati rice and my Classic Crispy Tofu.
10 Responses
This looks so yummy…. will try it for sure… thanks for sharing the recipe dear 🙂
Thanks Rashmi! I can’t ever get enough samosas 😋
We love samosas as well! In fact, we used to go to the Indian grocery store in town and buy packs of frozen appetizer-sized samosas. Now you’ve inspired me to make my own. I love the flavors you’ve got going on here, and I know these would be a huge hit. Plus, this would be something fun to learn to make while we’re quarantined at home. Great recipe, Shannon! (And thanks for the shaping tips, too.)
Thanks so much David! Aren’t samosas AMAZING?!! I so relate, I can’t believe it took me so long to finally make my own samosa recipe, and now there’s no going back. 😆 These are so addicting!
You cannot go wrong with puff pastry! What a great twist on samosas!
Thank you so much Jeff! I agree, puff pastry is so versatile, definitely one of my favorite things to cook with.
Mmmm, my mouth is watering just looking at these photos, Shannon! I love the idea of combining the puff pastry shells with delicious spicy potato filling and your super green chutney! I would never think to make these but I am convinced my family would love these. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!
Thanks Katerina! These samosas are so popular at our house. Puff pastry is so versatile, I absolutely love it here!
I am drooling over this, I am so going to make these!!!
xoxo
Lovely
Thanks Lovely! Samosas are definitely one of my favorite dishes. 😋