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Parmesan Popovers with Crispy Sage Garlic Butter…better known as the simple, 7 ingredient, melt in your mouth popovers that are roll your eyes back GOOD. These perfect parmesan popovers are light, airy, hinted with browned butter and parmesan cheese, and are SO delicious. Serve these cheesy popovers warm right out of the oven with homemade crispy sage and roasted garlic butter. Great for any night of the week from Sunday night dinner to an upcoming fall dinner party. You can’t go wrong with these popovers.
I made these on a Sunday with Sunday night dinner in mind. And while I wasn’t planning to share the recipe, I knew from the minute I pulled these cute little cheesy popovers out of the oven, that I indeed NEEDED to share this recipe.
Let me explain a little. Popovers have always been a food that both my mom and I have loved. I first made them way back when I had just started cooking. So around the age of 12 or 13? It was for our family’s Thanksgiving and I was in charge of the popovers and spaghetti squash. I remember the Williams-Sonoma recipe so clearly. I also remember the popovers being perfect, like so delicious.
But clearly I knew nothing back then, because those popovers score maybe a 2 in comparison to today’s parmesan popovers.
Oh. So. Good.
So why the need to make popovers in early October when I normally reserve them for Thanksgiving? Well, as I said, it was a Sunday. I’d been working non-stop since 9 am on some very fun Halloween recipes (more to come this Friday). I needed a break from all the sugar and something inspired me to make popovers. I’m not sure exactly what brought this on, but the idea of parmesan popovers with hints of browned butter, crispy sage, and garlic sound just delightful (not a word I really use, but it seems to describe these popovers perfectly).
About 5 minutes after dreaming up this recipe in my head, I was already browning butter and heating the oven in prep for popovers.
And about an hour later I had these popovers in front of me. Complete with crispy sage and “roasted” garlic butter for serving. I called my mom, because that’s what I do when I make popovers. She practically ran down to try these…delivering the final “oh my God, these are sooo good”, seal of approval.
And just like that the bestest (savory) popover was created. All in under an hour with almost no thought at all. I swear some of the best recipes are the ones I create on the fly. No overthinking, just take the initial idea and I run with it…I need to do this more often.
Here is how to make perfect parmesan popovers
The first step is key to this recipe. Brown some butter with garlic and fresh sage. As the butter browns, the garlic quickly caramelizes and the sage gets crispy. Reserve the garlic and sage for making the sage garlic butter, but use the browned butter within the actual popover batter.
Second step, position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Popovers rise a lot so it’s important to give them room! Now, add a pat of butter to each popover cup and then place the pan in the oven to preheat. Heating the popover pan ensures the popovers will pop in the oven. This is the 6 cup popover pan that I have and love. Here is the 12 cup popover pan if you want to double the recipe.
Tip: If you don’t have a popover pan, you can use a standard size muffin pan, but the popovers will be mini popovers. Still delicious, just smaller.
OK, next mix the batter, which is a basic mix of milk, flour, and eggs. BUT it’s made special with that browned butter, a little parmesan, and if you’d like, fresh black pepper. I prefer these minus the pepper so that the flavor of the browned butter and parmesan really shines through, but you do what you feel you will love most.
Add the batter to the hot popover pan and bake. About 40 minutes later you’ll have these popovers, and yes, your kitchen will smell amazing.
Ok, BUT. Let’s talk about that sage garlic butter…
Because it is very delicious and very much needed to complete these popovers.
Take the “roasted” garlic and crispy sage from the already browned butter and mix it into the softened, salted butter.
And now you have crispy sage garlic butter.
Tip: you will want to smear this on everything, so double it.
Simple, right?
By now I’ve made your mouth water, right? Or if not my words, you can’t deny those mouth-watering photos.
I hope so because I really cannot stress enough just how “roll your eyes back” good these popovers are. This is one of those recipes that you’ll look forward to making every fall. These popovers are warming, cozy, and so easy to make.
Plus, they go with pretty much any dinner you make. Slow cooker french chicken? Yes, for sure. Instant pot coq au vin? 100%. Creamy butternut and broccoli soup? Yep, great for dipping. Thanksgiving dinner? ABSOLUTELY.
You can’t go wrong.
Please do make these, and soon, I know you guys will love them.
Oh, and lastly, my mom suggests that you simply make and eat these…all on their own. They don’t need to be paired together with a meal…they can BE the meal!
If you make these parmesan popovers with crispy sage garlic butter, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Parmesan Popovers with Crispy Sage Garlic Butter
Servings: 6 (or 10 mini popovers)
Calories Per Serving: 325 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons, +6 tsp salted butter
- 1-2 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
- 8 fresh sage leaves
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (optional)
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
Instructions
- 1. Heat 2 tablespoons butter, the garlic, and sage in a small skillet over medium heat and cook the butter until it begins to brown and the sage is crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Remove the garlic and sage from the skillet and reserve for making the sage garlic butter. 2. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 3. Place 1 teaspoon of butter in each cup of a 6 cup standard popover pan. Alternately, you can use a 12-cup muffin pans and make 10 mini popovers. Transfer the popover pan to the oven.4. In medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the milk and eggs until frothy, about 1 minute. Add the browned butter, flour, parmesan, salt, and pepper - if using, and whisk to combine. It's OK if there are small lumps. 5. Carefully remove the popover pan from the oven and carefully swirl the butter around the cups to grease the pan. Evenly divide the batter between the popover cups, filling them about 3/4 of the way full. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake another 15-20 minutes, until puffed, golden and crisp. 6. Meanwhile, make the sage butter. Mash the reserved garlic with a fork. Chop the crispy sage. Stir both the mashed garlic and sage together with 4 tablespoons butter.7. Serve the warm popovers immediately, with sage butter.
Notes
Makes 6 popovers or 10 mini popovers.
To Bring Eggs to Room Temperature: place the eggs in a bowl and fill with warm water. Let sit 5 minutes.
Popover Pans: this is the exact 6 cup popover pan that I have and love. Here is the 12 cup popover pan if you want to double the recipe.
This post was originally published on October 8, 2019
I grew up eating popovers made from an old family recipe in Maine. Honestly, these blew all of the amazing popovers that I grew up eating out of the water. Is this recipe in your cookbook? Jesus, so good! and all of the proportions and time directions are perfect.
Thank you so much Anna!! I am so glad these turned out so well for you!! xTieghan
I cannot seem to get popovers to rise at all… I’ve tried a few different methods (preheating the pan with butter or oil in each cup, only preheating with spray, letting the ingredients sit, different oven temps, etc). I am curious if anyone has any tips or tricks if they’ve had the same issue? I’ve tried different recipes, different flours, etc. I was thinking maybe altitude could contribute to the issue but Tieghan is at an even higher altitude than I am. I know it’s not this recipe in particular b/c a) Tieghan is awesome and b) I’ve never had any of her recipes fail me before 🙂 Thanks in advance!
Hi Amanda,
So sorry you are having issues with the popovers (thanks for being so kind). Just curious to make sure you are only mix the batter by hand, that is super important. Heating the pan prior to baking would be my only other tip to get them to pop, but it seems as though you have tried that. Also not to fill with too much batter. Please let me know how else I can help. xTieghan
Vwry nice twist on the classic yorkshire pudding!
Love it 🙂
Hey Tieghan!
Made these two nights ago and OMG I honestly just wish i’d made them sooner. I’ve had my mini popover pan sitting in the cupboard for like 2 years and that was the first time I whipped it out. These were truly delicious, and honestly very simple to make for those folks who were hesitant.
so for reference this is the popover pan i used: Nordic Ware Cast Aluminum Petite Popover Pan 1/4 Cup Each, 12 Cavity, Silver/Gray
a few notes I took: using the pan above, I probably had enough batter left over for like another 4-5 popovers. live and learn. Also – when I took them out of the oven, I noticed when I took them out of the pan, they weren’t filling the whole cup – like they puffed up on top, but then had short bottoms if that makes sense? I wondered what I could do to actually get them to lengthen on the bottom?
For baking – I followed your instructions exactly, baked at 350 for 15 minutes for the second half the process. I felt like I could’ve taken them out after like 12-13 minutes, mine got a bit brown on the bottom, and were pretty dense overall – not sure if that was attributed to cooking time.
DELICIOUS…. seriously a childhood favorite, I grew up in Dallas and Neiman Marcus served these in their restaurant the Zodiac Room with strawberry butter.
Aw I am really glad these turned out so well for you! Also, even better that they were a childhood fav! Thank you Catherine! xTieghan
How long do you preheat the pan for in the oven?
Hey Liz, keep the pan preheating for only about 5-10 minutes in the oven. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! xTieghan
Anytime I have baked any sort of egg dish in the oven in a muffin tin, the batter sticks HORRIBLY to the muffin pan. I have tried different oils and nothing has seemed to help the egg mixture from sticking. Do these stick? Do you have a trick? Yours come out so beautifully! I have sworn off making any and all egg “cups” due to the sticking, but I really want to try these! Thanks a lot!
Hey Sarah! I grease my pans pretty well with butter and never have any issues. Maybe try using butter? That is what I do! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Popovers are the best and I’m obsessed with the sage butter! So good!
I hope you try these! Thank you Laura! xTieghan
Amazing. The crispy sage is heavenly. I haven’t purchased a popover pan yet so I just used my
Muffin tin (thank you for mentioning this for people like me who want to make the recipe but don’t have the proper pan). It still turned out amazing! I made half the batch and 2 of us devoured the 6 popovers. LOL
Thanks for the recipe!
I am so glad this turned out so well for you Becca! Thank you! xTieghan
Trying them right now, super excited! Should have read your blog first, cause I took the pan out after the butter had melted and while I was still mixing. Also added some chives hope it comes out well. Just bought your book also, waiting for the quick recipe one to be released so I can get it as well! ricotta apple pancakes in the morning. ❤️
Hi Kristal! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! I hope you love all of my recipes! xTieghan
Good Morning,
I love popovers.
But this recipe looks so amazing.
Thanks for sharing
Thank you Bonnie! xTieghan
How would you recommend reheating these if bringing them to a dinner party?
Hi Victoria! Just simple warm in a 325 degree oven for 10 minutes. That works so well! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan ???
These look amazing! I am curious as to what would you pair these with? 🙂
Hi Elizabeth! I love serving these with soups, stew, roasted beef tenderloin, or my slow cooker french chicken. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan ???
Made these tonight with a Moroccan soup. I don’t like baking and was intimidated, but these came together so easy! I made them in muffin tins. The flavour was perfect for my soup, adding some savoury to a sweet soup. Will make again!
I am so glad these turned out so well for you Erin! Thank you! xTieghan
OMG what can I say that Tieghan didn’t say. These were so good and much easier to make than I thought. So so good and the sage garlic butter is a must. These will earn a spot at the Thanksgiving table for sure.
Haha so amazing! I am so glad that you loved this recipe Deb! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan,
Is there a Keto substitute to the all purpose flour?
Hi Linda! I am not familiar with Keto cooking so I am uncomfortable providing a swap. I am sorry sorry I couldn’t help! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan ???