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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.
Butter spilled out oven on fire. Terrible instructions.
Hi Stephanie,
So sorry to hear this. Was there anything you adjusted? xTieghan
I made these through a comedy of errors. Decided last minute to pair them with the bourbon sweet potato recipe, without checking that I had all the ingredients. ?♀️ I only had half the flour and did the rest with bread flour. I completely burned the Browned butter. My eggs weren’t room temp. I didn’t have pop over pans and the oven was busy with the sweet potatoes. So I had to use two different sized ramekins in my toaster oven. And YET, they STILL turned out. Even the garlic sage butter. Somehow. I’ll definitely be making these again. So forgiving.
Hey there,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Made these for thanksgiving, they were a hit! Everyone loved them. Mine puffed up beautifully and actually puffed all the way up and turned golden brown before I needed to turn the oven temp down so I was worried they would be overdone. But they weren’t! They were perfect. Will 100% make again.
Hey Lauren,
Awesome!! I am so glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have the best weekend! xTieghan
These are delicious! I made a double recipe and spread it between 18 regular muffin cups, because I don’t have a popover tin. I made sure the oven temp was nice and high and used room temp ingredients and everything worked out great. They popped up nice and tall and didn’t even fall once out of the oven. My family devoured them! We will definitely be making these again. Thanks for another great recipe Tieghan.
Hey Care,
Seriously amazing! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Made these today and they were soo yummy! Followed the recipe to a T and they came out perfectly.
Hey Bridget,
Wonderful!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend! xTieghan
Hey Teighan,
Can I make or prep this popover recipe in advance for a party? If so do i store the batter/dough in fridge or outside and if in fridge does it need to be come to room temperature before baking. Thank you.
Regards
Pooja
Hey there! Yes, that would be just fine! I would let it come to room temperature before baking! Enjoy 🙂 xTieghan
These are incredible. For those saying theirs didn’t pop, I had to make them 4 times to realize that my oven wasn’t hot enough!! I finally got an oven thermometer and realized that when my oven said it was preheated, it was 50-100 degrees colder!!! GAH!!! Wait another 1o min after the preheat beep.
Hey Michelle! Thanks so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad it turned out well for you1 🙂 xTieghan
Can these be made ahead and reheated? That would be amazing!!
Yes, they definitely can be! xTieghan
This is my second time trying this and I had the same problem, no pop either time. The batters good, the butters delicious, but the popovers came out dense and upside down almost. I have a proper popover pan and preheated it, then added butter, let heat and rested my batter. But they just came out like dense egg muffins. There’s a bubble on the bottom that trapped steam and forced the whole thing up so they looked ok in the pan (not like they should but risen about an inch above the rim) but when I took them out they only filled the top half of the cup.
Hi Kat! I am so sorry about that! Is there anything you did differently in this recipe? Please let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Ok these are outstandingly good. These were my first attempt at anything pop-over and it went so well and i’m so happy. Thank you for these! The garlic-sage-butter on top while its fresh from the oven makes it!
Seems like we’re all having the same issues…no pop! ☹️ Mine are also very dense, but the flavor is good, just not what I was going for in terms of light and airy. I don’t have a popover pan so I used a silicone muffin pan. Besides that change, i only let the pan heat for about 2 mins before pouring the batter and my flour was a little colder than the milk and eggs. Seems like a pretty sensitive recipe if those things caused them not to rise.
Hey Jessica,
So sorry to hear this, unfortunately I think the silicone muffin pan is your issue here. The key to the pop is really allowing the pan to get nice and hot before adding the batter. I hope this helps for next time. xTieghan
So good, my last couple of popover recipes didn’t pop but these were amazing. So big and light. This will go in our we love it recipe file!
Hi! I am looking to try these tonight, and I only have a muffin pan. Will I bake for the same amount of time as popover pan?
Excited to try this recipe, it looks delicious!
Hey Katy,
You bet, you can follow the recipe as is! I hope you love the popovers, let me know how they turn out! xTieghan
Hi
I’m from the UK but love your recipes. We don’t have all purpose flour. Do u know what I should use instead?
Hi Lorraine,
Bread flour would also work here, whatever your go to flour is, all purpose flour is our most universal and basic flour to purchase. I hope this helps! xTieghan
I’ve tried twice now and they do not “pop”!! Can’t figure our what I’m doing wrong. My tins are hot when I pour the batter in. I whisk them milk and eggs till frothy, etc and still these dense unpopped pop overs. Ugh
Hey Linda,
So sorry to hear this. Is there anything you adjusted in the recipe? What kind of pan are you using? Please let me know how I can help! xTieghan
I will begin by saying I am not a baker… which is why I need all the help and detailed directions I can get. I failed with this recipe. I browned the butter successfully and that was about where my triumphs ended. I put the muffin pan in the oven with pads of butter and the butter burned before the oven even hit 450. I restarted that process and put the batter in the oven. The directions say bake for minimum 35 minutes but at about 20 minutes before I changed the temperature they already looked done so I took them out. They were dense and not airy at all. I’m not sure if my oven is too hot or I missed a step here but I have no desire to try again. The garlic sage butter though was amazing.
Hey Riley,
So sorry to hear this. Was there anything you adjusted in the batter? It sounds like the butter pans may have been in the oven for too long. Please let me know how I can help! xTieghan