Vegan Greek Spanakopita
Greek Spanakopita or Spinach Phyllodough Pie is what I’m cooking today. This crispy phyllo dough pie is one of my favorites ever, and since I have grown up in a Greek home, I’ve also grown up with this pie since I was a kid. Spanakopita has crispy crust from the phyllo dough, but a moist and herb flavorous and fragrant filling. It really melts in your mouth and I really recommend you to make this vegan pie one day!
Use Greek phyllo dough
For this recipe we’re using Grek phyllo dough. In Greece they use two different kinds of doughs for their pies and the phyllo dough is probably the one that is most known. We are not going to do the phyllo dough by ourselves, it’s way too much work and even in Greece most people, restaurants and even bakeries buy their phyllo dough pre-made. That is what we are doing for this recipe too and that is the reason why it’s actually quite simple to make this recipe.
There are many different way you can assemble a spanakopita…
Spanakopita can be found in all kinds of various shapes; in a circle, squares, triangles, bites, a big square or twisted. In this post I have simply made it in a big, round oven pan, but if you want to make small, triangle shaped spakapitakia, you can check out this post (or this reel if you prefer that) to get photos on how to assemble the small pies .
Frozen spinach is fine
In Greece we rarely use frozen spinach. Not because there’s a big difference in taste but mostly because the quality is so high in fresh spinach and it most often is even cheaper than frozen spinach anyway. In Sweden however, where I am today making this recipe and writing this post, spinach is kind of expensive and that is the reason why I want to show you how to make this recipe with frozen spinach and STILL get an amazing result!
Spanakopita with feta cheese?
If you’re looking for another spanakopita recipe but with feta cheese included, you can check out this one. Just be sure you use a heat resistant vegan feta cheese, meaning one that doesn’t melt into coconut oil when being heated. It’s important to keep some of the feta cheese pieces left.
THIS RECIPE IS:
Authentic Greek Recipe
Vegan
Nut Free
Very crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside
Perfect for festive occasions like parties and birthdays, but also for picnics, as a snack, as breakfast or even just as a side to a bigger meal. In Greece we eat spanakopita for all kinds of occasions!
Greek Spinach and Feta Cheese Pies
approx 15-20 pieces
INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, red and/or white doesn’t matter
1 leek, white part only
1 garlic clove, pressed
600 g frozen spinach, thawed and drained
4 tbsp fresh chopped dil or 40 g frozen dill
1 tbsp lemon juice, can be excluded
Salt and a little bit of black pepper
1 package of phyllo dough
Plenty of olive oil or a combination of butter and olive oil
HOW TO MAKE:
Finely chop the white part of the leek and the onion. Heat up a frying pan and saute the onions soft with some olive oil. Add the garlic.
If the spinach is in big pieces be sure you cut it into smaller pieces. Then add the spinach, dil and lemon juice to the frying pan and combine everything together.
Cook the filling on low heat for some extra minutes (5-10’) until the water has been absorbed.
Add salt (approx 0.5-1 tsp) and some black pepper after taste.
Heat oven to 200 degrees C (390 F) and line two baking sheets.
Check out this post to get photos on how to assemble small pies or this reel if you prefer that.
Lightly oil a baking pan. I used a round but a square one works too, approx 20 cm in diameter (20x20).
Lay one sheet of phyllo dough into the pan. Brush on some olive oil onto the sheet and place another sheet on top of it so that they glue together. Repeat this step with another 2 sheets. The sheets will overlap the pan.
Spread out the filling onto the pan and fold the overhanging phyllo dough over the filling.
Place another cut sheet onto the filling so that it’s covered. Brush on some oil and keep doing this with another sheets.
Place the pie in the oven and bake for approx 30’-40, or until golden brown.
Cut into squares and serve either warm (straight from the oven) or cold.