Traditional Spanakopita Recipe (with homemade phyllo)

Traditional Spanakopita with fresh spinach filling and crispy homemade phyllo. Cooked with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, it's herby, sweet, and tastes heavenly!

Greek Spanakopita is one of the best pies ever! And this is a recipe for making Authentic Spanakopita. Just like a Greek grandma!

All made from scratch, with homemade phyllo (which is much more flavorful than store-bought) and a fresh spinach filling with plenty of onions and fresh herbs.

Table Of Contents

• Spanakopita vs Spanakotiropita
• Spanakopita Ingredients
• Other Ingredients
• Using Frozen Spinach
• Spanakopita Layers
• Homemade Phyllo Dough
• Making The Filling
• Rolling Phyllo
• Make Ahead
• Storing
• Serve With
• Recipe

Spanakopita vs Spanakotiropita

Spanakopita or Greek Spinach Pie is actually a Vegan recipe. Which means it doesn't have feta cheese in it. If you add feta cheese to it, it's called Spanakotiropita (Spinach and Cheese Pie).

Feta goes so well with the sweet spinach, adding a nice sharp savory flavor contrast. But it kind of masks some of the fresh and clean herby flavors of this pie. My advice? Try it both ways, with and without feta. And see what you like best. Feta cheese is mentioned as an optional ingredient in the recipe below.

Spanakopita Ingredients

The ingredients to make Spanakopita filling are:

• Spinach: Fresh spinach is best. Wash well and finely chop the stems, they add a nice texture and extra flavor to the filling. If you want to use frozen spinach, see instructions below. You may also use a mixture of spinach and Swiss chard, as often done in Greece (for example, use 500 grams fresh spinach and 200 grams chard).
• Onions: Red onion and Spring onions sautéed to add a delicious sweetness!
• Leek
• Fresh Herbs: Dill or fennel Greens (wild fennel greens are even better if you can find them), and fresh Spearmint (mint can be too strong, so use less if using that). If you don't like Spearmint or mint, you can skip it altogether and use a subtler herb like parsley or even sweet holy Basil (which is not in the traditional Spanakopita recipe but goes well).
• Coarse Sea Salt: To rub and drain the spinach.
• Optional: Feta Cheese

Ingredients for the homemade Phyllo dough:

• All-purpose flour
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Red wine vinegar: white wine and apple cider vinegar work as well
• Sea salt
• Water
• Cornstarch: mixed with flour to roll open the phyllo. With cornstarch, the phyllo rolls more easily and becomes crispier when baked.

Other Ingredients

There are so many recipes to make a Greek Spinach pie. It's a favourite old-fashioned food cooked all over Greece. Many areas have their own variations, adding extra ingredients such as Trahana, egg, or rice in the filling (to thicken it).

Also, garlic is added to many recipes. Personally, the only garlic I add to a pie like this one is fresh Spring garlic. Otherwise, I find the flavor of garlic too strong for this pie.

Using Frozen Spinach

If you want to use frozen spinach instead of fresh, substitute the 700 grams (1.5 pounds) of fresh spinach with 500 grams (1 pound) frozen spinach. Let thaw and then squeeze to drain excess water.

Spanakopita Layers

An Authentic Spanakopita has various layers of phyllo and spinach filling. In this recipe, there are 3 layers of filling with phyllo layers in between.

This is done so the pie won't become soggy at the bottom (which can happen if you add all the filling in a single layer in the center). Moreover, the various layers give a nice crunchy texture overall, since the middle phyllos, the ones in between the filling layers, absorb the moisture from the spinach.

Homemade Phyllo Dough

To make homemade phyllo for Spanakopita, simply mix all of the ingredients for the dough (flour, water, vinegar, salt, olive oil) in a bowl, and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough will look shaggy and feel moist, but without leaving fragments on your hands.

Then rest the dough for at least 30 minutes before making the phyllo.

Homemade Phyllo Dough TIPS:

1. Kneading. The more you knead the dough, the stretchier it will become. Therefore, easier to roll open into a phyllo.
2. Resting time is important because it allows time for gluten to develop, which makes the dough elastic and stretchy. And it is what we need when making phyllo. It will be less likely to tear this way.
3. Cover. Don't let the dough dry. Always cover with plastic wrap or with a dampened tea towel.

PRO TIP: If you make the dough the day before and refrigerate overnight, it will be super stretchy and easy to roll.

Making The Filling

You can make a Spanakopita filling in two ways. One is to cook and drain the spinach, and the other (old-fashioned way) is to rub the spinach with some coarse salt and then squeeze it to drain it.

I prefer method number two because I always go for the traditional way. Also, because I don’t like overcooking greens, they lose their flavour and nutrition.

So to make a filling for Spanakopita, wash the spinach and let it drain in a strainer. Chop the leaves and finely chop the stems. Pay extra attention to them, and make sure they’re free from any dirt.

Add the chopped spinach to a large bowl and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Then rub and massage it very well until its volume decreases by half. Stand for 30 minutes, then drain out most of its water by squeezing it in your fists.

Next, saute onions, spring onions, and leeks in olive oil until soft. Or spend a few extra minutes and turn them nice and golden, almost caramelize them (this really adds extra flavour to the filling). Let them cool and mix together with the drained spinach, fresh herbs, freshly ground pepper, and a small amount of olive oil. And there the filling for Spanakopita is ready!

Rolling Phyllo

To make the phyllo, first cut and divide the dough into the desired number of phyllos you want to make. In this case, we are making 10. We're adding 3 phyllos at the bottom, 2 phyllos in the middle, and 5 phyllos at the top.

Shape the pieces of the cut dough into round balls and then roll out into 10 cm (4-inch) round disks. Then set aside in a floured pan to rest. This makes it easier to roll open into a bigger phyllo afterwards.

After the resting time, roll out into bigger phyllos. The bottom 3 phyllos should be big enough to cover the bottom surface and height of the pan. Hold the pan over the rolled phyllo to see if it's big enough.

Make sure to roll toward every direction to give phyllo a round shape. Also, flour the surface and the top of the dough very well, so it won't stick. Flip the phyllo often by rolling it around the rolling pin.

Assemble The Pie

First of all, make sure you brush the bottom and walls of the pan with a generous amount of olive oil. Roll the phyllo around the rolling pin and unroll over the pan, gently pressing to fit in, allowing the edges to cover the pan in height. Add two more phyllo and then add ⅓ of the filling. Add a smaller phyllo one that fits inside the pan.

Add another ⅓ of the filling and top with another phyllo. Lastly, add the remaining filling and top with 5 more phyllos. Ruffle the top phyllo layers to make it crispier.

Tuck in the edges to create a pie ending, trimming off any excess phyllo. Cut and divide the pie into pieces without cutting the bottom phyllo. Bake!

Make Ahead

You can make both the dough and the filling a day ahead, and roll the phyllo and assemble the pie on the next day. The dough keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Also, the filling can be made and then frozen for later use. Furthermore, you can make the Spanakopita and place it in the freezer to bake it within 1-2 months.

Storing

I always keep Spanakopita at room temperature for up to 3 days. Although there are rarely any leftovers by day 3. There's no need to store it in the fridge. Unless you make it during the summer, and room temperature is too high.

Serve With

Greek Spinach Pie goes best with a Greek cheese side dish such as Tirokafteri (Spicy Whipped Feta Dip) or Baked Feta Dip (Bouyourdi).

Or a healthy side salad like this Simple Beetroot Salad, Marinated Tomato Salad, or this Raw Beetroot Salad Dip With Greek Yogurt.

Recipe