Authentic Spanakopita Recipe - Greek Spinach and Feta Pie - Olive Tomato (2024)

How to make an Authentic Spanakopita Recipe

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 Celsius).
• Heat up a medium-sized pan with one tablespoon of olive oil.
• Start by sautéing the onions until they become soft and translucent.
• Now, add the spinach to the pan, making sure to squeeze out any excess water from it.
• Continue to sauté the spinach along with the onions for a few more minutes. Sprinkle in the herbs, nutmeg, and sugar, and sauté everything together for another 2-3 minutes. Then, set this mixture aside and let it cool.
• Grate half of the feta cheese, and crumble the remaining half.
• In a small bowl, beat an egg and then mix it with the crumbled feta.
• Combine the egg and feta mixture with the sautéed spinach mixture. Also, add the other tablespoon of olive oil and make sure everything is well mixed.
• Take a pan that’s about 10 x 15 inches and brush it with olive oil. Place a sheet of phyllo dough in the pan and brush it with more olive oil. Repeat this step with 5 more phyllo sheets.
• Spread the spinach mixture evenly over the phyllo sheets. Cover the spinach with 6 more phyllo sheets, brushing each one with olive oil. You can either trim the excess phyllo hanging over the pan or roll it in.
• Use a knife to score the top of the phyllo (don’t cut all the way through, just through the top phyllo sheets) to create about 10-12 pieces.
• Bake the dish in the preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes or until the phyllo turns golden brown. Once done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool. Then, cut it into pieces.
• You can enjoy this dish at room temperature, or if you prefer the phyllo to be crunchy, you can warm it in the oven before serving.

Tips for Making the Very Best Authentic Spanakopita

This is a tried and true recipe and works every time. It is easy but you need to remember some key points shared by both my mom and dad:

• The filling is not supposed to be salty but rather mild and almost sweet. The addition of soft sautéed onions (sometimes leek) and sugar provide that sweetness.
• Do not add garlic. I know you want to, after all spinach and garlic are often cooked together, but again the idea is to have a somewhat sweet filling, garlic is an “intruder” in this particular recipe.
• Be careful with the ratio of filling and phyllo. I often see photos of spankopita that has a real thick layer of filling, but when you are using the thin phyllo you have to make sure it can hold the filling. In addition, you want to make sure that every bite has the right amount of filling in relation to the phyllo, not too much and not too little. If you want a thicker filling than you will have to use a thicker phyllo (here is a recipe for that).
• Do not expect pites (pies) made with this phyllo to be neat, they are messy. This phyllo is tasty and crunchy but it will break, that is why it is important to score the pie before baking, so that you can get a cleaner cut.

Authentic Spanakopita Does NOT Contain the Following Ingredients (Beware of Imitations)

What to Serve with a Spanakopita

Vegetable pites are such a great way to eat well. Spanakopita is a complete vegetarian meal combining vegetables, starch, dairy and good fats. You really do not need anything else. Vegetables cooked with herbs wrapped in the thin phyllo provide 1-2 servings of vegetables and about 1/2 to 1 serving starch. It can easily be consumed as a meal or as a snack and in Greece we often have them for breakfast. But here are some serving suggestions:

• As a side, it is a great accompaniment to meat or fish.
• For a buffet, serve the spanakopita cut in squares on a large platter or you can make spanakopita triangles
• If serving as a main, I often accompany it with a small tomato salad, some olives and a bit of cheese. But as noted above, I often serve it as is especially for lunch.

You may also be interested in these recipes:

• Traditional Tiropita – Greek Feta Cheese Pie
• Greek Zucchini and Feta Pie – Kolokithopita
• Hortopita: Greek Spinach and Greens Pie with Herbs and Feta Cheese
• Greek Onion Pie with Feta Cheese – Kremmithopita