Directions
Spanakopita is one of the most recognisable dishes of Greek cooking, but reducing it to “spinach and feta wrapped in phyllo” misses most of what makes a good one distinctive. The filling should be green, aromatic and relatively dry rather than dominated by cheese; the phyllo must remain crisp on the base as well as on top; and olive oil should separate the layers without saturating them.
There is no convincing evidence that the modern spanakopita, in its present form, can be traced directly to classical Greece. What can be documented much more safely is the very old Greek tradition of savoury pies — pites — made from grain doughs and filled according to season, geography and household economy. This culture became particularly important in the mountainous regions of mainland Greece. In Epirus, pies historically served both as everyday meals and festive dishes, filled with greens, cheese, leeks, cabbage, meat and virtually anything a farming household had available. The official Greek tourism authority still describes pies as one of the defining elements of Epirote cuisine.
That context is more useful than trying to assign spanakopita a fictitious ancient birth date. Greek hortopita, or greens pie, belongs to a much broader family in which cultivated spinach can be mixed with wild greens, herbs and cheese. In rural Epirus, related preparations such as batsaria combine spinach, nettles or other seasonal greens with feta or goat cheese and maize flour, illustrating how strongly pies were historically connected with agricultural self-sufficiency and whatever grew locally.
Modern spanakopita generally means a pie made with spinach, feta, spring onions and aromatic herbs enclosed in phyllo. Dill is particularly common; parsley, mint, chervil and other greens may enter according to region and household. Some recipes add egg to bind the filling, while others rely entirely on the spinach and cheese. It may be baked as one large pie and cut into portions or folded into individual triangles known as spanakopitakia.
The recipe below is designed as a large traditional-style family pie for 8 people, using commercial phyllo for reliability but treating it as a Greek cook would: plenty of olive oil, a dry filling and enough layers to produce real crunch.
The Basics
Servings: 8
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Resting/draining time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 50–55 minutes
Total time: about 2 hours
Difficulty: Medium
Pan: approximately 30 × 22 cm
Oven: 190°C conventional / 175–180°C fan
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 kg fresh spinach
- 300 g Greek Feta PDO
- 5 spring onions
- 1 medium onion
- 25 g fresh dill
- 15 g flat-leaf parsley
- 8–10 fresh mint leaves
- 2 large eggs
- 40 ml extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- salt, only if necessary
For the phyllo
- 1 package phyllo pastry, approximately 450–500 g
- 100–120 ml extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
The Most Important Ingredient: Spinach
Fresh mature spinach gives a better result than baby spinach. It has more flavour, firmer leaves and considerably less of the soft, almost watery texture that baby leaves develop after cooking.
One kilogram may look excessive when raw, but spinach loses most of its volume as soon as salt and heat begin breaking down its cell structure.
Frozen spinach can be used, but it must be thawed completely and squeezed extremely well. For this recipe, use approximately 600–650 g frozen leaf spinach after thawing.
The crucial point is moisture. Wet spinach is the principal cause of soggy spanakopita.
What Feta Should You Use?
Use genuine Greek Feta PDO, preferably made primarily from sheep’s milk with a proportion of goat’s milk.
Feta provides more than salt. Its acidity and slightly granular structure keep the filling lively against the sweet cooked spinach and olive oil.
Avoid replacing all the feta with a soft, mild “Greek-style” white cheese. The filling becomes creamy but loses definition.
You can reduce the feta to 250 g for a greener, more herb-driven pie, or increase it to around 350 g if you prefer a richer filling. Beyond that, the dish begins tasting more like a cheese pie with spinach.
How to Prepare the Spinach Correctly
Wash the spinach carefully, particularly if using mature leaves, because soil often remains around the stems.
Remove only the toughest ends. Tender stems can stay: they add texture and flavour.
Roughly chop the leaves and place them in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with a small pinch of salt and massage them with your hands for 2–3 minutes.
The spinach will rapidly collapse and begin releasing water.
Leave it for 20 minutes, then transfer it to a clean kitchen towel or several layers of muslin and squeeze very firmly.
You should remove considerably more liquid than seems necessary.
This method has an advantage over boiling: the spinach retains more flavour and does not absorb additional water.
Preparing the Filling
Finely slice the spring onions and onion.
Heat 40 ml olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until soft but not browned.
Add the spring onions and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the drained spinach and cook for approximately 4–5 minutes, stirring frequently. The objective is not to stew the greens but to evaporate remaining moisture.
Transfer everything to a large bowl and allow it to cool completely.
This cooling stage matters. If hot spinach is mixed immediately with feta and eggs, the cheese begins melting and the egg may partially coagulate.
Chop the dill, parsley and mint and add them to the cooled spinach.
Crumble in the feta by hand. Do not pulverise it: small irregular pieces create a better texture than a completely homogeneous filling.
Add the eggs, nutmeg and black pepper and mix gently.
Taste before adding salt. Feta can contain enough salt to season the entire filling by itself.
Why Eggs Are Optional — and Why I Use Them Here
Greek spanakopita recipes are not unanimous about eggs.
Egg binds the filling, making slices easier to cut and helping the spinach, herbs and feta remain together. A pie without egg is slightly looser and more vegetable-driven.
For a large rectangular pie intended to be sliced cleanly, two eggs for 1 kg spinach provide enough cohesion without turning the filling into a spinach omelette.
How to Handle Phyllo Without Breaking It
Commercial phyllo dries extremely quickly.
Thaw frozen phyllo slowly in the refrigerator overnight, then bring it close to room temperature before opening the package. Rapid thawing encourages condensation, which can cause the sheets to stick together.
Once opened, keep the unused sheets under a barely damp kitchen towel.
Do not soak every layer in oil. A light, even film is sufficient.
Traditional Greek pies may also use horiatiko phyllo, a thicker rustic pastry, or handmade sheets rather than the extremely thin commercial style familiar internationally. The thicker pastry produces a firmer, more substantial pie.
How to Assemble Spanakopita
Preheat the oven to 190°C conventional.
Brush the baking pan lightly with olive oil.
Lay in the first sheet of phyllo, allowing the excess to hang over the sides.
Brush lightly with olive oil.
Repeat with another 5–6 sheets, rotating their orientation slightly so the pastry eventually covers every side of the pan.
Do not compress the layers. Tiny pockets of air help produce the characteristic flaky texture.
Spread the spinach filling evenly across the base.
Do not press it down aggressively.
Cover with another 5–6 sheets, brushing each lightly with olive oil.
Fold the overhanging bottom layers inward and tuck the top sheets around the filling to create a sealed edge.
Brush the surface with a final thin layer of olive oil.
Score the Pie Before Baking
Using a very sharp knife, score the top layers into 8 or 12 portions without cutting completely through the bottom pastry.
This is much easier than trying to cut fully crisp phyllo after baking.
Scoring also gives steam controlled places to escape and reduces random cracking.
Sprinkle a few drops of water across the surface with your fingertips. This old practical trick helps prevent the uppermost phyllo from curling and burning before the layers underneath are properly baked.
Baking
Bake on a rack slightly below the centre of the oven for 50–55 minutes.
The spanakopita is ready when:
- the surface is deeply golden rather than pale yellow
- the edges are visibly crisp
- the bottom feels firm
- no liquid bubbles around the filling
- the centre is hot throughout
If the top browns too quickly after 35–40 minutes, cover it loosely with aluminium foil.
Do not remove the pie when the pastry first becomes golden. The base needs enough time to dry and crisp.
Rest for at Least 20 Minutes
Fresh from the oven, the filling is extremely hot and comparatively loose.
Allow the spanakopita to stand for 20–30 minutes before cutting through the scored portions.
During this time, steam escapes, the filling settles and the base becomes easier to remove cleanly.
Spanakopita is excellent warm, but it does not need to be piping hot. In Greece, pies are commonly eaten warm or at room temperature, which makes them particularly practical for lunches, picnics and mezze tables.
What Should Proper Spanakopita Taste Like?
The first impression should be spinach and herbs, not feta.
Dill provides the most characteristic perfume, spring onion gives sweetness and freshness, and feta contributes salt and acidity.
The phyllo should provide a strong textural contrast: brittle and flaky above, crisp underneath, with softer layers immediately around the filling.
A well-made spanakopita should never have:
- a watery centre
- a greasy base
- thick slabs of feta dominating every bite
- raw onion flavour
- leathery phyllo
- an excessively salty finish
Can You Add Other Greens?
Absolutely, and historically this is entirely consistent with Greek pie culture.
Replacing part of the spinach with chard, sorrel, leeks, nettles or edible wild greens moves the recipe towards hortopita, one of Greece’s great families of green pies.
In regions such as Epirus, mixtures of cultivated and wild greens have long been central to pie-making, reflecting seasonality and household agriculture rather than adherence to one immutable recipe.
For a 1 kg total green weight, a good variation is:
700 g spinach
150 g chard
100 g leeks
50 g mixed herbs or wild greens
Can You Make Spanakopita Without Feta?
Yes.
A greens-only pie is closer to hortopita and may be particularly appropriate during Greek Orthodox fasting periods when animal products are avoided.
Increase the herbs and spring onions, use good olive oil and consider adding leeks for additional sweetness and body.
The result is not inferior; it is simply a different member of the Greek pie tradition.
Can You Make Spanakopita with Homemade Phyllo?
Yes, and the result is significantly different.
Traditional homemade or horiatiko phyllo is thicker and more rustic than supermarket filo. It produces fewer paper-thin flakes but greater structure, chew and grain flavour.
A typical dough contains flour, water, olive oil, salt and often a little vinegar, which helps make the dough easier to stretch and contributes to crispness. Contemporary Greek recipes for handmade village-style spanakopita frequently divide the dough into several sheets and roll each individually.
For a first attempt, however, good commercial phyllo produces a more predictable result.
The Five Most Common Spanakopita Mistakes
1. Leaving too much water in the spinach
This is the most serious problem. Spinach releases additional liquid while baking, so it must seem almost excessively dry before entering the pie.
2. Adding the filling while it is hot
Heat softens the pastry before baking and can partially cook the eggs.
3. Using too much oil
Every sheet needs only a light coating. Pools of oil create greasy rather than flaky pastry.
4. Using too much feta
Spanakopita is fundamentally a greens pie. Feta should sharpen the filling, not replace it.
5. Cutting immediately after baking
Resting stabilises the filling and preserves the layers.
How to Reheat Spanakopita
Use the oven, not the microwave.
Heat slices at 180°C for 10–15 minutes.
A microwave warms the filling effectively but converts crisp phyllo into soft pastry within seconds.
An air fryer also performs well for individual portions: approximately 170°C for 5–7 minutes, depending on thickness.
How Long Does Spanakopita Keep?
Cooked spanakopita keeps in the refrigerator for approximately 3 days in an airtight container.
Allow it to cool completely before covering it. Trapping steam while still warm softens the pastry.
It can also be frozen.
For best results, freeze the assembled but unbaked pie, tightly wrapped. Bake directly from frozen, adding roughly 15–20 minutes to the cooking time and monitoring the colour.
Cooked slices can also be frozen, although the reheated phyllo will not be quite as delicate.
Nutritional Values
Approximate nutritional values for this recipe, calculated per 100 g of finished spanakopita:
- Energy: approximately 215 kcal
- Protein: 7.5 g
- Fat: 13.5 g
- Saturated fat: 4.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fibre: 2.1 g
- Sugars: 1.8 g
- Salt: approximately 1.1 g
A generous portion of approximately 220–250 g provides roughly 470–540 kcal.
Actual values change substantially according to the feta, quantity of olive oil absorbed and type of phyllo.
What to Serve with Spanakopita
Spanakopita can be a complete light meal rather than merely an appetiser.
Serve it with:
- Greek tomato and cucumber salad
- olives
- roasted peppers
- strained Greek yogurt
- lemon-dressed seasonal greens
For a mezze table, cut it into smaller squares and combine it with dolmades, tzatziki, roasted vegetables and olives.
Wine Pairings
We choose a savory and fresh wine, rich in flowers and aromatic herbs. The Chardonnay from the Cobelli winery, elegant and well-modulated between freshness and minerality, is the perfect wine for this exquisite Greek dish.
If you want a matching cocktail, Negroni Sbagliato is the answer.
