The Stove

The Best Spanakopita Pie

Spanakopita pie is a popular Greek recipe made with creamy spinach and feta stuffing nestled in between filo layers.

By Food DeskGreece5 min read

Ingredients · Servings 8

20 ounces of fresh spinach (prior to removing the stems)
6 ounces feta cheese
½ cup greek yogurt (optional)
3 scallion green onions
3 springs of fresh dill (2 tbsp fresh chopped dill or 2 tsp dried dill)
2 garlic cloves
1 egg
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese (optional)
6 tbsp melted butter (Kerrygold)
16 ounces package of filo pastry sheets #4 ( ** see notes)
1 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
1 tsp black pepper
salt to taste

Method · 40 min

Cut the stems from the spinach leaves. Roughly chop the spinach. Wash the spinach 3 times to make sure all of the sand and dirt have been removed. Strain the spinach.
In a large nonstick pan on medium heat, add the roughly chopped spinach and cover with a lid. Once the spinach has wilted and the water has separated from the spinach (about 3 to 5 minutes), remove the spinach and drain.
Allow the spinach to cool. Finely chop the spinach. The spinach will be a lot smaller once it has cooked. This is completely normal.
Peel and finely mince the garlic. Chop the green onion and the dill.
Mix the greek yogurt, feta cheese, chopped spinach, chopped green onion, minced garlic, chopped dill, egg, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and salt. Set aside.
Unwrap the thawed filo sheets. Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Very delicately, handle the filo sheets one at a time. Layer a filo sheet on the pie dish. Using a brush spread the melted butter. Don't add too much butter to make the filo sheet soggy, just a thin layer.
Add another filo sheet slightly rotated (the filo sheets are not square so we need to rotate them so the filo will wrap evenly). Spread more butter. Continue to do this for about 7 to 10 filo sheets. If you want more filo crust, use 10 sheets total. If you want less filo crust, use 7 sheets total. The sheets will wrap up over the spinach and feta filling to create a top layer.
Add the spinach and feta filling.
Wrap the filo sheets on top of the spinach and feta filling one at a time. It's not necessary to add more butter at this step. On the last few sheets, sprinkle a little bit of parmesan (or alternatively, add the parmesan on the top at the end).
Cook the spanakopita pie for 20 to 25 minutes at 375 ℉ (190 ℃) using convection bake or at 400 ℉ (205 ℃) using regular bake.
Cut and enjoy!

This is the best spanakopita recipe using fresh spinach, dill, feta cheese, garlic, and flaky buttery filo dough. It's easy, delicious, and relatively quick to put together.

This recipe has some modifications from a traditional Greek version with the use of nutmeg, yogurt, and some parmesan.

Ingredient Notes

Fresh spinach. I recommend using fresh spinach, specifically full-grown spinach leaves for this recipe if possible. Fresh baby spinach is an acceptable substitute. I haven't tried using frozen spinach for this recipe, so I'm not sure how it will turn out. If you use frozen spinach, make sure to drain the excess liquid.
Filo dough sheets: For this particular recipe I used the filo dough sheets (#4) from The Filo Factory. Any type of frozen or fresh filo dough will work for this recipe. Filo is very hard to work with if it's dried out. Make sure to thaw the filo from the freezer to the fridge the night before. If the filo dough sits in the fridge for more than 2 days, it often gets dried out and is difficult to use. Filo, also spelled fillo and phyllo, are a thin pastry sheet used in Mediterranean cooking from fried cheese sambousek to pecan baklava.

How To Make Spanakopita From Scratch

On a cutting board, cut off the spinach stems. Wash the spinach to remove the sand and dirt completely.

Roughly chop the spinach. Add the spinach to a nonstick pan.

Cook on medium heat covered for about 3 to 4 minutes or until the water has fully sweated out. Drain the liquid from the spinach and chop it again after it's cooked.

Cool the spinach to room temperature (15 minutes) before adding it to the stuffing. In a bowl, mix the egg, Greek yogurt, feta cheese, chopped green onions, minced garlic, chopped fresh dill, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Using a pie dish (about 8" to 10" in diameter), add a sheet of the filo dough sheet. Spread the melted butter over the filo dough sheet. Place a second filo sheet at a rotated angle.

For every filo sheet, spread some melted butter. Continue with this process until 7 to 10 sheets have been laid.

If you would like more filo layers, add more filo sheets. For this exact recipe, I used 8 filo sheets. Add the spinach and feta filling on top of the filo layers.

Continue wrapping each filo sheet until all of the sheets have been folded over. Spread some shredded parmesan on top, if desired.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the middle of the oven at 375 ℉ (190 ℃) using convection bake or at 400 ℉ (205 ℃) using regular bake. Keep an eye on the pie because filo can burn quite easily.

Recipe Tips

Soft pliable filo dough. Filo dough tends to dry out pretty easily, so it's imperative to not leave it uncovered. If using frozen filo dough, thaw the dough in the fridge a day ahead of time. Do not keep the filo dough in the fridge for more than 2 days (if using originally frozen filo dough). Cover the filo dough with a damp towel while assembling the spinach pie.
Just enough butter on the filo sheets. If you add too much butter to the filo sheets, they begin to stick together making the layers difficult to individually wrap up over the spinach filling. I spread about 1 spoonful of melted butter all over the filo sheet. Each filo sheet needs some butter.
Use fresh spinach. Fresh is better than frozen for this spanakopita stuffing. Baby spinach leaves are a suitable substitute.
Use fresh dill. Use fresh dill if available.
Remove the liquid from the spinach. The key to crispy filo layers is removing the liquid from the spinach, which is why the spinach is cooked first prior to making the spanakopita stuffing. Use a paper towel to squeeze out the extra moisture once the spinach has cooked and cooled.

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