Spinach Pie is our family’s take on a classic, savory Greek pie. Served piping hot, a velvety spinach filling is seasoned with caramelized yellow onion and melted butter, wrapped up in puff pastry. Perfect as your main course or a show-stopping side dish.
I love a rustic, easy recipe, especially when I can take basic ingredients and elevate them with delicious cheeses and lots of fresh herbs.
We’ve made spinach pie as simple as garlic, salt, and pepper, but we also don’t hesitate to toss in sprigs of herbs like fresh parsley, dill, and basil, some savory sautéed mushrooms and crispy heaps of golden brown bacon.
This dish is delicious served with a fresh garden salad dressed in homemade ranch. In the colder months, we might pair it with a whole, roasted chicken, or even on its own with crispy potatoes drizzled with lemon juice.
Simple, rustic, and nourishing are key.
We’re working with everyday pantry staples, yielding a final result that is nutritious, comforting, and purely delicious.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Fermented grains – The traditional Greek spinach pie is called spanakopita, and it is made with sheets of phyllo dough. For our version, I use my sourdough puff pastry which ferments for a minimum of 8 hours, adding the delicious benefits of fermentation to this dish. This is totally optional, and you can use store-bought puff pastry as well for a faster, less time consuming recipe.
Nutrient rich veggies: Spinach is jam-packed into this delicious spinach pie, along with fragrant garlic and onions. It is a great way to pack in some nutritious veggies.
Family-friendly: While spinach doesn’t immediately strike you as a family favorite, the way this main ingredient is cooked up in this dish has won over my pickiest eaters. Butter, cheese, and flaky crust go a long way in making this cooked spinach a family-friendly option.
Ingredients
Puff Pastry: while you can make your own puff pastry, you can also use store-bought.
Salted butter: unsalted butter will also work, you just may need add more salt to the finished dish.
Gruyere cheese: This could also be substituted for feta, cheddar, or mozzarella.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You May Need
- Stand mixer and dough hook (if making puff pastry from scratch)
- Rolling pin
- Pastry brush
- 9×13 Casserole dish or deep pie dish
How to Make Spinach Pie
Step 1: Create puff pastry dough if making it from scratch.
Step 2: Thoroughly remove excess moisture from thawed spinach. Personally, I’ve found the best way to be lining a colander with a tea towel, adding the spinach, and wringing the excess water out by hand.
Step 3: In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and sauté onions until translucent. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Remove from heat.
Step 4: In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and add cheeses, salt, and pepper.
Step 5: Add strained spinach, sautéed onions, and garlic. Stir to combine.
Step 6: Lightly grease your baking dish. Divide pastry dough into two parts, rolling the bottom piece out large enough to fit the bottom and sides of your baking dish.
Step 7: Fill with spinach mixture.
Step 8: Roll out second pastry crust to top the dish.
Step 9: Seal the edges with a fork, then cut a few slits in the top.
Step 10: Brush with egg wash and bake for approximately 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, until the top layer of pastry is golden brown and bubbles appear. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes to set. Enjoy!
Tips
- Prepare your sourdough puff pastry ahead of time. You can even freeze it up to 4 months, just let it thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before creating this recipe. You could also thaw at room temperature, but you don’t want the puff pastry to get too warm.
- Work quickly to keep your dough cold. If your dough starts to warm up, the butter layers will melt into the dough, and it’s these cool, buttery layers that accomplish the flakiness of this pastry.
- This recipe calls for a lot of spinach, which is why I like to use frozen. Fresh spinach is wonderful, but reduces significantly when cooked, meaning you would need lots and lots for this dish.
Recipe FAQs
No, they are actually quite different. Phyllo dough has a lower fat content, and results in a crinkly, crispy texture when baked. Puff pastry tastes and feels much more like a typical pie crust when baked, with its flaky texture attributed to the layers of butter rolled and folded into the dough.
Sure! Assemble the puff pastry and spinach mixture in your baking dish, cover, and refrigerate up to a day before. Much longer may contribute to a soggy crust. You may need to add a few minutes to the overall bake time for a fully refrigerated dish.
This easy spinach pie is not only decadent and delicious, but also a healthy dish! It is made from scratch using whole, nourishing ingredients. It also has vitamins, fiber, iron, folate, and potassium from the spinach
More Delicious Recipes from the Farmhouse
- Danish Sourdough Pastries Recipe
- Best Biscuit Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
- Sourdough Pie Crust
- Homemade Brioche Donuts with Vanilla Custard Filling
- Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe From Scratch
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
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Homemade Spinach Pie Recipe With Puff Pastry
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer with dough hook if making puff pastry from scratch
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 1 sourdough puff pastry, or package of store-bought puff pastry
- 20 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Egg wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Create puff pastry dough if making it from scratch.
- Thoroughly remove excess liquid from thawed spinach. Personally, I've found the best way to be lining a colander with a tea towel, adding the spinach, and wringing the excess water out by hand.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and saute onion until translucent. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Remove from heat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and add cheeses, salt and pepper.
- Add strained spinach and stir to combine.
Assemble:
- Lightly grease your baking dish.
- Divide pastry dough into two parts, rolling the bottom piece out large enough to fit the bottom and sides of your baking dish.
- Fill with spinach mixture.
- Roll out second pastry crust to top the dish.
- Seal the edges with a fork, then cut a few slits in the top.
- Brush with egg wash.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes at 350 degrees, until the top layer of pastry is golden brown and bubbles appear.
- Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes to set. Enjoy!
Notes
- Please double check amounts when using the multiplying feature in the recipe card.
- Prepare your sourdough puff pastry ahead of time. You can even freeze it up to 4 months, just let it thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before creating this recipe. You could also thaw at room temperature, but you don’t want the puff pastry to get too warm.
- Work quickly to keep your dough cold. If your dough starts to warm up, the butter layers will melt into the dough, and it’s these cool, buttery layers that accomplish the flakiness of this pastry.
- This recipe calls for a lot of spinach, which is why I like to use frozen. Fresh spinach is wonderful, but reduces significantly when cooked, meaning you would need lots and lots for this dish.
- Thaw the frozen spinach, thoroughly squeezing out all excess liquid before mixing ingredients together.
- While baking, add a baking pan on the rack below to catch any butter or juices that might escape.
- While baking, add a baking pan on the rack below to catch any butter or juices that might escape.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Once the puff pastry is made, after the two folds, can it be frozen until ready to use it?
So I’m new to the bread making world. I want to make this dish for book club this week and I don’t have time for the sourdough starter. I would still like to make my own dough. Could I still use instant yeast? I have seen that I could add yogurt to give it that sourdough zing.
I have a few recipes on my blog that use instant yeast!
Can I make the spinach pie and put it uncooked in the freezer for 4-5 days before cooking?
Sure can.
What size baking dish?
9×13 Casserole dish or deep pie dish
I’ve never made puff pastry using sourdough starter. I don’t see the amounts of each ingredient required to make the puff pastry in this recipe.
Here is the recipe for sourdough puff pastry: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/easy-sourdough-puff-pastry
Do you add the vanilla and sugar to the puff pastry recipe when making it for this spinach dish?
Yes, I make it the same way for any recipe.