Spinach pie is our family’s take on a classic, savory Greek pie. A spinach filling is seasoned with caramelized onion and melted butter, wrapped up in puff pastry. Perfect as your main dish 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.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Fermented grains – The traditional Greek spinach pie recipe is called spanakopita, and it is made with sheets of phyllo dough. For my take on this authentic recipe, I use my sourdough puff pastry in place of phyllo sheets which ferments for a minimum of 8 hours, adding the delicious benefits of fermentation to this dish. Of course, this is optional!
Nutrient rich veggies – Spinach is jam-packed into this delicious spinach pie, along with fragrant garlic and onions. It is a great recipe to pack in some nutritious veggies.
Family-friendly – While spinach may not immediately strike you as a family favorite, the way this main ingredient is cooked up in this dish has won over my pickiest eaters.
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 cheese, 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
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
- 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.
Can this be made dairy free without the cheeses?
Hi Lisa, my friend and I learned to make sourdough bread with your instructions and recipes.
We enjoyed it a lot and continue to do so.
I like many of the recipes you send, but I have a problem with some of them because I’m lactose intolerant.
Your recipes are so delicious because of the cream, butter, and cheeses, so I have to forgo them.
I know that sometimes there aren’t any substitutes, but perhaps in some cases, some ingredients can be substituted or omitted.
Lactose intolerance is a common problem for many people.
Thank you for the recipes you send.
Happy Mother’s Day!