My mom’s side of the family is Greek, and growing up, we lived in the same town as my grandparents. And no, not next door like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We did get to see them often, though, and I did get a chance to learn some Greek traditions, attend some services at the Greek Orthodox church, and learn how to cook some traditional Greek dishes. This also means that most of the dishes I learned how to make, I make from memory or sight, add a handful of this, a little of this, a little of that, until it looks right. However, I have measured out the way I make spanakopita to my taste, and when I got all the spinach from Bountiful Baskets over the last 2 weeks, I knew I wanted to make this to be able to share how I make it since I get asked a lot. So, here we go!
Spanakopita
1 roll phyllo dough (You can find this in your grocery’s freezer section with the pies and baked goods)
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
Filling for spanakopita:
2 lb fresh spinach, chopped, or 3-10oz pkgs frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 lb feta cheese, crumbled
4 eggs
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp dried dill weed
How to put it together:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Combine the ingredients for the filling and set aside. Brush bottom and sides of 12″ X 18″ jelly roll pan with melted butter. Lay phyllo dough in bottom of pan, and brush completely with butter. (Note: Depending on the size of your pan and the size of dough you find, you may need multiple pieces of phyllo dough to cover the bottom of the pan) Repeat the process of laying dough and buttering to create 5-6 layers of dough. Pour filling over phyllo dough and spread evenly.
Spreading the filling on the phyllo dough
Place a layer of phyllo dough over the filling, again, brushing it completely with butter. Repeat the process of laying dough and buttering until you have 3-4 layers.
Score through top layers of the pastry with a sharp knife. I cut mine in straight lines to make squares, then add diagonal cuts to make triangles. Pour remaining butter over.
Bake for 1 hour or until pastry is golden brown (see picture at top). Remove to rack and cool for 5 minutes. Cut and serve!
You can find the cheese version of this, Tiropita, in this post.
My Gems of Parenting 
Girl I love your family’s recipe for Spanakopita! Steve makes it sooooo good…I think we’ve successfully converted half of Peoria to Greek food lovers! 🙂 Can you post your recipe for Dolmades too? We have the old recipes for Spanakopita and Tiropita but last Christmas when you made the Dolmades I fell in love with them and I really want to try making them soon.
Miss you guys! Hope everything is going well!
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Steve was always my butter helper making it at home, I’m glad that he’s picked up how to make it! I should have added how to do Tiropita with this post, I will have to get out the recipe and add it in. Mmmmm, dolmathes, it has been a while since I have made those. Next trip to the grocery store I will pick up the ingredients to make them so I can take pictures of the process for a post. Hopefully, I’ll get it up sometime this week!
Miss you too! I hope we get to come visit in December, that’s the plan for now anyway. Maybe then we can cook up a Greek feast!
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