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These homemade Greek spanakopita triangles are a delicious appetizer bursting with flavor that can be likened to Middle Eastern spinach pies . Phyllo (filo) pastry is filled with seasoned spinach and feta cheese for a delicious vegetarian snack. You’ll be sure to impress your guests with these!
Have you ever had spanakopita before? This traditional Greek food made with spinach and feta cheese can often be found in a pie form, but I love making them into triangles for a delicious hand-held appetizer.
This is a bit of a labor of love, compared with buying frozen from the store, but they are so much more fresher and bursting with flavor! It’s worth the effort, I promise!
RECIPE VIDEO TUTORIAL
How to make spanakopita
Make the filling
- Soften the onions in a skillet with a little oil.
- Add the garlic and dill and cook until the onions are caramelized.
- Add the rest of the filling ingredients to the pan,
- Stir to combine to make sure the spinach is well blended with everything.
Assemble the triangles
- Lay out the pastry and cut it into long strips. Brush one layer with butter and lay a second layer of pastry on top.
- Place a tablespoon of the filling at the end of the strip.
- Fold the corner of the pastry with the filling to reach the opposite edge to form a triangle.
- Keep folding the triangle until you have wrapped the whole strip of pastry into a triangle.
Bake the triangles
- Place the spanakopita triangles onto a lined baking sheet.
- Bake until golden brown. There’s no need to butter the top and there’s no need to flip them.
Tips for making the recipe
- Always keep any phyllo pastry covered with a damp cloth or paper towel. It is also helpful to assemble the triangles on a barely damp paper towel to reduce breakage. Don’t get the cloth or paper towel too wet, just barely damp otherwise it will stick to the pastry.
- Substitute fresh spinach instead of frozen if you’d like . You’ll need about 16 ounces and add it to the pan during the last 5 minutes of cooking the onions. Allow them to wilt completely and cook off any moisture released before removing from the heat. And make sure to cool for at least 10 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients or the feta cheese will melt.
- Work like an assembly line. Instead of preparing one from start to finish, I think it’s faster to lay out 3-4 at once, brush the butter all at once, fill all at once and then roll up all at once. It makes it go by faster.
- Don’t over fill the phyllo pastry. When you make the first fold, make sure that the filling is well enclosed inside the first triangle and remove the extra if needed.
- Use cream cheese in the mixture to improve the texture of the stuffing. I got this tip from one of my Greek followers on Instagram telling me it’s her family’s secret tip to make the spread more creamy and more easily spreadable. She recommends adding it before adding the feta cheese.
Frequently asked questions
Once baked, I don’t recommend freezing them because after reheating, they will not retain their crispness. Instead, assemble them and freeze on a baking sheet (covered). Then they can be baked directly from frozen. It will take 10-15 minutes longer to bake from frozen.
You can make the spinach filling for the spanakopita up to 3 days ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge. You can make the triangles a day ahead of time and then bake them when you are ready to serve.
Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for a couple of days in an airtight container, and you can reheat them in the oven or in a toaster oven for a few minutes so that they crisp up again.
These spanakopita triangles are great to serve by themselves or as part of a mezze platter with dips and other goodies. Try them with:
Tzatziki Sauce
Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
Greek Salad
Lebanese Hummus
Crispy Falafel
They might seem a little intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, these spanakopita appetizers are simple to make. They are a great appetizer to serve a crowd especially during the holidays.I love you can make them a little ahead of time too!
More appetizer ideas:
- Chicken Taco Cups
- Creamy Feta Dip
- Stuffed Mushrooms
- Zucchini Fritters
- Roasted Cauliflower Bites with Tahini
- Broccoli Cheese Hand Pies
- Baked Feta With Olives Dip
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Spanakopita recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Spanakopita
Video
Ingredients
- 16 ounces frozen spinach defrosted, drained
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons dried dill
- ½ cup parsley leaves finely chopped and loosely packed
- ¼ cup green onions finely chopped, about 5 – white and light green portions
- 2 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ cup crumbled feta cheese about 6 oz
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- About 20 sheets one sleeve phyllo pastry, defrosted
Instructions
Make the filling:
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring regularly, until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes
- Add the garlic and dill. Cook with the onions, stirring frequently, until caramelized and soft, about 5 more minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
- Squeeze the defrosted spinach to drain all the water possible. You should end up with around 1 cup of spinach. Transfer to the skillet on top of the onion mixture.
- Add the parsley, green onions, lemon zest, ground pepper, feta cheese to the skillet and stir to distribute mixture evenly.
Assemble the triangles:
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- On a clean surface, roll out the phyllo pastry. Cut into 2 ½-3” wide strips lengthwise using a pizza cutter. Cover the pastry with a barely damp towel to prevent it from drying out.
- On a clean surface, layout 1 layer of phyllo pastry and brush it down with a small amount of butter using a pastry brush and very gentle motions.
- Place a second layer of pastry directly on top of the first and brush that with a small amount of butter.
- In one corner of the pastry layers, place 1 heaping tablespoon of filling mixture. Squish it into an approximate triangle that nearly reaches the edges.
- Fold the corner of the pasty with the filling over to reach the nearest opposite edge of the pastry. Then, roll the filling triangle towards the empty end of the pastry. Again, fold the triangle to the nearest opposite side. Repeat these last two steps until you reach the end of the pastry rectangle.
- Place the triangle on the prepared baking sheet and cover with a damp towel. Repeat the assembly with all the pastry sheets and filling. The triangles can be placed fairly close together on the baking sheet, about ½”.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Instead of frozen spinach, you can use 16 ounces fresh spinach. You’ll need about 16 ounces and add it to the pan during the last 5 minutes of cooking the onions. Allow them to wilt completely and cook off any moisture released before removing from the heat. And make sure to cool for at least 10 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients or the feta cheese will melt.
- Instead of green onions, you can use more red onions, or vice versa.
- Feel free to switch out the herbs per your taste.
- Make it vegan by leaving out the feta cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Hopefully I am successful. Thanks.
Good luck! I hope you love it!!
My DIL says it all 😁 copied from her Facebook post before she was even done eating! Obviously a favorite new recipe. Thanks so much!!
“My MIL just made Spanakopita & a chicken pie filling sauce on the side. And it was a religious experience.
Seriously idk what this woman put in this dish but it’s the best thing I’ve ever had in my life.
And can we just take a moment to ogle at how PERFECT her spanakopita turned out for her first time? It’s beautiful!”
I think she likes it 🥰
A fantastic recipe, easy to follow and surprisingly easy to make. I followed the recipe but did omit the lemon zest & added 2 TBS onion & chive cream cheese to compliment the spinach & enhance the texture. So, so good!!
Aww, thank you so much!! What a compliment, I’m so glad you and your DIL both enjoyed the recipe!!
I’m not sure who thought it would be a good idea to put lemon in spanakopita but it tastes gross. Also the onion is just too much, need to take that out.
Thanks for the feedback, Hadley. So sorry you didn’t like the recipe.
Made them and they were delicious I have to say .Followed the recipe and when I had some extra filling left made some flatbread pizza with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella . Delisse!!!
Yum! What a great way to use extra filling, that sounds so good!! Thanks for sharing, Joan!
The recipe turned out great! It took a little practice with the triangles and the only tweaks were adding 1/4 cup of cottage cheese and cutting the Phyllo dough in half instead of thirds.
Yes, it definitely requires practice! So glad it turned out great for you, Paul!
These came out perfectly. I was grateful for the video when first starting to roll the triangles…although being a first timer working with phyllo, a couple leaked out. Practice, practice, practice.
I mixed the the spinach with swiss chard, added ~4oz. of ricotta to the mixture, and spread ricotta on the phyllo before scooping. The lemon zest was really strong in the mixture, so adding the ricotta cut the citrus a bit.
Also, I was afraid that I used too much ghee on the dough but it made the triangles so buttery and flaky. This is definitely a keeper! Thank you.
You’re welcome, Janice! I’m so happy to hear you found the video helpful and love the tweaks you made, sounds like your first attempt at spanakopita was a huge success!!
Delicious! I added the cream chesse that was in the notes and used fresh spinach instead of frozen. Next time I will try the frozen spinach so I can drain it better as it was hard to cook off all the moisture with the fresh.
Is it possible to freeze just the spinach/onion mix before stuffing into the phyllo dough?
Hi there, so glad you enjoyed it! I think it would be fine to prepare the filling in advance and freeze it, but just make sure you get all of the moisture out of the spinach before doing so.
So delicious and way better than store bought. I followed recipe exactly..I don’t think I’ll change a thing next time, except maybe a bit more feta. I’m keeping this recipe forever! Thanks!!!
Yay, so happy to hear!
I’ve made this recipe several times and highly recommend! So crispy and tasty, the recipe is frequently asked for by guests and I refer them to this site. To suit my taste I’ve made just a couple tiny tweaks, one of is the adding 4oz cream cheese which is suggested in the notes. I also use a larger quantity of dill and using fresh instead of dried, and I use half olive oil/butter instead of all butter for brushing.
Thanks so much for this kind feedback and for sharing your tweaks to the recipe!
To the recipe I give 5 stars… However the function of this site is the most extra and invasive and down right lane as any site I have ever used. To even view the recipe they require name and email(bogus entries are allowed) . 2 times while preparing the dish the page froze up and closed out my chrome browser then finding this recipe again was not easy. There are a few similar ones that I had to sort through then it wants name and email again!!!! So wow. No thanks. Sry this recipe is getting 1 star for the deli very but I’m so u happy with the function of the site I would never visit it again!!!!!
Hey there, I am sorry that you had problems with the site. There is a “jump to recipe” button at the top of each page that takes you directly to the recipe card. You do not have to enter you email to view the recipe, it is at the bottom of the page right above the comments. As far as your browser freezing that may be an internet connectivity issue. I am glad you liked the spanakopita.
You mention using cream cheese, but don’t list it as an ingredient. How much would you use? would you use less feta cheese then?
2 to 4oz, depending on how much cream cheese flavor you like. You do not need to reduce the feta.
Hey!
I’m going to make the dish this week and I was wondering about substituting the butter for olive oil?
You can, I have not tried it that way and do prefer butter of ghee on pastry dough in general. If you try it you’ll have to let me know how it turned out!
Yummy
So glad you liked it, Penny!
Thanks 👍🏼
You’re so welcome!
So glad I tried this recipe! I used a yellow onion instead of red and cilantro instead of parsley because it was what I had on hand. Came out great! Toddler approved
I love the idea of using cilantro!
If choosing to add cream cheese, how much do you suggest using?
Hi Paula, great question. I’d add 4-6oz, depending on how present you want the cream cheese to be.
Thank you!
Would it be possible to make these in an air fryer instead of the oven? Thanks!
Yes, these would definitely work in the air fryer. I haven’t tried it myself, but I would try 380 for 10 minutes and check on them to see if they need more color/crispness!
Excellent recipe!!! I have made this many times and always a crowd pleaser!!!! Love the addition of cream cheese.
Thank you so much! That makes me so happy to hear!!
Love the recipe! Is there a way you can make this without having to do triangles? Like baklava and cut them later?
I made them today and they came out great and the whole house smells amazing .
I added about 6 ounces of cream cheese since I didn’t know how much to put. I just added until the mixture seemed more easy to spread.
Overall ……..Creamy, flaky, and savory umami goodness!!!!!
Thank you! That’s perfect!! I have yet to try this baked like a baklava, but definitely let me know how it goes if you decide to give it a try.
My family makes this as a casserole always. Put a generous amount of phyllo in the pan and butter the pan generously before building.
Very tasty. Will try half as much lemon zest next time for my kiddos.
Thank you! Hope they enjoy it too!
I had a question about phyllo. I can’t find it. How do I substitute puff pastry for the phyllo? Thanks
You can find the phyllo pastry in the frozen section at most major grocery stores! I have yet to try this with puff pastry, but I think you can make it a 1:1 substitute.
Hi. I’m trying to figure out at what point you mix the onion, dill and garlic mixture to the spinach mixture. I assume this is at step 4. And why a large pan rather than bowl? Just working my way through this recipe.
Hi! I am actually starting with the onion mixture. And the spinach goes on top of it. The large pan means the large skillet. I just adjusted my instructions to make it a little more clear. Check out the pictures too to help. Hope you enjoy these!!
Wow! I made these yesterday, the recipe was easy and they came out perfect! Delicious!! So Good!!
Yay! Thank you so much!
Just made these last night and they turned out absolutely amazing!!! Another great recipe from Feel Good Foodie 😊
Thank you so much!
Perfect comfy snack or lunch! Easy to make even for first timer. Loved it, will surely make it again!
For sure! Thank you so much!
Tried this recipe and it turned out delicious!
Thanks Yumna
Yay! You’re so welcome!
Hello , how are you? I wish everything are good for you and your family
I have made a lot of your recipes, all are perfect. You look like more Mediterranean as American and your recipes souts me😂
The spanakopita triangles was delicious.
And a little be deferred as we make theme in Greece
Aww, thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear that.
Omg, I can’t wait to try them, maybe I’ll just add some ground beef 😬👌🏻
Let me know what you think once you do! That would be a fun addition.
Thank you for the recipe. These were delicious. My husband could not believe that these do not have meats on them. These were really good.
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you so much.
I made these following recipe instructions & improvised the folding instructions bc I JUST saw the pic description here on the blog. Twas easy & fun & they came out deelish. Loving the quick easy Feel Good Foodie healthy-ish vibe!! Thanks from Spain.
I’m happy it turned out well! Thank you so much for all your support!
Made for Christmas Eve dinner and they were amazing! I had so much extra dough I just threw away so I’d maybe double the filling in the future but still worth it. I’ve followed other recipes before and been disappointed. Thank you!
Oh I’m so glad to hear that!! Do you know what package your used and how much phyllo was in there? If you have extra in the future, stuffing cheese in there!!
Made this, loved this. Thank you Yumna, always ❤️
So happy to hear that! Thank you 🙂
Looks delicious. Will definitely try this recipe 😍
Hope you like it!
Hi Yumna,
I have every ingredient for this delicious recipe but the feta cheese. Because of Covid-19 I’m not going to the grocery store until I have a full shopping list…I was wondering if I can substitute creamed cottage cheese and cheddar cheese which I already have – if yes, how do I go about it?
Love all your recipes! Keep them coming!! Thank you!
Nahidah
Hi there! I totally understand and I think the cottage cheese or cheddar cheese would both be good or you can leave them out. I recommend adding them to the mixture after it’s remove from the heat so they don’t melt. And I recommend using 1/2 cup cheese since those kinds will spread more than the feta. Hope you enjoy it!