A Simple Salad with Feta, Spinach, and Red Onion
Here, we’ll show you how to make Feta Cheese & Spinach, a Greek recipe that’s easy to prepare and tastes great. You can add it as a side dish for lunch or dinner, or use it as an ingredient in other dishes like soups or salads!
Greek spinach pie with feta cheese, or spanakopita, is a traditional meal prepared with flaky phyllo sheets with a filling of savory spinach and feta cheese. Both individual phyllo triangles and a “pie,” or pita, can be used to make spanakopita (pronounce it spah-nah-KO-pee-tah).
This recipe yields enough filling for two rectangle pans measuring 9 by 12 inches (or approximately 100 folded phyllo triangles). Greek salad should be served alongside spanakopita as an entrée, side dish, or appetizer.
What is Feta Cheese & Spinach
Feta cheese is a soft white cheese made from sheep, cow or goat milk. It is often used in Greek, Turkish and Balkan cuisines. Feta can be crumbly and tangy or smooth and creamy depending on how it’s made.
Feta is most commonly associated with Greece, but this cheese has been around since ancient times: Pliny the Elder wrote about feta in his Natural History in AD 77. Like many traditional cheeses, it was originally made by nomadic shepherds who would leave their herds to graze on grassy hillsides for several months before returning home with their animals to make cheese from the excess milk produced by their flock during those periods away from their home base (typically during hot summer months).
Ingredients
1 cup feta cheese
1 cup spinach
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
In a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Add feta and cook until melted, about 1 minute. Serve immediately alongside roasted chicken or sliced pork tenderloin for a quick weeknight meal!
Cooking Notes
The cooking time will vary based on the type of pan you use. If you use a non-stick pan, the cheese may be done sooner than stated in the recipe. You can use an instant-read thermometer to check for doneness (the temperature should be around 170°F). If your pan is not nonstick or cast iron, you may need to increase the cooking time so that it is properly browned and melted on top.
Pro Tip
- You can use frozen spinach. You can also use fresh spinach, or frozen spinach and fresh herbs. If you’re feeling really fancy and have some fresh herbs on hand, try combining all three.
- Spanakopita warms up brilliantly and freezes quite well. Frozen pans of uncooked spanakopita make a convenient starter or side meal. You’ll need to cook it for around 45 minutes.
- The filling may be prepared a day in advance and kept in the refrigerator. Drain any liquid that appears to have gathered in the mixture before continuing with the instructions.
Feta Cheese & Spinach is best to serve with
- Crackers
- Bread
- Chicken
- Pork
- Lamb
- Beef
- Fish (and any other fish you might want to try it with) In addition, it’s also good with vegetables and rice or pasta.
Add-ins and Variations
- Add in other ingredients. This recipe is meant to be a starting point for you to add your own twist, so feel free to experiment with different ingredients. For example, try adding some olives or tomatoes for something new. Or, if you’re looking for a vegetarian meal that’s still hearty enough to satisfy the carnivores at dinner, try adding some artichokes or kale!
- Add in other greens. Spinach is an easy choice but there are many others out there that would work well too—try swapping it out with arugula (a peppery green), watercress (a peppery green) or even just straight-up lettuce! If you have access to fresh herbs like oregano or basil add them in too; they will add extra flavor without making the dish overly spicy since they’re both milder than rosemary and thyme.
Be aware that it requires a little more work if you want to turn these into triangles (but well worth the effort). The phyllo will be filled, and then each triangle will be made separately by folding it over numerous times. Utilize phyllo shells and, before baking, fill the centers with the spinach mixture to create a fast, bite-sized version of spanakopita.
I hope that you enjoy this recipe, and feel free to play around with the ingredients! Feta cheese & spinach is a classic combination that goes well with so many things such as potatoes, eggs, rice, beans…you name it. Have fun experimenting!
