My Yiayia (finally) told me her secret spanakopita ingredient

And it was worth the 10 year wait.

Spanakopita

Growing up in a big Greek family means one thing: Sundays consist of gathering around Yiayia’s table with the extended family… and eating.

The ultimate Greek family recipes

The menu my 90 year-old grandmother cooks varies week-to-week, but some of the usual suspects are: lemony potatoes, homemade bread, homemade hummus, baked eggplant, some sort of legume dish to cater to the vego family members, slow-roasted lamb or chicken and, of course, spanakopita.

Pastitsio and moussaka only make an appearance on very special occasions, like Christmas or Easter. Aside from bread and salad, there aren’t many dishes that get to secure a permanent weekly spot on the table. However, spanakopita is the exception. There’s just something about the cheesy spinach filling and pastry that could never get old. 

The best spanakopita recipe, revealed 

Most family members have tried to replicate Yiayia’s famous spanakopita, and it just never tastes the same. Only recently we realised every family member had a slightly different version of this recipe – this is classic Yiayia behaviour, as whenever we ask her for a recipe, she never seems to reveal the whole thing. Instead, we have to play detective and piece together the method and ingredients bit by bit (over the span of years). 

Determined to get all her spanakopita secrets, I finally convinced her to let me watch her cooking it, from the start to finish.

I filmed it and shared it with the family, and everyone was shocked that she didn’t tell anyone the one game-changing ingredient: a very small amount of rice. 

The secret to perfect spanakopita is… rice!

The elements that make this spanakopita stand out among the rest is the perfectly balanced flavours in the herby, cheesy filling. If you’ve made it before, you know the bottom layer of pastry can go soggy (especially after a day or two).

Spanakopita steps

Enter the secret ingredient: a tablespoon of rice. This clever addition absorbs the excess moisture from the spinach and gives it a full bodied texture.

What herbs should be used in authentic spanakopita?

Other key ingredients include lots of herbs – way more than I thought. Half a bunch of parsley, mint and dill are added, along with plenty of cooked onion and shallot for sweetness, freshly grated nutmeg, and surprisingly, there’s no garlic!

Much to my suprise, she has now given me the green light to share her recipe…. with the internet.

My Yiayia’s spanakopita recipe

Yiayia uses puff pastry in her recipe, because she believes flakiness is key to the texture. The butteriness of puff also goes perfectly with the salty cheese and the earthy spinach.

Yiayia also uses different types of cheese – authentic feta for creaminess and flavour, but then extra haloumi or grated cheese for added texture and taste.

How to make spanakopita

Spanakopita recipe

Step 1

You start by greasing a pan and lining it with the pastry sheets, then bake it until lightly browned. This will help prevent the spanakopita going soggy (along with the rice hack).

Step 2

Fry onions and shallots in oil, then season – while also wilting your spinach by pouring boiling water over it in a colander. Squeeze out all the excess liquid.

Step 3

Mix the spinach, herbs, nutmeg, cheeses, cooked onion mixture, eggs and rice.

Step 4

Spoon the spinach mixture in to the pastry, top with more pastry and bake until golden and puffy.

What’s the best pastry for spanakopita?

It might have come as a surprise that Yiayia’s recipe uses puff pastry. However, she also gave me instructions for using filo, if you prefer.

All you have to do is layer the filo sheets, brushing every second layer with butter, until you form 10 layers. You then use it in the same way you use the single puff sheets, but you don’t need to bake the pastry on its own before adding the spinach filling.

Now I know Yiayia’s secret, I’ve been making spanakopita more regularly and will continue to keep the family recipe alive. I wonder if she’ll mind that I’ve also shared it with the whole of Australia?

Originally published as My Yiayia (finally) told me her secret spanakopita ingredient