Ultimate Greek Spinach Pie

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My spanakopita features a flavorful spinach and feta filling inside ultra crunchy phyllo dough. This Greek spinach pie is easy to make at home but tastes like it came from your favorite Greek restaurant!

three slices of spanakopita with a spinach and feta cheese filling on a plate.

I love large batch appetizers that can serve a crowd like my Chopped Italian Sliders and my Asian Meatballs. Something else I always have on hand for parties is my Greek spinach pie. It looks fancy, but is actually really simple to make. The filling is cheesy and flavorful and phyllo gets SO crunchy.

Why Our Recipe Is the Best: A Sprinkle of Food Science

Use Oil Not Butter: Unlike butter which is over 15% water oil is 100% fat. This leads to a lighter crispier dough.
Use Fresh Not Frozen Spinach: When testing this recipe the fresh spinach tasted more flavorful and also held onto less moisture which helps prevent it from getting soggy.
Use a Baking Sheet Not a Casserole Dish: This ensures air can circulate and helps the side sand bottoms crisp up.
Cut Before Baking: After baking the dough can be brittle making it can be hard to get clean slices without it shattering. Precutting ensures you can get picture perfect slices.

Ingredient Notes and Shopping Tips

ingredients including garlic, olive oil, eggs, phyllo dough, feta cheese, onion, spinach, and parsley.

Spinach: I like the flavor of fresh curly spinach. This spinach is more flavorful than frozen or baby spinach. You could use frozen if needed. Whichever type you use make sure all the excess moisture is removed.
Feta: I like using block style not crumbled feta as it is more flavorful and less dry. Real Greek is my go to brand. Boar's Head is also surprisingly good.
Phyllo Dough: Also called Fillo dough, it is important that it is thawed in the fridge around 24 hours before you use it. Do not microwave.

a 4 image collage showing how to make a spinach feta filling and layer it in phyllo dough.

Krystle's Tips: Steal My Culinary School Secrets

Keep Dough Covered But Dry: Because it is so thin it is prone to tearing if it's too dry. Also avoid getting it wet which can make it stick together. The sweet spot for me is a dry towel which helps it retain its own moisture without adding any extra.
More Phyllo Tips: Keep it covered until your ready to use it and recover it between layers.
Get As Much Moisture Out of Spinach As Possible: I use a colander and a kitchen towel. Too much liquid can make the end result watery and soggy.

Can I Make It Ahead?

This is best served the day it is made, but you can make the filling up to 24 hours ahead of time.