These Vegan Cheesy Spinach Triangles (basically spanakopita triangle) are easy to make, and even easier to eat!! Yummy, crunchy cheesy triangles of deliciousness. Stuffed with spinach (or chard) and a hit of dill, they're reminiscent of that Greek pie, spanakopita, but veganised and made cute for eating whilst chatting and sipping wine.
I first created this yummy canape recipe back in December 2017, but have finally got round to updating it, this time with a video and how-to instructions. Yay!
🌱Vegan Favourites
I love veganising old favourite recipes and surprising my friends and family with them at parties or when they're over for a small dinner or drinks gathering and these little triangle spanakopita pies are a perfect example of that. I don't think anyone who has eaten them hasn't loved them, and come back for seconds, or even thirds.
🧀Cheese Filling
The cheezy base to the filling is one I roll out in various guises for other dishes too. It's a really versatile creamy cheeze that makes a great topping for moussaka, or crumbed and turned into delicious croquettes. It's super simple, just tofu and soaked cashew nuts with some miso and nutritional yeast for that yummy cheezy taste.
💚Flakey Pastry
Filo pastry is easy to buy in most supermarkets and is ideal for these triangle spanakopita. If you buy it frozen, make sure you thaw it overnight in the fridge so it is easy to work with. It needs to have olive oil slicked between the layers for a crunchy golden finish. To create the triangle shape, I cut sheets of filo pastry into thirds (on the long side) then slick with oil. I then put a little bit of filling in a sort of triangle shape at the top short edge, and fold it up in a triangle shape until I reach the top. The first few always look a bit dodgy, but they taste great, so no one will care!
👩🍳 How-To
First, make the filling for the spanakopita triangles:
- Blend the tofu with the drained and soaked cashews. Also add the nutritional yeast, white miso and lemon juice.
- Wilt the spinach with the garlic and herbs, then chop it finely.
- Combine the cashew and tofu mix with the spinach mix.
Then make the spanakopita triangles:
- Take your filo pastry and cut it into thirds lenthways so you have long pieces.
- Brush the pastry with oil.
- Place a tablespoon of the mixture in the top corner.
- Fold a single piece of pastry over in a triangle.
- Fold the pastry over and over in triangle shape until you reach the end of the pastry.
- Put the spanakopita triangles on a baking tray. Bake just before serving if you want them hot!
📖Serving Ideas
Make loads of these yummy Vegan Cheesy Spinach Spanakopita Triangles for a party, and chill, ready to reheat and crisp up again in the oven to serve to guests. Or just keep some in the freezer ready to heat up for snacks!
Try some of these other yummy ideas to serve at a party too:
Vegan Chorizo Croquettes with Alioli & Stuffed Tomatoes
4 Ingredient Vegan Parsnip & Potato Latkes
Scandi Inspired Smoked Tofu Sandwich
Vegan "Smoked Salmon" Carrot Lox
📖 Recipe
Cheezy Spinach Triangles
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
For the Cheezy Mix
- 125 grams (¾ cup) raw cashews
- 150 grams (¾ cup) firm tofu
- 3-4 teaspoon white miso
- 4 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- ⅓ cup juice lemon juice (about half a lemon)
For the Spinach Filling
- 250 grams (8⅓ cups) spinach or chard with stems removed (1 standard packet)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
For the Crunchy pastry
- 1 packet filo pastry
- 3 tablespoon olive oil (approx)
Instructions
For the Cheezy Filling
- Soak the cashews for at least 1 hour in some warm water. You want them to be quite softened.
- In a high speed blender, blend the cashews with a little of their soaking water until completely smooth.
- Add the tofu and blend.
- Add the miso, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and salt. Blend again. Taste for cheezyness and add more miso or nutritional yeast to taste.
For the Spinach Filling
- Gently sautee the garlic in a deep frying pan until slightly translucent.
- Add all the spinach (you might need to add it in bits if your pan is small). Don't worry, spinach pretty much disappears when heated!
- Once cool, chop the spinach up and mix into the cheezy filling mix along with the dill.
To assemble the Cheezy Triangles
- Take one sheet of filo and brush olive oil all over it. Keep the other sheets covered so they don't dry out!
- Cut it into half length ways and fold it over length-ways so you end up with a long thing piece of pastry.
- On one short edge, add a heaped teaspoon of filling in a sort of triangle shape in the corner.
- Fold the filled side over, so it makes a triangle shaped parcel. Keep folding over until you run out of pastry. Put it on a greased oven proof tray.
- Repeat with all the other pieces of filo pastry (there are usually around 10 in each packet) until you run out of filling or pastry. You should be able to make between 18 and 20, depending on how generous you are with the filling.
- Bake in the oven on 220°C / 430°F / Gas Mark 7 for around 10 minutes until golden and crispy. Serve warm!
Monique Haggar says
Vegan Spanakopita: please clarify the "third lemon juice".
Meaning: third cup or 3 TB of lemon juice? Thanks
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Updated! Should have been 1/3 cup lemon juice, (which depending on the size of your lemon, would be about half a lemon)
Monique Haggar says
Thanks