This delicious Vegan Spanakopita is one of my most loved recipes. Spanakopita is a traditional Greek spinach pie that's packed with juicy greens and feta wrapped in flaky filo pastry. This vegan version is just as delicious and packed with fresh Greek flavors that will have everyone asking for second helpings.
I love making this Spanakopita recipe for spring and summer get-togethers with fresh home-grown chard, but it's equally delicious with frozen spinach all through the colder months too.
If you love the idea of pies made with lovely crispy layers of filo, but want something cozier, try my Butternut Squash Chickpea and Spinach Pie. Or if you have too many zucchini, this Vegan Greek Zucchini Pie : Kolokithopita is a great option too! And if you're a fan of dippy things to go with a mezze style spread, you can't go past this Vegan Whipped Tofu Feta with some juicy roasted tomatoes on top.
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🥬Ingredients
- Fresh Spinach or Chard: In Greece, the pie would be made with mature spinach, not the soft floppy stuff you get in bags in the supermarket. It would also likely be made with other local herbs and greens. I use a mixture of chard from my garden and shop bought spinach, or you can use frozen spinach.
- Fresh Dill or other herbs: The overall flavour of this Vegan Spanakopita should be quite herbal and earthy/ spinachy, so fresh herbs such as dill and oregano are wonderful chopped up into the greens. Substitute dried dill and oregano if that's all you have.
- Green Onions and/or Leeks: Giant spring onions, or small leeks work brilliantly.
- Garlic: Plenty of fresh garlic enhances the greens.
- Filo Pastry: (sometimes called phyllo pastry) comes either frozen or in the chiller. If you buy it frozen, you will need to defrost it first. Different brands are different sizes. Just chop or rip the sheets of filo pastry to the size you need as you place it in the pie. The rustic look is lovely, so don't panic if it isn't 100% perfect!
- Olive Oil: Good olive oil is brushed over the filo pastry to make it crispy and delicious.
- For the Vegan Feta Cheese Mixture
- Green Olives: These give a salty, briny umami flavor that I think is quite similar to feta.
- Cashews: Soaked cashews help create the smooth cheesy mouth feel.
- Firm Tofu: tofu both adds protein and a ricotta type texture that helps bring the pie together.
- Nutritional Yeast : For a cheesy flavor that you need to balance the greens.
- Lemon Juice: Tangy and bright, choose fresh lemon juice if you can. You'll also need the lemon zest.
- Flakey Sea Salt: Season to taste!
See recipe card for quantities.
👩🍳Instructions
Follow along with these instructions for this vegan spanakopita recipe and use the photos of key moments in the cooking process help you make the perfect vegan spanakopita.
1 and 2. First make the spinach filling by chopping spinach, the spring onions and garlic and wilting in a pan. Drain off any excess water or liquid. Too much water will make a soggy pie!
3 and 4. Then make the cheese mixture by combining the tofu, fresh dill, olives and seasonings in a food processor. Then add the chopped spinach mixture to the vegan cheese mixture.
5. Layer sheets of phyllo dough (filo sheets) in a deep sided baking tray. Brush plenty of olive oil between the sheets. Spread out the spinach and cheese mixture.
6. Crumple up sheets of the filo pastry and layer over the top of the filling to make the crispy filo pastry topping. Use a pastry brush to help spread out the olive oil.
Bake at 180c/375f for 30 minutes or until the layers of crispy filo dough are golden brown and gorgeous.
Hint: You don't have to be perfect when creating the layers of filo pastry. The ruffled up effect looks so pretty when you cut into it.
🌶️Substitutions & Variations
Here are some yummy ways to switch up this recipe, or make the most of what you have available to you:
- Frozen Spinach -replace the chard with frozen spinach. Simply thaw and mix in with the garlic and spring onions.
- Leeks or other onions -replace the sautéed onions or green onions with leeks. Perfect for a wintery version of this recipe.
- Other Herbs- choose fresh parsley or add some oregano.
- Vegan Feta- add shop bought vegan feta (I like Violife, it's really similar to traditional feta cheese) along with the cheese mixture, or just replace it altogether.
- Get Fancy- and make this in a coil. Wrap the filling in rolls of filo pastry and make a long snake coil in a round skillet or pan, before baking.
- Puff Pastry- you can replace the filo pastry with puff pastry sheets. Use a single layer underneath and on top of the filling.
You can also make this recipe into little vegan spanakopita triangles for a delicious party canape or fun snack.
🔪Equipment
You'll need a food processor or blender to make the vegan feta cheese mixture. You'll also need a deep sided baking sheet or baking dish to lay out the vegan spanakopita pie.
🫙Storage
Once cooked, you can store the spanakopita in slices in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat directly from frozen.
Top tip
Make sure to taste the spinach and feta mixture and add more lemon juice or salt as needed before cooking.
❓FAQ
Yes you can use frozen spinach. Thaw gently and squeeze out any excess water before mixing with the other ingredients.
Eat more Greens
Want to eat more greens? These recipes are all packed with goodness.
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)
Equipment
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 Spinach mix
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 500 g (16 cups) Spinach (NB: this would be equivelant to 2 bags of spinach, or a large bunch of chard)
- chilli (optional)
- 3 garlic cloves (finely diced)
- 2 tablespoon fresh dill (you could also use parsely or fresh oregano)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Squeeze of lemon
For the Vegan Ricotta/Feta
- 100 g (½ cup) firm tofu
- 100 g (¾ cup) cashew nuts (soaked for at least 3 hours OR boiled for 10 mins)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
- 6 green olives
- Juice and zest half a lemon
To assemble the pie
- 1 pack filo pastry (you will need 7-8 sheets total)
- 4 tablespoon Olive Oil (you might need more. This is to brush between the pastry layers)
Instructions
Make the Vegan feta/ricotta
- In a food processor, make the 'ricotta' by whizzing up the soaked cashew nuts, then add the tofu and other feta/ricotta ingredients. Taste and add extra salt, a bit of dried dill or another olive to add more zing.
To make the spinach/greens filling
- Saute the onion, garlic and chilli until soft in a big frying pan. If you're using chard, add the chopped stems now too so they soften.
- Add the greens and wilt them down to a big squishy mess. Taste and add salt & lemon juice.
- Remove from the heat and drain off any excess liquid (this avoids a soggy pie).
To assemble the pie
- Use a large baking dish and line with baking paper.
- Lay one piece of filo pastry out into the pan and using a pastry brush, brush with oil.
- Repeat with 3-4 more pieces of filo pastry, scrunching them up slightly to fit in the pan.
- Mix the vegan ricotta in with the now slightly cooler greens and spoon into the pie dish.
- Spread the vegan ricotta and greens out into a single layer, to cover the pastry.
- Add an extra 2-3 layers of pastry over the top of the greens and ricotta - 2 or 3 pieces should be plenty.
- Scrunch one more piece of pastry up and slick with olive oil. Arrange attractively over the top of the pie (this makes the pretty looking top).
- Cook in a pre-heated oven at 200°C / 390°F for around 30 minutes, or until the pie is a pretty glossy brown on top.
- Serve in slices with a herby tomato salad.
Nicole says
Hi there! I just discovered your blog and this recipe, thank you for sharing! I tried it tonight, and it was very tasty! I have to admit that I didn't try your "ricotta", because I am just experimenting with the idea of being vegan currently. My only problem was regarding the filo pastry, this was my first time using it. Could you answer a few of my questions?
I ended up using 8 ounces of filo, because that was one "package", does that sound like the right amount? It seemed like maybe a bit much.
Do you let the pastry thaw first? (Mine came from the freezer section)
The top of my pastry was nice and brown after 20 minutes, but much of the inside was still "dough-y" and not crispy. Any ideas what I did wrong?
Thanks for your help, I definitely plan on making this again!
louise says
HI Nicole,
I use my filo thawed- as this ensures I can layer the thin layers with oil to make it nice & crispy. Usually I don't use a whole pack of filo either, I kind of guess around 7/8 sheets of it in total. Approx 4 or 5 on the bottom, sort of interleaved to cover the whole base of the pan, then another 2-3 scrunched on top.
I usually end up using the left over filo for something else- maybe for making little samosa type pastries.. Hope that helps!
Alex says
I'm definitely making this later! Very excited as I've been looking forward to something like this for a long time 🙂
louise says
It's delish! Hope you like it! xx
Iris Lillian says
Oh wow! How wonderful to have a veggie garden you can call on for fresh produce. My mum used to make this when I was a kid. I LOVE feta!!! Thanks for the recipe - I'll try it out this weekend. On the Greek theme, check out my article on Santorini on irislilian.com. Iris Lillian Probably the most beautiful place in the world!
louise says
We love our veggie garden so much! And Santorini is one of my favourite islands. I'll go check out your post x